Upgrade from GeForce 760 to 970 & Oculus Rift

Richardj73 · Nov 21, 2015

Hi Cmdr's

I'm a long time Elite player all the way back to the BBC B in '84

I'm wondering if anyone can let me know their thoughts if I should upgrade my graphics card. My current system is a 2GB GeForce 760, i5, 16GB, 250GB SSD which I have to say is running ED great with everything set to ultra (getting 60FPS)

I am planning on purchasing a Oculus Rift or HTC Vive sometime next year once the market settles down a bit.

I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any real advantages with upgrading my card now? and if anyone is using the Rift DK2 with a similar card?

Thanks in advance

Richard

KillingTime · Nov 21, 2015

I would suggest you wait for nvidias next lineup (Pascal) as it should be significantly better than the current gen cards. Should be out sometime next year

At the very least I would wait until you have the VR headset before upgrading the graphics since everything is running great just now.

The only advantage of upgrading now would be for DSR if elite is the only game you play.

Richardj73 · Nov 21, 2015

Thanks, I thought that might be the case

Just looking at an excuse to spend money

KillingTime said:
I would suggest you wait for nvidias next lineup (Pascal) as it should be significantly better than the current gen cards. Should be out sometime next year

At the very least I would wait until you have the VR headset before upgrading the graphics since everything is running great just now.

The only advantage of upgrading now would be for DSR if elite is the only game you play.

cptdavep · Nov 21, 2015

If you're looking for an excuse to spend money now buy a 970 and a 4K display, it looks absolutely stunning! Just upgraded this week and the difference from 1080 is phenomenal.

FuzzySpider · Nov 21, 2015

I am using a OR DK2 with a 970. Absolutely no complaints here, it works well. However I don't think it will be quite enough for the full version when it arrives.

My advice would be to hold fire for now and see what the specs are for the finished product.

Laste · Nov 21, 2015

If you wait for the next latest and greatest you will never upgrade, or you will be disappointed when it isn't anything special. Using a 980 and ii'll get another if needed.

callezetter · Nov 21, 2015

If you aim to play consumer VR in 2016, you should definitely wait. For several reasons.

The current GPU line up will most likely be alot cheaper in Q1-2016, to make way for the next gen that comes in Q2.
Meaning big pressure on prices to get rid of old stock that will be unsellable in Q2.

If you can hold hold out to Q2, the performance/dollar you get in Q2 will be insane compared to what we get now. Were probably talking
2x in just 6-8months time. Mainly because were finally at a stage, where well see a big GPU processor shrink again (from 28nm to 14/16).
At those time the perf/dollar and perf/watt goes skyrocket. And they dont come that often any more. Last time its was the 40>28nm move 4-5 years ago.

TL;DR Buying a full price 970 right now is like burning up money. 970 is already old tech and will be obsolete in a few months regarding most perf metrics.
Now if you have money to burn, sure go ahead! But if you want to be smart, just wait a little more. You will save tons of money.

Richardj73 · Nov 21, 2015

I'm 100% sure I'll wait

thank you!

callezetter said:
If you aim to play consumer VR in 2016, you should definitely wait. For several reasons.

The current GPU line up will most likely be alot cheaper in Q1-2016, to make way for the next gen that comes in Q2.
Meaning big pressure on prices to get rid of old stock that will be unsellable in Q2.

If you can hold hold out to Q2, the performance/dollar you get in Q2 will be insane compared to what we get now. Were probably talking
2x in just 6-8months time. Mainly because were finally at a stage again, where we see a big GPU processor shrink again (from 28nm to 14/16).
At those time the perf/dollar and perf/watt goes skyrocket. And they dont come that often any more. Last time its was the 40>28 move 4-5 years ago.

TL;DR Buying a full price 970 right now is like burning up money. 970 is already old tech and will be obsolete in a few months regarding most perf metrics.
Now if you have money to burn, sure go ahead! But if you want to be smart, just wait a little more. You will save tons of money.

Hommes · Nov 22, 2015

60 FPS is a little on the low side for Oculus. To get best view you should have at least 75FPS in ED otherwise you get this weird ghosting effect unless you move your head very very slowly. So to get the 75FPS in the Rift you should be around 120FPS+ without the Rift since you will have to render for two eyes. Really there is nothing better to have the Oculus with ED than a flat monitor but I think you might have to crank back the settings to get good 75FPS in the Rift. Anything slower will start to add this weird ghosting effect as you move your head. Sometimes it is not even your GPU but the CPU; if your machine can't keep up with the 75FPS for the Oculus you will be doomed too no matter how great your GPU is; you just won't be able to keep up. So make sure you have at least 3Ghz+ highend CPU and then a great high end GPU and things will be gorgeous.
Unfortunately the latest Rift SDK does not work with ED but it is amazing with direct rendering on the DCS 1.5!! Truly amazing!

