To stay with my 2x770GTX or go with 2xR9-290?.

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canopus72

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Hi guys. Back in January 2014, my 7990HD died and I got a full refund from Amazon. I really wanted to go for a pair of Zotac 780GTX in SLI (I really like Zotac, as they have always been reliable and give good performance and offer 5 years warranty). However, the Zotac 780GTX was too expensive. So in the interim, I decided to go for two of the Zotac 770GTX in SLI (until price of 780GTX drops). In bench marks, they trounce my friend's Palit 780Ti by a large margin (same rig except for GPU). I am happy with my 770GTX-SLI, but sometimes I do feel they don't have enough grunt when doing really heavy benchmarking like 3D mark.

Anyway, a couple of days ago I saw the Sapphire 290 TRIX on Amazon for £280. I took the plunge and got two. Received yesterday. But one of them was defective (faulty Hynix RAM). I RMA'd it. Done some research and sadly this seems to be a common problem with Sapphire's new GPU's. The other one is working well and I am surprised because it is giving slightly better FPS and better picture quality than my 2x770GTX-SLI. I am quite impressed BUT it does get a bit hot!. Shall I stick with my 2x770GTX (run flawlessly) or sell them and go for CrossfireX 290?. BTW, the Zotac 780GTX is now £340 (but still £60 more expensive than my Sapphire R9-290!). Sorry for being long winded!.
 
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ubercake
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ubercake

ubercake

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If you're into topping benchmark scores, you want the highest end cards you can afford, but at the end of the day, if you're not beating a world record or you don't have a clear goal regarding what you're trying to do with a benchmark score, you don't need to spend the money. You say the 2 770s work flawlessly, but 2 290s will definitely give you better framerates.

When you get the new 290 for the one you RMA'd, compare actual quality of crossfire performance versus SLI and let us know what you decide. The Radeon cards are notorious for throwing heat, but I wouldn't worry if your system stays within temperature tolerances. At any rate, you're going to be in a good position to compare 770 SLI versus 290 Crossfire. I would be curious to see if you get a lot of microstutter with the 290s. If not, they could be the ones to keep.
 
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maddogfargo

maddogfargo

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Aftermarket R9 290s generally have much better cooling. Find one that minimizes throttling if you go with a 290 series card.

Honestly though, a pair of 770s in SLI are going to be top-end performers. I'd consider liquid cooling and overclocking them instead.
 
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canopus72

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Hi. Thanks for advice. Yeah, I am curious in comparing R9-290 Xfire with 2x770GTX-SLI. I did put up an Amazon review of my zotac 770GTX-SLI (and mentioned it trounced a Palit 780Ti in benchmarks). Been waiting 5 months for 780GTX prices to drop but the cheapest 780GTX is the Zotac (£340). The Sapphire TRIX R9-290 cost me £280 from Amazon, so it is £60 cheaper than the 780GTX. I don't see the 780GTX prices coming down anytime soon. The R9-290 is a good performer BUT it is putting out a lot of heat (65-70c on GPU and high 50's on FX-9590 cpu) . I wonder how much heat a pair of 290's will put out?!.

Will be getting replacement 290 for the faulty one I RMA'd. Will set it up and see how Xfire performance and temps are. Will then decide if to stick with it or go back to my 2x770GTX-SLI.

BTW, can you tell me how to set up Xfire R9-290?. Apparently they don't need a Xfire bridge, so how is it done?.

Thanks for your help guys.

 
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canopus72

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Hi. I am pleased with my 2x770GTX-SLI. Works great even though it was meant to be a stop gap!. Am testing out one of the 290's and it is giving same or slightly higher FPS as the 2x770GTX. So I am impressed. But the heat, oh the heat!. Liquid cooling means throwing more money into the mix. I could put that money towards a pair of 780GTX.

Ideally, I am looking for the best bang for buck (and a pair of 290's in Xfire is not far off from a 295X2 and it will be £120 cheaper than a pair of 780GTX). I could also use it for mining and hopefully make some money (recoup cost). But the heat is an issue and I do wonder how long the life span is on these AMD gpu's bearing in mind the faulty one I got.

 
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ubercake

ubercake

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You just pop the 290s into the appropriate PCIe slots on the motherboard; no crossfire interconnect needed. The drivers take care of the rest.
 
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canopus72

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Thanks man, you're a star. Will let you guys know how I get on.
 
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canopus72

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Hey man. Sorry for late reply. I installed my 2x290's and ran some benchmarks (then compared to my 2x770GTX). The 290 is a good performer BUT it runs really hot (testing various fan speeds and 72% or above keeps gpus at 47 c and 42c). I suspect current hot weather has effect on CPU and GPU temps. Had to disable ULPS (was a bitch trying to figure out but got it done). Anyways, here are my bench marks. Let me know what you think (to keep 2x290 or go back to 2x770GTX)?.

2x770GTX-SLI:

3D MARK ICE STORM EXTREME -
score = 116568
graphics score = 219973
physics score = 44067

FIRE STRIKE EXTREME -
score = 5856
graphics score = 6701
physics score = 8583
combines score = 2418

CLOUD GATE (default 720p) -
score = 22575
graphics score = 84885
physics score = 6325

HEAVEN 4:
Score = 1655
FPS = 65.7
Min FPS = 21.8
Max FPS = 158.6

VALLEY 1:
Score = 2912
FPS = 69.6
Min FPS = 25.7
Max FPS = 123.9


R9-290 Xfire:

3D MARK ICE STORM EXTREME -
score = 115315
graphics score = 215411
physics score = 43907

FIRE STRIKE EXTREME -
score = 7562
graphics score = 9056
physics score = 8647
combined score = 3119

CLOUD GATE (default 720p) -
score = 22448
graphics score = 88709
physics score = 6211

VALLEY 1:
Score = 3178
FPS = 76
Min FPS = 25.9
Max FPS = 122.2

HEAVEN 4:
Score = 2224
FPS = 88.3
Min FPS = 25.2
Max FPS = 173
 
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