Is a Radeon HD 7750 to 7870 too small of an upgrade?

[insmek]

Hi there! Currently, my desktop has a Radeon HD 7750 in it, and I'm looking to upgrade. I've almost decided that, at around $200, the 7870 is the card that I want. Is the 7870 too small of an upgrade to bother, at the price? If so, what card should I be looking at? I have ~$300 budget, although I may need to upgrade my PSU as well (I currently have a Thermaltake TR2 430w).

The thing is, I have a history of poor upgrade decisions. With my wife's old desktop, I went 4850 to 5770 to 7770, and looking back now I probably could have left the 4850 in there and saved myself the trouble. So, this time around, I'm looking to avoid the mistake of making half-step upgrades.

Thanks for the help!

[Crushima]

I would really try hard to find a 7950, to make an upgrade worthwhile.

You will most likely need a new PSU anyway, it's one of the best investments for your PC, and will save you money on your electricity bills overall, if you get a gold or platinum rating one.

You could make do with a 600W Psu most likely, but post your full spec if you want us to be sure.

[chazus]

Good luck finding any 7xxx above the 7850. As far as I'm aware, there are nearly none in retail stock. Like.. anywhere. I was going to recommend the 7870 Ghz for $150 but.. OOS.

[insmek]

I would really try hard to find a 7950, to make an upgrade worthwhile.

You will most likely need a new PSU anyway, it's one of the best investments for your PC, and will save you money on your electricity bills overall, if you get a gold or platinum rating one.

You could make do with a 600W Psu most likely, but post your full spec if you want us to be sure.

Here's my current setup:



Plus the Thermaltake TR2 430W that I mentioned earlier.

And here's the thing, I would get a 7950, but Litecoin mining has made them skyrocket in price. They're selling for upwards of $400 used on Ebay, and they're out of stock with jacked-up prices on Newegg, and by the sound of things it's going to stay that way for at least another month or so.

[Toffie]

A 270X is a perfectly good upgrade for you.

About 60 % increase compared to 7750.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...II_TOP/26.html

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($205.66 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $250.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-10 13:23 EST-0500)

[Lery]

You can also reference Toms Hardware November Graphic card breakdown. The hierarchy chart, found here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ew,3107-7.html states that you should look for upgrades at least three tiers higher than your current tier. It looks like the upgrade will be beneficial to you.

[Fascinate]

The 270 (non x) is a better deal at 179.00 as long as you are not adverse to overclocking (only difference between the two is the x version has a higher clock speed).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121823

Also there is zero reason to upgrade PSU's, your psu has plenty of power for this GPU and also has the proper connectors (1 6 pin PCI-E).

- - - Updated - - -

Linus's 270 review explaining the 270:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLQrZseRlew

The title should be "why does the 270x exist for 20 dollars more"

[insmek]

The 270 (non x) is a better deal at 179.00 as long as you are not adverse to overclocking (only difference between the two is the x version has a higher clock speed).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121823

Also there is zero reason to upgrade PSU's, your psu has plenty of power for this GPU and also has the proper connectors (1 6 pin PCI-E).

- - - Updated - - -

Linus's 270 review explaining the 270:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLQrZseRlew

The title should be "why does the 270x exist for 20 dollars more"

Thanks for that! I didn't even know this particular GPU existed. That's the perfect mix of price and performance for me, and it's all the much better if I don't need to immediately upgrade my PSU along with it. I just bought it.

[Fascinate]

Thanks for that! I didn't even know this particular GPU existed. That's the perfect mix of price and performance for me, and it's all the much better if I don't need to immediately upgrade my PSU along with it. I just bought it.

Nice, ya 270 is a pretty good deal. That asus model is OC'd out of the box too, but you could overclock it higher if you wanted. 1050 is a number im sure most of these cards would hit without much tweaking.

- - - Updated - - -

Looks like you just made it, its out of stock now lol.

[insmek]

Looks like you just made it, its out of stock now lol.

Yeah, it was already. I went with the MSI model reviewed in the video.

[Fascinate]

Yeah, it was already. I went with the MSI model reviewed in the video.

Another solid choice : )

[Deleted]

Good luck finding any 7xxx above the 7850. As far as I'm aware, there are nearly none in retail stock. Like.. anywhere. I was going to recommend the 7870 Ghz for $150 but.. OOS.

LiteCoin is Causing Shortages of AMD Radeon GPUs