280X or 290

[paulsterio]

Hey everyone, 

 

I need a new graphics card to keep up with the latest titles, I've currently got a 660 which runs most games on High, some on Ultra at 1080p at above 30 fps, which is playable. 

 

I'm after a new card which can run all games at Ultra at 1080p and get above 60 fps if possible, should I go for a 290, or would a 280X be enough?

 

Cheers. 

[miyabwah]

non-refrerence 290, but for 1080p "ultra", a 280X would be fine.

[DoubleY]

Possible to unlock the 290 to 290X.

Not anymore I thought?

[Bluejay0]

290 AfterMarkets

[Ryan Leech]

I would get a GTX 780

[brob]

Hey everyone, 

 

I need a new graphics card to keep up with the latest titles, I've currently got a 660 which runs most games on High, some on Ultra at 1080p at above 30 fps, which is playable. 

 

I'm after a new card which can run all games at Ultra at 1080p and get above 60 fps if possible, should I go for a 290, or would a 280X be enough?

 

Cheers. 

 

Why not SLI another 660? Your psu should be sufficient.

[Bluejay0]

Why not SLI another 660? Your psu should be sufficient.

 

It's always better to get a better single card rather than SLI a less powerful card for compatibility, scaling, heat, and power consumption.

[CoolBeans]

Not anymore I thought?

You're correct

[Luc401]

Is this for mining? if not go for Nvidia cards.

[paulsterio]

non-refrerence 290, but for 1080p "ultra", a 280X would be fine.

 

I'll be watercooling, so I'll have to get the reference one. 

 

 

I would get a GTX 780

 

I want to be able to mine litecoins at night, passively make some money. Plus, I've been in the nVidia camp for a while now, getting their mid-tier _60 cards, so like the 660 and 460 before that, so I want to try something different.

 

 

Why not SLI another 660? Your psu should be sufficient.

 

I'll be using my current 660 in a new build for my girlfriend, plus I'm not a huge fan of dual GPU solutions. 

[Ryan Leech]

Why not SLI another 660? Your psu should be sufficient.

The 660 really only has 1.5GB of vram.

[needmorewood]

id go 290 if u really want to make sure it goes to 60 fps at max settings

[DoubleY]

Is this for mining? if not go for Nvidia cards.

-deleted- 

 

^what I said was wrong

[needmorewood]

 

I want to be able to mine litecoins at night, passively make some money. Plus, I've been in the nVidia camp for a while now, getting their mid-tier _60 cards, so like the 660 and 460 before that, so I want to try something different.

 

i hope you mean crypto curriencies in general cause mining litecoins isnt good at all atm

[Vendetta]

With the price of 280x's right now you might aswell just get a 290. And make sure you get a aftermarket one because the stock coolers are wack lol

[DoubleY]

i hope you mean crypto curriencies in general cause mining litecoins isnt good at all atm

I beg to differ. It's very profitable still. There are just better alternatives. 

[paulsterio]

i hope you mean crypto curriencies in general cause mining litecoins isnt good at all atm

 

I'll check coinwarz to see what the most profitable is when I start mining, Dogecoin looks good at the moment, but even though other coins might be more profitable than litecoin, litecoin has a much more stable exchange rate. 

[bamerx98]

The 660 really only has 1.5GB of vram.

no its got 2 mate

[paulsterio]

With the price of 280x's right now you might aswell just get a 290. And make sure you get a aftermarket one because the stock coolers are wack lol

 

I've mentioned that I'll be watercooling, the XSPC Razor block looks great at the moment, cheaper than the other blocks from EK and others. 

[DoubleY]

 

Not for every 290. 

 

The card is not locked if the code is either of these.

 

 

 

 

I am pretty sure that AMD blocked it from happening........ ever since it become pretty popular to flash your card

[SJBijzitter]

Sapphire Toxic 290 <3

[Bluejay0]

I'll be watercooling, so I'll have to get the reference one. 

 

 

 

I want to be able to mine litecoins at night, passively make some money. Plus, I've been in the nVidia camp for a while now, getting their mid-tier _60 cards, so like the 660 and 460 before that, so I want to try something different.

 

 

 

I'll be using my current 660 in a new build for my girlfriend, plus I'm not a huge fan of dual GPU solutions. 

 

 

 

You don't have to get the reference. You can go ahead and get an ASUS one. EK will be developing a block.

[Hashiyan]

If watercooling 290. IT has so much more performance than 280x and is just like 3 frames off from a 290x. Mining will make it easy as well Hope I helped! 

[Ryan Leech]

no its got 2 mate

Technically it has 2GB on the pcb. But the 192 bit bus isn't able to make use of all of the flash chips, resulting in 1.5GB being usable.

[paulsterio]

You don't have to get the reference. You can go ahead and get an ASUS one. EK will be developing a block.

 

Reference is much cheaper. In Australia, the 290 is $500, the non-reference ones are $600 (actually still really good given the AUD/USD exchange rates at the moment). 

 

Anyway, looks like you guys have convinced me to go 290.