Replace (2) R9 280 3GB in SLI with WHAT???

T

TroyTalksNoMore

Supreme [H]ardness
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I just ordered two new HD's + new WIN 10 OS: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rue&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-I...&qid=1444511474&sr=8-1&keywords=MZ-75E500B/AM

WD Black 4TB - http://www.amazon.com/Black-Perform...8&qid=1444511626&sr=1-1&keywords=WD+Black+4TB

I'll keep my 37" & 47" x 1920 x 1080 TV's now & upgrade them in mid-2016-ish.

What should I be looking at for my next vid cards?

CURRENT RIG: 2015-2020 GAME BOX: NZXT Source 210 Elite case, EVGA 1300W SuperNOVA G2 PSU, MSI Z97A Gaming7 mobo, i7-4790K cpu, stock cooler, 16GB RAM DDR3xPC3-12800 GSKIL RipJawsX, (2) HIS R9 280 IceQ OC 3GB (my 1st SLI rig), HGST 4TB 7.2K RPM HD, 47" Philips LCD TV (1920x1080), M-Audio MV40 speakers, Playseat, G27 Wheel, MS 2000 KB, Logitech Mouse, WIN7-64

:D
 
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Not very specific here. What do you plan on using the new cards for? Sure there are better cards but 2x 280s aren't that bad at all.
 
if you're looking for an SLI or crossfire setup, then some of the most common, best performing options are

2x of the following in order of performance benchmarks:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
AMD Radeon R9 Fury X
ASUS STRIX R9 Fury
AMD Radeon R9 Nano
AMD Radeon R9 390X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
AMD Radeon R9 290X "Uber"
AMD Radeon R9 290X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti
ASUS GTX 970 DirectCU Mini
NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
AMD Radeon HD 7970
 
When you upgrade your screens, do you plan on going up from 1080p? That will make a pretty big difference. I might hold up any upgrades until that time just because the horsepower for 1080p and something like 4k is so different.
 
Gorignak said:
if you're looking for an SLI or crossfire setup, then some of the most common, best performing options are

2x of the following in order of performance benchmarks:

AMD Radeon R9 Fury X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
ASUS STRIX R9 Fury
AMD Radeon R9 Nano
AMD Radeon R9 390X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
AMD Radeon R9 290X "Uber"
AMD Radeon R9 290X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti
ASUS GTX 970 DirectCU Mini
NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
AMD Radeon HD 7970
Click to expand...

Fixed
 
If your not going to upgrade your monitor for another 6-7 months i'd just keep the 2 x R9 280 in crossfire, waste of money upgrading right now on 1080p,

In 6-7 months there will be another new wave of cards out guaranteed.

Are the R9 280's struggling with anything you currently play at the moment?

What type of monitor are you going to upgrade to 2560x1440, 3440 x 1440, 3840x2160 (4K) etc. I'd be concentrating on the monitor first then finding something to drive them,
 
wantapple said:
Fixed
Click to expand...

"Performance jumps all around depending on the game. The games that work well with CrossFire will have great performance on Fury X CrossFire for the money. However, if a game lacks good software support for CrossFire it will suffer." Quoted from an article here http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/10/06/amd_radeon_r9_fury_x_crossfire_at_4k_review#.VhnXdflVhBc.

I pulled that list from Anandtech's site based on single card performance. It's also only a guideline, not exactly a SLI/crossfire benchmark sorted list.
 
I would go with a non-ref 290x or 390 as it would be very close to the crossfire performance of your 280's in a single card without waiting for AMD to come up with a CX profile for any new game.
 
rc3ilynt said:
Not very specific here. What do you plan on using the new cards for? Sure there are better cards but 2x 280s aren't that bad at all.
Click to expand...

80% gaming, video editing & photoshop...

You are right, 2x 280s aren't that bad at all (best rig I've ever had) but I can't run ULTRA settings without seeing serious stuttering - even after reducing shadows, reflections, other options... and I typically have to cut AA & AF back a notch or two to get a smooth experience, etc.

JS_ said:
When you upgrade your screens, do you plan on going up from 1080p? That will make a pretty big difference. I might hold up any upgrades until that time just because the horsepower for 1080p and something like 4k is so different.
Click to expand...

Great point... I don't know when I will update my monitor so this is a really, really great point.

cageymaru said:
Windows 10 upgrade is free for Windows 7 users.
Click to expand...

