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Treating myself to a new GPU

somewhatdamaged

somewhatdamaged

somewhatdamaged

Associate
Joined
24 Aug 2007
Posts
526
Hi,

I've been using a Radeon 7870XT Joker for a good couple of years now, as i didn't want to spend much on a GPU as i was starting a new job and having to study quite a lot. However, i'm now wanting to start gaming again so trying to get a few opinions on which GPU (or two) to go for

I'll list my system below as a heads up - it's a good 18 months old now compared to many on here i guess, but should still be pretty decent and not worth upgrading

Intel 3930K 4.8Ghz (watercooled)
Asus Rampage Extreme IV
32GB Samsung Green DDR3
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (O/S)
Samsung 840 500GB (Steam)
2TB WD Green (backups)
Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3
Triple + Dual Radiators
Dell U2410 24" 1920x1200

My 7870XT has been pretty good value, but i have to drop some settings down to medium or AA etc, which i would like to be able to max out again

So, i have been looking at :-

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-344-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

which looks like great value, and i'm not convinced the 290X version is worth £100 more.

Also was tempted by the 780Ti, but the 3GB RAM is putting me off, as some of my Skyrim mods hit 4GB+ of VRAM on my laptops 880M. Not interested in the Titan.

Current games being played are

Splinter Cell Blacklist
Metro Last Light
Skyrim
Call of Duty Ghosts
Battlefield 3/4
Crysis 3
Far Cry 3
Anno 2070

As this is last time in the next 18 months my wife will let me spend money, i need to make sure that this will be good enough to play newer games like Witcher 3 on reasonably high settings when they come out

Phew. Anyway, please give me any advice you can as i've been out of the GPU game for a bit. I know the GTX 980 is out next month, is it worth seeing what that brings?

£640 for Crossfire Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X OC looks pretty good value?
 
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somewhatdamaged said:
Hi,

I've been using a Radeon 7870XT Joker for a good couple of years now, as i didn't want to spend much on a GPU as i was starting a new job and having to study quite a lot. However, i'm now wanting to start gaming again so trying to get a few opinions on which GPU (or two) to go for

I'll list my system below as a heads up - it's a good 18 months old now compared to many on here i guess, but should still be pretty decent and not worth upgrading

Intel 3930K 4.8Ghz (watercooled)
Asus Rampage Extreme IV
32GB Samsung Green DDR3
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (O/S)
Samsung 840 500GB (Steam)
2TB WD Green (backups)
Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3
Triple + Dual Radiators
Dell U2410 24" 1920x1200

My 7870XT has been pretty good, but i have to drop some settings down to medium or AA etc, which i would like to be able to max out again

So, i have been looking at :-

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-344-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

which looks like great value, and i'm not convinced the 290X version is worth £100 more.

Also was tempted by the 780Ti, but the 3GB RAM is putting me off, as some of my Skyrim mods hit 4GB+ of VRAM on my laptops 880M. Not interested in the Titan.

Current games being played are

Splinter Cell Blacklist
Metro Last Light
Skyrim
Call of Duty Ghosts
Battlefield 3/4
Crysis 3
Far Cry 3
Anno 2070

As this is last time in the next 18 months my wife will let me spend money, i need to make sure that this will be good enough to play newer games like Witcher 3 on reasonably high settings when they come out

Phew. Anyway, please give me any advice you can as i've been out of the GPU game for a bit. I know the GTX 980 is out next month, is it worth seeing what that brings?

£640 for Crossfire Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X OC looks pretty good value?


whi
Click to expand...

DAT Vapour-X, nom nom.... worth every penny.

Anyway, i had a Powercolor PCS+ 7870XT MYST its exactly the same GPU under another name, i upgraded it to a single 290, it just blew the 7870XT out of the water, 40%+ performance improvement, i went from averaging around 60 FPS to averaging 100 FPS on the most demanding maps, (Ultra Preset 1080P)

Are you sure you need two? two will give you about 3 times the performance of one 7870XT

what res are you running?
 
