Sub £200 card advice

[Bantu]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to build a budget rig (i5-4960k, z97 board, 8GB RAM) and am really stuck on the GPU side.

I'd like to do 1080p gaming at mid to ultra settings on 2014 games, and potentially mid to high on current games (though only fallout 4 interests and that won't be bought until the GOTY is on sale.. so Dec 2016?).

I'm torn between:
XFX R9 380 4GB - Which i have managed to find for £159.99 during Black Friday (but delivery hasn't happened yet and am happy to send back)

Sapphire R9 280X 3GB - on auction sites for around £120-£130

Sapphire R9 290 4GB - on auction sites for same price as R9 380

My understanding is that the R9 290 would show the best performance, while the 280X and 380 are roughly on par, with the 380 providing better thermals and power usage (but at a premium of £30 as I haven't seen any 2nd hand 380s anywhere). Would the 380 provide me better overclocking overhead? HardOCP seem to think so, but i don't know if they're still reliable (been out of the PC building loop for a long time).

I'm currently using a laptop(!!) with a geforce GTX660M 2GB inside so anything will be an improvement. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The R9 290 is the fastest card but you will have no warranty and OcUK had the Sapphire R9 390 Nitro for just over £200 on Black Friday.

TBH,I would probably keep the R9 380 4GB but the 2GB version has been as cheap as £115 to £120 sometimes!!

 

[arc@css]

Mid settings or higher for 2014 & current titles is more than achievable with a 380 @ 1080p. Yes, a 290 will be faster; it just depends whether you are happy enough to go second hand (more fps per pound to be had).

 

[Bantu]

Mid settings or higher for 2014 & current titles is more than achievable with a 380 @ 1080p. Yes, a 290 will be faster; it just depends whether you are happy enough to go second hand (more fps per pound to be had).

That's exactly it... i asked the guy if he's ever overclocked or done anything with it and he claims no, but i'm still slightly wary, i'm sure i've read somewhere that the VRAM on the 2xx can sometimes be problematic.

Would you say that there'd be a a noticeable difference between 2GB and 4GB on a 380?

I'm torn between wanting something reliable (and warrantied) and something cheapo and 2nd hand
I think i'll play it safe in the end and keep the 380 4GB.

Presumably VR is out of the question on any of the cards mentioned (if i ever wanted to get an oculus or the vive).

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

That's exactly it... i asked the guy if he's ever overclocked or done anything with it and he claims no, but i'm still slightly wary, i'm sure i've read somewhere that the VRAM on the 2xx can sometimes be problematic.

Would you say that there'd be a a noticeable difference between 2GB and 4GB on a 380?

I'm torn between wanting something reliable (and warrantied) and something cheapo and 2nd hand
I think i'll play it safe in the end and keep the 380 4GB.

Presumably VR is out of the question on any of the cards mentioned (if i ever wanted to get an oculus or the vive).

In terms of VR features,the R9 380 and Fury series are meant to the most VR complete in terms of supported features.

OFC,whether the R9 380 is powerful enough is another question!!

 

[Zethor]

At 1080p, the 4gb of vram on the 380 is a marketing gimmick, just like the 4gb on the 960.

Go for the cheapest 2gb 380 or 960, do a bit of saving, sell and buy something new next year, we should see significant performance gains when the new generations of cards hit the market.

 

[mickyflinn]

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x HIS Radeon R9 380X IceQ X2 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H380XQM4CR)= £179.99

Total: £189.89
(includes shipping: £9.90)
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[Devrij]

At 1080p, the 4gb of vram on the 380 is a marketing gimmick, just like the 4gb on the 960.

Go for the cheapest 2gb 380 or 960, do a bit of saving, sell and buy something new next year, we should see significant performance gains when the new generations of cards hit the market.

I disagree. 4gb of vram would be my minimum requirement if I wanted to play AAA titles at high to ultra settings, especially with AA applied, which at 1080p would be desirable.

That price for a 380 is good, so hang onto it. I was quite happy with my 290s at 1440p so pound per frame I would have suggested that, but 2nd hand cards will be getting on a bit so I wouldn't regret your decision. Hopefully in two years time the new process will have matured nicely and there will be some cracking cards to upgrade to so get saving.