r9 290x with an i7 930

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Danja

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
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I just got an unexpected return on my security deposit and I'm thinking of turning the money toward upgrading my PC. I'd really like to try Skyrim in its full HD glory, as well as some newer games like Crysis 3 and the Metro Reduxes. I believe I'm currently being limited by the 2 GB VRAM on my HD6950, especially in my modded Skyrim. However, I'm still running an i7 930 CPU. Would this bottleneck the video card significantly?

Also, I noticed some 290xs hovering around 300 - 400 bucks used on Amazon - is there any reason not to get one of these along with a Squaretrade warranty rather than a new card?
 
As for your CPU bottleneck: Check out the i940 (a smidgen quicker) vs. the 2500k. http://anandtech.com/bench/product/46?vs=288

Note the gaming benchmark resolution and see that the 2500k is only a tad quicker at even 720P. Take it up to 1080P and i can pretty much guarantee that i930 will provide the same experience as that 2500k, 3770k, or even 4770k.

That 2GB ram @ 1080P+ is far likely to diminish your gaming experience.

I would not hesitate to grab a "used" 290x in between 300-400 if you can get fully warranty replace options on it. 99% of these cards are miner cards, but remember that the 290x is still a "new" design, which has only been out for less than a year. In other words, the card you do pick should still have plenty of "legroom" on it. Retail 290Xs are 500+.
 
If you're getting a squaretrade warranty you might as well scoop a $200 R9 290 off of ebay. As far as bottlenecks, not there should not be one but be warned that several individuals have had problems combining the 290/290X with X58.
 
I had a I7 930 and have a 290 and it runs most games at 1600p pretty well (anything above 40 frames is fine for me, though). They're great value cards, and even though I'm running reference, I have had no problems that I can think of.

If you're really worried about your cpu I'd look at a xeon 5650 as well, which is what I did. Quite a big following on overclock and here - I picked that up for 70 bucks US.
 
Overclock the CPU and run the game at a decently high resolution and it should become a less of a bottleneck or none at all. The lower the resolution you game at the more the cpu comes into play.
 
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LigTasm said:
If you're getting a squaretrade warranty you might as well scoop a $200 R9 290 off of ebay. As far as bottlenecks, not there should not be one but be warned that several individuals have had problems combining the 290/290X with X58.
Click to expand...

Only when running in crossfire.
 
The Cobra said:
Only when running in crossfire.
Click to expand...

I've seen various posts with people having a hard time with single cards as well, mostly on brands that never updated their BIOS since 2010 and cards that don't have a way to boot non-UEFI.
 
cyclone3d said:
Used xeon 5650 and a 290 or 290x.

If you get an XFX card, the factory warranty is transferable to you provided you are the second owner.

$70 for the processor:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SLBV3-INTEL-XEON-X5650-6-CORE-2-66GHz-12MB-6-40GT-s-95W-PROC-/131256607417?pt=US_Server_CPUs_Processors&hash=item1e8f80e2b9

Easy overclock from 2.66 to 3.6-4.0Ghz+ provided you have a decent cooler.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, everyone. I went ahead and grabbed a used Gigabyte R9 290x on Amazon Marketplace (presumably with warranty tied to the S/N).

If I get the Xeon, will I need to reinstall Windows?
 
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