38 replies to this topic

[Alienized]

Flapdrol, on 22 November 2014 - 07:43 AM, said:

AMD cpu and nvidia gpu goes together fine, in fact in many games it performs better, nvidia drivers seem more efficient on the cpu side.

The 750Ti isn't the best in price/performance. Nice cards though, use only 60W and outperform my old gtx470 that uses over 3 times as much.

thats why i got the already overclocked version from Asus. you can never expect the best graphics on that price limit but i could use a 300w power supply to run my machine + as far as i read in several benchmark tests its a damn good card overall even compared with much more expensive cards.

what else do you want without spending too much money? my graphic card here never goes above 66° and thats with medium to high settings and without fps loss. so there is plenty of space to go higher.

[Gremlich Johns]

GTX760 4GB, supports multiple montiors well, and great FPS. I use one, an EVGA branded version.

[Summon3r]

lots of people getting good performance from 750ti's in MWO

[FearNotDeath]

Great time to upgrade soon with Black Friday cyber Monday coming.
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/ <-- try this to keep an eye on the lowest of prices on pretty much any computer parts.

R9-290 249.99 Is a very good price.

Edited by FearNotDeath, 22 November 2014 - 01:33 PM.

[Xarian]

strongly recommend holding out for a R290/R290x if you can wait to find one on sale. They're stronger than running 2x of the weaker ones (R260 etc) in crossfire, less power, about the same price, less heat, etc.

Edited by Xarian, 22 November 2014 - 01:49 PM.

[TheSilken]

Just wait for Black Friday or Electronics Monday. Easy and cheap.

[Iqfish]

Pet Dude, on 21 November 2014 - 03:28 PM, said:

Selling an Sapphire Radeon r9 290 Tri-X OC. Best deals right now are the R9 290 and r9 290X. You can get an r9 290 for under $290.

No, Kon, don't.

I had a 280X tri-X and that card sounds like two jetfighters starting.

Whatever you do, get an ASUS or Gigabyte manufactured. These are High quality and miraculously silent

Flapdrol, on 22 November 2014 - 07:43 AM, said:

AMD cpu and nvidia gpu goes together fine, in fact in many games it performs better, nvidia drivers seem more efficient on the cpu side.

The 750Ti isn't the best in price/performance. Nice cards though, use only 60W and outperform my old gtx470 that uses over 3 times as much.

These are coincidences and/or AMD vs. Intel // Nvidia vs AMD Propaganda war side effects.

Don't base you purchase decision on these, they are different for every game, every driver version and exact CPU/GPU model.

Edited by Iqfish, 22 November 2014 - 01:50 PM.

[Catamount]

Why would you get an Asus or Gigabyte GPU when AMD has Sapphire? I can't speak for the Tri-X coolers, but the Dual-X and Vapor-X coolers are perfectly quiet, and Sapphire's coolers give far and away better cooling performance.

In fact, you DON'T want to go Asus much of the time, because they re-use coolers across different types of boards and GPUs, seemingly even crossing Nvidia/AMD lines, leading to mediocre temperatures from non-tailored coolers getting attached to things. I'd literally rather go reference than CU II in some cases.

Edited by Catamount, 22 November 2014 - 02:05 PM.

[Koniving]

Padjo, on 22 November 2014 - 05:17 AM, said:

If I read it right, you have one card with a dead cooler, and the other one has surge damage or similar.
So you have one good cooler and one good card? If they are twins, could you take the best cooler and put it on the best performing card as a short-term solution? (if you do this, use fresh thermal paste)

No good coolers (both cards have dead or dying fans).
It can make for a temporary solution, but the fan dying / dead on the current card went unnoticed for a few days beyond unusual lag and then was very suddenly noticed after an overheated shutdown while simply watching youtube videos.

It's doing this sort of stuff on simple web browsing (though the cause of the errors shown was actually from a hard drive dying [from the same surge damage that killed the first of the twin video cards].

So, pretty much it is doing not-so-good-stuffs.

[Iqfish]

Catamount, on 22 November 2014 - 02:04 PM, said:

Why would you get an Asus or Gigabyte GPU when AMD has Sapphire? I can't speak for the Tri-X coolers, but the Dual-X and Vapor-X coolers are perfectly quiet, and Sapphire's coolers give far and away better cooling performance.

In fact, you DON'T want to go Asus much of the time, because they re-use coolers across different types of boards and GPUs, seemingly even crossing Nvidia/AMD lines, leading to mediocre temperatures from non-tailored coolers getting attached to things. I'd literally rather go reference than CU II in some cases.

That's some sort of generalization, I've seen many Asus cards in action and they were better than Sapphire, Powercolor, Club3D, HIS or XFX cards every single time.

I have owned a 7870 from Gigabyte, a 770 from Gigabyte and now sporting a 780 from Gigabyte and I simply love them.
Overclocked factory wise and still easily overclockable for at least 15%.

