- Jul 19, 2013
- 22
- 0
- 10,510
Upgrading my system and looking for input:
Current GPU: Radeon HD 6870
Specs here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121418
I like performance, but I like best performance for the money better - I do not have the cash to blow out my a$$
I'm stuck between buying another 6800 series card or a single (new) card of roughly the equivalent price (there is the most flexibility here). I paid $180 for the above card, and another 6800 card would be roughly the same price. In total that's around $380, so for a single "better" card I prefer something cheaper than that for this to be "worth" it, if it even is at all. If I buy a new single card I see it as a wasted $180 so if it's possible I'd love to know if another 6800 would enable me to do what I need to accomplish on my machine.
I've read the pros and cons of xfire - the pros don't appear to be as strong as the cons in this situation, but I'm open new ideas/factors. I'm the kind of person to factor in the possibility of two less powerful GPU's creating more heat and a higher electricity bill.
Another factor is I will be rendering environments in UDK. Gaming comes second, but I do enjoy current gen games at high/ultra settings. This little card can run crysis at 5760x1080 on ultra. I do not want a workstation card as GPUs have OpenGL and to my knowledge can help with offline rendering. See post by Xoliul: http://www.polycount.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-94364.html
I'm also upgrading to 16GB RAM with consideration to file swapping. These 6800 cards have 1GB available to them (so 2GB in total if I go the xfire route), and I don't know if a single card with more RAM (like 3GB @384bits) will make a persuasive difference while rendering scenes that could take well up to 2 hours.
For a single card I'm considering one of the variations of the R9 280s. The best performance for price card specs here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789&cm_re=radeon_r9_280-_-14-127-789-_-Product
I guess my question is IS a single card from [possibly] the R9 lineup more powerful and worth the money over a cheaper but effective boost to my 6870? Any insight is appreciated - hit me with all your tech knowledge! Please correct me if I am wrong anywhere along the way here, or if there is something I should/should not do! Thank you!
Other specs:
Phenom II x6 1100t BE
3 Monitors (gaming)
SSD
2GB 1333 DDR3 x4
Current GPU: Radeon HD 6870
Specs here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121418
I like performance, but I like best performance for the money better - I do not have the cash to blow out my a$$
I'm stuck between buying another 6800 series card or a single (new) card of roughly the equivalent price (there is the most flexibility here). I paid $180 for the above card, and another 6800 card would be roughly the same price. In total that's around $380, so for a single "better" card I prefer something cheaper than that for this to be "worth" it, if it even is at all. If I buy a new single card I see it as a wasted $180 so if it's possible I'd love to know if another 6800 would enable me to do what I need to accomplish on my machine.
I've read the pros and cons of xfire - the pros don't appear to be as strong as the cons in this situation, but I'm open new ideas/factors. I'm the kind of person to factor in the possibility of two less powerful GPU's creating more heat and a higher electricity bill.
Another factor is I will be rendering environments in UDK. Gaming comes second, but I do enjoy current gen games at high/ultra settings. This little card can run crysis at 5760x1080 on ultra. I do not want a workstation card as GPUs have OpenGL and to my knowledge can help with offline rendering. See post by Xoliul: http://www.polycount.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-94364.html
I'm also upgrading to 16GB RAM with consideration to file swapping. These 6800 cards have 1GB available to them (so 2GB in total if I go the xfire route), and I don't know if a single card with more RAM (like 3GB @384bits) will make a persuasive difference while rendering scenes that could take well up to 2 hours.
For a single card I'm considering one of the variations of the R9 280s. The best performance for price card specs here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789&cm_re=radeon_r9_280-_-14-127-789-_-Product
I guess my question is IS a single card from [possibly] the R9 lineup more powerful and worth the money over a cheaper but effective boost to my 6870? Any insight is appreciated - hit me with all your tech knowledge! Please correct me if I am wrong anywhere along the way here, or if there is something I should/should not do! Thank you!
Other specs:
Phenom II x6 1100t BE
3 Monitors (gaming)
SSD
2GB 1333 DDR3 x4
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