Xebec · Nov 23, 2015

KillingTime said:
I would suggest you wait for nvidias next lineup (Pascal) as it should be significantly better than the current gen cards. Should be out sometime next year

At the very least I would wait until you have the VR headset before upgrading the graphics since everything is running great just now.

The only advantage of upgrading now would be for DSR if elite is the only game you play.

+1 for this post -- I'm running 970 in SLI, bought it originally for DK2, found it useful for DSR on my 3440x1440 monitor. It took 2 970's to run DK2 at high settings, where 1 was somewheres inbetween low and medium. The release Oculus wil in theory require ~ 40-50% more horsepower than DK2 ( 90 hz vs 75 hz, and a higher resolution). I'd recommend waiting for Pascal or AMD's next play.

For your CPU - is it a first gen i5? i.e. core i5-660? if yes you should definitely look at upgrading that. Skylake brings some good latency reductions over previous processors (check out 'frame rating' reviews on the web - PCPer and Techreport, for example). This will help with VR response time. A 2nd gen non-K and non-overclocked i5 might also be something to consider upgrading to skylake. If you're an i5-2500K running at 4 ghz or anything newer you're probably fine.

Thebadmf · Nov 23, 2015

970 is a great card (I have one) but, if you can hang on, I most definitely would. New cards are due around easter next year so, will likely tie in with the launch of the HMD's. There will likely be a significant boost in power as we may see hardware tailored to the needs of VR.

iirc the 970 is the lowest requirement for VR hardware so the additional headroom is needed.

cmdr awesome · Nov 23, 2015

I'm watching this thread with interest. I run a DK2 with a 770 and it's ok but very borderline. I expect that Horizons will not be ok, so I either put VR on hold or upgrade. If I upgrade, there seems little point in going for half measures so 980ti would be my favourite right now.

grammatonfeather · Nov 23, 2015

cmdr awesome said:
I'm watching this thread with interest. I run a DK2 with a 770 and it's ok but very borderline. I expect that Horizons will not be ok, so I either put VR on hold or upgrade. If I upgrade, there seems little point in going for half measures so 980ti would be my favourite right now.

I run a DK2 with 680 but I have 145mhz extra on core and 155mhz extra on vram. i5-2500k at 4.8gh, ram overclocked from 1866 to 2133mhz. What I noticed is that Elite is affected significantly by particular Nvidia drivers.

Most of the previous drivers had some degree of judder with Elite but the latest 358.91 are amazing. Absolutely judder free. I adjust Elite graphic settings to maintain performance. Can't remember what it's set to but it's not on low detail.

callezetter · Nov 24, 2015

cmdr awesome said:
I'm watching this thread with interest. I run a DK2 with a 770 and it's ok but very borderline. I expect that Horizons will not be ok, so I either put VR on hold or upgrade. If I upgrade, there seems little point in going for half measures so 980ti would be my favourite right now.

Dont break you wallet on a 980ti mate. Instead go for the cheapest way to be over Oculus VR spec, until Q2. Like a used 290/290x/970 or similar perf.
Then go all in and buy one of the new cards instead, coming in Q2. You will get close to twice the power for your money in 6-8 months.

Dropping serious cash on a full priced 980ti right now, for something you aim to play in 2016, puts you behind from the start on the GPU lifecycle.

Unless money dont matter ofcourse, a 980ti is a great card. But it will be crushed in Q2.

rennarda · Nov 24, 2015

As with any computer equipment purchase, put off your buying as long as you can - you'll eventually get much more for your money.

The converse is also true - don't put off buying equipment if you need it - it's a false economy.

So that can be summed up as this: the right time to buy computer equipment is as soon as you need it, not any sooner, and not any later

Jigster · Nov 24, 2015

cptdavep said:
If you're looking for an excuse to spend money now buy a 970 and a 4K display, it looks absolutely stunning! Just upgraded this week and the difference from 1080 is phenomenal.

I agree with this. Elite in 4k is stunning!

avow555 · Nov 24, 2015

I am going to wait until an actual production headset is on the shelf with a firm hardware specification before I make a purchase.
Makes sense right