Stopgap GPU

[Uchuu]

I have a GIGABYTE R9 280X WindForce with the fan bearings starting to fail (increased noise and sometimes at least one of the fans won't spin up or it may come flying off its sleeve bearing). Giving the fan a little kickstart or putting it back on will get it going again for a while.

 

I've had the GPU since 2013, so it's out of warranty.

 

I'll be doing a new build later this year as my current system is now 10 years old. In the meantime, I'm looking for a stopgap GPU that would offer similar or better performance. The area of Canada I'm in doesn't have a good used GPU market, so I'm looking at new with the idea that I may try and repurpose it later or leave it with my old system as it becomes a secondary system.

 

In terms of system bottlenecks, I'm limited to PCI Express 2.0. The specs are,
Case: ThermalTake Armor+
PSU: Enermax EVO 1250W
Motherboard: ASUS P6TD Deluxe
CPU: Intel i7 920 @ 2.67 (not overclocked and based on the age of the system I'm somewhat hesitant on doing it)

 

With being limited to PCI Express 2.0 and not having a more current CPU, what GPU would be a good stopgap to go with? I realize I could put anything in, but for the time being, I'd like to find something that would be a reasonable fit for the rest of the system.

 

The other option I'm considering is removing the fan shroud and strapping on some case fans. This is likely the cheapest, depending on what fans I get.

[emosun]

i changed my r9 290 to a gtx 1060 6gb about 4 years ago and it worked out quite well for me.

they are cheap as chips now so that could work as a temp gpu

[viking_power]

Since it is out of warranty would you be opposed to replacing the fans? This could be much cheaper then an stopgap GPU. https://www.gpufanreplacement.com/products/gigabyte-r9-280x-fan-replacement

[Uchuu]

23 minutes ago, emosun said:

i changed my r9 290 to a gtx 1060 6gb about 4 years ago and it worked out quite well for me.

they are cheap as chips now so that could work as a temp gpu

A GTX 1060 and a RX 580 are very similar in price and benchmarks (https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB-vs-AMD-RX-580/3639vs3923).  Not that I'd get the full benefit with PCI-E 2.0.

12 minutes ago, viking_power said:

Since it is out of warranty would you be opposed to replacing the fans? This could be much cheaper then an stopgap GPU. https://www.gpufanreplacement.com/products/gigabyte-r9-280x-fan-replacement

Thanks for the possible option. Some aftermarket parts I've gotten over the years are hit or miss with the quality (i.e. DOA) and refunding them can be a pain.

[Harry Voyager]

How stop-gap? I know people hate used cards, and used cryptocards especially, but 8Gb RT 580's are still going for ~$100 USD on ebay. 

[Dr0y]

correct me if I'm wrong but pcie 2,0 won't affect much the performance of those kind of cards.  Techpowerup did test pcie scaling with rtx 2080 ti.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-pci-express-scaling/

[emosun]

10 hours ago, Dr0y said:

correct me if I'm wrong but pcie 2,0 won't affect much the performance of those kind of cards.  Techpowerup did test pcie scaling with rtx 2080 ti.

nah , my 1060 is about 15% slower on 2.0

[Xkillerpn]

Just slap on 2 120mm fans on that :). Look for an rx480 or a r9 290 they are cheap and good. 

[Dr0y]

7 hours ago, emosun said:

nah , my 1060 is about 15% slower on 2.0

I didn't see any change with my rx 590 when I changed from 2.0 to 3.0

[Uchuu]

Thanks for the all the suggestions, went with an RX 580.  Figure I'll either keep it with the old system if I keep using it as a secondary computer when I build a new one or sell it.