
The GTX970 can be somewhat forgotten amongst the range-topping GPU releases. We look at one which promises everything on one card.
Zotac GTX970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition Review
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I miss these performance graphs to include a few older cards for comparison.
Most people who are looking to upgrade, have something they upgrade *from*. That card, i bet, i usually missing.
Obviously not all cards can nor should be on a list, but adding 4-5 of the past 3-4 years big sellers would go a looooong way as to give people a feel for what they would gain by upgrading.
By having only <1 year only cards on the list it it likely that none with these cards are already looking to upgrade.
The GTX970 should be on performance graphs for the next several years because of the numbers bought.
Well that will be a huge pain as youed have to get those old cards out and retest them as you cant realy use old bench tests because cards have gotten better with newer drivers so it wouldn't be very accurate.
TBH some older cards work better with newer drivers![]()
@cooperman : I would settle for old cards to be included in 1 or 2 measurements. For instance a popular current game (GTA 5?) and one quick-to-run benchmark (Vally ?). And retesting would only have to happen when the test platform changes.
it's simply information I feel I am often missing when I ask "so what do *I* gain if I where to upgrade to this card"
TBH some older cards work better with newer drivers![]()
If only we had the time for such fancies. Sourcing old cards, fresh install and running benchmarks is at least a days work. Given the choice between showing you how much better off you'd be dumping your GTX480 for a GTX970 (hint, loads) or just reviewing new stuff, well it's time that can be spent giving you new content.
Also, if you're curious how an upgrade would suit you, just run one of our benchmarks yourself on your current system. Sure the CPUs and stuff are different, but nearly every gaming test is so GPU dependant that it's close enough. Unigine is free. Alien versus Predator (a test we've dropped because of its age) is a free benchmark. 3DMV near enough. I don't mean that negatively. Just you have your system and we have a certain system. Knowing how a card you don't own compares doesn't matter, and a card you do own you can do your own apples-to-apples homework on
As for things we've tested recently not appearing on the graph it's for legibility. It's either cut off above (like Wednesday's review will be) or cut off below (like a 980Ti SLI review). Comparing a R9 270 to a Fury X is fairly meaningless for everyone concerned because we all know how it will do.
I hope that's shed some light on why really old hardware doesn't appear. Our old 970 system with a Samsung HDD will hardly be a meaningful comparison to anything, especially as modern cards destroy older games. You only need to look at the Alien Isolation or Sniper Elite scores to see how powerful modern graphics cards are. Unless you've got a R9 something or a GTX7xx then it's always worthy upgrading - if you've got the money - without a second thought.
Okay, back to it.