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Upgrade options for an R9 290

theaterix

theaterix

theaterix

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Joined
3 Nov 2014
Posts
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Location
Newcastle, England
While I am exploring my options for what to get for christmas, one of my thoughts was to upgrade my PC. My current PC is good, but I am going for looks in my setup and with the addition of a new desk, having my pc looking really nice will be a welcome addition aswell as performing better and being quieter.
Only thing putting me off is the fact ive just gotten a PS4 and am playing that a fair bit, but if i can get some games that interest me I will be getting them for PC!

If anyone has any other recommendations or ideas on what to get PC-wise, believe me, its extremely welcomed...

I can sell my 290 for around £180 ISH minus fees and would like to reinvest that PLUS some money in order to get the card that is a good upgrade.

My current specs:
AMD 8320
Corsair H100
MSI 990FXA-GD65
8GB corsair vengeance 1600mhz
Sapphire REFERENCE R9 290
Corsair CX750M PSU
LG 29UB65-P Monitor

Those are my specs, recommend me a GPU, or some other upgrades to look at for christmas in terms of improving my gaming experience/setup

Cheers, Jake :)
 
Since you use 1080P and with new cards coming next year (approx Q2 on) maybe you should hold on. Nothing wrong with a 290 at that res. I have a 290 and I am waiting to see what happens next year, as its going to die a GPU die shrink and could be good. What about a SSD? Maybe a faster one or bigger size? That's always gives a good performance boost and you can start saving a GPU next year.
 
With an fx8320 and at 1080p I don't think you'll see the true performance from the 290 in some games you play anyway. I wouldn't invest in a new gpu as the only upgrade from a 290 is a 980/980ti or a fury. Stay with what you have for now.
 
mods1965 said:
Since you use 1080P and with new cards coming next year (approx Q2 on) maybe you should hold on. Nothing wrong with a 290 at that res. I have a 290 and I am waiting to see what happens next year, as its going to die a GPU die shrink and could be good. What about a SSD? Maybe a faster one or bigger size? That's always gives a good performance boost and you can start saving a GPU next year.
Click to expand...

I have a 120gb and a 250gb, only real options are 500 and 1tb, but I want a Raid 0 for the speeds and its just awkward as 120 and 250 are too small...
 
Davedree said:
With an fx8320 and at 1080p I don't think you'll see the true performance from the 290 in some games you play anyway. I wouldn't invest in a new gpu as the only upgrade from a 290 is a 980/980ti or a fury. Stay with what you have for now.
Click to expand...

Think thats for the best...

Maybe a new cooler, as my H100 isnt performing as good as it should be in my opinion...
 
Perhaps look to a CPU/motherboard upgrade instead.

The only issue with buying RAM now is that your next CPU upgrade, be it Zen, Skylake, Kaby Lake, or whatever, will be DDR4.
 
Davedree said:
What clock volts and temps are you seeing?
Click to expand...

I can get to 4.2 before temps skyrocket, volts, cant remember off the top of my head, not too high i dont think... Thing is, it could get higher and post, Im sure was 4.5-4.6 and then temps just killed it and down it went.. Bought my H100 from Scan a while back (not a compliment) and just looked properly at the fins and there is a few bent ones I think and i dont think my fans are upto the job as they arent static pressure and are currenty ontop of my case pulling air as i had to ghetto it due to my case not having enough room lol
 
rtho782 said:
Perhaps look to a CPU/motherboard upgrade instead.

The only issue with buying RAM now is that your next CPU upgrade, be it Zen, Skylake, Kaby Lake, or whatever, will be DDR4.
Click to expand...

I was thinking this, I can get pretty much ANY intel processor cheap as chips (yes even the 18 core Xeons) from someone i know that works there over in the US of A.
I was looking at either the 5820k, 5930k or the 5960X.

I have been thinking about it for almost 2 months, not including this time last year when i was looking at it for christmas, and was going to get it for my birthday, but 'bottled' it and got a PS4 as i saw that the best option, but now there is literally nothing else i want/need so hey, why not :)
 
theaterix said:
I can get to 4.2 before temps skyrocket, volts, cant remember off the top of my head, not too high i dont think... Thing is, it could get higher and post, Im sure was 4.5-4.6 and then temps just killed it and down it went.. Bought my H100 from Scan a while back (not a compliment) and just looked properly at the fins and there is a few bent ones I think and i dont think my fans are upto the job as they arent static pressure and are currenty ontop of my case pulling air as i had to ghetto it due to my case not having enough room lol
Click to expand...

could you tell me what revision your board is please? those boards weren't that great even the gd80., You shouldn't struggle with a a h100 unless the cooler is faulty, even a half decent air cooler can get you to 4.4-4.5ghz quite easily.
 
Davedree said:
could you tell me what revision your board is please? those boards weren't that great even the gd80., You shouldn't struggle with a a h100 unless the cooler is faulty, even a half decent air cooler can get you to 4.4-4.5ghz quite easily.
Click to expand...

I am unsure, id have to check the box, ill have a look tomorrow and let you know :)
 
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