never understood why some people upgrade every two years

I notice some claim they upgrade their GPU every two years but if your willing to dish out that much money in that amount of time than might as well buy the best card you can afford and not have to. Many new cards released aren't even that much better than the older ones so it seems like a waste of money to me. Even the lower ends card last longer than two years its not like they really have to. I never really got why others feel the need to upgrade in such a short period of time. There enthusiasts of course seems a bit silly if your coughing up money for a GPU that is 20% better than the one in your PC.

Me neither, but I understand it as some people think that they need to, or play at ridiculous resolutions.

I only really upgrade every 4 years.

Your failing to realize that the people upgrading are selling there previous card to cover majority of the cost of a new one in most cases........

For example I sold my two year old 560ti for a 7870XT (tahiti) clocked at 7970 speeds and I paid like $50 out of pocket once my 560ti sold..... (stuff like that happens all the time).

By the time the 20nm cards come out, the GTX 680 will be two years old and you could technically sell it then for $220-250 and then pay $180-150 out of pocket for a card that should be equal/faster than a GTX 690/780ti (GTX 870 for NVidia or the successor to the R9 290 should both be $400 cards)

Point being selling your hardware covers majority of the cost in most cases, thus upgrading frequently isn't a big deal

I also never understood why people upgrade every two years, because i upgrade like every 6 months, lol...

I upgrade GPU once a year and CPU once every 2 to 3 years.

Went from a GTX 680 to GTX 780 Ti. Deal with it.

Good point. I would think this was common knowledge by now that people sell their old GPU/CPU/Motherboard, etc. and they put that money towards an upgrade. Overall, you're not putting up a huge upfront payment. That only really happens unless you go from modest builder to an enthusiast, or a brand new PC build altogether. Often times, it is the GPU that is being upgraded.

I upgrade every 2 years with mid range gpu's like a Gtx 660. Went from Fermi to Kepler now I will go to Maxwell. I do that because I dont want no power hog in my system and I'm not losing any money compared to buying a high end part. Plus I like collecting these gpu's. My Gtx 660 is like a Gtx 480 and my Gtx 860 will be like a Gtx Titan.

For a lot of old school pc gamers upgrading is a hobby of habit they picked up back in the 90's when you HAD to upgrade at least once a year just to be able to run some games faster than slow motion, others at all. The upgrade train has slowed down quite a bit, but I imagine there are still those out there with money to spend that treat it like people who constantly try to get another mph out of a car.

In the context of your title, I don't see what the big deal is about upgrading your gpu every two years. The people I think are crazy are the ones who upgrade to the newest gpu's as they come out lol.

I'm upgrading my rig every 3 years or so; Spending 5k on gaming rig while some part can brake let's say you've got GTX 780ti, 1TB SSD, etc. Also not everyone can afford buying ATM a 5k rig.

I spend about 1.5k for every rig I build.

Plus it's not smart to throw big money on a rig that will last 7 years in power because tech is changing fast; new features added always every generation of GPUs etc.

And again as I said lots of things can brake during 7 years. (basically everyhing except the case)

Because i want to max out every game that there is.If i can't max it out then i refuse to play it.

Sarcasm aside but if you can afford it why not upgrade.

Cause it's a waste of money 99% of the time?

I upgrade when I have the cash, when I have the itch, when I can justify it to Wifey, when Wifey won't find out about it or just when I have trouble running games the way I like.

PC gaming took a hit when I started having kids so I was relegated to low to mid range cards, as they and I have gotten older more money has come in so I buy more and bigger/better stuffs.

Must stop talking about it or i'll start itching!

Technically most things are a waste of money.

Why buy anything but plain clothes, paying twice or three times as much for something with a logo on it is that not a waste of money?... Going to a restaurant and spending a weeks grocery money on one meal is that not a waste of money?...

I will hold back my frustration with this comment, the ONLY thing stopping people from buying is that they can't afford it... 99% of the time?... I find it funny when people look down at spending its all hypocrisy at the end of the day.

The great thing about hardware is that you can actually measure the performance.

When I studied psychology it became apparent that your inability to do something is what governs your morals/ethics... The high majority of people say they wouldn't only because admitting they are incapable of doing or having something is a hard pill to swallow, for example the poor hate the rich yet play the lottery hoping one day to be rich and the "moral" look down at people who are sexually active while openly or secretly lust after celebrities.

