Upgrading a 280x for 1440p?

[Goose]

I should have a 1440p screen by next month and i fear my 280x wont quite cut it at that res for GTA V and the like so i think an upgrade will be in order. I should probably get about £100 in MM for it and I can then add another £150 to the budget. I guess the question really comes down to a 290 or a 970? I'm leaning towards a 970 because if i decided to add a 2nd card down the line I'd rather have 970sli than 290xfire since they tend to run cooler and sli support seems to be better than xfire support from what I can tell.


Thanks

 

[Drojman]

Going with the 970 and potentially adding another down the line seems like the best choice to me.

 

[Scurburg]

A second 280x would be a cheapest option, but since you are not interested in AMD then the 970 is a good option as long as you are happy with the 3.5gb memory issue (you are more likely to hit if you decide to sli at a later date). 290s will not have the same issues, but as you said, they will run hotter etc and rely on drivers more.

A bit of a wild card, but if you have a beefy enough psu and are prepared to go second hand, a 7990 3way xfire with your current card could be interesting.

 

[Andreas.96]

Or wait till AMD release their 3xx series and make do with the 280x for the time being?

 

[old gamer]

for now i would pick up another 280x or 7970 second hand and wait it out for newer cards, at 1400p 7970 crossfire is no slouch

 

[Drojman]

I didn't suggest crossfire for the moment simply because we don't know when AMDs next driver is out and if it will support Crossfire in GTA (if that game is the main concern).

 

[Davedree]

I didn't suggest crossfire for the moment simply because we don't know when AMDs next driver is out and if it will support Crossfire in GTA (if that game is the main concern).

If it's gameworks then yeah probably true

 

[Zethor]

The 290x is cheaper and beats the 970 in 1440p, no contest.

 

[Devrij]

I didn't suggest crossfire for the moment simply because we don't know when AMDs next driver is out and if it will support Crossfire in GTA (if that game is the main concern).

It's been confirmed as April.

A single 290 would be a nice upgrade and a good stopgap until 390x. I would be concerned about 970 sli in the long term with the VRAM limitations. I run 290 xfire with no issues with heat btw.

 

[Watlinguk]

290/290x for sure

 

[Goose]

I did think about getting a second 280x its just the heat/noise and xfire driver support that bothers me.

 

[Wilko_Dog]

I'd wait until the game comes out and then look at the benchmarks and go from there

 

[BigBruiserAl]

Or wait till AMD release their 3xx series and make do with the 280x for the time being?

most sensible post +1

 

[Drojman]

I'd wait until the game comes out and then look at the benchmarks and go from there

I would probably do this (if you can wait) actually. See what it runs best on and go for that. If it runs ok on your setup, grab a 390x or something else when the time is right.

 

[Goose]

I wont be getting GTA until i get my new monitor next month, dont wanna ruin the experience on my current 22" 1050p screen

 

[Lokken86]

most sensible post +1

Another +1 . It's what I decided to do also. Suppress the bug op.

 

[andy_mk3]

I picked up a second 280x for about £100. They seem to perform very well in Xfire. I decided it was a good upgrade for the interim until the 3xx series cards are released.

 

[Bonjour]

Have a look on the MM for a cheap 280X / 7970. Minimum outlay for a decent performance increase that can tide you over until some new cards come out.

 

[se_vietboi]

I would wait for June to see what's coming out.

 

[Goose]

Thanks for the advice chaps, i'll keep my eyes peeled for another 280x in the MM and give xfire a whirl. There's a small chance I might end up getting a Freesync monitor (depends on money over the next few weeks) which would rule out 280x's unfortunately.