looking for some upgrade advice. thing of going from 1080p to 1440p

Redfox25

Hi. Currently at 1080p gaming and its good. Got a hankering for upgrading to 1440p as i dont think i could stretch to 4k gaming for another while.
Current games
Watchdogs
Wow
Eve online
Rift
Rome 2 & attila
Total war
Thinking of arma 3and similar later.

I5 4690k @ 4.5
Gigabyte gaming 5 mobo
750w evga gold psu
7870xt 2gb (needs upgrade i think)
23 inch lg flatron ips 1080p monitor
Merc alpha case. Has 5 fans atm. Slight overkill perhaps.(Might need a case with better airflow for upgraded gpu)

Plan on having a new 1440p monitor and the option of keeping the 23 inch for non gaming work in background.

No budget as im going to do this upgrade in next 6-8 weeks. Would like to keep spending realistic if possible. No sli titans please.

Thanks in advance chaps

Digital Solitude

Single R9 390X is fairly good at 1440p, 980Ti is better but costs a lot more. Have a google at benchmarks and see which you'd prefer to shoot for.

platinums

is there much difference in a R9 390X and a R9 390? Apart from the ~€150 price increase?

Not that much difference on paper it seems minor improvements.

Simi

An R9 290 is a good starting point. They have been going for as little as £200 recently. Very little difference, between the 290/290X & the 390/390X. All depends on how much you want to spend really.

Edit: Actually this 290X is still £200 from amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/ol/B00HHIPN5A/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Digital Solitude

If you're making the jump to 1440p then I wouldn't bother starting with a 290/290X unless you've a tight budget

€80-100 difference when you're spending that money is worth the jump for a 390X imo, plus the better cooling and lower TDP as a bonus

Gumbi

Digital Solitude wrote: »

If you're making the jump to 1440p then I wouldn't bother starting with a 290/290X unless you've a tight budget

€80-100 difference when you're spending that money is worth the jump for a 390X imo, plus the better cooling and lower TDP as a bonus

The difference clock for clock is less than 5% (2-3% really). It's a better idea to get a quality 290 aftermarket and overclock it to 1150mhz IMO abd pocket the spare change for another 290 down the line or some such.

I'd recommend a 290 Powercolor PCS, TriX (new edition to avoid some of the issues of the original) or a VaporX model - all great coolers/clockers and available for good prices, much cheaper thsn the marginally faster 390X.

Redfox25

Thanks for the feedback bit folks.
Think i might have to push this upgrade off for a while.
Any 1440p monitor seems to circa 450 euro and add a gpu for another 200 ish.

Think i will get a 290 or 290x and rock out 1080p for now and leave myself able to add another later when i move.
Will 750 w run two 290's or is that pushing it?
Would i be better using 2 970's instead?

Redfox25

I went ahead and bought the xfx 290x for 199stg last night. Should be a good boost up.
Thanks folks for your help.
Now to keep an eye out for a monitor.

Gumbi

Redfox25 wrote: »

I went ahead and bought the xfx 290x for 199stg last night. Should be a good boost up.
Thanks folks for your help.
Now to keep an eye out for a monitor.

Fantastic value for money! Can you let me/us know how the VRM temps are after a run of Heaven? I have heard the VRMs get a bit warm on that card (nothing to worry about, just limits overclocking).

Either way, you got superb value for money with that card.

Redfox25

I see a Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 290X Vapor-X Tri-X GDDR5 going for 206 stg . Would i be correct in thinking this would be a better card to the xfx one?

EoinHef

Redfox25 wrote: »

I see a Sapphire AMD Radeon R9 290X Vapor-X Tri-X GDDR5 going for 206 stg . Would i be correct in thinking this would be a better card to the xfx one?

Yes,probably has the best cooler of the lot. One of the best at least. PowerColor PCS+ also has a very good cooler. Make sure you have room in your case aswell if you are getting any of these. There large cards

Redfox25

Case is a bitfenix merc alpha which lists clearance at 12.5 inches. Should be ok for these.
That sapphire card is in amazon warehouse so might leave it as the warranty will be reduced.
Thanks EoinHef