Just sayin'!

Buying midrange GPU's like Gtx 760, r270x and upgrading every 24-30 months to me it seems way more logical for people that want to play at high ( or mostly high settings ) and stay up to date

Also a $500 high end Gpu i highly doubt it will last you an extra 2 years compared to a $250-300 gpu ( those $300 gpu's come withing 70-80% of the $500 gpu's )

Same reason why people buy a new car, or new clothes do you need it usually not, but they like having the newest and greatest. My 7970 is going towards the two year mark and its seem blowing every game out of the water

Technically, buying a $800 product when a $400 one can do the same thing is a waste of money imo.

Well I'll be upgrading soon here (it's bee about 2 years) because I never really bought the high end processor and graphics card for this pc. So now I have the money I think it's time to do that!

I don't understand how people can last 4+ years with their PC. I've had my PC for maybe 2 years now and I doubt I'll be able to run newer games at High settings (I play at 1080p). If I was to buy a GTX 780 now, it'd have to last me at least 4 years to justify the price it'd cost me ($800AU). When I say last me 4 years I mean playing near max settings.

Now to be fair my graphics card was hardly top of the crop when I built my PC, so that obviously explains why It won't last me 4 years.

you must be new to PC gaming.

Upgrading your GPU every 2 years seems like the right move to me. You will notice a large improvement in performance at a decent cost. If you are still planning to rock HD 6000 series this year, then you won't be able to experience the benefits of Mantle, True Audio, and GSync.

It does the same thing... No s***!

A GPU is a GPU... A car is a car!

Guess what a $400 GTX 680 may do what a $800 GTX 780 Ti does... but it doesn't PERFORM the same. It costs twice as much mainly because it gives you twice the amount of frames!

Its simple maths. Things cost more the majority of times in hardware because they perform better.

Waste of money? By your logic we should all drive Fiats and have Nokia 3310's... TEH ALL DO DA SAME TING!

I upgrade my GPU every two to three years while it's four years for the CPU. However, I am the reactive kind rather than proactive. I wait for the games to chug first before upgrading. If my games can still run well at High (versus Very High/Ultra) with at least 2xAA at a minimum of 1400x900 (the res for the smaller of my two monitors), then I'll postpone upgrading.

I play the games rather than be in a silly competition with consoles of which I own at least one.

You don't get my point.

Most games don't require the latest $1000 video card to run at high settings. PC Gaming and PC technology is not like it used to be 20 years ago where you constantly had to upgrade to keep up with the latest games.

These days you can buy a video card which is not the latest and greatest, it will run every game out there fine and last you easily 3 years before you need a new one.

Every time I do a new build a spend a bit more just to be future proof, but that PC always finishes lasting me 3-4 years before I need to touch it again.

thats the thing about pc gaming, you can do whatever the EFF you wanna do. Consoles on the other hand don't even have that option and you're force fed whatever bs they give you for however long the console manufacturers decide. Xbox 360 was an 8 1/2 year long gen.....thats a freaking looong time.

thats the thing about pc gaming, you can do whatever the EFF you wanna do. Consoles on the other hand don't even have that option and you're force fed whatever bs they give you for however long the console manufacturers decide. Xbox 360 was an 8 1/2 year long gen.....thats a freaking looong time.

It depends on my financial position. Right now, money is tight. I'm putting away little by little because I think I need a new CPU/MB/RAM and a new HDD wouldn't hurt, something with a bit more capacity. Once May 2014 hits, if I haven't upgraded my CPU then I'll have been rocking this Phenom II x4 940 for 5 years. Don't get me wrong, this little sucker still works great and I can push it up from 3GHz to 3.71 if I really wanted to.

Right now I'm eyeing about a $400 setup for new CPU/MB/RAM - just need the funds.

I just upgraded my GPU. It's the only upgrade I've done in my four and a half year old PC. The same parts for four and a half years!

I upgraded from a GTX 295 to a GTX 770. My 770 is the limited edition white one. My PC is still rocking the i7 920. No immediate plans to upgrade anything else, other than adding an SSD, which I'll do early next year. I might finally upgrade to windows 7 from Vista, too.

Did you seen huge performance gains upgrading to a 780 Ti? and how much did you get for the gtx 680?

Currently I have a GTX 680 4gig and and my FPS dips sometimes at 1440p resolution.

