Cheap yet substantial upgrade from a 290 (used)

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Note that this isn't my main rig, my main has a vega64 in it, but I'm addicted to folding@home so I want to beef up my backup rig on a super stingy budget. Just spit-balling ideas.

I was tossing around the idea doing crossfire with my 290 as I saw a matching sapphire 290 Tri-x go on ebay for only like $75.. but eh.. I don't know if I want to deal with crossfire, and my 290 is only a 4gb model. All I want to do is get absolute max frame rates (don't care about power consumption, machine has a hx850i anyway) without blowing big money. That pretty much leaves anything above a 1070 / 580 out of the picture afaik.

I don't have too much money to spend, so I was considering posting a want add in the buy/sell forum here to "trade + cash" the 290 to maybe a 980Ti and overclock the 980Ti to hell.. Is that my best option? Just say screw it and get a second 290? Rob a bank?

Is navi going to come out and shake the hell out of the mid range market?

What do I do!
 
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I think a 980 ti or a 1070 would be your best option if you can find one at a reasonable price. I wouldn't look to much into the RX 580's, from my experience they do not OC well at all.

Navi will be a midrange part, pitted against the RTX 2060 - 2070 and most likely using AMD's version of Ray Tracing. You're guess is as good as mine on how "good" it will actually be though in the Price / Performance race.
 
I went from 290 to 980ti and it was a perfect upgrade and what I would have hoped for in terms of performance.
 
I think a 980 ti or a 1070 would be your best option if you can find one at a reasonable price. I wouldn't look to much into the RX 580's, from my experience they do not OC well at all.

Navi will be a midrange part, pitted against the RTX 2060 - 2070 and most likely using AMD's version of Ray Tracing. You're guess is as good as mine on how "good" it will actually be though in the Price / Performance race.

I'm not expecting the navi parts to be cheap anyway, esp right at launch, just wondering if navi coming out is going to drive prices of existing cards much further down.

Just flipped through a few youtube reviews, looks like the 980Ti and 1070 are quite neck and neck with the 1070 being a bit better and having more vram. Difference in price in the first few pages of the for sale thread here is $35, not bad.

I went from 290 to 980ti and it was a perfect upgrade and what I would have hoped for in terms of performance.

That's good to know, I was worrying I wouldn't really notice. The big reason for wanting to do this is because I've finally started playing Dragon Quest XI and the 290 can't really handle it at 1080P and that's a game I want to play on my big TV with this rig, among others in my backlog.. I don't want to buy a second 290 to get stuck with a game that needs more than 4GB or poor crossfire support.

I guess I'll see what I can flip the 290 for. I just realized I have a matx AM3+ board with an FX4100 and radeon hd 7950 just wasting space. Maybe this old crap will all trade up to a 980Ti or 1070. Thanks guys
 
I'm not expecting the navi parts to be cheap anyway, esp right at launch, just wondering if navi coming out is going to drive prices of existing cards much further down.

Just flipped through a few youtube reviews, looks like the 980Ti and 1070 are quite neck and neck with the 1070 being a bit better and having more vram. Difference in price in the first few pages of the for sale thread here is $35, not bad.



That's good to know, I was worrying I wouldn't really notice. The big reason for wanting to do this is because I've finally started playing Dragon Quest XI and the 290 can't really handle it at 1080P and that's a game I want to play on my big TV with this rig, among others in my backlog.. I don't want to buy a second 290 to get stuck with a game that needs more than 4GB or poor crossfire support.

I guess I'll see what I can flip the 290 for. I just realized I have a matx AM3+ board with an FX4100 and radeon hd 7950 just wasting space. Maybe this old crap will all trade up to a 980Ti or 1070. Thanks guys

I'd go with the 1070, simply because now you can use Freesync with them, if you're into that sort of thing :p
 
I'd go with the 1070, simply because now you can use Freesync with them, if you're into that sort of thing :p

Actually my monitor supports freesync. No freesync on the 980Ti? If so that's a REALLY good point I totally forgot about. I'm guessing the sapphire 290 + xfx 7950 should net me at least $100 and the fx 4100 board a tad more.. so I should be able to do a 1070 for maybe $100.. not bad

...now I wonder how much more for a 1080 MWAHAHAH... ughh
 
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Actually my monitor supports freesync. No freesync on the 980Ti? If so that's a REALLY good point I totally forgot about. I'm guessing the sapphire 290 + xfx 7950 should net me at least $100 and the fx 4100 board a tad more.. so I should be able to do a 1070 for maybe $100.. not bad

...now I wonder how much more for a 1080 MWAHAHAH... ughh

What resolution you use?
 
Actually my monitor supports freesync. No freesync on the 980Ti? If so that's a REALLY good point I totally forgot about. I'm guessing the sapphire 290 + xfx 7950 should net me at least $100 and the fx 4100 board a tad more.. so I should be able to do a 1070 for maybe $100.. not bad

...now I wonder how much more for a 1080 MWAHAHAH... ughh

No freesync support with 900 series cards sadly :(
 
No freesync support with 900 series cards sadly :(

I'm not sure I really need the freesync, but prices aren't that huge of a difference between a 980Ti and a 1070 it seems that would make the 1070 a no brainer

The last thing I'm trying to figure out is which will be the best after overclocking. I built a rig for my dad last year with MSI 1080 Gaming X under water and overclocking was kind of a bummer with those. It looks like I can get an MSI lightning 980 Ti for a reasonable price, but pretty basic cards if I go for the 1070.

