gtx 770 vs hd7950/r9 280 for G3258

[SPBHM]

Not can be slower, but it is actually slower. AMD has by far superior drivers and performance for AAA games released in the last 5 years for R9 280X compared to GTX770. Reviewing GameGPU's data since November 2014, 770 is getting blown out by R9 280X/7970Ghz in many titles.

my post is regarding 770 vs 7950/280, not 280X as I was following the OP options,
and the 770 beats those cards is many new titles as well, so I think can be slower is more realistic.

but if you can get a 280X cheaply and it fits your case/psu decently, why not... one recent problem with old AMD cards is that they likely suffered more 24/7 100% load abuse if it belonged to a miner, but I'm not sure how much of a problem that is... some gamers also like to run their cards for years without cleaning, full of dust and running with some crazy temps.

 

[severus]

When I pick the card up tonight, I plan on disassembling it cleaning and applying new thermal compound. It should fit in the SG13 as the case states it accommodates full length cards. If it doesn't, I will put it in my main rig an move the 7970 to the itx build. My powercolor card is relatively short and should fit in just fine.

The 280x or 7970 with the G3258 (for the time being) should perform well in lan party games like Starcraft 2, CS:GO, Guild wars 2 and the emulators I plan on using the PC for (Genesis, SNES, PS2). When I eventually upgrade to a 4000k series processor I can upgrade to a newer card like a 1050 or 470 depending on the current performance at the time.

The 470 seems like a stout upgrade from my 7970 for the main rig, eventually. If AMD comes out with a 490 though, I might have to go with that. Battlefield 1 is a game that matters to me quite a bit, as it's likely to join my rotation of every games with Guild Wars 2 and CS:GO. I was considering a 1060 3gb upgrade, however the 470 performs just as well for significantly less money, especially after the 1050TI release.

 

[2is]

For a new sub $100 GPU like the RX 460, 2GB is fine because you will only play games at 1080p Medium/High and no AA most of the times.

Even at 1080p, 2GB isn't a good idea. Increasing texture resolution is the most beneficial setting to improve IQ, uses a lot more VRAM but not a whole lot more GPU processing power.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Kepler has been deader than disco for awhile now.
It's the reason I dumped my dual 780s for 290s back in the day (and made a little profit too),
though I did pickup up a few 780s for a song (~$65/card) on CL last weekend.

At that price, they make great cards for spare gaming rigs

 

[RussianSensation]

Kepler has been deader than disco for awhile now.
It's the reason I dumped my dual 780s for 290s back in the day (and made a little profit too),
though I did pickup up a few 780s for a song (~$65/card) on CL last weekend.

At that price, they make great cards for spare gaming rigs

Didn't you also upgrade from HD7970s for essentially free to those 780s? If I recall from those bitcoin mining threads back in the days, it means you got a free upgrade from 7970s to 290s Have you considered picking up Pascal 1070 cards? It's still possible to subsidize them partially.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Yessiree, lucked out quite a bit!
Been looking at the 1070s actually, since the R9 290 are starting to show their age (just a little).
How's the mining scene nowadays? Ethereum is the in-thing now isn't it?

P/S : Sorry for partial thread derail.

 

[pcslookout]

Hi RussianSensation
Did you see your pms ? Just making sure I did it right.

 

[severus]

So it's a good thing I picked up that 280x. Late last night, my HD7970 began artifacting. I ran FurMark and the card was climbing in temps badly. I threw the 280x in my main machine (what I'm typing on) and ran FurMark. It was sitting at 36° C at full load for about 4 minutes. Earlier today, I removed the heatsink from my 7970 and notice there was barely any thermal paste left, and what was there was so dry it couldn't have been effective. I reapplied paste and reattached the heatsink. I'll try that card in the itx machine I put together and see how it runs. It should be fine now as it was just an overheating issue during games. This 280x is definitely a superior card to the HD7970. I know they're supposedly the same but I immediately noticed a 20-30FPS increase in games, perhaps due to my old card overheating without me knowing.

 

[severus]

Okay guys. I need some advice. I got the 7970 running perfectly again, but I might as well keep the 280x in this machine because it is quite large for the SG13 case. Should I sell my 7970 for say $100 and then get a 270X or used GTX 960 since the cards have smaller PCB's with similar performance (albeit slightly slower) than the 7970?

 

[David_k]

270X is 7950~ performance, not 7970.

 

[crisium]

Right, 270X is a downgrade.

270X is Pitcairn aka 7870. It does compare to vanilla 7950 thanks to clock differential, but make no mistake with any reasonable overclocking a 270X is far slower than a 7950 nevermind a 7970.

And if lower power consumption is what you want, you could experiment with undervolting and underclocking the 7970 anyway.

Only real reason to go 960 is if you require HDMI 2.0.

 

[severus]

The reason I'm considering a slightly slower card is due to PCB size. The 7970 is a full length card and the Silverstone SG13 case barely fits it. Currently using a 500w ATX powersupply and I don't want to spend money, or I'd switch to a SFX to save some space in the case. Again this isn't for my main machine which now has the 280x along with the 2500k, this is for my itx lan/repair box. I am considering the 1050TI if the PCB is smaller, however I think it will perform roughly the same as a 7970. Ultimately I have to weigh performance/size.

 

[Headfoot]

If it fits what's the problem?

 

[severus]

Threw the ITX box together today just fine. The 7970 fits, HOWEVER. I realized my PSU doesn't have a second 8 pin connector. The 7970 requires a 6 and an 8. Here's my options, I need suggestions.

1. New PSU with more cables
2. Adapter for SATA or Molex, or try an buy a Corsair 8 pin modular cable?
3. Get a 4gb GTX 960 for around $100, sell the 7970 for the same price and call it a draw.

 

[AtenRa]

Threw the ITX box together today just fine. The 7970 fits, HOWEVER. I realized my PSU doesn't have a second 8 pin connector. The 7970 requires a 6 and an 8. Here's my options, I need suggestions.

1. New PSU with more cables
2. Adapter for SATA or Molex, or try an buy a Corsair 8 pin modular cable?
3. Get a 4gb GTX 960 for around $100, sell the 7970 for the same price and call it a draw.

Which PSU you are currently using ??? if it can provide the necessary power to the system with the HD7970, then just get a 8-pin connector and you are done.

 

[severus]

I have a Corsair 500w modular PSU that I took out of a PC someone threw away, thus I don't have all the modular cables that came with it. I have one Sata rail, a Molex rail and 1 6pin PCI-E rail.

 

[happy medium]

4gb 960 and overclock it.

 

[crisium]

If you are confident you can essentially do a 1:1 cost trade then I agree with above. Otherwise you are spending more money on new things.

Choice #3. Although 2 would be easiest if you are absolutely certain you know what kind of modular cable to buy, and that it will work.

 

[PontiacGTX]

tty to get a GTX 960/1050Ti for around that price unless your CPU is upgraded to an i3

 

[severus]

I went an got a 960 4gb Asus STRIX off craigslist for $80, installed it and a new problem arose. I had to remove the backplate from the GPU, which in theory shouldn't do any harm because it would not fit with the ram slots on my ITX motherboard. Now the PC won't even power on at all. I see LED2 and LED4 briefly pop up on the Asus card and I hear a faint clicking noise from the motherboard. Is this a dead PSU? I don't have a spare PSU to try, but I could go to microcenter tomorrow and buy a fairly inexpensive unit just to see.