Is XFX Core Edition R9-295X-8QFA Radeon R9 295x2 8GB 1024 worth getting?

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Andreyftw

Andreyftw

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Im ready to buy today, budget range is 800

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, gaming, gaming, gaming, movies

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4GB GDDR5
Power Supply corsair modular 750w

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 6-Core 2.8GHz
4x2gb ddr3. Case HAF full tower

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg amazon ebay

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference although I want the card to be quite that's why im leaning towards water cooled 295x
XFX Core Edition R9-295X-8QFA Radeon R9 295x2 8GB 1024 Doesnt have to XFX could be sapphire or what ever else brand that makes them.

OVERCLOCKING: Overclocking, maybe. Sli X-fire is a negative since I don't remember which one my mobo supports and im not at home atm.

MONITOR RESOLUTION:1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Ill be playing on one display but i will have 2 more displays connected, I want to play witcher and gta5 on all of the setting maxed out in game and in the software.

I understand my cpu and ram are somewhat outdated, im considering doing a major upgrade but i was wondering if just getting a video card would get me enough to wait alittle bit longer.
 
Solution
R
Everything I've seen is that you'll see about a 50% improvement on average in most game metrics by going with a R9-295x2. In other words, if you're hitting 30ish FPS, you'll go to 45ish. 50ish FPS goes to 75 FPS etc.

As for your 'outdated' CPU, the Phenom II x6 were very powerful chips and they have 6 'full' cores vs the 8 'core' (4 x 2 core modules) in the new FX-8000 series chips. They were, and still are, surprisingly effective CPUs for gaming...
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coolcole01

coolcole01

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Nope first that powersupply will have a stroke but at the same time dont ever put a gpu thats son much more powerful than the rest of your system as well. at 1080p your 290x is still a beast and you should update the rest of your system first and you will see what that gpu really is trust me i have two of them.
 
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Mugglensu1984

Mugglensu1984

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The 295x2 needs a good quality 1000w PSU. it is safer to go with a 1000w PSU if you choose to go with tthe r9 295x2.

R9 295x2 - 500w at full load

So it leaves a breathing space of 250W which is not enough.

When trying to find out if your PSU can handle the cards take a look at the cards first, the r9 295 card alone requires 2 8pin Power Auxillary connectors, each of these 8 pins requires 28AMPS for a collective of 56 amps. You will have 2 of them so check the PSU rail voltage, it is +12V@70A.

A little more info to help
http://www.amd.com/Documents/Selecting-a-System-Power-Supply-for-the-AMD-Radeon-R9-295X2-Graphics-Card.pdf

Which tier is your PSU
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx
 
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Rookie_MIB

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Everything I've seen is that you'll see about a 50% improvement on average in most game metrics by going with a R9-295x2. In other words, if you're hitting 30ish FPS, you'll go to 45ish. 50ish FPS goes to 75 FPS etc.

As for your 'outdated' CPU, the Phenom II x6 were very powerful chips and they have 6 'full' cores vs the 8 'core' (4 x 2 core modules) in the new FX-8000 series chips. They were, and still are, surprisingly effective CPUs for gaming...
 
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Andreyftw

Andreyftw

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Thank you very much for the input I had a feeling my cpu wasnt too much of a bottle neck, so for 800 dollars best improvement is to get a new PCU and and 295x card correct? If so which power supply/brand of 295x would you recommend?

Soooo my choices are either get new mb, ram, and cpu with ram or new video card and psu... Which will yield the best results?
 
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Andreyftw

Andreyftw

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Mugglensu1984

Mugglensu1984

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Yes that is very good as well. If you are tight on budget then you may also go for 850Watt psu.
 
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Andreyftw

Andreyftw

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Im still abit concerned about my system, do you think its possible ill get more bang for my buck if I lets say go for i5, with 16gb ddr4 and a new mobo?
 
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Rookie_MIB

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They recently did some testing to see about where the bottleneck is on 'most' games. Net result is that 'most' games aren't CPU limited (they tested a wide variety) and the difference between CPUs of even relatively disparate classes was far less than you might think.

Here's the link:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9217/the-amd-a8-7650k-apu-review-also-new-testing-methodology/8

Net result for the TLDR, the game, Alien Isolation at 1080p, using an R9-285:
CPU - i7-4790k = 84FPS
CPU - A8-7600 = 81FPS

As long as most games have a minimum floor of processing power, the GPU is -far- more important than the CPU.
 
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