time for a gpu upgrade

[Frost82]

As the topic states its been almost 5 years since i have built this pc and alot of things have changed here are the specs now

AMD phenom 2 X6 1100T black edition oc to 4.0 ghz cooled with a cooler master Seidon 120m all in one liquic water cooler

asus m4a89gtd pro/usb3 ... possible upgrade to a asus 970 pro gaming/aura mobo

G.SKILL sniper 8gb 2 x 4GB ddr3 1333

thermaltake TR-800P 800W power supply

and now the dinosaur the gpu in question is a  ASUS 6850

 

I would really like to stay in the radeon family of gpus seeing as how they have always done me right now my real question is the more i read about the new R9 300 series the more im wanting to steer clear of them and think about getting a older R9 290x series because from my understanding they are the same thing pretty much just the R9 300 series is just tweaked a little bit also im not worried about the temps in the case because my thermaltake armor+ amd leo edition moves alot of air what do you guys thing about the choice im considering??? and i have about $350 to play with

 

thanks in advance for all the input

[Frosty]

I haven't really had any issues with my MSI 390x. Just as well, people seem to like recommending the Sapphire/MSI 390. But if you can snag a good deal on a 290x with a nice aftermarker cooler I don't see why not. 

[Vegetable]

My MSI 390x is solid. I got the "LE" which is like 15$ cheaper for a lower binned GPU. I wish I would have went with the standard MSI 390x 8g as my 390x overclocks like a turd. Aside from that it runs cool and quiet with the default fan curve and the absolute most voltage I can push through it. I can't recommend it enough although a Sapphire 390(x) or a good aftermarket 290x would also be GREAT. Cheers mate.

[incarnate]

The 390 is a great gpu in that price range, but keep in mind that your cpu will likely bottleneck it in newer games. That said the bottleneck shouldn't be too bad and Zen should be coming out later this year early next year (I get the feeling you prefer amd). I wouldn't upgrade to an fx cpu if I were you.

 

Also you could reduce the bottleneck by playing at a higher resolution, say 1440p for example. So getting a 1440p monitor would be a better investment over a new cpu in the short term.

[Takadi]

I suggest to wait a bit. Wait for Zen and Polaris. They're a masive leap from the FX processors (32nm process) to Zen (14nm process). Same goes with current GPUs at 28nm and Polaris (14nm process). If you really want to upgrade go for an R9 380, it's cheap and performs perfectly at 1080p. I have max settings on Dying Light at 60-80FPS (GameWrecks shit turned off ofc). It's a Sapphire version which I overclocked to 1125MHz on the core clock and  1500MHz on RAM.

[sebz2]

390 runs game better than the 970! But runs hotter and consumes more power. You have a good power supply so I feel like the 390 will run pretty good with your build, but you will experience bottle necking (a bit) not much with your cpu. Get this then be prepared for a cpu upgrade in the future that way you have room for improvement.

[Frost82]

but im really fond of my 1100t and i just recently overclocked it like as in yesterday lol. Even with it ocd to 4.o ghz ill still have bottleneck?

[i_build_nanosuits]

nvidia DX11 drivers put much less of a burden on the CPU vs AMD drivers...just saying!

[sebz2]

13 minutes ago, Frost82 said:

but im really fond of my 1100t and i just recently overclocked it like as in yesterday lol. Even with it ocd to 4.o ghz ill still have bottleneck?

You'll get some bottle-necking, but to be honest I don't think it will be too bad. But if it is then you might want to consider maybe a 380 or 280.

[Frost82]

well i still think im just gonna get a xfx R9 290x i found someone selling one used locally for 250he said that he couldnt use it bc he had bought a lenovo pc and it didnt run enough juice to power the monster

[i_build_nanosuits]

12 minutes ago, Frost82 said:

well i still think im just gonna get a xfx R9 290x i found someone selling one used locally for 250he said that he couldnt use it bc he had bought a lenovo pc and it didnt run enough juice to power the monster

it's a massive upgrade to what you have right now and whether or not your CPU can fully max out that GPU you'll still get a much better gaming experience and you'll be able to crank up the GPU dependent settings such as anti-aliasing and what not...overall it should be pretty solid.

 

[Frost82]

the main reason im upgrading things now is because i just bought this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236476

except i for it for cheaper then that i got it wueh it was 189.99 and with the 30 dollar mail in rebate it comes to 150 so i figured it was time to upgrade my gpu and start playing in 1080p

[Frost82]

well the r9 290x is on the way i cant wait to see what it can do now i need to figure out what pc games i wanna buy

[SteveGrabowski0]

You should buy Nvidia when using a weak cpu. AMD gpus badly need an i5 to reach their potentials. Nvidia gpus are a lot more forgiving with weak cpus.

 

 

 

[LukaH]

the phenom 1100T is still competitive with the FX line so I'd keep that CPU especially since he pushed it to 4GHz I dont think there will be any bottlenecking. But other than the R9 300 series being rebrands I have not heard anything bad about them except the usual..... runs hotter and uses more power....

[Frost82]

not worried about the power so much or that it runs hotter i have a very good case in the thermaltake armor plus amd leo edition and the cpu puts out hardly any head even under lead thanks to the cooler master seidon 120m all in one liquid cooler and besides i have always used amd gpus and have never had any issues with them at all