Best GPU setup for $425?

[Shahnewaz]

Just now, ChickenNugget said:

I don't want to use it but it will be worth more right?

OBVIOUSLY DUDE. If it's under warranty, get it fixed and sell!

[Steel_Wind]

The standard advice about warning against starting with Crossfire is currently wrong. That's because the current crop of enthusiast grade GPUs are overpriced, while the XFX R9 380 is seriously underpriced (and overpowered).

The aggressive price of the XFX R9 380 changes everything. 

The best performance you will get for your money right now is 2 XFX 4GB R9 380s in Crossfire Mode, for about $360 for the pair, total, from Newegg. If your Mobo already supports Crossfire with a ( 8x/8x) mobo in Crossfire mode, you will want 650-750 Watts PSU to run two cards. And if you already have that, put the rest of your money towards something awesome like new headphones, mouse, mechanical keyboard, what have you.

I have 2 x R9 390s in my system and the performance is awesome. It should be, the R9 390 is an expensive enthusiast grade card and two of them is certainly not a budget solution.

However, I recently added a 2nd XFX R9 380 to my son's 6600k rig (he already had one R9 380) and I am blown away by how great the performance upgrade is. Never mind the price. The performance alone is great. 

Once you factor in the dollars? SMH. Don't follow most of the advice mentioned here. It's just aping the words of others without doing independent evaluations and thinking it through. It's cold hard numbers. Given the 4GB on the card and DirectX 12 compatibility, that's a HUGELY powerful option for not much money at all. The $$ change the argument. Two R9 380s in Crossfire mode give upper range enthusiast performance for a mid-range price. You can't beat it.

Queue all the folks quoting Linus (who has never considered this issue in the specific current price/performance quandary created by XFX) who repeats the same advice we have heard for many years. That advice used to be correct for all of the reasons he gave. Problem with that advice, imo, is that the tech and market has now changed to the point where it is wrong. Crossfire support is present in almost every modern game (some are better than others, mind you) and the price/performance advantage to the 2x R9380 solution is so huge - you can afford to bail on your Crossfire combo in 18-24 months if you really need to. 

 

[Prysin]

1 hour ago, TheRandomness said:

A single R9 Nano.

Nanos are 499 arent they?

[Steel_Wind]

The R9 Nano is $479

The Nano performance is great, but even with the better optimized HBM, the gross memory volume may be low for 4K. You may well face problems if 4K is in the offing for you in, say, the next 24 mos. The R9 390 offers 8GB and saves you money, albeit with somewhat less performance.  Memory outlook on the 390 and 390x at 8GB (it's not HBM though) may prove better in the long run.

If 4K is not in the offing for you in the next 2 years, say, and your mobo and PSU is already fine for Crossfire, consider 2x 380s which are about equal to 1 Nano and put your $120 in savings in your pocket. The 4GB issue remains, mind you.

[BenjaminBoost]

If you can sell enough to get to a used 980ti, I say go for that. That will somewhat future-proof you, kind of impossible in the tech world, but it last you a long time for sure. Especially at 1080p, since it's overkill for that resolution.

[Necrodead]

On 20/03/2016 at 11:25 AM, ChickenNugget said:

I am buying used, but all those cards are $400 new.

Come to Canada and experience the high prices. A 390x is $700CAD which after conversion is still $540 USD.