Dumb question about r9 290 upgrade...

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thefinder808

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Oct 28, 2013
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Ok guys so right now I've got a Sapphire 7870 ghz that I've been pretty happy with. Of course today I somehow had a few bucks in my pocket, was in too good of a mood I guess and just on impulse bought a Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X for around $420. I've heard good things about it, so at least I got what seems to be a version with a good rep. Anyway my question is do I need to uninstall the drivers before I throw the new card in or does it use the exact same drivers as the 7870? I'm on 14.4 right now btw. This may be a stupid question but I've never upgraded video cards this close in generation before, so I'm not quite sure. Also if anyone has any experience with this card please chime in with your experiences. Thanks,

TheFInder
 
Solution
photonboy
Card has great reviews. Your experience will depend mainly on what CPU you have as well, depending on the game.

Proper installation:

1. Remove current drivers
2. Shut down and swap cards
3. Download latest drivers from AMD site (manually or use auto-detect)
4. Install drivers

In theory you might not actually need to uninstall the drivers first as modern driver packages bundle the files for a wide range of cards. Since I can't confirm or deny if you'd have any issues just do what I recommend above.
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Proclaim89

Proclaim89

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Dec 3, 2012
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It is in your best interest to download the latest version of the catalyst drivers for the r9 series of graphics cards from amd's website. As it is a tweaked arch you must uninstall your current driver, install your new r9 290 and then install the new drivers you just downloaded. This is a requirement to ensure comparability and stability for your new R9 290 graphics card.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
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Card has great reviews. Your experience will depend mainly on what CPU you have as well, depending on the game.

Proper installation:

1. Remove current drivers
2. Shut down and swap cards
3. Download latest drivers from AMD site (manually or use auto-detect)
4. Install drivers

In theory you might not actually need to uninstall the drivers first as modern driver packages bundle the files for a wide range of cards. Since I can't confirm or deny if you'd have any issues just do what I recommend above.
 
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Solution
T

thefinder808

Honorable
Oct 28, 2013
42
0
10,540
Ok that's what I thought, thanks for the answers guys. The CPU I have right now will probably be a little bit of a bottleneck (at least in some games), it's the FX 6300. However, I'm wanting to switch over to the z97 chipset and go with a 4970k and an Asus Z97-A mobo. If I'm able to pull this off it'll probably be towards the end of the year as I want to see if prices drop a little. I figured I'd get the GPU first as this way while I'm waiting for funds to upgrade my CPU/Mobo I will at least see some big gains in the games I already have. I have way too many games in my Steam library and in the testing I've done I haven't gotten close to a CPU bottleneck yet with my current GPU. I think it should be fine for a while at least. I guess we will find out!
 
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