I sold my GTX 680 for a £180.

I get almost twice the frame rate in the majority games at 2560x1080... Aside from Crysis 3 I run every game on the highest setting at 2560x1080 and its always 60FPS+.

I was playing Battlefield 4 at 2560x1080 on Ultra with no AA to get a steady 60FPS but with a GTX 780 Ti I have it on Ultra with 4x MSAA and get 80-90FPS.

A GTX 780 Ti once overclocked past 1Ghz is basically two GTX 680's... It crushes every card out there and even trades blows with a HD 7990.

So yes I noticed a difference at my resolution as would you, at 1920x1080 you would still notice a improvement but with resolutions higher than that you really do notice the extra performance.

LOL twice as much for twice the frames.... NOOOOOoooo

more like twice as much for 20% more frames....if that.

fucking hilarious stuff.... this guuuuuy

Not so good at percentages are you?... Look at a card any and then find a card that cost's twice as much

• 260X £120 17FPS - 280X £240 37FPS = 20% of 17FPS is 3.4... 17+3.4=20.4... card that costs twice as much gives you 37FPS.
• GTX 680 £260-280 34FPS - GTX 780 TI £520 52FPS = 20% of 34FPS is 6.8... 34+6.8=40.8... card that costs twice as much gives you 52FPS.

You are looking at 60-80% more frames and in some cases 100%+.

The only odd ball is the Titan.

20% if you are lucky?... Me hilarious?... Your primary school mathematics is the only thing funny here.

The third party 780ti's are just as fast as the GTX 690 (which is two 680's built into one card.......). Your getting a good 60-80% jump which is what you would get by adding another GTX 680

@Grey_Eyed_Elf said:

@Geminon said:

@Grey_Eyed_Elf said:

@FelipeInside said:

@Grey_Eyed_Elf said:

@FelipeInside said:

@Grey_Eyed_Elf said:

@ShepardCommandr said:

Because i want to max out every game that there is.If i can't max it out then i refuse to play it.

Sarcasm aside but if you can afford it why not upgrade.

Cause it's a waste of money 99% of the time?

Technically most things are a waste of money.

Why buy anything but plain clothes, paying twice or three times as much for something with a logo on it is that not a waste of money?... Going to a restaurant and spending a weeks grocery money on one meal is that not a waste of money?...

I will hold back my frustration with this comment, the ONLY thing stopping people from buying is that they can't afford it... 99% of the time?... I find it funny when people look down at spending its all hypocrisy at the end of the day.

The great thing about hardware is that you can actually measure the performance.

When I studied psychology it became apparent that your inability to do something is what governs your morals/ethics... The high majority of people say they wouldn't only because admitting they are incapable of doing or having something is a hard pill to swallow, for example the poor hate the rich yet play the lottery hoping one day to be rich and the "moral" look down at people who are sexually active while openly or secretly lust after celebrities.

Just sayin'!

Technically, buying a $800 product when a $400 one can do the same thing is a waste of money imo.

It does the same thing... No s***!

A GPU is a GPU... A car is a car!

Guess what a $400 GTX 680 may do what a $800 GTX 780 Ti does... but it doesn't PERFORM the same. It costs twice as much mainly because it gives you twice the amount of frames!

Its simple maths. Things cost more the majority of times in hardware because they perform better.

Waste of money? By your logic we should all drive Fiats and have Nokia 3310's... TEH ALL DO DA SAME TING!

LOL twice as much for twice the frames.... NOOOOOoooo

more like twice as much for 20% more frames....if that.

fucking hilarious stuff.... this guuuuuy

Not so good at percentages are you?... Look at a card any and then find a card that cost's twice as much

• 260X £120 17FPS - 280X £240 37FPS = 20% of 17FPS is 3.4... 17+3.4=20.4... card that costs twice as much gives you 37FPS.
• GTX 680 £260-280 34FPS - GTX 780 TI £520 52FPS = 20% of 34FPS is 6.8... 34+6.8=40.8... card that costs twice as much gives you 52FPS.

You are looking at 60-80% more frames and in some cases 100%+.

The only odd ball is the Titan.

20% if you are lucky?... Me hilarious?... Your primary school mathematics is the only thing funny here.

what the hell kind of fucked up math are you using? the difference between a GTX 760 and GTX 770 is about 9 frames in BF4.... 47-38=9.....what percent of 38 is 9? 23%.....

