R9 290 vs 5870HD x 2 question?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Jak_Sparra

Jak_Sparra

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2006
519
0
19,060
Hi!

I want to buy a R9 290 for my PC (this specific model:- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-341-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752 ), but not sure if i would see much improvement.

My current rig:-

CPU:- i7 920 @3.6Ghz
MotherBoard:- Asuz Extreme Rampage II
Ram: 6Gb, DDR3 Kingston Hyper X (9-9-9-24)
HDD:- Samsung SSD 840 (and a bunch of normal HDDs)
Graphics Cards:- 2 x 5870HD (crossfire)

Now the reviews I've read compare the R9 290's to other similar cards not my cards so I dont know how much of a difference I will see.

The main games I play are everything (have like 183 games) including Crysis 2-3, Metro 2033, but most my time goes into ARMA III, and some flight sims so I need all the power I can get for a reasonable price.

My questions are:-

1) Is my motherboard outdated and will it bottle neck it?

2) Is the RAM outdated and will it bottle neck it?

3) What sort of improvements will I see, because if it's only gonna be about 10-15% then it's not worth it. But if it will make a really big difference then I would like to get one.

4) What are your thoughts on prices, are they artificially high due to all the bit coin miners? Are prices likely to rise or lower or do you think they are stable.

5) Finally, is Mantel going to be a big deal? Or should I maybe consider a 780GTX so that I can use Physx?

Any info, link and comments would be welcome.

Thank you.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965
A 290 will eat a pair of 5870's. Unfortunately, thanks to the litecoin rush, the higher end radeon cards are grossly overpriced.

(2x5870 = 5970)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

At the moment you'll get much better performance for you money out of a gtx 780.

P.S. if you decide to wait out the litecoin rush, make sure to get an R9 with a vendor cooler (windforce, tri-x, Direct CU II, etc). do *not* get a reference cooler 290.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jak_Sparra

Jak_Sparra

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2006
519
0
19,060


A quick look on Google shows the two cards are about the same price with similar cooling solutions. The card I linked actually out performs a ghtx780, so it boils down to physX or Mantel I think.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ewood

ewood

Distinguished
Mar 6, 2009
463
0
18,810
1) No, but a bit more aggressive on the OC wouldn't hurt

2) No, should be plenty. if you're worried bump the voltage and oc and/or tighten the timings

3) I went from 5870 CF to 290x (monday actually) and in in 2033 at 5760x1080 i saw a ~25% bump in performance. And i don't have artifacts, dropped frames or any of the old CF issues i had with two 5870s. that alone was worth it. I can also use revit, inventor and solidworks on my computer now without it crashing.

4) Maybe a tiny bit, not enough to make a noticeable difference IMO.

5) Could be, could not be. i didn't base my decision on that. If it is thats an added bonus. as far as physics, i have a old gtx260 that I use for physics. Hacking the drivers to work is easy, google it. grab a any card gtx260 or stronger (actually a 9800gtx would probably be fine) off crags list and go that route.


Over all I would say well worth the upgrade. I enjoy the better performance, (slightly) quieted setup, and NO DRIVER ISSUES!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
4
23,965


You need to look closer. Make sure that

1. the 290 you're looking at is actually in stock - most aren't in stock at a similar price to the 780 because of the litecoin rush I already mentioned.

2. it's not a reference cooler.

The 290 outperforms the 780 when it's cooled properly. Reference cooled 290's are terrible, and vendor cooler 290's that are actually in stock are $70-100 more expensive than the 780 right now.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jak_Sparra

Jak_Sparra

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2006
519
0
19,060



Thank you for the detailed reply. What is the rest of your rig? And it is great info on the being able to hack drivers on an old Nvidia card to get physX!! Just gonna look into that now.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jak_Sparra

Jak_Sparra

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2006
519
0
19,060


Ah right! I now see that the card I want is not in stock until 17th of Jan, and I pretty much guarantee that they will instantly sell out. The more I look into this the less straight forward it becomes.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jak_Sparra

Jak_Sparra

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2006
519
0
19,060


I had to check, its 850. I think that should be enough? The 2 x 5870 draw at max 376 (188 each)

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ewood

ewood

Distinguished
Mar 6, 2009
463
0
18,810
Thank you for the detailed reply. What is the rest of your rig? And it is great info on the being able to hack drivers on an old Nvidia card to get physX!! Just gonna look into that now.
[/quotemsg]

2500k at 4.82, (8g Added along with 290x) at 1788 now with 290x. i also have a 1366 tower with a 5680 at 4.4ghz and it is significant slower in every gaming benchmark then the 2500k tower. It seems with prices as they are the 780 is also a good option... that said i don't regret the 290x at all.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jak_Sparra

Jak_Sparra

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2006
519
0
19,060


2500k at 4.82, (8g Added along with 290x) at 1788 now with 290x. i also have a 1366 tower with a 5680 at 4.4ghz and it is significant slower in every gaming benchmark then the 2500k tower. It seems with prices as they are the 780 is also a good option... that said i don't regret the 290x at all.
[/quotemsg]

Thank you. Well after reading all this I spent most of yesterday looking at an entire new build... Comes to just over £1800 and I think I might do it. But now my problem has changed to being unable to decide between a 780gtx or r9 290. There is a fair bit of variation between stock coolers and all the non reference coolers. I also have an old Kandalf water cooling tower, so I might get a water cooled card. Still got loads to read then I'll start a new thread to ask about the new build.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom