What do you think of upgrading GPU from 7870 to R9 290?

[JQLeitch]

I am hyped as heck for The Witcher 3 and Star Citizen and I run at 1080p and usually have a standard for 50+fps in my games. I currently run a HD 7870 (a 2 year old card) and I run games fine but I would love better AA, AF and textures etc, The BF Hardline beta runs around 50fps on Medium/High settings which is fine but The Witcher 3 and Star Citizen are presumably much more demanding. What is your two cents, think it's worth it? I will be selling my 7870 on ebay and saving the rest for the R9 290.

 

[Attic]

Lets get some more system specs.

But generally, that upgrade is significant and worthwhile. Just as important is getting a good 290.

 

[ctk1981]

Until the game drops I'd probably wait. I don't know what the current ETA is, but last time I checked witcher 3 was pushed into 2015. Unless there are current games you are playing that demand more power, I'd wait and see if there is an AMD/Nvidia refresh by then.

 

[Techhog]

Until the game drops I'd probably wait. I don't know what the current ETA is, but last time I checked witcher 3 was pushed into 2015. Unless there are current games you are playing that demand more power, I'd wait and see if there is an AMD/Nvidia refresh by then.

Seconded.

 

[BrightCandle]

That is a tough one. Going to a 290 is nearly double the performance of a 7870, so its certainly within the performance bracket of a well worthwhile upgrade. Of course the 290 is quite a bit more expensive as well. You also need to make sure to buy a third party 290 not a reference one to get the reducted noise or that will become very noticeable to you having come from a mid range card as the reference 290 is twice as loud as your 7870.

Its a bad time in the cycle of graphics cards to buy a card, we are nearing the end of 28nm and this architecture, we are expecting new cards in less than half a year (before Witcher 3 and Star Citizen release). So unless there is a game now you want to run on higher settings its probably not worth it from a cost perspective, but from a performance perspective a 7870 to a 290 is a very decent jump in performance.

 

[JQLeitch]

Lets get some more system specs.

But generally, that upgrade is significant and worthwhile. Just as important is getting a good 290.

Sorry for late reply.
i5 3450 (Ivy Bridge @3.7ghz)
Corsair CX750w PSU
4GB RAM (to be replaced for 8gb before my GPU upgrade)
500gb Hard Drive (getting an SSD before GPU upgrade as well)

 

[JQLeitch]

That is a tough one. Going to a 290 is nearly double the performance of a 7870, so its certainly within the performance bracket of a well worthwhile upgrade. Of course the 290 is quite a bit more expensive as well. You also need to make sure to buy a third party 290 not a reference one to get the reducted noise or that will become very noticeable to you having come from a mid range card as the reference 290 is twice as loud as your 7870.

Its a bad time in the cycle of graphics cards to buy a card, we are nearing the end of 28nm and this architecture, we are expecting new cards in less than half a year (before Witcher 3 and Star Citizen release). So unless there is a game now you want to run on higher settings its probably not worth it from a cost perspective, but from a performance perspective a 7870 to a 290 is a very decent jump in performance.

AMD and Nvidia are not releasing any new cards this year, it's all next year. This was confirmed by a few sources.

 

[Techhog]

AMD and Nvidia are not releasing any new cards this year, it's all next year. This was confirmed by a few sources.

20nm is next year, but some new 28nm cards are on the way on their more efficient architectures.

 

[JQLeitch]

Until the game drops I'd probably wait. I don't know what the current ETA is, but last time I checked witcher 3 was pushed into 2015. Unless there are current games you are playing that demand more power, I'd wait and see if there is an AMD/Nvidia refresh by then.

Well considering I'm buying from ebay the prices are reduced and the new cards most likely will be a lot more expensive. Sources show that the new cards come out later next year anyways. I just would prefer buying a card that's not expensive and a good 1080p performer. I'm planning to buy a R9 290 for around 250£ on ebay as opposed to 300+ on other sites such as amazon.co.uk.

 

[JQLeitch]

20nm is next year, but some new 28nm cards are on the way on their more efficient architectures.

