I'm confused - need advice on video cards What do u think of that review : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-20.html Since newegg screwed me over the SSD i was thinking of getting the R9 290 (it's at 399 at amazon for the MSI version) but the toms hardware guys say that retail version of the cards suck compared to the press tested ones ? I might put myself to cryosleep and wait for the re-release of the R9 by Asus / XFX or MSI but that's after the 780 will hit the shelves. They have also mentionned to modify the card with arctic cooling but i'm afraid to do it as it'd screw the warranty. I need some advice plz Also, people said that the XFX and such versions of the 290 can be modified to 290x easily and that it should be the same card more or less ?? http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1791547 Finally, the 770 is priced at 320$ as well so it's a lil bit cheaper even if it's below the R9 in terms of perfs. AAH IM LOST SOME1 HELP MEH.
Retail versions are no different than press versions, Tom's is retarded. Just as back in the 6000 series, the 290 is the same card as the 290X. This is the same with every generation of course but the 6000 and R9 290 series cards did not laser cut the "bad" parts of the core out but instead bios disable it. This means a bios can be flashed to re-enable the defective parts and you can use them. It is your choice to do this or not, AMD did it because the card does not meet the 290X specs with all parts enabled, this can be because something is truly defective and doesnt work, because it gets too hot, or because it sucks more power than its spec says it should. Normally it is a case of the last thing, too much power. All that means for you is it will work perfect but with higher power draw than an official 290X. How much more can be anything from a watt or two all the way to 20 more watts. Beyond that area of power draw and most likely something is actually defective in the core. Reference designs can be bios modded, custom designs (which are not out yet) cannot be because they also require a custom bios to support the custom PCB. R9 290 is a way faster card than a GTX 770 unless all you are running is a single 1080p monitor. Then it doesn't matter much. The 290 was designed to be able to run a single card in 1440p resolution or dual cards in 4K, Nvidia cards dont run as well in the highest resolutions because they do not have enough render pipelines. Both brands of card easily have enough pipelines to handle 1080p content though
Damn nice post enigma thx. I'll go for the R9 290 then because i might go for a 1440p monitor next year as some are around 500$ now i might try to flash my R9 and see how it goes. The MSI version is much cheaper than the XFX i guess they are all equivalent so i'll go for this one ! Edit : well fuck this... Canada's at it again, can't purchase from Amazon.com where it's at 399 and here everything's starting at 500+ except a few at 430ish (on NCIX) that are out of stock for probably the next 25 years, till some dude on a moose comes around with a stock of cards along with enough fuel to last the winter; if any canadian ninja of the online stores happen to read this and see one in stock somewhere where we can actually buy them please pm me.
EDIT: Just as a heads up I am told that it is only the first batch or two of the 290's that are unlock-able. Some of the newer reference cards have been found to be laser cut so they cannot be unlocked. So you should be careful with what you buy and trying out an unlock. Check it out to be sure first: http://www.overclock.net/t/1445030/is-your-r9-290-unlockable-find-out-here I know your mad at Newegg but... http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125479 But I am told we are *supposed* to see custom 290's with better cooling and possibly better OCability next week. However AMD has said in the past that it wouldnt be till the end of Dec. or January. Not sure which to believe but either way that is hardly any time to wait. I bet there will be lots more stock available and you get to see some possibly better options if you hold off for a month. Also, I highly recommend a Korean off-brand monitor for 1440p. They work great and the majority of people who buy them have no issues or problems of any kind. I myself have two, a Yamakasi Catleap 2B (One of the only 1440p IPS panel 120Hz capable monitors in the world) and a QNix QX2710 (Another 1440P 120Hz capable monitor, this time a Samsung PLS panel instead of LG IPS). I know there are 2 or 3 others on this forum who also have these Korean monitors and love them. I bought my Yamakasi for $400 (Now goes for $850 I think) and my QNix for $310. Both with free shipping of course. Glossy: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-QNIX-QX...9651?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item20d058e2e3 Matte: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Matte-2...6203?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item4acb41064b http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matte-FREE-...=100010&prg=1076&rk=2&rkt=15&sd=130868303187& This one is not overclockable past the standard 60Hz, but it has multi inputs: http://www.ebay.com/itm/QNIX-QX2710...7794?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item19e5e6c1f2
Get the 770. I run a 660ti and can max out any game @ 1080p. I don't see why you need to pay more than $320 to get a questionable ATi card.
Can't run BF4 on ultra on the 660 :s but i never had any trouble with my previous ATI cards. On 3 comps at home, 2 have 5850s and one has a 660 TI, the AMD cards work well. Had been ages since i went back to nvidia actually for the last pc. Yeah i saw that page Enigma but it's out of stock for now... I've found a way to order on newegg i think. Thx for the screens info too ! U bought em off south korea on ebay too ? I'm a little bit worried on the state of the screen once it has traveled 20 000km tho. Edit : i think i'll wait to go to the states tho (2nd of January), because 449 in Canada transforms to, like, 500$ once u pay shipping + taxes... That's way more than 399 U.S (free shipping on amazon.com). Especially if u consider that some 290x are for sale at 499$ U.S. I might order on Amazon few days before arriving and ship it to the hotel (calling em first) it'll save. Unless i could walk in a store and buy it directly but i don't know about computer part stores chains at all in the U.S
Ya all of us that have the Korean screen buy them from Ebay from the sellers who are in Korea. Youd be surprised, both my monitors arrives in perfect condition and only take 4-5 days to get to me. Of course, being on the west coast near two of the largest seaports in the US probably has a lot to do with shipping speed from across the Pacific. If you look at the available/sold area on those Ebay pages you will see there are a ton of people who have bought just from those listings alone. Feedback on the monitors is really about 90% positive on their condition.
I've got the earlier version Monoprice 27" 1440p IPS screen. Doesn't do 120hz but you do get in-country support/warranty for it. You can see the one they've got here: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=10509&seq=1&format=2 It's fantastic except for two things: The cabinet and stand are a bit wonky and the backlight bleeds through at the bottom a bit more than I'd like on dark screens.
Aye west coast is a giant korea town I'm lost on the North East here... But i'll take a look for sure Any idea on chains where i could drive over on the road to NY to pick up some cards ? I only know Bestbuy
Microcenter has stuff, they are a US retail store. Maybe Erock can get you a deal too since he works there. Every time I go in to Monoprice warehouse I think about buying one cause they look pretty sexy in person. They always have one of those screens sitting out on display in the Will Call area. But then I think that I already have two better screens (but they don't look as nice) and don't end up buying one.
Thanks for the infos Can't wait for that thing even if i don't really need it it's dumb i know. Is there any sale in the U.S for the boxing day (26th of December) ? Or is it somehting Canadians inherit for being a part of the British empire ?
There might be some after Christmas sales, some stores do that. Most of the sales have already happened in the US though. Black Friday is the biggest, Cyber Monday is usually also huge. Those two just passed this last weekend. I doubt Monoprice will have big sales like that though because it is not really their type of thing. I looked at their stuff on Friday and it was pretty much just random useless junk that was on sale. Actually Microcenter has their own version that is an identical Korean knockoff for about the same price as Ebay and Monoprice. I cant remember the model though, but I think it is their only 2560x1440 screen that Microcenter sells. but honestly if you think your 660 has a hard time running ultra settings in BF4 now, just wait till you see how much it chokes in 1440p. It is probably best to go with a GPU first since the screens will always be there.
Yeah for sure, the GPU is my main priority. And i don't think there'll be sales in R9 cards anytime before the V2 are out as they are brand new now. The only stuff u can take cheaper than release is the 770 but it's almos the same price than the 290 and much less powerful.