Best way to upgrade HD 7950 gigabyte gpu?

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rich9573

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May 25, 2013
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Firstly thanks guys for reading this any information would be greatly appreciated.
I am thinking I might upgrade my build a bit by improving my gpu and replace my 1080p monitor with a 1440p one. My current gpu is a gigabyte 7950 OC a bit and was foreseeing 3 upgrade paths for me and I’m not sure what would be the best.

Option 1: Replace my amd gpu with a more powerful gpu such as an AMD R9 290 and keep my one as a backup or sell it.
Option 2: Get a AMD r9 290 and crossfire it with my current gpu. I’m sure it will fit in my case and my motherboard allows crossfiring so this would make use of my current gpu.
Option 3: Get another 7950 and crossfire it as they would be the same gpu it would crossfire better.

Just to let you know I have never crossfire before so this would be something new for me.
Price: Another HD 7950 = £200
R9 290= £325

Lastly is there a big visual difference between 1080p and 1440p? I’m guessing with new games such as dragon age Inquisition that it would be worth investing in one.
Thanks in advance and I’m really interested in your opinions.

My current Build:
Asrock Z77 extreme 4 Motherboard
I5-3570k OC to 4.4 Ghz
Gigabyte HD 7950 OC
Corsair H100i Water cooler
8gb 1866Mhz Ram Patriot Viper 3
256SSD Samsung 840 + 2TB Seagate HDD (7200rpm)
Corsair HX750 Professional Series PSU
Corsair Carbide 500R Micro ATX Midi Tower White
 
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The 2x 7950 in crossfire would be faster than the R9 290 in games optimized for crossfire. However, the R9 290 would be more stable and reliable with all drivers, and generate less heat. Also, the R9 290 should still max everything at 1440p if you're okay with dipping to 45-50 fps in the most demanding games (IE, Crysis 3, BF4).
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Admirable
Mar 21, 2014
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The 7950 is 3GB, right?
If it's 3GB, I would recommend you crossfire with another 3GB 7950 to keep the cost down.

Adding an R9 290 in crossfire with a 7950 wouldn't really be a good decision in any circumstance, as it's just not efficient considering an R9 290 can push 1440p on its own.
 
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Neilbob

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Mar 31, 2014
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Almost positive that the 290 and 7950 cannot be crossfired as they use different methods to achieve it - and it wouldn't be worth it even if they did work.

Just go for the 290 - one with a custom cooler ideally - much more cost effective and you don't have the problems inherent in dual GPU setups.
 
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rich9573

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May 25, 2013
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Ok thanks guys for the feedback, I thought there would probably be issues with the 290 with the 7950 but wasn't sure. My gpu is a Gigabyte 7950 3GB AMD Radeon so what would be more efficient 1 r9 290 or 2 7950's 3GB? My feeling is that the I would prefer to go with one R9 290 if possible as it's simpler and maybe next time i will just get another r9 290. However would 2 7950's outperform a single R9 290 at 1440p? And is 1440p worth it over 1080p? Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help!
 
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Admirable
Mar 21, 2014
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The 2x 7950 in crossfire would be faster than the R9 290 in games optimized for crossfire. However, the R9 290 would be more stable and reliable with all drivers, and generate less heat. Also, the R9 290 should still max everything at 1440p if you're okay with dipping to 45-50 fps in the most demanding games (IE, Crysis 3, BF4).
 
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rich9573

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May 25, 2013
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Ok perfect I think I will go for new gpu rather than another 7950 as 45fps at its lowest point is more than enough really. I just need to start taking a look at them though it seems that the AMD's are better value for money when comparied to nvidia and that the R9 290 is probably better value to the R9 290x. Anyway I will look more into it, thanks for the reply
 
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