Best GPU upgrade for under 300 Euro for 2560x1440 Res

dark_jedi_ire

Hi Guys,

Well its getting to the stage now I can finally upgrade my graphics card/cards,

After upgrading my PC over the summer(thanks Bloodbath) and moving to a Dell 27" 2560x1440 monitor, I didnt have at the time enough to upgrade from my 1Gb 6870 so instead I got another and crossfired them, they are working well,

But its time I moved on,, What is the best card for under 300 Euro that I should go for (looking at the R8 280)???? is it worth still crossfiring/SLI two cards? with that Resolution? Games Wise Im looking at BF4 and Batman etc and SWTOR, need something that will last me a few years, and not have to worry about it, Would generally be looking at the 3GB cards for a single card, if thats wise?

My Rig is
8GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s
CPU-I5 4670K
Motherboard-MSI Z87-G45-GAMING
PSU XFX ProSeries (XXX Edition) 750W Power Supply Unit
GPU Currently 2x xfx Radeon 6870 (crossfire)
All I can afford for a While.
Dell 27" Ultrasharp U2713HM
Case Zalman z9

Thanks Guys,

markbreen17

I have an r9 280x myself and while I only game at 1080p, it runs perfectly. I looked up the benchmarks for 1440p and the card is well capable of producing playable frame rates, you could always add another one down the road if needs be. The 3gb memory really makes a difference when you're getting into those high resolutions

dark_jedi_ire

Thanks Which Model did you go for,

Just checking amazon and there are so many different options?

Genghiz Cohen

If you can hold off for an Asus Direct CU II or a MSI Twin Frozr that might be a good idea, unless it's going under water.

markbreen17

I went for the MSI twin frozr, 300 euro delivered from dabs.ie, I believe its even cheaper now (277+ 7 delivery).

EoinHef

Im gonna throw a spanner in the works here and say hold off and save up till you can get something in the region of a r9 290(non x version) or a gtx 780. I only say this as the games you mentioned are quite demanding, especially at 1440p. These cards are good single card solutions for 1440p from the benchmarks ive seen. Also when I say the 290 I mean the non reference design coolers when they come out,not the reference ones available now. Would also give you time to save a few more quid.

I know its over budget and you may not want to wait and in that case go for the 280x but you will not be playing current games like the ones you suggested at 60fps without turning down a good few settings. Never mind games from a year from now.

Just my 2c anyway

dark_jedi_ire

Thanks EoinHef

Why the non x version? I could go with the r9 280 for now and in six months get another and crossfire?

What time Scale do you think it will take for the price to come down of The 290? The cheapest I have seen it is 379

And I take this is the version you mean?

http://www.hardwareversand.de/4096+MB/121356/Gigabyte+Radeon+R9+290%2C+4GB+DDR5%2C+PCI-Express.article

I dont mind holding off for a while

In Real terms I could order the one above in Jan... if its what you would recommend of the r9 280 and the way to expensive 780

Thanks

EoinHef

Id say the non x version of the R9 290 because its quite close between it and the 290x performance wise so no point spending more on the x version for little gain imo.

The 290 has 4GB of VRAM also which would help with the higher resolution,and that VRAM also has wider memory bus so should also be better for higher resolutions(512-Bit vs 384-Bit on the 280X)

The card you linked has the AMD reference cooler on it,when i was saying wait,it was for the non reference designs. I mean like the MSI Twin Frozer,Asus Direct CU,Gigabyte Windforce etc etc. Although the card you linked is branded Gigabyte it still has the AMD cooler on it,the non reference coolers should give the card better performance/OC headroom than the AMD cooler. And also be quieter! Hopefully be out early next year.


I have 2 7950's (the card the r9 280's are replacing) in crossfire that both have an overclock of 1075 on the core and 1500 on the memory and im getting similar performance to a GTX 780,maybe a little higher. So performance wise you should be fine with 2xR9 280's(or 2x280X's if you wanted to spend a bit more in the long run). But not every game supports crossfire or has decent crossfire support on release,on some games its like i have only one card. Skyrim and Saints Row The Third being examples,these are issues you wont run into with a single card solution so thats why i just wanted to say to make sure to consider all options before buying. But im sure you know this as you already have a crossfire setup.

I feel your pain,powering these 1440p monitors is expensive!!


Heres a few reviews to have a look at,there for the R9 290 but it doesnt really matter,its the benchmarks you should be looking at,give you an idea comparison wise of the performance of the type of cards your looking at. The only one thats not on the benchmarks is the GTX 780ti but thats a LOT more expensive. You will see the 280X is not quite sufficent on its own at 1440p,so adding an extra one down the road would be needed id say to keep you playing at max settings for the next while,otherwise its lowering settings on the more demanding games to get a solid 60fps


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659.html


http://www.anandtech.com/show/7481/the-amd-radeon-r9-290-review

TheTacticsGuy

Have a look at this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-324-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1842

dark_jedi_ire

Thanks Eoinhef for taking the time to Respond and With all that information,
Yes I will wait for the non reference R 9 290 and maybe at a later point Crossfire them, but at least now I have an idea what Im Aiming at,

Any ideas on the time scale of when these Non reference cooler editions come out usually?

Thanks for the Links,,Interesting reading,,

Genghiz Cohen

Rumours that you can flash the 290 to the 290x.

EoinHef

dark_jedi_ire wrote: »

Thanks Eoinhef for taking the time to Respond and With all that information,
Yes I will wait for the non reference R 9 290 and maybe at a later point Crossfire them, but at least now I have an idea what Im Aiming at,

Any ideas on the time scale of when these Non reference cooler editions come out usually?

Thanks for the Links,,Interesting reading,,

No problem.

Sapphire announced this yesterday so hopefully not too long,this quote is from tomshardware:

Furthermore, while no details were provided, Sapphire has announced that in the coming weeks it will be coming out with various different R9-290 graphics cards built on its own designs, with better cooling solutions. If you're in the market for an R9-290 card, you're probably better off waiting for custom cards to come out

Heres a link to the article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/sapphire-bios-r9-290-amd-powertune,25202.html

dark_jedi_ire

Excellent

Once again, Thanks