I would, if I were you and I could. There are things you can skimp on- you can buy a decently small hard drive, for example, and add more storage later, or build a computer with 4GB RAM, and add to taste. Some things, like processors, it actually makes good sense to buy good-but-not-best. I buy AMD chips, myself, because I get most of the performance of a top-end Intel chip for half the cost or less.
Thing is, with graphics cards, buying big is usually just as good a plan as any, if not better.
Look at your options. You can buy a basic to midrange card (like a Geforce 520-560) and plan on replacing it in X number of years, or do the same thing, and plan on adding a second (and maybe third) one later. The upside is that you pay less up front, and you can improve on your rig when you need to. You lose on performance (which isn't as big a deal for you- like you said, CoH and the like aren't graphics hogs), but you also face more problems with compatibility. Back when I used SLI, I found myself either trolling forums to find SLI profiles for new games, or waiting for new drivers. Heck, I just built a rig at work, benchmarked it, and then dropped a second graphics card in it for laughs. It actually performed WORSE than it did with one card, most likely because the benchmarking software wasn't built to handle more than one. It can also be hard to find another card like yours when the time comes, especially if you bought one pre-overclocked.
If you buy a bigger card, you pay more right now. You also get a better gaming rig right now, and down the road. I bought a GTX 280 back in July 2008, when it came out. Almost three and a half years later, it still can play nearly anything I get at high settings. I could probably get another year out of it, if I wanted to, and I have high standards. A 260 wouldn't give me that sort of longevity.
Really, you can do well either way, but I think the best way to get value for money is to buy the biggest card you can, and use it until it doesn't do the job any longer.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
Thing is, with graphics cards, buying big is usually just as good a plan as any, if not better.
Look at your options. You can buy a basic to midrange card (like a Geforce 520-560) and plan on replacing it in X number of years, or do the same thing, and plan on adding a second (and maybe third) one later. The upside is that you pay less up front, and you can improve on your rig when you need to. You lose on performance (which isn't as big a deal for you- like you said, CoH and the like aren't graphics hogs), but you also face more problems with compatibility. Back when I used SLI, I found myself either trolling forums to find SLI profiles for new games, or waiting for new drivers. Heck, I just built a rig at work, benchmarked it, and then dropped a second graphics card in it for laughs. It actually performed WORSE than it did with one card, most likely because the benchmarking software wasn't built to handle more than one. It can also be hard to find another card like yours when the time comes, especially if you bought one pre-overclocked.
If you buy a bigger card, you pay more right now. You also get a better gaming rig right now, and down the road. I bought a GTX 280 back in July 2008, when it came out. Almost three and a half years later, it still can play nearly anything I get at high settings. I could probably get another year out of it, if I wanted to, and I have high standards. A 260 wouldn't give me that sort of longevity.
Really, you can do well either way, but I think the best way to get value for money is to buy the biggest card you can, and use it until it doesn't do the job any longer.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.