upgrade advice (beyond my knowledge)

Ragnahex · 9 Oct 2013 at 21:22

basically i currently run a i7 2600k (running slightly oc'd) on a Asus P8P67 PRO motherboard with a 2gb 6950.
i want to upgrade the 6950 and was looking towards the 290x (depending on price and benches etc when released) because motherboard only supports pcie2 8x8 for crossfire/sli.
I was wondering if you guys think a 16 pcie2 slot will be able to handle this card?
or would it be worth switching my 2600k for my partners 3770(non k) and risking the wrath of god when she figures out and buying a new motherboard for pcie3?
Oh and she bought me 2 monitors so running eyefinity hence needing more power

Ragnahex · 10 Oct 2013 at 09:03

*watches the tumbleweed*

pastymuncher · 10 Oct 2013 at 09:09

Hi and welcome to the forums. Be patient and answers will appear.

A modern card in a PCI-e 2.0 16x slot will be fine. At most you will only lose a percent or two of performance. Do you have a decent psu?

Does your other half know anything about pc's? If she doesn't then do the swap. If you get caught out it's nothing to do with me!!

Ragnahex · 10 Oct 2013 at 09:27

yeah have a corsair 850w psu so may be able to crossfire at a later date. maybe wait for haswell refresh for new mobo with sata express for that?

virdee2 · 10 Oct 2013 at 09:35

i read reviews stating that the new amd gpu's are basically cheaper and re-branded versions of the current 7xxx series range. only the R9 209's will be new and compete with the titan levels.

i suppose then it makes sense to wait for the R9 290's which should be out soon but unless you're willing to spend Titan type money then may as well get a new GPU now

Ragnahex · 10 Oct 2013 at 10:02

280 is rebrand 7970 basically hence 290 waiting :-)

shadow_boxer · 10 Oct 2013 at 10:09

Ragnahex said:
280 is rebrand 7970 basically hence 290 waiting

Precisely. Also pci-e 2.0 won't hold you back. The difference is negligible.

Ragnahex · 10 Oct 2013 at 11:06

ok thanks for advice will go for 290/290x then look to upgrade cpu and mobo with another card possibly in future . i guess the mrs pc is safe for now

fowler002 · 10 Oct 2013 at 11:36

When you say the CPU is slightly oc'd how slightly? Get it up to 4.5ghz, you may need a new CPU cooler depending on what you currently have.

What case do you have? Need to make sure it fits the top end cards as they tend to be long.

Ragnahex · 10 Oct 2013 at 12:03

my case is the lian li a71fb full tower so don't think i will have a problem as there is plenty of space at the moment in it and i use a nh u12s for cpu cooling. it runs at about 4.5 at the moment