Building gaming PC, need advise on R9 280X and other components

pavars · Mar 30, 2015

Hi, guys

I have finally decided to build a new gaming rig and my budget is ~750 eur
After some research I decided to get i5-4690K, Asus Z97 Pro, 2 x 4Gb HyperX DDR3 1600, Forton fsp700W, and after long research (GTX 960 then GTX770 and finally R9 280X - which is the one I chose) I'm a bit confused, can I overclock default sapphire vapor-x version or do I need the one with OC in it? Also what kind of coolers would be the best (for OC)? So far SSD and HDD will be on a seperate bill.

The main question is which of the available R9 280X should I choose for the best performance/ OC out of all the availble ones (~250 eur budget), all these models are really confusing.

Here is the approximate list of components and links

http://moblive.lv/index.php?route=product/product&lang=lv&product_id=57564&path=191_201_725
Gigabyte R9 280X 240 eur
or
http://www.1a.lv/datoru_komponentes/videokartes/sapphire_r9_280x_3gb_gddr5_vapx_tri_1122120
sapphire without OC ? not sure

http://moblive.lv/index.php?route=product/product&lang=lv&product_id=47428&path=191_198
i5-4690k 225 eur
2 x 4gb kingston hyperx 80 eur
http://www.salidzini.lv/click.php?itemid=133760506&q=Asus+Z97+PRO
asus z97 pro 100 eur
http://galaxy.lv/index.php?l=1&c=117&p=323223
case 50 eur - to be decided
tehnoshop.lv/fortron-fsp700-50arn-700w-88-80plus-silver-atx12v-v23-silent-120mm-fan-single-12v-rail-acti-619131.html
fsp 700w 62 eur

xStampede · Mar 30, 2015

The MSI, Sapphire amd Gigabyte are best price for what you get, if the card has good enough cooling you can OC Core Clock to 1070 MHz and Memory Clock to 1600 MHz without problems as long as the temperatures remain below 70°C.

The Gigabyte Windforce cooling looks very open and efficient, the 280x dumps a lot of hot air in the case and towards CPU so you need to have a good airflow and an aftermarket CPU cooler.

IMugsI · Mar 30, 2015

Do you want to play in 4k or just 1080p?

Because the 960 is pretty good for the price + it doesn't need much power + very cool and quiet but it only has 2gb of frame buffer and you need more for 4k.
But if you plan on having a 4k monitor the 280x is very good for the price
I have a 960 and it runs most of my games maxed out 60+ fps

(You could also consider a r9 285)

maddogfargo · Mar 30, 2015

IMugsI :

IMugsI raises some good questions.

The 280x and 960 are very close performance wise, with the 280x being slightly faster. But the lower power and heat of the 960 is very impressive and allows for some insane overclocks on these cards.

I've been using AMD GPUs almost exclusively for 15+ years. But now I have a Gigabyte G1 gaming GTX 970 with a custom BIOS of my own and it's a rocketship. I would highly recommend the Gigabyte GTX 960 for your GPU.

pavars · Mar 30, 2015

IMugsI :

Well right now I'm planning to game on 1080p since my screen doesn't support higher resolutions but I'm planning on upgrading in near future, probably up to 4k. With a setup of 2 screens (gaming on 1) gtx960 should be sufficient but for future proofing in my opinion radeon should be better, I'm interested in community opinion. I have a GTX 560 (which is pretty great) on my old pc, but it's for family use so I can't really take it apart

and mostly other people are using it

Also as far as I researched 280x is slightly better than 285 and hopefully the right way to go, but pretty much the most important question was can I OC the non-OC version of those cards or they are locked for clocking?

Also isn't GTX 770 better than GTX960? I know it's older but it supposedly has better performance?

IMugsI · Mar 30, 2015

pavars :

IMugsI :

Well right now I'm planning to game on 1080p since my screen doesn't support higher resolutions but I'm planning on upgrading in near future, probably up to 4k. With a setup of 2 screens (gaming on 1) gtx960 should be sufficient but for future proofing in my opinion radeon should be better, I'm interested in community opinion. I have a GTX 560 (which is pretty great) on my old pc, but it's for family use so I can't really take it apart

and mostly other people are using it

Also as far as I researched 280x is slightly better than 285 and hopefully the right way to go, but pretty much the most important question was can I OC the non-OC version of those cards or they are locked for clocking?

Also isn't GTX 770 better than GTX960? I know it's older but it supposedly has better performance?

If you plan to upgrade your monitor in the future you should probably go with the r9 280x or the 285 (both great cards) or you could wait for the r9 300 series which are supposed to come out later this year. But if need something right now go with either the 280x or 285. I hope this helped you out

pavars · Mar 30, 2015

Well, I have a birthday on Sunday and this is gonna be as my present, so I can't wait until 300s comes out, so I'll probably stick with 280x, although can I OC this http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1227&pid=2303&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

or I need to go with http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1227&pid=2131&psn=&lid=1&leg=0
for OC'ing?

Also what does the STD mean in title?

pavars · Mar 30, 2015

Any suggestions for case and cooler for both in ~80 eur range? I will be going with GIGABYTE GV-R928XOC-3GD (rev 3.0) http://www.707.lv/?id=73&pid=539889 I'm not quite sure how to build nice air flow

IMugsI · Mar 31, 2015

As a case you could choose the NZXT S340 which is a really good looking case. It has good airflow, very good cable management + a power supply over which is really nice. For a cooler I would choose the h100i which is a good water cooling solution. Also it looks really good in a case with a side panel. I am not sure how large the 280x is but you should research if it fits with the large radiator. With a rebate the h100i is about 89 dollars (not sure about prices in Europe but it should be about the same)

pavars · Mar 31, 2015

IMugsI :

It doesn't have a ODD tray + I'm already reviewing the cases in another thread (you posted there)
The cooler is 100+ eur, about 60 euros out of my price range, also I don't think I need water cooling.

IMugsI · Mar 31, 2015

pavars :

IMugsI :

It doesn't have a ODD tray + I'm already reviewing the cases in another thread (you posted there)
The cooler is 100+ eur, about 60 euros out of my price range, also I don't think I need water cooling.

Do you want a case with a side panel?

pavars · Mar 31, 2015

IMugsI :

pavars :

Do you want a case with a side panel?

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2591830/suggest-budget-gaming-case-usb-front-port.html

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