Hmmm but I am buying second hand it makes more sense to buy 'last' gen cards IMO.

 

[bepo]

Well considering I'm buying from ebay the prices are reduced and the new cards most likely will be a lot more expensive. Sources show that the new cards come out later next year anyways. I just would prefer buying a card that's not expensive and a good 1080p performer. I'm planning to buy a R9 290 for around 250£ on ebay as opposed to 300+ on other sites such as amazon.co.uk.

I took advantage of the great deals on ebay and upgraded from a 670 to a 290 at almost no cost (sold my 670 for $225). The performance boost is great but I'm also seeing a big benefit from the 4GB ram since I'm running 2.4x the resolution of 1080p. Overall it was well worth it.

My recommendation would be to get one with an aftermarket cooler if they are < $100 more than the reference 290's. If you get a reference 290 you will need to upgrade the cooler which can be a hassle, although the new Corsair HG10 looks very nice.

 

[JQLeitch]

I took advantage of the great deals on ebay and upgraded from a 670 to a 290 at almost no cost (sold my 670 for $225). The performance boost is great but I'm also seeing a big benefit from the 4GB ram since I'm running 2.4x the resolution of 1080p. Overall it was well worth it.

My recommendation would be to get one with an aftermarket cooler if they are < $100 more than the reference 290's. If you get a reference 290 you will need to upgrade the cooler which can be a hassle, although the new Corsair HG10 looks very nice.

I'm thinking of getting MSI's Cooler, I forget the name but it has dragon art on the box. I've heard horror stories of the reference coolers, I'd rather throw lava on my PCB.

 

[Headfoot]

Don't wait. Buy a used 290 now.

You can get a used 290 on eBay for $250 which is a ridiculous value for the dollar. Once the stock of used mining cards clears out, it'll bounce back up closer to new retail price. Just be smart, ask if the card was overvolted and if it was used for mining. Most of them will be the reference cooler, which is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Either way you can put on your own cooler on a $250 used 290 for $80 and it'll still be way cheaper than new.

Edit: The throwing lava comment is completely absurd and wrong. Completely wrong.

Have you ever used the reference cooler? Do you even know what you're talking about? Set a custom fan profile and it doesn't throttle and doesn't get obnoxiously loud. It's really, really simple. Unless you're saying you are incapable of downloading MSI afterburner and setting the max fan speed to 55% in a linear path?

Of course the custom coolers are better, but the reference is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's pure self serving exaggeration...

 

[tweakboy]

Wait for the R290 , their highest model or buy a 780 GTX and soon 8800 GTX,

 

[JQLeitch]

Don't wait. Buy a used 290 now.

You can get a used 290 on eBay for $250 which is a ridiculous value for the dollar. Once the stock of used mining cards clears out, it'll bounce back up closer to new retail price. Just be smart, ask if the card was overvolted and if it was used for mining. Most of them will be the reference cooler, which is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Either way you can put on your own cooler on a $250 used 290 for $80 and it'll still be way cheaper than new.

Edit: The throwing lava comment is completely absurd and wrong. Completely wrong.

Have you ever used the reference cooler? Do you even know what you're talking about? Set a custom fan profile and it doesn't throttle and doesn't get obnoxiously loud. It's really, really simple. Unless you're saying you are incapable of downloading MSI afterburner and setting the max fan speed to 55% in a linear path?

Of course the custom coolers are better, but the reference is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's pure self serving exaggeration...

I've seen them first hand, I was exaggerating with the lava but 98 degrees at 75% fan speed on Crysis 3, yeah no thanks lads.

 

[bepo]

Don't wait. Buy a used 290 now.

You can get a used 290 on eBay for $250 which is a ridiculous value for the dollar. Once the stock of used mining cards clears out, it'll bounce back up closer to new retail price. Just be smart, ask if the card was overvolted and if it was used for mining. Most of them will be the reference cooler, which is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Either way you can put on your own cooler on a $250 used 290 for $80 and it'll still be way cheaper than new.

Edit: The throwing lava comment is completely absurd and wrong. Completely wrong.

