My gpu sucks after 3 years

I'm getting a new laptop soon. What does everyone suggest for a GPU that won't be trash in the after 3-5 years?

 

What you mean your gpu sucks after 3 years, i can say congrats, you've made it last rather nicely?

For now the latest and greatest is the HD5870, so find a machine with that and you should have some nice lifetime. (Actually if you really wanted to push it, go for an SLI machine, word is alienware are planning on releasing HD5870 x 2 )

 

The reality is, after three years, I'll bet you won't be satisfied with even a top-of-the-line GPU - technology moves so rapidly that it's inevitable that it'll become obsolete. My advice is to buy what you need for right now, and make the most out of it. Choose the laptop that best suits your needs.

 

^ +1

it is better to suit your needs now that to go for future proofing your laptop. Please dont forget that your money also grows when it isnt used today!

 

3-5 years? Get a SLI or Crossfire configuration... for a desktop!!!

Really, 5 years is a very long track.... or you can get a 360 or PS3, for sure their GPUs are not trash after 5 years... it is just that their technology does not increase.

 

Congratulations on lasting your mobile GPU for 3 years. So far in 8 years I've gone through:
Geforce 2 Go, Geforce Go 6800, Geforce Go 7300, ATi Mobility Radeon X1600, Geforce 9500M GS, Geforce 9800M GTS, Geforce GTX 260M and recently an ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870

Personally I've always preferred Nvidia Geforce graphics, because of their driver support, but recently Nvidia has been falling behind, so with my newest notebook purchase I decided to go with an ATi GPU and I'm quite satisfied with it. I would say 5 years is a little pushing it, but if you're looking for something that would last a while then I would recommend either a HD 5850 or 5870. Both of those cards support DirectX 11 and have plenty of horse power to handle most modern task just fine. Although after about 2 years you'll probably end up having to tone done graphical settings in games to achieve optimal performance.

 

I actually am.
I bought in late 2007, and I am more than satisfied with my setup.

 

Not surprised with those dual 8800M GT'X's lol. Probably as good as any single high end card still.

 

Probably even better but only with games that supports and take real advantage of SLI tech.

 

I don't think the op has 8800m gtx's.
MY tech is about 3 years old and i am still happy with it. Only a few games out there that make me turn down the settings a bit. My 1440x900 screen has added some life to my gpu also.

 

Lolz! Sounds like 5 years is asking for way too much. Thanks for the advice, everyone...!

 

I think 3 years is reasonable. If you must play all titles at the highest settings then yeah 2 years probably then.

 

get a ATI 5870.. u can't go wrong but seriously , don't expect any notebook GPU to last 5 years.... 3 is quite reasonable... as for which one to get , u might want to get a crossfire or SLI setup... or u can get a ATI HD 5870... comes in Asus G73 , Sager NP8690 , NP8790 ( is upgradeable GPU so u can replace it later on )... U can also get in in Alienware M17x...

 

Or better yet, spend $1000 to $1200 every 18 months for the latest best bang for the buck gaming lappy (like the Gateway fx, Best Buy Asus G73, etc), and sell your old lappy for $400-$500. That way you're probably not spending any more than a high end quality lappy and get new tech every 18 months or less.

 

Depends when and what you bought. When you got yourself a 7950 GTX when it was being phased out, then I suppose after one year you might already be wanting to upgrade. But if you bought a 8800M GTX when it first came out... I mean, three years later the GTS360M is still only like 10% faster than that card.

I second what the above poster said. That's why I bought an MSI for $1150. And what he said is what I'm going to do.

 

That's typically what I do. Granted I spent about $1500 on my Sager, so hopefully get a little more life out of that, but on the other hand, should get better resale, one would hope. Seems like I've had it forever, but it's only been about 9 months. Problem is, by the time I'm ready to sell / upgrade, Core 2 will be such old hat that it won't fetch that much in resale.

My general rule of thumb is about $750 per year of use. So $1500 for ~2 years gaming, for $3000 maybe an Alienware M17x with Xfire 5870's you should be able to get a good 4 years before having to upgrade.

 

I can only say that 8800 GT desktop card was an awesome purchase 2-3 years ago. As of today it's still going pretty strong, pushing 12k+ on 3DMark06 w/ Core2Duo CPU on 3.0 GHz.

I hope the incoming line of mobility 5870s in crossfire on new m17x can do the same within the next 3 years.

 

It all depends on what kind of laptop you buy and how much you use it. If you buy a gaming machine and tax it heavily, you might get only 3 years out of it. However, I've gotten 7+ years out of a laptop with a discrete GPU that I rarely gamed on.

 

Your resolution has definitely added to your GPU's ''life''. I bet quite a few who went for FullHD didn't even need it but just wanted the maxed spec possible. I went for 1600 x 900 and while still looking great, gives the GPU less work.

 

that's what i said to sean but he want's full HD for his G73, i think for anything under a 20" screen the difference your eyes can register between 1900x1080 and even 1440x900 is pretty minimal.

