Hi guys.

I'm looking to upgrade my Graphics card. I have a nVidia 670 right now.

What kind of price range can I get for around 300 euros?

Should I just hold out a bit longer when next generate comes out and the 7 series is cheaper?

 

Are you sure that you want to upgrade your GPU? The 670 is still quite a good video card.

 

So I would basically have to spend 450+ to see a noticeable increase?

 

I just want higher FPS and better settings really. To get 60 on Arma 3 I need to go to high. Same for BF4.

Is this a good card / price ?

 

There is only a small improvement from a 670 to a 770. It's incremental. There is a much more noticeable improvement if you go with a 780, but even then it's not all that much.

If you want to target BF4 and Arma 3, then it's best to see what those communities recommend. That goes double for Arma 3 because that whole series uses a clunky engine and you're better off making sure that your gear works well with it at the extreme graphics end of things. SLI/Crossfire might apply here.

 

For BF4 at least, the difference between ultra and low is pretty insignificant. Also, most people I know who can use Ultra settings don't - the extra visual clutter makes it harder to see enemies.

Can't say much about ARMA though.

 

Cheers guys, I'v decided to stick with my current card. No point in spending a ton of money for a slight increase.

I broke my headphones today. Plastic just snapped when I dropped them. They were old and I was looking to upgrade anyways.

I'v been looking at SteelSeries 7H and Logitech G430 .

Hard to find them at a good price in Euros/Ireland though.

I'm looking for something that has 5.1 or 7.1 virtual surround sound, mic is preferred but not needed.

 

Personally, I'm not a fan of gaming headsets. They tend to not have the greatest sound quality, and you can usually get a better-sounding pair of headphones for the same price. Virtual surround sound is a bit gimmicky IMO - I've tried it in a couple iterations, and it just ends up sounding weird. There are 3rd party applications that you can install to get it without buying a headset though - some sound cards have it (Creative SoundBlaster Z, Asus Xonar DG to name a couple), and Razer has a free standalone application that does it as well.

 

What would you reccomend in the same price range?

 

The Creative Aurvana Live! is probably ones of the best deals for ~$70 (dunno what the price across the pond will be though). A commonly recommended inexpensive option is the Superlux HD668b/681 Evo (or it's closely-related cousin the Samson SR850).

The least-expensive headset that I've seen recommended from an audio standpoint is the Skullcandy SLYR ($80).

 

Is virtual surround sound 7.1 gimmicky or worthwhile?

 

I had a look online and I'm not sure.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3087172
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1735833/surround-sound-headset.html
https://community.callofduty.com/message/103627699
http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/213f5a/are_surround_sound_headphones_a_gimmick/

You'll have to follow links and try some of their tests [especially in the reddit link] to decide for yourself.

 

I've tried a couple of virtual surround options. Razer Surround is free to try (you get basic functionality for free, then you can unlock customization controls for $20), and SBX Surround was included with my sound card.

Razer Surround made a very audible difference, but it had really bad clipping problems with music and I couldn't find any way to turn it off without disabling the audio device in Windows. To be fair, I only tried it for a couple hours, and the clipping issues could have been conflict between the software and my sound card. Since this is free to try, I'd suggest at least giving it a shot before you buy a headset just for the virtual surround features (most with that option aren't that great).

SBX Surround is less noticeable, but does make a difference as well. I use it from time to time, but I generally prefer the card's "Scout Mode" for gaming, at least in FPSes.

 

Hmm. Thanks guys. I think I'll go with a good pair of Stereo headphones.

The more I research the more it seems that 'gaming' headsets, and head sets in general are just a waste of money. Charging a premium price for a lesser product.

 

Exaclty right. Another thing that's unneeded and pretty much a waste of money are internal sound cards. Never get one of those, since you most likely won't be able to tell a difference (professional external solutions might make some difference however). Also, you don't need virtual surround if the game has proper headphone support (it's called binaural audio/recording). Here's another good example (besides the one on reddit) of how binaural audio can make surround work on any headphones and even earbuds (obviously doesn't really work with speakers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA

 

This is not 100% correct. Some onboard sound solutions are indistinguishable from some sound cards. Others are terrible and you can immediately tell the difference. And while a high-end USB sound solution will often give you better performance, it's not compatible with all games (most notably, anything that uses the Source engine). I've used onboard sound, a USB DAC, an internal sound card, and now am using the sound card linked to an external box via toslink. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages.