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Mid Range GPU Upgrade.... Decisions Decisions.

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  • GPUs
  • Computers
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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June 8, 2014 8:58:00 PM

Hey Oh Toms Hard ware! Long time fan and constant researcher in the forums i now find my self for the first time asking a question. I design computers and recycle computers and recently ive finally successfully built a computer from scrap that is actually worth its own weight and I plan to use it as my personal gaming desktop. Unfortunately its got a ways to go and needs some investment.

  • Current Specs
    Mobo= will upgrade to a ASRock Z75 Pro3= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
    CPU= i5-2300
    RAM= 4Gb Gskill Ripjaws
    Case= Rosewill Armor Classic= http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
    PSU= Corsair CX600
    GPU= Nvidia 8800GTX

    For being nearly 8 years old the 8800 does some pretty amazing stuff! but im ready for the upgrade and here are the contenders.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submi...

    So with all of the builds ive done and clients ive had so far its made me hesitant to utilize AMD graphics solutions, that being said im far from a fan boy and I recognize the price point that their cards represent. As of right now from the list i am most Heavily leaning towards the R9 270x followed by the 760 followed by the 280. Although i tend to prefer the greenies the Radeons offer the best future proofing as they are the only ones with multi card support and the 270x represents the best price for performance within this line up im pretty sure any way.

    As i am new to this environment any formatting tips/writing tips are also highly appreciated. I would not be offended by discussion as any amount of learning i can fabricate will only benefit to widen my knowledge base. I would like to have recommendations backed by either experience or data references as the reasoning behind the recommendation is incredibly important to me.

    Thank you so much!

    P.S. how can i put the link and bulid specs into the hide bar thingy i see all the time thanks.
  • More about : mid range gpu upgrade decisions decisions

    June 8, 2014 9:17:37 PM

    At those prices, the 280, or even the 'x' version.
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    June 8, 2014 9:19:20 PM

    both manufacturers support multi cards mate. the limits imposed of multi card support are derived from the motherboards specs, some will only allow crossfire, some only sli, but some will allow both.

    for your current buld the r9 270 is a option but the 760 is also very decent. the 280 is still probably the best value as amd develops mantle and true audio, 280 will be able to sacrifice some gpu performance to get the best possible audio in games that support it and still maintain a respectable fps count where the 270 may not be able to.
    so if you can afford it get the highest tier card you can for the money.

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    June 8, 2014 9:43:21 PM

    I would lean towards the R9-270X on the lower end of the price range. I wound skip to the R9-280X for the upper end of the price range (+$20).
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    June 9, 2014 11:32:28 AM

    HEXiT said:
    both manufacturers support multi cards mate. the limits imposed of multi card support are derived from the motherboards specs, some will only allow crossfire, some only sli, but some will allow both.

    for your current buld the r9 270 is a option but the 760 is also very decent. the 280 is still probably the best value as amd develops mantle and true audio, 280 will be able to sacrifice some gpu performance to get the best possible audio in games that support it and still maintain a respectable fps count where the 270 may not be able to.
    so if you can afford it get the highest tier card you can for the money.



    Thanks for responding so quickly! and I had said SLI was not supported as I already knew the mobo i had selected would not support it. Im pretty sure the 760s can go all the way to quad which is awesome but sadly not relevant. Unfortunatly the 280x is just to large of a price jump for my budget at this time. Though you may have convinced me to go for the 280. The entire R9 series has the true audio tech correct? Also would it be possible to quantify the performance difference while running True Audio im very curious to see how large of an impact it has. Thank you!
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    June 9, 2014 11:36:22 AM

    terry4536 said:
    I would lean towards the R9-270X on the lower end of the price range. I wound skip to the R9-280X for the upper end of the price range (+$20).


    Thank you so much for responding so quickly. May i ask why you would opt to skip over the 280 standard? as it is a little over 50$ more. At least the MSI variant i would prefer to get is at this time.
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    June 9, 2014 4:59:50 PM

    The R9-280X represents the best price to performance in that price range.
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