should I switch?dual r9 290s to a single 980

[FireofDestruction]

i currently own dual r9 290s yes their a very powerful card and with a TDP of 250 each I've seen my parents electric bills go up by as much as 30-50 dollars roughly even though I shut

 

down my computer when i go to bed or am at school. i am not looking for a performance upgrade but simply to reduce the power consumption and the card i would like to switch to is the

 

980(165W) and for all those who don't wish to do the math 500W(combined total)-165W=335W

 

P.s i also am curious about the amount of wattage not being used will it harm my PSU?

[dragoon20005]

you will see a 50% drop in performance but yes the power draw will be greatly reduced

 

and no your PSU will thank you for not stressing him out

[MegaDave91]

If you're genuinely concerned about that and don't mind the performance reduction, then you should switch.

 

To answer your last question; no. Power supplies tend to be most efficient around the 50%-60% utilization mark. 

[Lays]

How much is the electricity where you live? .10 k/w?

 

 

Because if it's around there, running them 24/7 at 100% load would only add an extra $35 to the bill. (if it was that price)

 

Realistically, you're only adding like 10-15$ a month unless your power is like .20 kwh

[Fate]

1. I highly doubt you're using $50 in electricity a month from just your GPU's unless you're gaming 18 hours a day and/or your electricity bill is ridiculously high. 

2. TDP =/= power consumption, but a 980 will cost you less on your electricity bill, just not $30-50 a month. It will also be a downgrade for most scenarios performance wise.

3. No, going overkill with your PSU just hurts efficiency but it doesn't harm your PSU. Think of it as your PSU can supply up to 850 watts instead of 850 watts.

[kpreg]

i currently own dual r9 290s yes their a very powerful card and with a TDP of 250 each I've seen my parents electric bills go up by as much as 30-50 dollars roughly even though I shut

 

down my computer when i go to bed or am at school. i am not looking for a performance upgrade but simply to reduce the power consumption and the card i would like to switch to is the

 

980(165W) and for all those who don't wish to do the math 500W(combined total)-165W=335W

 

P.s i also am curious about the amount of wattage not being used will it harm my PSU?

Dual 970s would be a MUCH better option than a single 980. You'll see a performance drop of about 50% by switching to a single 980.

 

970 SLI > 980 > Titan

 

And your PSU will thank you later for the relief.

 

PS- Make sure your motherboard is SLI ready if you go dual 970s!

[Hieb]

TDP isn't very accurate mode of comparison. Most models of the GTX 980 will consume as much power as a GTX 770 (230W TDP) or even a GTX 780 / R9 280X.

That said, a single GTX 980 is only about 25% faster than an R9 290... so you would get a performance loss in most games from switching from 2x R9 290 to a single GTX 980.

[FireofDestruction]

How much is the electricity where you live? .10 k/w?

 

 

Because if it's around there, running them 24/7 at 100% load would only add an extra $35 to the bill. (if it was that price)

 

Realistically, you're only adding like 10-15$ a month unless your power is like .20 kwh

.17 i think

 

TDP isn't very accurate mode of comparison. Most models of the GTX 980 will consume as much power as a GTX 770 (230W TDP) or even a GTX 780 / R9 280X.

That said, a single GTX 980 is only about 25% faster than an R9 290... so you would get a performance loss in most games from switching from 2x R9 290 to a single GTX 980.

performance loss not too concerned about considering its still going to kick butt in every game that i will most likely play. i've only ever actually made them really crank up while....like never

 

Dual 970s would be a MUCH better option than a single 980. You'll see a performance drop of about 50% by switching to a single 980.

 

970 SLI > 980 > Titan

 

And your PSU will thank you later for the relief.

 

PS- Make sure your motherboard is SLI ready if you go dual 970s!

thanks for making me re-aware of this but i think i took this into consideration back when i bought it but ill check     EDIT: yes it's sli ready

[Hieb]

Alright then the best options are either:

 

Single R9 290 - will lose around 30-40% framerates (since CFX obviously doesn't scale 100%) but knock off around 200-250 watts under load... bright side is it costs you nothing since you're just taking out one.

GTX 980 - will lose around 20-30% framerates but knock off around 300 watts.

SLI GTX 970s - will gain performance and knock off around 100 watts.

[FireofDestruction]

Alright then the best options are either:

 

Single R9 290 - will lose around 30-40% framerates (since CFX obviously doesn't scale 100%) but knock off around 200-250 watts under load... bright side is it costs you nothing since you're just taking out one.

GTX 980 - will lose around 20-30% framerates but knock off around 300 watts.

SLI GTX 970s - will gain performance and knock off around 100 watts.

monitors cap at 60FPS anyway...hmmm thanks for putting things into perspective i have some thinking to do and if i did switch  would be selling the 290's to get the money for the 980/970s or just keep one in my case

[Cheddle]

i currently own dual r9 290s yes their a very powerful card and with a TDP of 250 each I've seen my parents electric bills go up by as much as 30-50 dollars roughly even though I shut

 

down my computer when i go to bed or am at school. i am not looking for a performance upgrade but simply to reduce the power consumption and the card i would like to switch to is the

 

980(165W) and for all those who don't wish to do the math 500W(combined total)-165W=335W

 

P.s i also am curious about the amount of wattage not being used will it harm my PSU?

 

your PSU and MOBO are suited to SLI/Crossfire. I went from crossfire r9 290s to a single gtx980 - lost about 20-30% performance. my mobo was not well suited to crossfire and the cards overheated (too close together in an mATX case...)

 

I mainly changed due to heat and the fact that some games just suck with crossfire.

 

If crossfire worked with all games, or even most, and my case wasnt the size of a shoebox (I have changed since) then I would have stuck with the crossfire cards

[Hieb]

monitors cap at 60FPS anyway...hmmm thanks for putting things into perspective i have some thinking to do and if i did switch  would be selling the 290's to get the money for the 980/970s or just keep one in my case

Yeah only benefit to more horsepower if you're already well over 60 fps is the ability to have supersampling or DSR/VSR. If you aren't playing on a 120/144Hz panel or ultra high res monitors a single R9 290, GTX 970 or GTX 980 is enough for most games to run at max as far as I know.