Guys, is this a good GPU for a moded Skyrim?

Ferrariassassin · Jul 9, 2014

XFX Black Edition Double D R9 280 I really like it a lot and it is cheap can someone give me a yes or no lol. I want to be able to play SKyrim with decent amount of texture and HD mods. My CPU is a i5-4590, motherboard is a ASRock H97M Pro4 LGA 1150 and my PSU is a XFX TS Series 550W. Can i run it and will it do what i want it to do? Thanks

stickmansam · Jul 9, 2014

everything looks good and the 3GB of VRAM will help

The Sapphire R9 280 is $200 if you're looking for a cheaper card (might be non-factory OC though)

rhysiam · Jul 9, 2014

I assume you're looking at the Newegg ones? There's a few really good specials on R9 280s at the moment, with HIS, Sapphire, XFX and Powercolor all with heavily discounted models.

I think that XFX BE you've suggested is the pick of the lot though. It's the highest clock rate and equal cheapest price after MIR.

The rest of your build is really solid and should all work well. Good luck.

Ferrariassassin · Jul 9, 2014

stickmansam :

rhysiam :

You mean this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099&cm_re=R9_280-_-14-202-099-_-Product

stickmansam · Jul 9, 2014

Sapphire is cool

xfx is too

Ferrariassassin · Jul 9, 2014

stickmansam :

So in games like Skyrim what matters the most, the Vram? And do you think the XFX is better than the Sapphire?
And i know this may be a dumb question but ummmm how do i change my Profile picture on here? lmaoo

stickmansam · Jul 9, 2014

upper right corner, hit arrow next to name, hit mange profile, and the personal information

skyrim with tons of mods can use up quite abit of vram

take the xfx i guess

Ferrariassassin · Jul 9, 2014

stickmansam :

Ok thanks man

So it uses Vram more than anything? Well i hope 3gb can do it good

stickmansam · Jul 9, 2014

well vram is one of the factors but 3gb should be enough

Ferrariassassin · Jul 9, 2014

stickmansam :

OK

I cant wait. SO the XFX is better. What is boost and clock?

stickmansam · Jul 9, 2014

XFX is 1ghz clock, no boost
means it will either be idle at 300 or at 1ghz

Sapphire is 850-940
idela t 300 and full load at 850 and turbo to 940 when it can (should be most of the time)

XFX will give more consistent performance

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

stickmansam :

Dude imagine two of them Crossfired

lmao

17seconds · Jul 10, 2014

You can't force Ambient Occlusion in Skyrim on AMD cards. Only Nvidia cards can do that. Skyrim on your 280x will look like the "AO: Off" screenshot below.

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide#19

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

17seconds :

Is there even a difference? I cant tell.

stickmansam · Jul 10, 2014

AO handles the lighting better

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

stickmansam :

So this pretty much means that Radeon Graphics cards are the worst in existence, damn

stickmansam · Jul 10, 2014

Ferrariassassin :

only if AO is not supported in game by itself which most games do

and it's up to you if you feel it is worth it
some mods will also add SSAO (type of AO)

and you can use radeon pro to force AO, just official AMD CCC doesn't have support

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_occlusion

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

stickmansam :

Ferrariassassin :

only if AO is not supported in game by itself which most games do

and it's up to you if you feel it is worth it
some mods will also add SSAO (type of AO)

and you can use radeon pro to force AO, just official AMD CCC doesn't have support

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_occlusion

What do you mean Radeon Pro? Will my XFX R9 280 have that, will it have AO?

stickmansam · Jul 10, 2014

AMD will support AO but only if the game does
Nvidia can force AO (via driver controls) even if the game doesn't support it

AMD requires either mods or third part program like Radoen Pro
http://www.radeonpro.info/

JUICEhunter · Jul 10, 2014

Ferrariassassin :

Shadows, depth and texture variety. AO off looks plain. It's more apparent when you are running around and the shadows move around especially when there are different sources of light in the area.

OP: 280 should be able to max skyrim with mods as my gtx 670 was able to. 17seconds does have a great point to consider NVidia as they have the largest following for a reason.

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

JUICEhunter :

Ferrariassassin :

Shadows, depth and texture variety. AO off looks plain. It's more apparent when you are running around and the shadows move around especially when there are different sources of light in the area.

OP: 280 should be able to max skyrim with mods as my gtx 670 was able to. 17seconds does have a great point to consider NVidia as they have the largest following for a reason.

Hmm well can you recomend a nvidia with the same power as a XFX R9 280?

JUICEhunter · Jul 10, 2014

280 is faster than 760 ($250)but slower than 770($330), for the price a 280 ($200-$250) is hard to beat though. In less you want to increase budget or wait for new GPU's which could be a while you'll be fine with any of the above mentioned cards.

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

JUICEhunter :

Well i like the 280 but it can not force AO so it kinds sucks so i guess ill have to save up :/

stickmansam · Jul 10, 2014

You can force AO, just no using the built in tools, you have to rely on third party tools not made by AMD

Ferrariassassin · Jul 10, 2014

stickmansam :

I talked to AMD costumer Support and they said they have AO and many other things also, here is a link. I hope this is good lol
http://www.radeonpro.info/download/

Guys, is this a good GPU for a moded Skyrim?

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