 

My 8600MGT dell 1530 was brought in Feb 2008 and it played the first modern warfare 1 and 2 well , little slow on crysis. Plays BF Bad Company 2 OK . However GTA4 NY is just too slow . Havent played just cause 2 yet , tried a freinds copy on my dell and did the fraps test , average score was 5 frames/sec so its time for an upgrade. was thinking of a desktop but now will might go back to the m17x for the HD5870 as i prefer laptops, . So my 8600M GT lasted just over two years for a card that came out mid 2007 , good results for a mid range card. Amazing that ATI has overtaken Nvidia at the moment , I was waiting for Nvidia Fermi GTX 400M series but the reviews have not been too positive (cards get way to hot) for minimal gain.

 

Hmm, three years is pretty good, but honestly, the sheer lack of games pushing high end GPUs, a high end graphics system from 4 of 5 years ago still is extremely applicable to many popular games. In fact I bought a new Sony Vaio CW series today. It's got a Geforce 310M 256 MB in it. Sure you may scoff at it, but the only real gaming requirement I have of it is the ability to play BF2 maxed out with no AA at 1366 x 768. It'll probably be able to pull 2x AA and still maintain 60 fps. Have yet to test it.

 

Yea, but install Project Reality mod and see how well it'll handle that. I'm curious to see how much better the Geforce 310M is from the previous gen 210M.

 

Well I'm installing BF2 right now, and I might install PR though it's one pain in the butt. A real BF2 related test would be the AIX mod on the map "Operation Greasy Mullet" (lol) which has the draw distance set to 2500 meters. Not too sure how far PR2's longest draw distance maxes out at, but I know that one specific Afghanistan level is easily 2 miles+. If I'm going to install a BF2 mod, I'll definitely go through the trouble for Forgotten Hope 2 as like PR2, comes in an install package + level package, though much smaller (1 GB for each package IIRC).

On topic though, I think my point is that what games you play can and should affect a choice. I got this machine because it had a nice set of features for the price, meets my needs, and looks nice while doing it. I can play all my high end games on my desktops. My graphical focus for the Sony here is being able to max out BF2 with high FPS. I'll most certainly do 3DMark benches as well as benches other games like CSS, HL2, and CoD2. I've already sent a request to do a review on this CW series.

 

Well in my opinion it seems like over the last couple of years we've gotten to a point where the graphics hardware has caught up to games.Even a 8800m can still run most of today's games at high settings.And I honestly don't see that changing too much anytime soon until the next generation of consoles come out. (Times have change and as many of us know developers are more focused on console development than PC development these days ie: (Piracy...),So that probably has contributed too the reason why graphics cards now have longer lifespans.As developers are not gonna develop a game that's too powerfull to run on consoles due too hardware limitations.) Theirs a reason why after 3 years no game has reach the graphical level of Crysis...

 

I heared that Crysis II is coming out later on this year maybe for xmas - TRUE OR FALSE ??

 

Hang on got this from Wikipedia

Crysis 2 is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek, published by Electronic Arts, due for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2010. It is the sequel to the 2007 video game Crysis and its spin-off, Crysis Warhead.[1] The story was written by author Richard Morgan.[2] It will be the first game to showcase the CryEngine 3 development engine. A one minute teaser was released during Electronic Arts' E3 2009 conference.[3] A trailer was released in the 2009 Game Developers Conference, showing footage from the new CryEngine 3 [4]. On April 9th, a trailer named "The Wall" was released which announced the release date of 'Holiday 2010'.[5]

 

Supposedly Crysis 2 will have lower system requirements. I don't think that'll translate to anything different on the box as far as system needs go, but I certainly expect the game to run better than the first for whatever common level of graphics may be set.

 

I hope that it continues on from the first game(s) and provides some answers and also goes on for a little bit longer. There is nothing like a good long story line to get you into it , especially a FPS. Crysis wasnt long enough and similar games like Modern Warfare 1 and 2 and dismally short single player campaigns. Too focused on multi player.

 

Apparently the Fermi Nvidia 4XXM series will be faster than the HD5870 when released in the summer. Problem is the desktop versions have a serious heat issue , so they have to solve that for laptops.
I will not wait for the 4XXM , ATI's new card seems great to take me to the next level of gaming for the next 4 years regardless of new Direct X updates

 

Technology just moves way too friggen fast. The hardware flies up so when the developers are programming PC games they tend to overindulge. I bet you if they really wanted they could get the Crysis quality visuals running 30+ FPS minimum (on 1920x1080/1200) on the 5870 right now. But why optimize and use clean codes when a brand new gpu with 4gb of DDR7 that will double the performance of the newest stuff in 6 months?

*sigh* and this is why console gaming is so strong. PC gaming just lacks consistency and reliable support.

 

Sony and MS had to lose a considerable amount of money to get where they are now. Sony still has yet to make a profit off of the PS3. MS is certainly profitable with the 360 but one bad move and it could all come tumbling down. No one seems to think about that, and that is a big factor into why I think there will always be a place for PC gaming. Not only for pushing the envelope because investment can be recovered for top of the line technology but because it's a business that is needed for reasons other than recreation. PC gaming really can't die as long as PCs are needed. Sure new games may start to trickle in, but we have a huge backlog to play already, and the PC always is the best place for independent developers to aspire. No royalties, no BS.