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one 290 is more than enough for 1920 x 1200

it's worth waiting a month for the 9xx series as the members market will most likely be flooded with these cards, you might grab a bargain or 2 (if you need 2)

I had a pair of 290s, they have great performance however in crossfire I had some niggles, especially with a multiscreen trifinity setup.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the replies so far

Running 1920x1200, which i know most say is overkill for crossfire / sli but i'm thinking ahead to the Witcher 3 (and any other new games) where a single card might struggle

As this is the last time i'll be allowed to spend money, i can get away with buying two you see :-)

Really like the look of the Vapor-X, it's one of the only ATi card i can see that truly looks like a premium product. The XFX DD one also looks nice, but i believe it's a fair bit louder. It's a cracking looking card though, very slim

I'm still a little worried about microstuttering though, having had quite a few AMD / Nvidia dual card setups over the years, although i believe drivers seem to have pretty much eliminated it now - so i perhaps shouldn't been too concerned
 
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I would wait a few more weeks if you can and see what happens with the new cards ... My 7970's run just fine in triple screen setup so I would hope apart form the odd niggle with certain games the 290's will be fine....
 
One thing to consider is your PCI-E slot spacing if going with the Vapor X.

Its a very large card and will most likely be very close together resulting in heat issues.
 
If you are looking at witcher 3 - be aware it is an Nvidia supported product. Having an Nvidia card will unlock some extra "features" but I do not know whether that means that it'll run bad on AMD or not, just be aware that it is a possibility.

I would wait it out for about a month to see if Nvidia release their next series of cards and, more importantly, whether they are any good.

(also a 3930K at 4.8Ghz and 32GB of ram is bloody high end.)
 
DLD said:
One thing to consider is your PCI-E slot spacing if going with the Vapor X.

Its a very large card and will most likely be very close together resulting in heat issues.
Click to expand...

He mentioned a watercooled system in OP so maybe not? Unless the GPU isn't under water?
 
Would like to put the cards under water, but it's just an added expense that i could do without at the moment

The Vapor-X cooler looks very good, plus i believe on the Rampage Extreme IV that there is decent spacing between the two PCI-E x 16 lanes, so "should" be adequate...i hope!
 
You mentioned the Vapor X. So I assumed they would not be under water considering there is no blocks for them as far as I know.

If you are going under water then you should buy the Sapphire Tri-X since it is using a reference PCB.
 
String said:
There it is again, the former object and present stumbling block of any man's dreams. :D
Click to expand...

This is why I am unmarried, however, by but a cruel twist of fate, I still don't have enough money to afford a new GPU :D

In any case I expect a single 290 would be absolutely fine at 1200p, especially when overclocked.
 
JonSmith said:
This is why I am unmarried, however, by but a cruel twist of fate, I still don't have enough money to afford a new GPU :D

In any case I expect a single 290 would be absolutely fine at 1200p, especially when overclocked.
Click to expand...

lol in the same boat myself. :D

I just got done spending $12,000 this summer trying to cure my dog's cancer. Imagine the system I could have built with that! My dog is my best friend though and I would spend anything to save him. :)
 
DLD said:
lol in the same boat myself. :D

I just got done spending $12,000 this summer trying to cure my dog's cancer. Imagine the system I could have built with that! My dog is my best friend though and I would spend anything to save him. :)
Click to expand...

Wow. A dog lover and owner here, well done and I hope your dog makes a speedy recovery.
 
OracIe said:
Wow. A dog lover and owner here, well done and I hope your dog makes a speedy recovery.
Click to expand...

Thank you.

String said:
Certainly a lot of money to spend on the dog. Fair play to you, a lot of people would have had the dog put down.
Click to expand...

Yes many call me crazy, but he's part of my family. :)

As for the OP. Your board should have good enough spacing between your slots for Xfire Vapor X cards. As long as your case has good airflow it should be fine.

Just remember if you plan to have water cooling for the GPUs you need to go with something like the Sapphire Tr-X with a reference PCB.
 
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