I guess my choice might be a tad more performance but no freesync or a tad less performance with freesync.
 
I went from 290 to 980ti and it was a perfect upgrade and what I would have hoped for in terms of performance.
This.
I moved from a slightly faster 290x to a 980ti and it was a great upgrade.
I didnt upgrade for the performance, AMD drivers were shafting me daily so I had no choice but to jump ship.
The extra performance was lovely, I was rather surprised it was such big a difference.

ps Freesync on Nvidia only works over displayport.
If you have a freesync monitor with only HDMI freesync will not work.
If you intend upgrading to a freesync HDTV freesync wont work.
 
This.
I moved from a slightly faster 290x to a 980ti and it was a great upgrade.
I didnt upgrade for the performance, AMD drivers were shafting me daily so I had no choice but to jump ship.
The extra performance was lovely, I was rather surprised it was such big a difference.

ps Freesync on Nvidia only works over displayport.
If you have a freesync monitor with only HDMI freesync will not work.
If you intend upgrading to a freesync HDTV freesync wont work.

My 144hz freesync monitor takes display port but to be honest I use that for counter-strike most of the time, and I disable freesync when I play that because it feels laggy when its on. Right now I just want to get 60FPS solid @ 1080P high or ultra in Dragon Quest XI and maybe Monster Hunter which is next in my list of games.

I don't feel like waiting months for navi to come around so I'm checking around for a deal now
 
My 144hz freesync monitor takes display port but to be honest I use that for counter-strike most of the time, and I disable freesync when I play that because it feels laggy when its on. Right now I just want to get 60FPS solid @ 1080P high or ultra in Dragon Quest XI and maybe Monster Hunter which is next in my list of games.

I don't feel like waiting months for navi to come around so I'm checking around for a deal now
You should be golden and 980ti cards clock like mad.
 
My 144hz freesync monitor takes display port but to be honest I use that for counter-strike most of the time, and I disable freesync when I play that because it feels laggy when its on. Right now I just want to get 60FPS solid @ 1080P high or ultra in Dragon Quest XI and maybe Monster Hunter which is next in my list of games.

I don't feel like waiting months for navi to come around so I'm checking around for a deal now

Hmm, Freesync shouldn't feel laggy, especially at 144hz. Make sure you set it in your monitor settings as well as your control panel. Unless you're dipping below your VRR limit on your monitor.
 
My 144hz freesync monitor takes display port but to be honest I use that for counter-strike most of the time, and I disable freesync when I play that because it feels laggy when its on. Right now I just want to get 60FPS solid @ 1080P high or ultra in Dragon Quest XI and maybe Monster Hunter which is next in my list of games.

Yeah freesync is a finicky beast but it's fantastic when it works.

I quickly realized each game is different. Some need in-game vsync, others nvidia CP vsync, and other still need a forced cap right below the max refresh.... (sometimes a combination of cap n sync)

It's totally, totally worth it though.

I'd get the 1070 over the 980 Ti any day of the week!
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I ended up going with a 980 Ti because I got a warranty with it. Not as good as the MSI lightning I was thinking about snagging but eh.

https://www.evga.com/products/Produ...=GeForce+900+Series+Family&chipset=GTX+980+Ti

I just plain couldn't resist the deal, I bought the SC model with the back plate but the $189 version is the same thing with lower stock clocks.. Came to around $213 after tax but the warranty makes me happy.
 
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If you are buying used 1070. If new, 1660 Ti offers same performance but for less money.

1070 = 1660 Ti in performance. Just depends what you can get cheaper.


That's a good deal for the 980 Ti. Enjoy!
 
WEnt from 290 to used 1080 Ti a couple of months ago for 500 bucks. But looks like thats out of your budget?
 
WEnt from 290 to used 1080 Ti a couple of months ago for 500 bucks. But looks like thats out of your budget?

ah yeah significantly beyond my budget, this is just my "side" computer that's primarily hooked up to the livingroom TV and one 144hz 1080P monitor. Already went with the EVGA B stock 980 Ti because it was only $200 and had a warranty. Kind of wish I scraped out an extra $50 to get a used 1070Ti for freesync option but eh.. the warranty makes me cozy.

I'll be willing to shell out that kind of money in a year or two when I upgrade my main. I know the 1080Ti is much better than vega 64 I have but not the upgrade I'm looking for there.. Maybe in another year when 2080Ti is hopefully reasonable.
 
I think an R9 Fury Nitro would be great except, well, ebay sellers want to much money for them.
 
I think an R9 Fury Nitro would be great except, well, ebay sellers want to much money for them.

I actually saw one go for $139 or so last week on ebay. I didn't bite because he said it was pulled from a data center doing graphics simulation. I read that as mining bitcoins for 3+ years so I passed :p
 
I guess I'll see what I can flip the 290 for. I just realized I have a matx AM3+ board with an FX4100 and radeon hd 7950 just wasting space. Maybe this old crap will all trade up to a 980Ti or 1070. Thanks guys

What kind of 7950? I have one that's lonely and wants to crossfire...
 
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