So just browsing some deals on amazon and electronics websites and came across this with £100 off in the sales. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radeon-Dire...1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1419599584&sr=1-2 http://www.ebuyer.com/623497-asus-r...-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-r9290x-dc2oc-4gd5 How good are the R9 290 series? I'm currently using a Radeon 6950 that i bought just over 3 years ago, not really had a problem with it but having seen that offer, is it something I should be taking up?!
R9 290 is equivalent to nvidia gtx 770 cards. It runs Crysis 3 @ 51fps 2560x1440 so i say it will run any game on high setting for the next couple of years. But if you game on 1980x1080, you'll be above 60 fps on high/ultra settings for most games. Overclock it abit and you got yourself a winner. Altho i prefer nvidia cards =]
Is there much difference between the 290 and 290x? And is that deal on Amazon (Link above) for a 290 a good one? Edit: Some others: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Gr...=UTF8&qid=1419617814&sr=1-25&keywords=r9+290x
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1056http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1056 That is a bit more detailed benchmark comparing the 290 to the 290X, you can pick and choose which products you want to compare against one another. Being an owner of a R9 290 from XFX and playing on 1080p, I'd say if you are planning on sticking to that resolution, that it might even be a bit overkill. Very solid card, I was lucky enough to have no issues with mine. Keep in mind, AMD cards run pretty hot and a slightly higher power consumption compared to Nvidia.
an R9 290 is a beast of a card, but it has WAY higher power consumption than Nvidia's 9xx series cards and is actually slower than even the GTX 970. If you are looking at a new card, id go with a 970 instead for not much more money as you will enjoy it a lot more: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Palit-Nvidia-GeForce-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NPRH3P0/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1419622832&sr=1-2&keywords=GTX 970 http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-v-amd-radeon-r9-290_Page-2 Also stores may be trying to clear inventory on the old stock of R9's because new gen cards from AMD are not too far away. I bet we will see some hardware previews in less than a month at CES.
Im not too worried about power comsumption tbh. My current setup is duel monitors 1680x1050 and 1440x900 (Im going to be getting a 1080p replacement soon though to replace the smaller of the two) The second is basically for teamspeak/browser while im in game. CPU is a Intel i5 2500k - stock 8Gb Corsair vengeance 1866mhz RAM p67 Sabertooth motherboard 6950 2gb GFX card 900w Antec gamer PSU Intel 320 series SSD + Samsung 840 EVO SSD + a couple SATA drives. I wasnt planning to upgrade for another year or so really but i just happened to see that offer, hence me asking if it is worth doing while there is 30% off! I'll take a look at the 970s too but is there much difference at all between a 290 and 290x?
No, barely any difference between a 290 and a 290X because both are constrained by the stock cooling. Im not much concerned with power consumption myself either, but the hot cards like the 290 do make my bedroom annoyingly hot in the summer months because of how much heat they dump out. More power efficiency also means more overclock headroom too, which is a plus for the 970.
Exactly, the efficiency aspect isn't just related to couple of extra bucks a year you'd spend. It takes overclocking better, it's less noisy, you don't turn your room into an oven, your whole system will see a benefit to not having as extreme of a thermal cycle going on. With the GTX970 for 50 more than the R9 290, it's really hard to recommend the latter.
I had a very bad experience with my 290 and crossfire 290's ... many of my AMD buddies at work have switched to Nvidia because of the issues with the 290 ... drivers ... over heating ... stick with nvidia buddy