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7850 - r9 280x??

danjama

danjama

danjama

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Joined
24 Apr 2011
Posts
265
I currently have my 7850 running at 1100mhz and 5400mhz memory effective. It does ok but I get stutters and frame drops.

Would a 280x be a noticeable improvement?

Or would a new 8350 black edition processor be a better upgrade as suggested in my CPU thread? How do I find out if my cpu is bottlenecking my 7850? I don't think it is as often the gpu is at 100%. What bugs me is I never see it using all of the 2gb available except in pCars. Thoughts appreciated.
 
If your GPU useage is 100% then that would suggest the GPU is a bottleneck. The 7850 is a decent card but the 280X is a good step up (it's basically a 7970, but I'd now wait for the 960 (or 960Ti) even if only because it'll nudge 280X and 290 prices down further and it's due out in 3 weeks.
 
Thanks, that's what I suspected. I hope the 280x improves things. I guess i can sell my 7850 to offset the cost a little so it won't even cost me that much :)
 
danjama said:
Thanks, that's what I suspected. I hope the 280x improves things. I guess i can sell my 7850 to offset the cost a little so it won't even cost me that much :)
Click to expand...

You may gain 10 fps in some games but for the cost of a 280x I would get the 290 as you may well gain a lot more fps at ultra settings.

Just wait for the next price drops and buy.
 
danjama said:
I currently have my 7850 running at 1100mhz and 5400mhz memory effective. It does ok but I get stutters and frame drops.

Would a 280x be a noticeable improvement?

Or would a new 8350 black edition processor be a better upgrade as suggested in my CPU thread? How do I find out if my cpu is bottlenecking my 7850? I don't think it is as often the gpu is at 100%. What bugs me is I never see it using all of the 2gb available except in pCars. Thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same spot as you, was going to buy a 280x next week, but after research and listening to advice on here I'm going to wait until the 960 drops. The ti versions that have been rumoured should beat a 280x i'd have thought.
 
Keep in mind also that a 280x, being a refreshed 7970, does not support some of the newer features that you would get with a 290. You can get a 2nd hand 290 for under £200, so I'd go in that direction.
 
Devrij said:
Keep in mind also that a 280x, being a refreshed 7970, does not support some of the newer features that you would get with a 290. You can get a 2nd hand 290 for under £200, so I'd go in that direction.
Click to expand...

Yeah its too late in the game to get anything other than a 290 or a 970 really.

Id rather save more and get a cheap 290 if you cant afford a cheap 970 the 280x is just not all that good and struggles with games at 1200p not even at max settings!
 
danjama said:
I currently have my 7850 running at 1100mhz and 5400mhz memory effective. It does ok but I get stutters and frame drops.

Would a 280x be a noticeable improvement?

Or would a new 8350 black edition processor be a better upgrade as suggested in my CPU thread? How do I find out if my cpu is bottlenecking my 7850? I don't think it is as often the gpu is at 100%. What bugs me is I never see it using all of the 2gb available except in pCars. Thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...

I swapped an x6 1090T for an FX-8350 and ran some comparisons with an R9 290. results here AMD Phenom II x6 vs FX-8350

The GPU, where and if and CPU bottlenecking does not apply; the 280X is a solid 30% faster than a 7850.
 
Right, so I picked up a used gigabyte r290oc yesterday as it was local and a good price. However it's underclocking during some games drastically. I've researched and found this to be quite common due to how the card controls temps. What were amd thinking to throttle the clock instead of turning the fan up??? So the obvious fix is use msi afterburner to lock the clock settings but it seems like shouldn't have to do this. I'm using latest and official drivers. Did they really not fix this or is there a better solution??
 
danjama said:
Right, so I picked up a used gigabyte r290oc yesterday as it was local and a good price. However it's underclocking during some games drastically. I've researched and found this to be quite common due to how the card controls temps. What were amd thinking to throttle the clock instead of turning the fan up??? So the obvious fix is use msi afterburner to lock the clock settings but it seems like shouldn't have to do this. I'm using latest and official drivers. Did they really not fix this or is there a better solution??
Click to expand...

Which Gigabyte is it? is it a reference card?
 
danjama said:
Here is the thread, right here on ocuk forums, to give my point some context. I read the whole thing and there is no recent update or conclusion.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=25680170

The card i bought is a gigabyte r9 290 4gb windforce edition.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
Click to expand...

Right, it just shouldn't be throttling, at all.

The only ones that do that (to a limited extent) are the reference ones, purely because the cooler isn't good enough to keep the temperatures down.

The WF cooler is more than capable of keeping it well with in limits, unless there is a problem with it?

Do you know what temperatures its getting up to?
 
Before I started using afterburner to fix the clock speed, it was not getting past 50c before throttling! Then the clock speed would drop and climb dramatically.
 
Anyway, thanks to msi afterburner I can see the card is a massive improvement. PCars used to max at 35fps. Now with increased settings its over 60fps in a comparable scenario. Red orchestra 2 is a lot better as well. No more stutters. So I'm happy.
 
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