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GPU Upgrade choice dilemma

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Hey guys, was planning on replacing my Asus GTX 560Ti DC 2 Top, with a newer gpu prolly a 1 generation down from the latest top performing cards. And am at a pickle here...

Am trying to aim for a R9 280x but I don't know which offering/model/make from 3rd party is good.

Currently eyeing these choices due to limited funds. (Components here are quite expensive too!)

So far here they are:

SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X R9 280X 3GB GDDR5 TRI-X OC WITH BOOST
or
SAPPHIRE TOXIC R9 280X 3GB GDDR5
or
Gigabyte Windforce GV-R928XOC-3GD

which of these would you prefer over the latter? I'm not into OC'ing GPU's yet so I plan to run them at what they currently offer, I only run a single 23" LED @ 1080p, I do plan on putting shit loads of texture mods, ENBs for Skyrim and New Vegas.

Hmm if there are any contenders from the nvidia side please point me out to it. Was eyeing GTX 760's too! But the 3gb from the other side looks more helpful with textures and effects that I want to try out. (Plus I want to try and run a full AMD system :laugh:)


Thank you for the enlightenment. This upgrade will be a present for myself as my birthday is near :D
 
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Hey guys, was planning on replacing my Asus GTX 560Ti DC 2 Top, with a newer gpu prolly a 1 generation down from the latest top performing cards. And am at a pickle here...

Am trying to aim for a R9 280x but I don't know which offering/model/make from 3rd party is good.

Currently eyeing these choices due to limited funds. (Components here are quite expensive too!)

So far here they are:

SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X R9 280X 3GB GDDR5 TRI-X OC WITH BOOST
or
SAPPHIRE TOXIC R9 280X 3GB GDDR5
or
Gigabyte Windforce GV-R928XOC-3GD

which of these would you prefer over the latter? I'm not into OC'ing GPU's yet so I plan to run them at what they currently offer, I only run a single 23" LED @ 1080p, I do plan on putting shit loads of texture mods, ENBs for Skyrim and New Vegas.

Hmm if there are any contenders from the nvidia side please point me out to it. Was eyeing GTX 760's too! But the 3gb from the other side looks more helpful with textures and effects that I want to try out. (Plus I want to try and run a full AMD system :laugh:)


Thank you for the enlightenment. This upgrade will be a present for myself as my birthday is near :D
The toxic and vapor-X are about the same in general besides colors with the major difference being the core clock. I would get the Toxic personally just because its got a better binning process so you could probably get higher clocks.

The Gigabyte is just fine but overall I hear the Toxic/vaporX coolers have gotten a lot of praise.
 
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The toxic and vapor-X are about the same in general besides colors with the major difference being the core clock. I would get the Toxic personally just because its got a better binning process so you could probably get higher clocks.

The Gigabyte is just fine but overall I hear the Toxic/vaporX coolers have gotten a lot of praise.

Thanks, so the vapor-x tri-x oc version can be called as "Toxic Light"? They use the same pcb and black diamond chokes as per site.
So overall, if I don't plan to OC and fine with as is offerings I can just get away with the Vapor X?

Binning process? If I understand it's how they select which chip is to be used?

Thank you for the fast response!
 
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Thanks, so the vapor-x tri-x oc version can be called as "Toxic Light"? They use the same pcb and black diamond chokes as per site.
So overall, if I don't plan to OC and fine with as is offerings I can just get away with the Vapor X?

Binning process? If I understand it's how they select which chip is to be used?

Thank you for the fast response!
Basically yes, you could say vapor-x is just a toxic light. Normally a card company when releasing overclocked model cards they Binn (or select) chips based on certain standard of efficiency and overclocking. In short a vapor-x could come out to overclock as far or more than the toxic, however the odds are more in favor with the toxic for max clocking because they selected that chip for that card because it met certain standards.

If you do not care for heavy clocking, the 50mhz difference between the toxic and vapor is not goin to amount to much so I would not worry as with your comment both cards share similar characteristics.
 
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You can get away with the Vapor-X Tri-X fine. And as @GhostRyder said, 50mhz won't matter that much performance wise especially if there is quite a difference in price between the two.
 
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If you do not care for heavy clocking, the 50mhz difference between the toxic and vapor is not goin to amount to much so I would not worry as with your comment both cards share similar characteristics.[/QUOTE]

You can get away with the Vapor-X Tri-X fine. And as @GhostRyder said, 50mhz won't matter that much performance wise especially if there is quite a difference in price between the two.

Fair points! Thank you both for giving me the answer I needed and clearing stuff up. Vapor - X it is! (not a fan of that yellow black combo tho, ahah but who cares no one would see the innards of my pc anyway LOL)

Thanks guys! :toast:
 
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