£300 available for gfx card

[Chadwokie]

Hey guys i havent posted in LONG time... pretty much when i built this machine about 3 1/2 4 years ago (back when kinect was called natal lol)

I have decided its about time to start thinking about upgrading.

Currently my system is as follows

gigabyte x58a-ud3r
i7 930
6gb ram
hd 5970

so my 1st "knee jerk" thought was buy a new gfx card (Im currently favouring a r9 290 tho very torn over other options on card possibly a 770 most likely overkill but id like it to last)

in all honesty iv never been fussed between ati and nvidia tho i do have dislike catalyst and ati drivers (i had to endure courser fragmentation with some bug ati and win 7 had for a HUGE time)

currently my hd 5970 doesnt seem to do anything with phys x and im interested if phys x should be in my considerations on nvidia or ati? or if my current cpu can handle it (im thinking if mantle will even be able to be supported on my cpu)

the next is if i do get a big ass gfx card will be it be wasted running on my current set up.

also id like to apologise that this is rather similar to some recent posts of what graphics card is best or what to choose. i just feel a little lost having taking long break hardware.

thanks for reading

(i might be able to squeeze a few lemons more into the budget)

 

[Gamepro105]

Hello! 4 years ago that was an amazing system!

the ?R9 290 would be worth waiting a little longer for due to it currently runs stupidly hot so unless you are water cooling it would be advised to wait until the hopefully bring out custom coolers for it!

physics wise i don't think there's a huge difference i think that the r9 can brute force anything about at the minute its an amazing card and i don't think your i7 will be to bad to match up to it but you might want to consider upgrading to a hasswel, the most for gaming you really need is an i5, i7 are a little extreme (obviously upgrade the motherboard accordingly). as far as i can tell as long as its ddr 3 ram the most you will need is 8GB at this current point so you may want to add in an extra 2gb or something (1333+) Good luck!

 

[NeverBackDown]

Mantle is up to your GPU more than the CPU so it should not be a big problem.

As said above i would wait on the 290. Supposed to come out with aftermarket coolers by mid Jan.
Also a 280x is faster than a 770 so if you want to save quite a bit of money go that route.

AMD drivers are far better these days. I have had no problems with my 7950 ever. The driver vs driver battle is mute now. Now its who can provide better performance boost in this game or that game.

 

[Chadwokie]

Yeh i was thinking id have to wait for r9 290 with a better cooling system not just for the heat but i hear the stock ones can be a bit loud (tho i guess thats relative) but atm my hd5970 is water cooled and sharing the loop with the cpu (i dont know if that would be something id need to consider if i water cooled a 290)

i havent even started looking at hasswel chips n mobos (i think id end up getting one of those conveniant bundles if i could find a reasonable one maybe for a xmas pressy)

since iv gone to win 8 (and i only went to win8 to solve the problem) im very happy to say my curser hasnt fragmented

i did look at the 280x but (and i know this is a little silly) the 280x is 7970 (correct me if im wrong and im generalising obviously its improved) and the "next gen" consoles are using something similar to 7970s i think? and i want to grin at my friends so happy with there consoles thinking about my fat gfx card

 

[NeverBackDown]

I see no reason to go for a 290 pre flashed to a 290x then slap on a waterblock? Would be a a good way to go since you already have a loop setup.

7970 is a 280x or vice versa. However a 280x is faster due to a higher end/faster memory chip. It is noticeable and look in any benchmark and you will see it is quite a bit faster and even sometimes biting at the heels of a 780.

Consoles use amd gpus and cpus. Which is the "apu" marketed term. Use GCN gpu architecture and x86 cpu architecture which allows for easy porting and better overall quality(performance/visuals). PS4 is using 7870 silicon but is downgraded to perform in the middle of a 7850 and 7870. Xbone is using a 7790 but not quite as fast clocks and such. So yes a performance boost in the end but will only see that after another year or two before it comes into play.

 

[Chadwokie]

I see no reason to go for a 290 pre flashed to a 290x then slap on a waterblock?

sorry fella im not understanding what you mean? as far as tinkering under the hood im pretty much a virgin other than telling the bios my ssd is the boot drive and installing windows iv not come any where close to overclocking (never had the need till now) pre flashed? and the 290x's iv seen are £420 sadly out of my budget.

 

[NeverBackDown]

290 pre flashed to a 290x bios-- unlocks all the cores and etc so a 290 becomes a 290x for a cheaper price.

 

[Chadwokie]

ah i see easy to do?

 

[NeverBackDown]

Well looks like they are no longer available after searching around for them. Shame. Well a 290 is still a great way to go!

 

[Chadwokie]

ok so im still undecided and if it makes it worse my options seem to have grown :S

1st option wait to mid jan and look at getting a r9 290 with a non stock cooler around £380

2nd get a stock r9 290 now £310

3rd stock r9 290 and put a water block in it my self around £390 (and would void the warranty i assume?)

4th stock r9 290x £420 (tho i dont think the extra £110 is worth it i could be wrong)

4.5 wait till mid jan for a r9 290 non stock cooler card £390

5th gigabyte/msi (no idea which ones best) gtx 780 non stock card £380

so like a proper pansy my hesitation is based on a couple of things

1 i dont want to be 6/12months down the road wishing id gone for amd because mantle works.

2.... the only ati card iv had has had a driver issue where the curser defragments and it drives me batty!

3 the heat and noise of a stock r9 card

4 not a huge consideration as i dont buy a card for the free games but i do have bf4 and the games with a 780 i would actually play all 3 of them that being said in 6months time they will be on steam for less than £10 most likely

5th the look of the card doesnt matter as the window on my case sadly has to face the wall

i know logically i should wait and see what the non stock coolers are like....... but the chances of that are slim i hope to be thinking about a new mobo/cpu/ram by the end of jan