R9 280x HELP!

[pcari]

I am looking to buy the SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X. Right now I have an i5 4690K that I will overclock and I will overclock the GPU as well. I have a few questions: Am I making the right choice? Is there any better options for $210-$260? Can the R9 280x 3GB perform well at 1080p on dual monitors? Do you think an Antec NeoECO C 620W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, will power my rig well? 

 

 

[Interfectorem]

Hold up, if your max budget is $260 and you live in the US, there's R9 290's on Newegg for around $260 that perform significantly better than the R9 280X. Let me find one for you real quick.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131569&cm_re=R9_290-_-14-131-569-_-Product

[pcari]

Hold up, if your max budget is $260 and you live in the US, there's R9 290's on Newegg for around $260 that perform significantly better than the R9 280X. Let me find one for you real quick.

Yes. My main issue is the power supply question and having the ability to surround game at 1080p.

[Interfectorem]

Yes. My main issue is the power supply question and having the ability dual monitor 1080p.

620W is plenty to power an i5-4690K and an R9 290. Yes, you can plug in two monitors into the R9 290 that I linked. Though I don't think you can do surround gaming with two monitors. You can however play a game on one monitor and have say Skype on the other one.

[blankoos]

Yes. My main issue is the power supply question and having the ability dual monitor 1080p.

What?

There's no thing such as dual monitor gaming.

You have one for accessability and one for gaming.

And yes, your card would manage it.

[pcari]

620W is plenty to power an i5-4690K and an R9 290. Yes, you can plug in two monitors into the R9 290 that I linked. Though I don't think you can do surround gaming with two monitors. You can however play a game on one monitor and have say Skype on the other one.

The SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X requires 650W minimum.

[pcari]

What?

There's no thing such as dual monitor gaming.

You have one for accessability and one for gaming.

And yes, your card would manage it.

I mean surround game.

[Interfectorem]

The SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X requires 650W minimum.

The numbers provided by the manufacturers leave a lot of wiggle room.

[Interfectorem]

I mean surround game.

http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

 

When I inputed an i5-4690K and R9 290, it came out to be around 475W total. I've found that this tool is relatively accurate, since I've used it in conjunction with my watt meter. You have plenty of juice.

[-rascal-]

You don't need 650W for a entire system with one R9-280X. You will have plenty of power, with room to spare, with a ~550W.

 

I have two HD 7970's (AKA R9-280X), and one being a Vapor-X card -- the other being a Dual-X.

 

500W (or greater).

 

750W (or greater).

 

A graphics card does not jump up by 250W because it is factory overclocked, and uses a better cooler. If you were talking about 50W jump, sure, but 250W is not physically possible.

 

Wall socket meaning it does not take into account power supply efficiency.

 

Given that your power supply is rated with 80 PLUS bronze efficiency, and assuming you are in the ideal efficiency band, if you were to pull ~400W from the wall, that will be about 340W that your system is actually drawing -- assuming 115V, and at 50% power supply load.

 

Seeing how the i5-4690K / Z97 platform is quite a bit more power efficient than my Phenom II X6 1090T configuration, you are probably looking at 350W or less with your CPU and GPU overclocked. 350W is from the wall socket, and ~300W is what the actual system will need.

 

Note that my Phenom X6 1090T is overclocked @ 4.1 GHz (stock is 3.2 GHz), and my 7970 (AKA 280X) is overclocked to 1150 MHz Core / 1480 Memory (stock is 925/1375).

 

Side note, my Intel system (second spoiler in my signature) is running an i5-4690K @ 4.6 GHz, and a HD 7950 (AKA R9-280) Vapor-X. It is using an Antec TruePower 550W Power supply.

[pcari]

You don't need 650W for a entire system with one R9-280X. You will have plenty of power, with room to spare, with a ~550W.

 

I have two HD 7970's (AKA R9-280X), and one being a Vapor-X card -- the other being a Dual-X.

 

500W (or greater).

 

750W (or greater).

 

A graphics card does not jump up by 250W because it is factory overclocked, and uses a better cooler. If you were talking about 50W jump, sure, but 250W is not physically possible.

 

Wall socket meaning it does not take into account power supply efficiency.

 

Given that your power supply is rated with 80 PLUS bronze efficiency, and assuming you are in the ideal efficiency band, if you were to pull ~400W from the wall, that will be about 340W that your system is actually drawing -- assuming 115V, and at 50% power supply load.

 

Seeing how the i5-4690K / Z97 platform is quite a bit more power efficient than my Phenom II X6 1090T configuration, you are probably looking at 350W or less with your CPU and GPU overclocked. 350W is from the wall socket, and ~300W is what the actual system will need.

 

Note that my Phenom X6 1090T is overclocked @ 4.1 GHz (stock is 3.2 GHz), and my 7970 (AKA 280X) is overclocked to 1150 MHz Core / 1480 Memory (stock is 925/1375).

 

Side note, my Intel system (second spoiler in my signature) is running an i5-4690K @ 4.6 GHz, and a HD 7950 (AKA R9-280) Vapor-X. It is using an Antec TruePower 550W Power supply.

This is a great post! Soon I will mark this as solved. One question, the sapphire r9 280x might be a little different from your sapphire, this one has three fans.

[-rascal-]

This is a great post! Soon I will mark this as solved. One question, the sapphire r9 280x might be a little different from your sapphire, this one has three fans.

 

Both use the same GPU chip. Both cards use a full "Tahiti" GPU core.

The extra fan will draw something like an extra 2W~3W maximum -- assuming the fan is running at full 100%.

The R9-280X is essentially a "re-branded" HD 7970. In fact, minor optimizations were made to the chip before being released as a 280X, so it should  be slightly more power efficient in a way.

 

AMDs R9 280X might still be using the oritinal 7970 GHZ edition XT2 Tahiti GPU and replace it with Tahiti XTL next month. Apparantly the Tahiti XTL GPU was not ready for the launch and all current Radeon R9 280X graphics cards ended up with the Tahiti XT2 GPU instead. Various sources confirm that AMD will do a, so called, "running change", where there will be no announcements and no name change for the new GPU and the only way you would be able to tell which GPU is behind the R9 280X is by its BIOS version.

...

...

Apparently, Tahiti XTL should have a lower power consumption and thus should be easier to cool. We will surely keep an eye out and our ear close to the ground in order to spot the new GPU in November.

 

EDIT:

There is the original "Tahiti XT."

There is a "Tahiti XT2" which was known as the 'GHz Edition' variant that enabled GPU Boost. -- Both my HD 7970's are recognized as XT2 according to the GPU-Z.

There is a "Tahiti XTL" which was used on the R9-280X. -- This is what your 280X Vapor-X should be using.

[pcari]

Both use the same GPU chip. Both cards use a full "Tahiti" GPU core.

The extra fan will draw something like an extra 2W~3W maximum -- assuming the fan is running at full 100%.

The R9-280X is essentially a "re-branded" HD 7970. In fact, minor optimizations were made to the chip before being released as a 280X, so it should be slightly more power efficient in a way.

So I'm good with the SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X and Antec NeoECO C NeoECO 620C 620W ATX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[-rascal-]

So I'm good with the SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X and Antec NeoECO C NeoECO 620C 620W ATX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes, you should be perfectly good to go with your Antec 620W power supply.

[Humbug]

That PSU is enough for even a 390x with overclock.

[pcari]

That PSU is enough for even a 390x with overclock.

The 390x only requires 250w.