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HD 7990 or a R9 290 for longevity at 2560x1440?

almighty15

almighty15

almighty15

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My Sapphire 290 will be back from RMA on Monday but I've had the chance to swap it for a 7990.

Now I know in flat out terms the 7900 is the faster card and can be by some margin depending on the game, the problem is VRAM, 4Gb vs 3Gb.

Watch Dogs has shown how 3Gb cards can choke at 2560x1440 with the settings on maximum.

I know that as time goes by the VRAM requirements for games will go higher and higher as the base line for memory now has been raised with the release of the new consoles.

I use a mini ITX system so if I went with the 290 I couldn't crossfire a second card in the future.

Both cards will be watercooled and overclocked to there maximum.

I am truly stumped on what to do.

R290 or 7990 :confused:
 
almighty15 said:
My Sapphire 290 will be back from RMA on Monday but I've had the chance to swap it for a 7990.

Now I know in flat out terms the 7900 is the faster card and can be by some margin depending on the game, the problem is VRAM, 4Gb vs 3Gb.

Watch Dogs has shown how 3Gb cards can choke at 2560x1440 with the settings on maximum.

I know that as time goes by the VRAM requirements for games will go higher and higher as the base line for memory now has been raised with the release of the new consoles.

I use a mini ITX system so if I went with the 290 I couldn't crossfire a second card in the future.

Both cards will be watercooled and overclocked to there maximum.

I am truly stumped on what to do.

R290 or 7990 :confused:
Click to expand...

IMO the answer is an easy one. Stick with the 290. More vram and when you need more power you can xfire and still have that vram buffer.

If you go 7990 it maybe more powerful now, but wont last you as long and it will be a short term solution.
 
opethdisciple said:
IMO the answer is an easy one. Stick with the 290. More vram and when you need more power you can xfire and still have that vram buffer.

If you go 7990 it maybe more powerful now, but wont last you as long and it will be a short term solution.
Click to expand...

Read my first post again, 4th line from the bottom :p
 
7990 would be my choice I think if 290 was using over 3gb of v ram it would be unplayable any way but the 7990 will have enough power to fill all its vram and with mantle it registers it as 6gb not two lots of 3 as it works diffrent to alternate frame render when they sort the drivers out properly so technically I would say 7990 is more future proof
 
Watchdogs can and will choke at 1080P maxed out on 3gb cards, usage for me maxed out was 3500-700 constantly.

I'd stick with the 290 and add another when possible-edit, missed the part about the form factor.

Stick with the 290 and swap to Atx for crossfire action! :P
 
I'd stick with your 290 imo faster when Crossfires not working,, larger vram And imo it will receive more optimizations as time goes on driver wise compared to 7990's
 
I had the same issue last year. Went for the 290p, more future proof and will have better support. Just went crossfire last week and it's great. I would have struggled if I had a 7990.
 
Defo a 290 its a fantastic card good ram set to. I have 1 myself. And direct x 11.2 i think unless the 7990 has that also
 
snips86x said:
Depends where you look. They are obviously expensive buying new, but scan the MM and you'll see 780s are going for £100 off the RRP, which is a bargain. A 6GB 780 went for £400 a few weeks back, that would have been ideal.
Click to expand...

but that's the price of 2x 290'ps on MM the 780 will run out of grunt way before it used 6gb there only good as a multigpu set up
 
almighty15 said:
My Sapphire 290 will be back from RMA on Monday but I've had the chance to swap it for a 7990.

Now I know in flat out terms the 7900 is the faster card and can be by some margin depending on the game, the problem is VRAM, 4Gb vs 3Gb.

Watch Dogs has shown how 3Gb cards can choke at 2560x1440 with the settings on maximum.

I know that as time goes by the VRAM requirements for games will go higher and higher as the base line for memory now has been raised with the release of the new consoles.

I use a mini ITX system so if I went with the 290 I couldn't crossfire a second card in the future.

Both cards will be watercooled and overclocked to there maximum.

I am truly stumped on what to do.

R290 or 7990 :confused:
Click to expand...
 
Watching this thread with interest, but still none the wiser. The 7990 can be got for £300 ish, but the 290 in crossfire is more powerful. With cards going for around the £200 mark, its just as compelling :confused:
 
snips86x said:
Watching this thread with interest, but still none the wiser. The 7990 can be got for £300 ish, but the 290 in crossfire is more powerful. With cards going for around the £200 mark, its just as compelling :confused:
Click to expand...

The OP situation is he can only use one card.

For him the 7990 is a no brainer providing he can keep it cool enough and has decent case airflow.

Yes 290 crossfire is quicker but for a single card solution the 7990 is fantastic (providing your games support crossfire)

I have access to a 7990 under water and two 290 in my system at the moment (switching them around) and although the performance is better with the 290 crossfire setup I still really like my 7990 :(
 
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