I've had 2 bad experiences with Sapphire though, like I said my old 280x was loud AND hot and a friend of mine got a 290 toxic I think and his card died from overheating as well.

(And yellow is fugly inside any PC)

[Pet Dude]

My bad overlooked your budget.

http://www.newegg.co...1-570-_-Product

Try that. Even saves a few $$$.

[Lord Letto]

looking New at PCPartPicker.Com, Best you could do for $160 Max is a R9 270X Unless a MIR is possible than the R9 280 would Fit in the Budget.
My Recomendations:
MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR for $160 @ Newegg, $20 MIR Possible to bring it down to $140: http://www.newegg.co...ID=3938566&SID=

MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR for $185 @ Newegg, $30 MIR could bring it down to $155: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

If Used is Fine, there's a 2GB 7870 GHz Edition on Amazon with 3 Available Used from $114.99+$5.99 Shipping: http://www.amazon.co...16712623&sr=1-1

Edited by Lord Letto, 22 November 2014 - 07:22 PM.

[eblackthorn]

Here's my recommendation: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814487024


Not sure where you are but its a great price (on sale right now) and it can perform.

Edited by eblackthorn, 22 November 2014 - 07:56 PM.

[Flapdrol]

Iqfish, on 22 November 2014 - 01:48 PM, said:

These are coincidences and/or AMD vs. Intel // Nvidia vs AMD Propaganda war side effects.

Don't base you purchase decision on these, they are different for every game, every driver version and exact CPU/GPU model.

Gpu limited tests go both ways, I've never seen amd win a cpu limited test on a non mantle game.

[Padjo]

Are they the version with one or two fans?
You could try to under-clock them so they won't cook so quickly.
It's been said before, but if you can stretch to black friday/ cyber monday, you could get something more for the money.

[POOTYTANGASAUR]

I would say a used 7950 for around $120 would be your best price/performance/temp/overclock-ability/size/sound choice. I had an XFX DD that I bought for $190 new a year and a half ago and it ran all games 60 fps until I upgraded to my R9 290 VAPOR-X. It ran quiet and I was able to get its core up to 1200 mhz even with the locked bios on the XFX card. It would also save you around $40 you could spend on a better CPU cooler or case fans or LEDs.... whatever you want really. If you could find another $80 for your budget I got my 290 for $269.99 and you can find other versions down to $200. The 900 series is more efficient but not nearly as cheap and my 290 running at 1200/1600 (currently 1250/1250) matches and destroys all of Nvidias offerings except the gtx 980. I also had an r9 290 windforce that I tested for a while that was a bit hotter and a bit louder but also can be often found cheaper.

Edited by POOTYTANGASAUR, 23 November 2014 - 08:20 AM.

[greywolf79]

I am sure it is a little weaker of a card but I bought my R7 250 with 2 gb for $60. I only bought 1 (due to budget could not get a 2nd yet). The thing is new with shipping, $60. I have read you can cross fire them but never done cross fire before and I do not see a spot on it for those weird cable adapter connector things... But there is supposed to be a software cross fire option for running 2 of them. Any way, $60 including shipping for a new 2 gb card - figured it might be useful to you.

eBay - the place cheapskates go to buy stuff.

[Catamount]

Iqfish, on 22 November 2014 - 02:47 PM, said:

That's some sort of generalization, I've seen many Asus cards in action and they were better than Sapphire, Powercolor, Club3D, HIS or XFX cards every single time.

I have owned a 7870 from Gigabyte, a 770 from Gigabyte and now sporting a 780 from Gigabyte and I simply love them.
Overclocked factory wise and still easily overclockable for at least 15%.

I've had 2 bad experiences with Sapphire though, like I said my old 280x was loud AND hot and a friend of mine got a 290 toxic I think and his card died from overheating as well.

I am making a generalization, but a correct one. I don't know what "you've seen"; I'm not privy to that information. I do know what reviewers have reported.

Here's Asus vs Sapphire in terms of their best coolers, for instance

http://www.overclock...tri_x_oc/15.htm

The Vapor-X cooler not only blows the Direct CUII cooler out of the water, but it keeps a 280X cooler than the DCUII cooler is able to keep a lower-TDP 270.

Neither cooler wins awards for being quiet

http://www.tweaktown...ew/index15.html

The DCUII cooler is a smidge quieter, but it's also just an inferior cooler (and I could turn down the Vapor-X cooler to be "only as good" for less noise, I'm sure)

Tweaktown was very impressed with the noise levels that Sapphire managed when the temperature numbers are considered.

[Bront]

At your budget, Tomshardwareguide suggests the R9 270X as the best bang for your buck. I'd probably aim for that unless you're worried about power, at which point the NVidia 750TI is the way to go. That said, the 280s are only $20 more (On backorder by Amazon), so it may not be a bad idea to stretch up to one of those.

Edited by Bront, 23 November 2014 - 09:29 AM.