R9 280x still an alright buy?

[OC18]

Obviously, I know it isn't a high performance card by today's standards, but it seemed to be getting decent frame rates in modern games at good settings in the bench marks I've seen on YouTube.

Of course, it's not going to last one, but I've seen them go on eBay for £70, £80, so it'd maybe make a good stop gap card?

A 4g card is obviously going to be a better option for a stop gap card, but then something like the 4gb 960 is almost double the price, with not a very significant performance gain.

Reckon it's worth it? As I say, it'd be a stop gap affair and I'd upgrade not too long in the future.

Thanks

 

[thebennyboy]

Would try and get a second hand 290 or 290x, the 4GB of VRAM will help you more. Can get them for ~£120 -£130

 

[OC18]

Would try and get a second hand 290 or 290x, the 4GB of VRAM will help you more. Can get them for ~£120 -£130

I see.
Had a look online and couldn't seem to find any under the £180 - £190.

Is the 280x a bad choice, then? Is it really important to make sure you have at least 4gb of v-ram?

 

[imginy]

My 280x does me very well at 1080p 60hz.

I have it clocked up a bit and most older games I get a solid 60fps max settings.

Some of the newer games I have to turn down a couple of settings from ultra to high.

Its faster than 960 in most recent benchmarks.

 

[Bluecube]

I've got a 280x and it does me just fine at 1080p. Doom flies on Ultra at 60fps, Fallout 4 tootles along just fine. If you can't find a 290 at the price mentioned then the 280x will be a fine choice.

 

[andy_mk3]

I have a pair of them, in games that support Xfire they really fly along at 1080p. Even ones that don't support it run well at 1080p on a single card. Worth it if you can get one cheap enough.

 

[OC18]

My 280x does me very well at 1080p 60hz.

I have it clocked up a bit and most older games I get a solid 60fps max settings.

Some of the newer games I have to turn down a couple of settings from ultra to high.

Its faster than 960 in most recent benchmarks.

I've got a 280x and it does me just fine at 1080p. Doom flies on Ultra at 60fps, Fallout 4 tootles along just fine. If you can't find a 290 at the price mentioned then the 280x will be a fine choice.

I have a pair of them, in games that support Xfire they really fly along at 1080p. Even ones that don't support it run well at 1080p on a single card. Worth it if you can get one cheap enough.

Cool, sounds like it's a decent choice, then.

Thanks!

 

[OC18]

Someone offered to sell me a 4gb EVGA 960 for £140, but I heard the extra 1gb v ram doesn't make much difference for a 960

 

[LMT50]

Interesting stuff, I might consider this card myself as a stop gap.

 

[imginy]

Someone offered to sell me a 4gb EVGA 960 for £140, but I heard the extra 1gb v ram doesn't make much difference for a 960

The 280x is half the price and faster in most games

Edit: for that sort of money you should be looking at 290/290x with custom cooler. Much faster card.

 

[nashathedog]

Would try and get a second hand 290 or 290x, the 4GB of VRAM will help you more. Can get them for ~£120 -£130

+1,

Mind you, you will be lowering settings so there's no reason why the 280x won't be fine, There a few games that will require certain settings to be lowered even when the fps is okay but there's not many and it'll only be the texture setting which is 2016's ram hog and the visual difference by doing so is not great. So yes a 290 or 290x will offer a decent performance improvement over a 280x for not a lot more so if you can afford it do so but if not a 280x for will do fine.
I'm presuming we mean resolutions of 1080p or lower.