I used my Win7x64pro to build this box & I'm running "non-genuine" with nag screens.

cageymaru said:
I would consider a FreeSync or GSYNC monitor. Asus has a 34" GSYNC coming and there are similarly sized LG 34" FreeSync monitors. Even HP makes FreeSync monitors now. Then there are also up to 55" Korean FreeSync monitors on EBAY.

FreeSync is supported by AMD and by Intel in the future.
GSYNC is Nvidia only.
Click to expand...

craz0 said:
If your not going to upgrade your monitor for another 6-7 months i'd just keep the 2 x R9 280 in crossfire, waste of money upgrading right now on 1080p,

In 6-7 months there will be another new wave of cards out guaranteed.

Are the R9 280's struggling with anything you currently play at the moment?

What type of monitor are you going to upgrade to 2560x1440, 3440 x 1440, 3840x2160 (4K) etc. I'd be concentrating on the monitor first then finding something to drive them,
Click to expand...

Yeah, a new monitor is probably 6 months away... very good point.

However, yes - the R9 280's are definitely struggling with some games & I scale back the settings.

I hope my next monitor will be the super wide format I've seen or a triple set up & maybe 4K.

Gorignak said:
"Performance jumps all around depending on the game. The games that work well with CrossFire will have great performance on Fury X CrossFire for the money. However, if a game lacks good software support for CrossFire it will suffer." Quoted from an article here http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/10/06/amd_radeon_r9_fury_x_crossfire_at_4k_review#.VhnXdflVhBc.

I pulled that list from Anandtech's site based on single card performance. It's also only a guideline, not exactly a SLI/crossfire benchmark sorted list.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is my first SLI rig & some games have very noticeable jitters / stutters... it's hard to explain & it's hard to make them go away by tweaking my graphics settings.

My take aways thus far:
- choose my monitor first, some killer screens & cards will be out by the time I purchase...
- buy the most bad ass single card I can afford & SLI that w/ another card later if I need MOARRR POWWERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D
 
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Get a single 980ti or Fury X. Then upgrade in 2017 when big Pascal has shown it's hand and nVidia/AMD on the new node.

You'll have extra power in some games. Make sure you use DSR (nVidia) or VSR (AMD). Stay away from multiGPU IMO. In the future you're better off just selling the cars and getting the best of the time rather than adding another outdated card. Especially with the power efficiency the node jump will bring.
 
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I've used multi-GPU cards in the past and have found that a single-GPU, single card solution works best. Right now that is the GTX 980 Ti or the Radeon Fury X.
 
talk2troy said:
My take aways thus far:
- choose my monitor first, some killer screens & cards will be out by the time I purchase...
- buy the most bad ass single card I can afford & SLI that w/ another card later if I need MOARRR POWWERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D
Click to expand...

I'd do exactly the same if I were you. Find out what monitor you'll use. Get a single graphics card to power it if you can, and if you can't, then venture back into SLI.
 
980 ti, you only need one for 1080p, more is a waste since you are not doing 144 hz either.
 
Honestly for your resolution (1080p) your R9s are far far more than enough for 90++% of content. You're trying to improve, but there's really nowhere to go right now. Could you get more FPS? Sure. You're running to TVs though, at 60Hz. There's no difference between what you're getting now (60+ FPS) and what you could get in the real world.
 
I am considering the R9 290X as a new primary card + also keeping one R9 280 in SLI.

This video shows a substantial FPS gain in R9 280 vs. R9 290X
https://youtu.be/km90BJaKHWo

The overlay made me cross eyed, but just look at the center section - all labeled:
D3D11 : xx.x FPS (R9 280 @ upper right / R9 290X @ lower left)

Looks like I can ditch 30~40 FPS @ full ULTRA & go nicely beyond 60 FPS ~ steady!

I can pass this R9 280 3GB off to my kid - or sell it...

The offset price diff would be about $200 - ie:

SELL: my R9 280 3 GB factory overclocked edition - similar to this standard version:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/catapage_tech.asp?cataid=200&lang=eng

R9 280 = $185 (open box @ newegg)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=sapphire_r9_280-_-14-202-112R-_-Product

R9 280 = $240 @ amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-11230-00-20G/dp/B00IZXOW80


BUY: R9 290X 4 GB = $325~$350 ie:

ALL AT NEWEGG:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...71&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

ALL @ AMAZON:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_p...n+R9+290X"&qid=1444779265&sort=price-asc-rank

HOLY CRAP! R9 290X 8GB = $380
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DisplayPo...=1444779275&sr=1-11&keywords="Radeon+R9+290X"
 
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