Is an HD7870 2G still worth it?

or is there a better/comparable card with similar/better performance for the price (either out or on the horizon.)

Thanks.

It's an entry level GPU, I couldn't find any site that sells it anymore, but if you could get either the Ghz edition or the 270X both are a bit better.

For the same price/performance you can go with the GTX660 SuperClocked.

I say go for 270X almost the same price and better performance and when mantle is out you can use it .

I see. thanks.

Also should note that the way the prices are on the AMD cards right now needing to spend more then $200 on many of the 7870/270/270x's. Looking at Nvidia's comparable cards should be an option. Because for example many of the 270x's are nearly $240 ranges and Nvidia's GTX 760 which are faster and you can receive AC4 for free are only on average $250.

This has me looking and Nvidia too, which is something I never did as historically AMD was king of price-to-performance.

Need to upgrade my 6950 soon.

For 210$ you can get Gigabyte 270X, I do agree that if you can spend 250$ you should go with GTX760 which can be OC to stock 770

AMD isnt really the king to price to performance, when they have gpu series that beat Nvidia's their prices are higher. Its only when Nvidia has series out that compare and or beat AMD's when AMD cut prices to compete. Its a cycle, AMD comes out with great card then Nvidia does then AMD drop prices to compete and Nvidia does same its a ever going.

It was king of price/peformance with the 270X, 280X and the 290 but they've got jump in prices after a month.

Entry level? Really?

There are plenty of cards faster than the 7870, but the truth of the matter is, it (and comparable Nvidia cards) can still handle any game out there no problems at 1080p, maxed out or damn close. At ~$200 for it or its 270X equivalent it's a very good value. I have two in Crossfire and my system handles everything like a champ.

Yes really, If you concider R7 240,250 or even the 260X as entry levels, you won't survive a year in gaming.

It all depends on what level of graphics you wish to play, how long (year, 2 years, 3 years) your GPU can run games on certain graphics level, which games you wish to play.

If you only wish it to run Quake Live or Diablo 2 LoD the R7 240 would be enough.

You can run Crysis 3 with a 270x at high details http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-11.html. Thats not entry.

The AMD cards are just not worth at this point. Even the 7870 is going for $200+. At this point just spend an extra 50 bucks and get the GTX 760. Mantle does look sweet, but until its actually out there to use, I am really not that worried about it.

False, 270x and 280x are nothing more the rehashed and rebranded 7870XT's and 7970ghz's , and before the 200's release you could pick up those gpu"s for $20-$80 cheaper. AMD pretty much just marked up the retail price and sold them as a "new" gpu series.

You didn't read what I've wrote, that's all nice and pretty, let it handle next year's games on high graphics...

the r9 270x is about the same as the 7870 and can run most games on high or ultra.

To be honest its fringe midrange-entry level. Before AMD raised the price, the 7870 was sitting at $140-160

Its midrange based on architecture/specs that are two years old and its pretty much the lowest thats recommended on these boards if buying for a new system....... (sounds somewhat entry level to me).

Normally a midrange card by standards of two years ago is easily entry level but the reason why the 7870 seems better than that is because games are running and engines that are 2-3 years old (due to the drawn out console cycle).

New engines are about to kick in in the next 4-8 months so I would hardly consider a 7750/7770 entry level (they seem decent now but are going to struggle once new engines come out).

7870 being entry level is far from a crazy statement (midrange based on specs/architecture that's two years old, price is currently inflated, lowest thats recommended for upgrades/new systems, and new engines that are LONG overdue will actually test it).

@PredatorRules:

All 7870s are GHz, at least that I know of. I don't know what the TC means with "2G"

Calling it entry level even in terms of gaming performance is not adequate, it's a mid range GPU, that will probably give you 60fps at high settings with few exceptions

It's a low-mid range GPU that will be suffering running games in the next year.

And not all 7870 are Ghz editions.

@PredatorRules: I don't recall there being a Pitcairn silicon with 20 CUs (7870) being clocked lower than 1000MHz ever (unless they have some weird third-party passive models or something). As far as I know the 7970 was the only card that had a non GHz variant.

Yes, but only Sapphire calls them Ghz Edition.

EDIT: I just realized my whole point is invalid, thank you.

@PredatorRules: No worries, so many GPUs come out it's hard to keep track!

If I recall correctly, they 270 was roughly-ish on par with the 7870 in price before the stupid cryptocoin mining craze jacked the prices from arguably price/performance king to waste-of-money-tier.

The mining craze had nothing to due with the 7870 series GPU (the miners want a Tahiti 7950/7970 or a 290 Hawaii chip, the Pitcairn chip of the 7870 serves them NO purpose).

The 7870ghz where selling for $140-170 for much of 2013 (Feb to October).

AMD re-released the 7870ghz as the 270x in late October and wanted $200-210 for it.......

Not only did the 7870 have nothing to due with mining but the mining boom didn't happen till 5 weeks after the 270x release (the shitty 7870/270x price has nothing to due with mining)

I stand corrected.

Its all good man.

AMD is in a weird situation right now (stock issues even before the mining boom is killing sales and forcing people to buy the stock coolers on the 290 series was retarded). 270X is a mess of a card (they overpriced and overstocked it).

whoa whoa whoa

did not hear about that

i think amd might be dying

Nah there good (they made good money on the console deal and they made good GPU profits during the first half of 2013). They have just had a shitty plan the last 3 months or so.

Regarding the coolers, the R9 290 series came out in late October and AMD did not allow any third party coolers (you could only get the crappy stock cooler). They said third party coolers by end of November and that never happened. They then said third party coolers by Christmas and only one third party cooler was out by then (companies like MSI, XFX, Sapphire....ect did not release third party coolers in 2013 thanks to AMD).

Majority of the third party coolers have been released in the last two weeks (so like 2.5-3 months after launch) which is insane, third party coolers should of been out at launch.......

looks like i'll just grab a 760 instead

270X is a better 7870, a 270X is considered a mid-range GPU. The 7850 would be the "low-mid range GPU", 7950/7970/280X are high-end, I would call the 290/290X enthusiast level.

And yes, all 7870s are GHz, it's called like that because it was the first GPU from AMD to reach 1GHz clock, even before the revised 7970 GHz.

You could say that about a lot of cards... the 7870 2Gb is a 2012 card, but it is by no means a entry-level card and you will find few that agree with you. Entry levels don't play Crysis 3 and BF4 the way it does and call it that, doesn't matter how you slice it. It is capable of knocking at 7950 performance when overclocked. Mantle if it takes off may extend it a bit further.

I just can't call GTX 580/660Ti/7870/R270x class hardware entry level... it would be fair to call it midrange hardware. However, if you mean say entry level for high/max setting @ 1080p then yes the 7870 is the bare minimum.