I want plenty, but whats overkill

[Born_2_Kill_83]

So I'm a graphics whore, every game I get I max out the settings with a minimum of 4XMSAA, I like to play it as the developers intended therefore spend money on my PC to this effect, not forgetting plenty of FPS.

I game at 1080p btw with a 3770k @ 4.6 (upgrading to X99 shortly)

Here's my dilemma, I'm going to upgrade my CF7970GHZ and for a week I have been considering the CF 290X's, I want plenty of power on tap and want to get 18 months to 2 years before upgrading again.

So are CF290X over kill, or can you not have such a thing as overkill.

The reason I'm asking is perhaps I should consider a faster single card such as a 290X lightening but will I end up wishing I'd bought 2, and maybe a single lightening isnt as fast as my current setup?

Budget Max £800

 

[Nickolp1974]

290's or sli780's, me?, I'd go with the latter just because the issue's surrounding dual gpu 's appears to be less hassle, may cost a little more but it's plug, play, forget...

 

[Allnamestaken]

Yeah... I would go with 780's..... my story is proof enough.

**** Amd -_-

 

[James J]

If you are use to AMD I'd stick with them tbh. Theres really not much in it at the moment and theres quite a few second hand 290x cards about atm due to loads of people selling their mining rigs, so bargains ahoy! I'd rather get the AMD cards over 780 sli purely based on speed alone and sadly your budget doesn't stretch far enough to warrant pushing for 780 ti sli (which ive got), which isn't that different to CF 290x tbh. Its a nice position to be in actually as regardless of what you buy, it'll destroy 1080p anyway.

 

[Tonester0011]

CF290Xs overkill currently, not in 18-24 months time
I'd probably spend my money on either SLI780s or CF290s, rather than the bigger fuller parts, you really wont lose too much performance, but you'll save a fair amount of £££.

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

I didnt think it was a good idea to buy a mining card?

 

[Tonester0011]

I didnt think it was a good idea to buy a mining card?

That's down to you mate. Depends on who i'm buying from whether i would. There's no real reason not to buy one, it's just the thought that they have been run 24/7 since birth, GPUs have a huge shelf life, obviously copious amounts of heat reduces that and that's one of the reason i probably woulnd't (unless dirt cheap/knew the person) as you don't really know how its been kept.

The same risk applies when buying anything second hand, though a card used mainly for gaming has an easy life compared to a miner

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

Thats what I thought, buying one on ebay could turn out to be a problem in a few months time, therefore no come back.

So the general feeling is SLI/CF isnt overkill on these topend cards.

 

[Calin Banc]

So I'm a graphics whore, every game I get I max out the settings with a minimum of 4XMSAA, I like to play it as the developers intended therefore spend money on my PC to this effect, not forgetting plenty of FPS.

I game at 1080p btw with a 3770k @ 4.6 (upgrading to X99 shortly)

Here's my dilemma, I'm going to upgrade my CF7970GHZ and for a week I have been considering the CF 290X's, I want plenty of power on tap and want to get 18 months to 2 years before upgrading again.

So are CF290X over kill, or can you not have such a thing as overkill.

The reason I'm asking is perhaps I should consider a faster single card such as a 290X lightening but will I end up wishing I'd bought 2, and maybe a single lightening isnt as fast as my current setup?

Budget Max £800

If you want at least 60 fps, go for it (r290 or r290x, depending if you can justify the difference for your own taste). Even now there are games that don't run at that FPS on a single card (probably go under 60 on what you have at the moment as well). On the other hand, if the performance is ok with that 7970CF setup, wait for next gen at lower node process. The good thing about r290/x is that they have the frame pacing solution on hardware basis, which should be quite useful.

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

When can we be expecting this next gen 20nm and direct x12, don’t fancy buying now and again in 12 months if I can help it.

My current setup is struggling, BF4 shows FPS as low as the 60's and you can feel it when you’re normally running at 90-110 for the most part.

 

[Sin_Chase]

DX is 12-18 Months away at least.

20nm high end next gen is probably another 12 months I would say. Will see some 20nm mid range appear but issues with 20nm is going to mean high end will be a while - if at all.

Might be skipped for 14nm.

 

[nutsnut]

Curious, what games struggle with your 7970CF?

 

[Born_2_Kill_83]

It’s just the drops in the FPS which you can feel in game, BF4 and Titanfall, I like to have well over 60FPS, 120 if possible, I just don’t feel as they have much life left in them anymore, it is pretty old hardware now, they have served me well.

 

[Boomstick777]

I would go Nvidia, cooler / quieter. Arguably faster and the magic DX11 driver is just around the corner...

 

[Mr. May]

To be honest 290x's have been brilliant for me not had a problem with them unlike my 7970 set up which I sold for 670's I can imagine the 290's being a top dog for a long time to come as 20nm sounds likes its having problems and will be a good while till its released

 

[robertchalmers1]

It’s just the drops in the FPS which you can feel in game, BF4 and Titanfall, I like to have well over 60FPS, 120 if possible, I just don’t feel as they have much life left in them anymore, it is pretty old hardware now, they have served me well.

what settings do you use??? ultra max settings i assume as i never had any probs with bf4 dropping that low on a single card. also does titanfall not run at a steady 60fps on the 750ti albeit with settings at med-high????

 

[cmndr_andi]

The way I see it is that graphics card technology is evolving so fast that it makes little sense to buy a very expensive graphics card now unless you will immediately need all the power (eg. 3 monitors, 4K).

If you are sitting at 1080p then I would suggest you get a nice performing, good value graphics card (eg a r9 290 or 280X) and keep hold of it for a year. Then when the next generation of cards comes out you can sell your previous card and buy into the new generation (at the same price level as before) and get a big jump in performance. This way you will maintain excellent performance and not be shelling out for quickly outdated flagship hardware that is usually sold at a big premium.

As for using mining hardware - i'm not objective on this topic (currently selling an ex-mining HD 7950) but from my experience it was not in my interest to run my mining cards particularly hot or with the fans running very fast - as these things will affect reliability and thus mining performance. Therefore, if you buy an ex-mining card from someone sensible then you are likely to get a good deal (as prices are pretty low).