Is it a bad idea to sell two R9 280X for a GTX980

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Xander314

Xander314

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A while back I got caught up in the excitement and decided to get two R9 280X GPUs to use for scrypt mining. That was fun, but now it's no longer profitable and so I'm left with these two cards. I'm not too keen on crossfiring them due to stutter and driver troubles (especially on Linux). Thus I'm thinking of selling them to contribute to a new GTX980 (or wait for a possible 980Ti). Do you think this is a good or bad idea -- obviously the cards have depreciated a lot in value and 2x 280X probably have more power than a single 980. However, they use about 3x the power and as I said, I can't really be bothered with CrossFire.

Sorry if this question is rather vague or unclear. I just wanted to get some opinions on whether dumping two cards for a single (possibly weaker in total) card is unwise. Thanks.
 
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space6011
I'm not really playing FC3 right now so the FPS is based off some light firefights and a run/drive through medium-thick jungle

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=330012705 Pretty sure this is maxed out

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=330017172 Not quite maxed out but I have it on 90 degree FOV

This gives me around 65 FPS, it dipped down to 55ish from time to time but not too much, obviously it gave more frames when looking at the sky/ground/cliff face

Turning MSAA ANTI ALIASING up to 2 gave me 50ish FPS and turning it up all the way gave me like 30ish

I wouldn't imagine that you would have to take much off to get over 60 FPS all the time with my card
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sammy sung

sammy sung

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More video memory from a single GTX 980 than that crossfire solution at any rate. Higher resolution depth would be a great positive for me, as I currently crossfire two R9-280(non X's)

I have two 24" 1080p monitors, but usually play on one for the most part. Dual cards hit their stride and mark on higher res, and are lost/bottlenecked overall when only being used on single 1080p monitors. Realistically for my needs I'd be fine with a single 280. However, I got the second one with the idea of playing 1440p a lot.

Always go with the single most powerful card you can manage though. I'd definitely look into selling and sitting on a 980. I personally am waiting on future nvidia releases. I'm leaning towards the idea that they're not doing a 980Ti but a 990. If that emerges, I'm all over it. GTX980 is effectively similar to GTX680 in power even without 20nm, it more than allows a GTX690 successor in the same envelope (dual-slot, 8+6 pin, 300W or less) apart from the advantages due to Maxwell. I don't think GM210 needs 20nm, since nVidia could just introduce another 250W card.
 
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Xander314

Xander314

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Thanks for the advice -- you've pretty much confirmed my feelings that slightly less raw performance is worth it to avoid the fuss and issues of crossfire.


This is something I forgot to mention -- I recently got a 1440p monitor. It's IPS with a rather slow response time but I am still planning on gaming with it. Nonetheless, from what I've read elsewhere, a single 980GTX can probably still handle 1440p reasonably well with a few settings reduced.


Do you have any inklings on how much this card would cost? And is its release likely to push down the price of the 980? I am also tempted to wait but I'm not sure how much further my budget can stretch beyond the 980. (Partially depends on how much I get for my 280Xs I suppose.)
 
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Brunostako

Brunostako

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The GTX 980 MSRP is $550 USD.

Even if you don't manage to gather the money for the 980, a GTX 970 4GB would still a better solution overall and its MSRP is $330 USD. It should be capable of 1440p low-mid, depending on the game and your CPU.
 
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space6011

space6011

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(because for some reason I can't figure out how to quote this correctly)
Xander314
"This is something I forgot to mention -- I recently got a 1440p monitor. It's IPS with a rather slow response time but I am still planning on gaming with it. Nonetheless, from what I've read elsewhere, a single 980GTX can probably still handle 1440p reasonably well with a few settings reduced."




I am running a 27" 2560x1440 monitor and with my Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming I am able to get 60ish FPS on
Far Cry 3 almost completely maxed. I think you should be more than fine with a 980 with 1440p

Update:

Although I didn't get into any huge firefights (I did take a base while playing), I had to stop because that level of graphics was overheating my CPU
 
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Xander314

Xander314

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Thanks everyone. I think I've decided to sell the R9 280Xs for a 980 or if my budget really can't stretch then a 970. I would still like to know what people think on the expected price of the upcoming 990/980Ti and whether its release will push the price of the 980 down at all.


That's good to know, as Farcry 3 was one of the games I had in mind. Hopefully a 980 will also be able to keep up with Farcry 4. You say you had most settings maxed, but what was your AA setting?



CPU shouldn't be a problem -- I have a 4770K with the huge Noctua NH-D14 air cooler :D
 
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space6011

space6011

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I can't remember what my setting for AA was, although it was probably the default because I haven't read up on the differences between them yet.

I'll try to post my settings when I get back to my computer
 
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space6011

space6011

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I'm not really playing FC3 right now so the FPS is based off some light firefights and a run/drive through medium-thick jungle

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=330012705 Pretty sure this is maxed out

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=330017172 Not quite maxed out but I have it on 90 degree FOV

This gives me around 65 FPS, it dipped down to 55ish from time to time but not too much, obviously it gave more frames when looking at the sky/ground/cliff face

Turning MSAA ANTI ALIASING up to 2 gave me 50ish FPS and turning it up all the way gave me like 30ish

I wouldn't imagine that you would have to take much off to get over 60 FPS all the time with my card
 
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