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R9 280x to R9 290

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Hi all,

My friend is going to buy my 5-month-old Sapphire R9 280x Vapor for 75% of it's buying price. My question is, is it a worth upgrade to r9 290? I'm currently looking at MSI r9 290 Gaming OC or the Sapphire Tri-x R9 290 as an upgrade. Please advise.

Thanks
 
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How much is the 290 actually going to cost you?
 
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R9-280X is just a reheated old architecture. I wouldn't buy it today just because of that. I have the HD7950 and it's fine becase when i bought it it was brand new architecture. But today, i'd go for R9-290 for sure. Otherwise you might get a HD7970 even cheaper because of it's age, but it's basically exactly the same thing except for the name itself.
 

Ebo

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For me its comes down which resolution you play in, IF you play in 1920x1080 and under then x280 is all okay.
R9 290 really start to shine in the upper part, if you like me have bourght the R9 290 OC from Sapphire, actually for me it was an upgrade i didnt needed, but i have done so anyway since i play for now in 1920x1200 and have a new 4K screen comming also, so for me it made sense. Otherwise your card only spit polygones out that you cant see.
 
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I used a Gigabyte Radeon 7970ghz (1.1ghz gpu 1.5ghz Ram) for the last year on a 30" 2560x1600 monitor and it was satisfactory, I would have preferred a little more power, but it wasn't really needed. Unless you really need the R9 290, I would stick with the R9 280, and wait for the next gen stuff.
 
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I recently got an R9 290 and it's been running the few games I've tried on it at 2560x1440 at, mostly, 60FPS with maxed settings, except AA.
 
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MxPhenom 216

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Simple question. Why?

Does the 280x not give you the performance you seek anymore?

Did you just upgrade monitors and the 280x cant handle it?

Lots of things to consider imo. If the 280x can still play your games fine, im not sure i would bother with the 290. Wait for next gen.
 

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you guys are right... and damn it, i already sold my 280x earlier today.. pls dont let me regret this... so should i push through with the 290 or 780 ti perhaps?
 
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Well, the price difference between a 290 and a 780Ti is pretty steep. Unless you're gaming higher than 1080p, you don't need a 780Ti. If you don't want to wait the, probable, 6+ months before a die shrink comes to higher end cards, I'd just suggest going with the 290, or slightly lower.
 

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780 non ti?

Love my card.
 

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I say its definitely worth it. I went from a HD 7970 GHz aka R9 280X to a R9 290 and boy the performance increase was great. Could max almost all games at 1080P with 60+ FPS without breaking a sweat. In-terms of R9 290 vs GTX 780 i vote for the R9 290. After having used both cards i like the 290 much more as it has more raw performance and the wider bus width really helps at higher resolutions.
 

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Go for the 290, it'll work great. I went from 7970 cfx to a 290, and it's been a great experience so far, and that's a reference 290. And from everything I've seen, the 290s OC well so you'll be pretty happy.
 
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R9 290 it is. Is MSI Gaming OC a reliable brand? I was Sapphire all the time so I'm just curious ...
 

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I have a Sapphire 290 and have no complaints. They handled my 7970 RMA well, and my 290 from them has been a beast. :)

But for MSI Gaming, checkout this thread. Looks like they did a good TIM job, and most have been happy. Either way, I think you'll be fine.
 

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R9 290 it is. Is MSI Gaming OC a reliable brand? I was Sapphire all the time so I'm just curious ...
Yes. There's actually a thread here dedicated just for the 290(X) Gaming
 

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Yes. There's actually a thread here dedicated just for the 290(X) Gaming

Good call, I just linked that thread in my previous post. Lots of good info in the that thread
 
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I have the MSI Gaming. My Max OC seems to be around 1070 core, but I get stability issues. Guess I didn't get lucky in the silicone lottery. I RMA'd the first card due to issues, but the second one seems to be working fine so far. At 990 core it runs about 86C @ 71% fan speed in a small case....with the side panel off, haha. I think the Tri-X has better cooling performance than the MSI.
 
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I have the MSI Gaming. My Max OC seems to be around 1070 core, but I get stability issues. Guess I didn't get lucky in the silicone lottery. I RMA'd the first card due to issues, but the second one seems to be working fine so far. At 990 core it runs about 86C @ 71% fan speed in a small case....with the side panel off, haha. I think the Tri-X has better cooling performance than the MSI.

I see.. however the Sapphire Tri-X 290 is currently unavailable in my area -and it's actually cheaper than the MSI Gaming. I just wanted to know if there were some show-stopping issues with the card. I also have no plans of overclocking... woah, 86c? is that something to be worried? -71% fan speed would be like a jet engine right?
 
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Not that I'm aware of. Now, after I bought my original card a month ago, with the Tri-X being almost the same price, or equal, I would have gone with the Tri-X. Has a better cooler it seems from the reviews.
 

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I see.. however the Sapphire Tri-X 290 is currently unavailable in my area -and it's actually cheaper than the MSI Gaming. I just wanted to know if there were some show-stopping issues with the card. I also have no plans of overclocking... woah, 86c? is that something to be worried? -71% fan speed would be like a jet engine right?
No only the Reference coolers were every loud aka jet engine. Majority of the aftermarket cards are pretty quiet
 
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