Have you ever used the reference cooler? Do you even know what you're talking about? Set a custom fan profile and it doesn't throttle and doesn't get obnoxiously loud. It's really, really simple. Unless you're saying you are incapable of downloading MSI afterburner and setting the max fan speed to 55% in a linear path?

Of course the custom coolers are better, but the reference is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's pure self serving exaggeration...

Just to throw in my two cents, I listened to comments like yours when I bought a reference 290 off ebay and it absolutely is terrible. I replaced it with a G10+H55 and basically broke even with the cost of an aftermarket 290. If I was to do it again I would have gone with one of the many tri-x's available for a bit more and saved myself the hassle.

 

[KaRLiToS]

Just to throw in my two cents, I listened to comments like yours when I bought a reference 290 off ebay and it absolutely is terrible. I replaced it with a G10+H55 and basically broke even with the cost of an aftermarket 290. If I was to do it again I would have gone with one of the many tri-x's available for a bit more and saved myself the hassle.

I would never recommend a reference R9 290(x) for air cooling.The reference were the first to release and was for early adopters like me. I only tested 2 cards out of 4 with the reference coolers (which were not that bad if you don't care about sound, otherwise, it completely sounds like a gas brushcutter ) but as soon as I received the rest of the cards they were put all under water.

Just for your information, the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290(x) is a reference PCB.

Sapphire Tri-X

Reference R9 290x

Spoiler

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy293/Karlitosss/P1010782_zps51cbe8b2.jpg~original

 

[borderdeal]

Just to throw in my two cents, I listened to comments like yours when I bought a reference 290 off ebay and it absolutely is terrible. I replaced it with a G10+H55 and basically broke even with the cost of an aftermarket 290. If I was to do it again I would have gone with one of the many tri-x's available for a bit more and saved myself the hassle.

I bought mine from ebay and with the ram sinks, VRM cooling and the Kraken G10 and Corsair H50 total for me came to $261 (bought the h50 used in ebay too)

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2387957

I have a Silverstone Raven RV02 which rotates the motherboard 90 degrees so I have problems with Aftermarket video cards not cooling well.
I tried the Tri-X R290 and the Powercolor R290 PCS+ both great cards but the Trix would almost reach 80 in my case and the R290 PCS+ was 70 or so but the fans would become too loud for my taste.
I am extremely happy that I went with the kraken and the H50 now GPU is never over 56 and the VRMs never pass 61. Time it takes to install it is about 30 min

 

[schmuckley]

I think it's a good idea;7870 just doesn't have enough shader cores.

 

[Venomous]

Personally, get a new card with an aftermarket cooler. For me I put everything underwater due to the high temps out here. Myself I would get a used one because there's a water block that will be used. I'm still getting the full value of a $250 card regardless. However I recommend a new card with the proper cooler that's under warranty.

 

[Headfoot]

I've seen them first hand, I was exaggerating with the lava but 98 degrees at 75% fan speed on Crysis 3, yeah no thanks lads.

98 degrees at 75% is either a complete fabrication, or a faulty card

 

[Headfoot]

Just to throw in my two cents, I listened to comments like yours when I bought a reference 290 off ebay and it absolutely is terrible. I replaced it with a G10+H55 and basically broke even with the cost of an aftermarket 290. If I was to do it again I would have gone with one of the many tri-x's available for a bit more and saved myself the hassle.

Yep, I put a Kraken x60 on mine. Used reference for a good while though completely without issue.

At $250 + $60 + $15 you get superior cooling to an aftermarket 290 and it's still nearly $100 cheaper for 45 minutes of work.

 

[guskline]

I picked up a used Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X for @$285 and upgraded my Piledriver8350 rig with a GTX680 to the R9 290. MUCH smoother and cooler. My vote goes to the Sapphire tri-x

 

[James3shin]

I just upgraded from a GTX570 to a R9 290, the performance gain is very noticeable. My vote goes to a Sapphire R9 290 - Tri-X or Vapor X.

 

[PC Perv]

Easily x2 performance in GPU-bound scenarios.


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