Which of these options would you suggest for my upcoming upgrade?

[MattEnTheHat]

Okay so I am planning to upgrade my graphics card, but would like some suggestions on how exactly to do it. Here are my current system specs:

 

AMD FX-8350 @4.3GHz

MSI Twin Frozr Radeon HD 7950 @1100MHz core and 1250MHz memory

1000W Coolmax PSU (yes, I know it’s a crap brand, but I’ve actually run 3 GPUs on it before, during my bitcoin mining days, so I know it can take a heavy load)

MSI 890FXA-GD70 Motherboard

18 GB DDR3 RAM @1600MHz (yes, I know it’s a weird amount and I know it would be slightly faster if I took out the mismatched sets, but I would rather have the extra space than the slight speed boost)

 

Here are the options I’m considering:

1.       A new Nvidia GTX 970 – Total cost: ~$350. Advantages: latest-generation card with “4GB” of memory (even 3.5GB is still more than 3GB), latest and greatest features. Disadvantages: Possibly not fully compatible with DX12 (not 100% sure on this, but it’s something I’ve heard)

2.       A new Nvidia GTX 780 Ti – Total cost: ~$420. Advantages: most powerful single-card setup I can afford. Disadvantages: older card means fewer features, only 3GB memory compared to the 3.5/4 on the 970, probably not fully compatible with DX12 (again, only something I’ve heard)

3.       A second (used) Radeon HD 7950 – Total cost: ~$120. Advantages: very affordable, should be very good performance in games that have good crossfire support, supposedly will have full DX12 support (again, a rumor). Disadvantages: older card means fewer features, stuck with 3GB VRAM, games/applications that do not support crossfire well will see little to no improvement, buying a used card is a little risky

4.       Two more (used) Radeon HD 7950s – Total cost: ~$240. Advantages: significantly more raw computational power than even a 780 ti, at a much lower cost. Disadvantages: same as one additional 7950 (except buying two used cards is even riskier)

5.       A new R9 280 (to be used in crossfire with my 7950) – Total cost: ~$170. Advantages: quite affordable, should be very good performance in games that have good crossfire support, supposedly will have full DX12 support (again, a rumor). Disadvantages: stuck with 3GB VRAM, games/applications that do not support crossfire well will see little to no improvement, won’t match my current card asthetically (not a big deal)

6.       Two new R9 280s (to be used in crossfire with my 7950) – Total cost: $340. Advantages: significantly more raw computational power than even a 780 ti, at a significantly lower cost. Disadvantages: same as one new R9 280

So those are the options. I am willing to spend as much as the 780 ti if it is worthwhile, but would (of course) prefer to spend less if a cheaper solution makes more sense. Something like a 980 or two 970s, though, is out of the question. I just can’t justify spending that much right now.

 

Let me know what you think and if there are any advantages/disadvantages that I didn’t think of, and thanks for the help!

And of course, feel free to ask if there's any other info that would be helpful!

[SkywardKkalox]

either a single 970 or another 280 and crossfire it.

[LinusDropTips]

I second the vote for another R9 280. This would offer you better performance without having to remove your old card and should support DX12. If you want the larger VRAM then the GTX 970 would be a great choice and they will almost certainly support DX12. A 780ti would probably outperform the 970, but I'm not sure if the performance would justify the price difference (also it is unknown if Kepler will support DX12).

Buying second hand hardware can be a risk if you don't know the person you are buying from (especially on the graphics card side where some cards have been used for cryptocurrency mining), so I would buy a new card or buy from a good friend (who I know hasn't abused it).

[Doughnutnator]

The 970 is going to be fully compatible with DX12.

[MattEnTheHat]

Thanks for the input so far everyone!

[FLUFFYJELLO]

I don't want to bring up the B-word and cause a s***storm, but every one of those options will be bottlenecked by your CPU with no exceptions (except in games that don't scale with crossfire as you won't see performance increase anyway).

Anything above a 280x has its performance lessened by an 8350...

Before the GPU upgrade, maybe consider upgrading your CPU? Just a suggestion.

However! On note of the graphics card, grabbing a second 7950/280 will be the most cost-effective performance boost. Otherwise a 970 is a very solid step up.

[MattEnTheHat]

I don't want to bring up the B-word and cause a s***storm, but every one of those options will be bottlenecked by your CPU with no exceptions (except in games that don't scale with crossfire as you won't see performance increase anyway).

Anything above a 280x has its performance lessened by an 8350...

Before the GPU upgrade, maybe consider upgrading your CPU? Just a suggestion.

However! On note of the graphics card, grabbing a second 7950/280 will be the most cost-effective performance boost. Otherwise a 970 is a very solid step up.

 

That may be, but right now my GPU is most definitely bottlenecking my CPU, so I would prefer to upgrade that first for immediate (if not gigantic) performance improvements. In other words, if I bought a new CPU right now, nothing would change in most games because my GPU is currently the bottleneck. If i bought a GPU right now, I'd see at the very least some improvement by shifting the bottleneck from my GPU to my CPU. It may not be a large gain (haven't really looked into it to be honest), but it is more than nothing. I am hoping to get a water cooler (Swiftech H220-X) relatively soon, though, so that should allow me a higher overclock and thereby push that bottleneck back a bit. As for an entirely new CPU, that will probably have to wait a bit. I've pretty much run out of upgrades on the AM3+ platform (and AMD recently announced that their new CPUs will be a new AM4 socket, so those won't be an option), so I would have to get a new motherboard as well, and possibly RAM too depending which CPU I decided to upgrade to. All that gets a bit too costly for me right now. Thanks for the input though!