Upgrade Advice

S

Sheza

New member
Hi,

4 months break from Uni and my Steam account is calling. Only problem is, it's been a while since I did some PC Gaming and I fear my 560Ti is now a little old for the AAA games. I've also upgraded to a 1440p monitor.

In addition, my 560Ti seems happy to hit upwards of 80 degrees when playing games and it's starting to piss me off how loud and hot it's getting.

With that in mind, having been out of the loop for a while I'm keen to hear your advice for a new card. I'm looking in the range 200-260 ish. That puts me in GTX 970 territory I believe, though I'm wondering if there's a better option available? I've got no clue about AMD cards at all.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my ramblings!
 
I would reconemnd you look into the 290/290x from AMD. You should be able to find some lightning editions for around that price.

Wouldnt really recommend the 970 for 1440p.
 
Seeing as AMD are bringing new cards out very soon why not wait as the R9 290's are getting rare to find if not try looking for a Sapphire Vapor-X R9 290x they are very good mine doesn't go over 70C under load
 
Tolemac said:
Seeing as AMD are bringing new cards out very soon why not wait as the R9 290's are getting rare to find if not try looking for a Sapphire Vapor-X R9 290x they are very good mine doesn't go over 70C under load
Click to expand...

Any idea how soon is 'soon' ?

I see the 290x Vapor-X on Amazon for £285 and the 290 for £272. The 290 is £276 on Overclockers. How are those prices?
 
Sheza said:
Any idea how soon is 'soon' ?

I see the 290x Vapor-X on Amazon for £285 and the 290 for £272. The 290 is £276 on Overclockers. How are those prices?
Click to expand...

Early june soon. To be fair they're very good cards indeed and unless you want to spend a large chunk on a new GPU you're not going to miss out on THAT much.
 
Guess I will hold off for a little bit then - I'll have a greater idea of my finances in a couple of weeks time as well. The prices may drop after the new cards are announced?
 
I got my Vapor-x from Aria for £275 so the prices they are quoting are quite good seeing as OCUK wanted £325 for the Vapor-x

Edit the 290X cards are running off the shelves atm to make way for the 300 series I took some peeps advice and went Sapphire as they make the reference cards for AMD
 
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Seems like it's a steal at £240 then, I'd definitely go with that!

Link here.

EDIT: do note, it does get hot, especially when overclocked.
 
Only problem is I think I may be an inch short for the Vapor-X and a centimetre or two short for the DirectCU II in my case. I reckon I could fit it in if I cut the HDD cage, as I only have one HDD and can mount it out of the way of the graphics card. Would this be okay?

EDIT: And seems cheaper at Aria at £227 ?
 
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Sheza said:
Only problem is I think I may be an inch short for the Vapor-X and a centimetre or two short for the DirectCU II in my case. I reckon I could fit it in if I cut the HDD cage, as I only have one HDD and can mount it out of the way of the graphics card. Would this be okay?
Click to expand...
You should be able to do that yeah. It does void your warranty though, just something to keep in mind.

Judging on the inside of the case, you're going to need to cut some of the 5.25" bays too. That shouldn't be a problem either, but just keep that in mind.

I'm not a modder by any stretch of the imagination though
 
AverageNinja said:
You should be able to do that yeah. It does void your warranty though, just something to keep in mind.

Judging on the inside of the case, you're going to need to cut some of the 5.25" bays too. That shouldn't be a problem either, but just keep that in mind.
Click to expand...

Warranty of the card or the case? The case is very old as it is, so I don't mind.
 
I am surprised that you are lacking space for those cards in the CM Storm Scout, that is the case you are installing this into correct?

Not sure how much you are going to be able to spend but the new 390 cards that use the HBM memory should be shorter. We only guess at this since we have only seen pictures so nothing official.
 
Tolemac said:
Well OCUK has better customer service though mate when you are spending a chunk of money like you are it's best to go the "safe" option as for your case it only fits 270mm cards so you would have to do a bit of modding there :)

EDIT:also scan have them with free delivery at that price
http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/gpu-amd/radeon-r9-290x-pci-e-(2816-streams)
Click to expand...
Was just about to mention Scan yeah. Good prices for this card it seems.

magicc8ball said:
I am surprised that you are lacking space for those cards in the CM Storm Scout, that is the case you are installing this into correct?

Not sure how much you are going to be able to spend but the new 390 cards that use the HBM memory should be shorter. We only guess at this since we have only seen pictures so nothing official.
Click to expand...
That is the case I have yes. I initially judged by looking at the 560Ti that's in there, but then just went with the FAQ which suggests max length of 10.6 inches, of which the R9 290 cards are longer.
 
Sheza said:
That is the case I have yes. I initially judged by looking at the 560Ti that's in there, but then just went with the FAQ which suggests max length of 10.6 inches, of which the R9 290 cards are longer.
Click to expand...

Wow I guess I just never noticed that the 290x cards are longer...

Is it the 1st gen storm scout of the storm scout 2? changes one how you can MOD it.
 
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