dual r9 290 reference now or wait for aftermarket?

[takethebiscuit]

So I want to buy 2 x r9 290 cards. I want one to be mining 24/7, the other one for normal use and gaming then only mining if I'm out at work or asleep.

should i buy 2 reference cards now or wait for after market gigabyte windforce versions to be released?

Basically, I've got to consider cost, cos the gigabyte version will have a mark up. Also the fact that they might not arrive until next year, and mining difficulty will have risen by next month. And last of all is the heat issue, I've bought a corsair 800d case and I'm worry 2 r9 290 windforce is going to dump too much heat into case? I think the advantages would be obviously less noise and less throttling and a bit more oc headroom.

 

[humbug]

January, enjoy Christmas and New Year, soon after you get back they will be available.

 

[tommybhoy]

Iirc, the 800D isn't the best air case, if you can't get the hot air out quick enough from non venting custom coolers, reference ones may be better.

Why the need for two?

If you were gaming, wouldn't you be turning mining off altogether?

I don't know the specifics on cost/mining return, but if that was your purchasing reason, wouldn't it be a safer bet paying one off first?

 

[takethebiscuit]

Iirc, the 800D isn't the best air case, if you can't get the hot air out quick enough from non venting custom coolers, reference ones may be better.

Why the need for two?

If you were gaming, wouldn't you be turning mining off altogether?

I don't know the specifics on cost/mining return, but if that was your purchasing reason, wouldn't it be a safer bet paying one off first?

well, i've bought like 6 aftermarket fans for the case to compensate for the lack of airflow, i think i might able to cope with it.

i read that you can set mining to be only running on one gpu. so was hoping to use the other gpus for normal usage.

the thing is i'm worried about difficulty rising, it seems a bit of a gold rush and sort of snooze you lose kind of situation atm. so 2 cards to get as much return as possible.