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Upgrading GPU (Crossfire or no)

C

Cod

Gawd
Joined
Mar 21, 2003
Messages
642
Simple question, should I get another HD7850 (for cheap) or buy a new R290? Is the performance that much greater from the R290 to justify the price difference?
 
crossfire is a pain in the ass. Get the single 290 it will run anything you throw at it.
 
A few weeks ago I bought a second 6870 to crossfire. After getting everything setup, I experieced a bit of micro stutter, as well as strange gpu usage between the two cards. Sometimes the both GPRS would be used in the game, and sometimes they wouldn't (same game). It would also put the 2nd gpu at 100% usage sporadically when on the desktop. After messing around with it for a week, I sold both 6870s and bought an R9 280x. Very happy with the decision. Great performance, no stutter, no second gpu behavior to pay attention to, and reduced noise.

This experienced has likely turned me off to crossfire going forward. Single card just seem to be a better experience all around.
 
I have crossfire 290 and I love it. Those cards in crossfire are absolute beats. Micro stutters are non exists t for me. However, I don't know how older cards act in crossfire.
 
Really more of a question you have to answer yourself:

  1. Do you have games you often play in windowed mode? If so, crossfire won't work great for you
  2. Do you play things at a high res? If so, the 290 would definitely be a much better option
  3. Do you mind waiting for new drivers when a new game comes out? This isn't completely necessary as you can often just use a profile from a different game and run crossfire OK, but sometimes you have (atleast in the past) to wait a few days for the Xfire profile to come out.

If you answered no to all of that the crossfire might not be a bad idea. I'm also fairly sure (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that you could also grab a 270 or 270x and crossfire with that for a slightly stronger upgrade if they're around the same price.
 
the 6xxx and earlier cards were earlier plagued with crossfire microstutter, but seem to have been fixed for the most part. it seems the general consensus is that the R9 series have really addressed the microstutter issues. you should also think of mGPU setups as potential gain to had in some games, and not just simply all. this applies for both red, and green, as it ultimately comes down to the availability of crossfire or SLI profiles depending on the specific game.
 
Based on what everyone has said, the R9 290 may be the best option. I'm just having trouble justifying (in my head) a $250 - $300 difference between another 7850 or a single 290. Even a used 290 will run around $350.

BTW, it doesn't make much of a difference, but I'm limited to a 10" length video card. I find that MSI cards meet this requirement generation after generation while other brands are hit-or-miss. Plus, I've never had a bad card from MSI...*knock*

EDIT: I should've mentioned, I can get a slightly used version of my current card MSI R7850 for ~$140 right now. I did find a R9 290X used (MSI re-certified) for $412 that looks appealing.
 
Cod said:
Based on what everyone has said, the R9 290 may be the best option. I'm just having trouble justifying (in my head) a $250 - $300 difference between another 7850 or a single 290. Even a used 290 will run around $350.

BTW, it doesn't make much of a difference, but I'm limited to a 10" length video card. I find that MSI cards meet this requirement generation after generation while other brands are hit-or-miss. Plus, I've never had a bad card from MSI...*knock*

EDIT: I should've mentioned, I can get a slightly used version of my current card MSI R7850 for ~$140 right now. I did find a R9 290X used (MSI re-certified) for $412 that looks appealing.
Click to expand...

They might have gone up in price, but I've seen some used 290s selling for ~$260 in the past week (I haven't checked recently).

That's a bad price on that 7850, there was a guy in FS/FT selling MSI gaming 270X cards for $140.
 
I have a pair of MSI Gaming R9 270 I have been using for the past two months. They have been pretty easy to get along with . If the 7850 has a twin frozr cooler on it I would not be using it on a micro atx board . I have mine on a ATX with a double spaced PCI slot and the top runs 10c hotter than the bottom unless I have a fan blowing on them . Board is in a Lian Li test bed.
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They will be getting replaced as I just scored a MSI Gaming R9 290 for $265.00 . From the testing I have done so far the 290 (stock clocks , 270s OC 1100/1500) is quicker in some games and slightly slower in others . It is usually not very much 5-10fps at worst . The 270s are the same as a 7870 so two 7850s would be slightly slower than a 290 .

If you go with a 290 your power supply might not be enough as they recommend a 750 watt . A R9 280x might be a better upgrade with out buying a new PS.
 
R9 290. It's faster than 7850 x-fire, more v-ram, plus no potential dual card issues.

LT1-Z/28 said:
If you go with a 290 your power supply might not be enough as they recommend a 750 watt .
Click to expand...
His power supply can handle it. They usually over-exaggerate with the requirements.
 
Yeah, my PSU isn't going to be an issue. Lurking around the JohnnyGuru website, i found the actual requirements for my system will be between 400-450 watts under full load.

The cheapest I've seen a 290 lately is around $410 new (~$340 used).
 
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