GTX780 ti vs GTX760

65ish% incease

GTX780 ti costs 3.5x what the GTX760 costs.... 200 dollars vs 700 dollars

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GTX780 vs GTX760

45ish% increase

GTX780 costs 2.5x what the GTX760 costs.... 200 dollars vs 500 dollars

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GTX770 vs GTX760

20ish% increase

GTX770 costs 2x what the GTX760 costs... 200 dollars vs 400 dollars

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUH OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

care to backtrack?

52% but ok....

Third party (which was mentioned in my post) are about 8-10% faster than stock (his charts are stock).

It all depends on what benchmarks your looking at (the site + the game choice). For third party 780ti, 60-65% boost is typical for 1080/1200p while 70% or higher isn't rare at 1440/1600p

That's a lot higher than 20%........ (your getting GTX 690 performance on a single card which is good). The 780ti is decent considering what it does (GTX 680 SLI/GTX 690 performance)

If people have the money, and want to, why does it matter? Sure it might not be exactly cost efficient thing to do, but some people don't have to worry or care about that and can purchase the latest and greatest. No ones making you upgrade to the latest and greatest, so why do you care so much about how others spend money? Yes its not the most cost efficient thing to do and that is a point worth arguing, but saying people shouldn't upgrade just because you wouldn't is a bit pretentious

@Geminon: A GTX 760 costs £200 and a GTX 770 costs £240.

Where are you getting your prices from.

A gtx 780 costs £360.

Really bad with numbers.

He was wrong about the GTX 780ti performance so now he's trying to argue bang for your buck or value im guessing ? (the original user talked about how it was twice as fast as the gtx 680 for twice the price which is kinda true since SLI doesn't give a full 100%, hence a third party 780ti can match a GTX 690).

He's wrong about performance (20% is crazy talk) so now he's talking about the GTX 760 for some reason ? (in the UK 2x 760 is more expensive than a single 780ti while offering worse performance so I don't know why he's talking about a GTX 760 ?).

In the US 2x760ti (250 each) is 40% cheaper than the 780ti but you get worse performance, less vram, more heat, and have to deal with driver which are hit or miss.

Where did I say I cared about how others spend their money? I don't, but it makes me laugh when people spend an extra $500 to have the same as I have.

Even if I was a millionaire I would spend what I need to. It's just called intelligence.

@FelipeInside:

If you want to play at max graphics of every game you play you have to upgrade every 2 years at most, good luck maxing games at 1920 by 1200 with a 4 year old graphics card. People like me like to be able to max games with no fps issues. That's why I upgrade every 2-3 years.

apparently you havent heard of this thing called an exchange rate.

in the USA, GTX 760 is 200 dollars, GTX 770 is 400 dollars

you get confused easily apparently...

and i wasnt wrong... about anything. your comparison was a GTX 680 to a GTX 780ti... which is a 52% increase. mine was a GTX 760 to a GTX 780 ti... which is around a 65% increase. hard to understand apparently? im not sure why.

numbers dont lie, and grey elfs math was the stupidest shit i have ever seen.

Because they can?

That's fine if you want a totally maxed game, but most of the time it looks the same as a game on nearly max.

I play games with AA and AF on 2x or 4x and most of the time it looks the same as if you had it on 16x, minus the performance dips.

Like I said before, just intelligent gaming.

Your the one whose confused.

You where clearly wrong (20% is not even close). The average comparison shows 60-65% at 1080/1200p and 65-70% at 1440/1600p. That's pretty good and CLEARLY not 20% (GTX 690 performance on a single card is great).

Numbers don't lie ? (you don't even know the card prices in your OWN country). The cheapest GTX 760 in the US is $250 and the third party 770s got a price drop a month ago (there like $320-330).

You called out a slightly exaggerated quote and then made a crazy statement (20% increase which is a joke). We said that its not that huge of an exaggeration (double the frame statement) and that it technically equals 2x680s. I

Instead of admitting that YOU where the one who was exaggerating like crazy, you processed to talk about prices that aren't even correct...... (WTF ?)

Lets put this down to personal preference shall we?

Again with the miss information!

• GTX 760 - $250
• GTX 770 - $330

Apparently you don't check prices or benchmarks.

Good Idea!