New card suggestions please Russians welcome

Feb 4, 2009
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Its time to replace my GTX260 vanilla version). I have a Q9650, 8GB and I am not concerned about audio. I don't game as much now as I have in the past but ideally I'd like to run Star Citizen and future Battle Field games reasonably well. I am definitely not frame rate obsessed.

I want to keep the card around $200-260 I have been very satisfied with my current card and I have had several ATI cards in the past, the only one that I was completely satisfied with was a 9500 PRO. I'm leaning toward a GTX760 but I have seen some AMD 280x's in my price range. Thoughts?
 

The Alias

Senior member
Aug 22, 2012
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With your cpu being so underpowered, you'd want to run a gcn card because of mantle
 

n0x1ous

Platinum Member
Sep 9, 2010
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Thoughts are you need to move on from that CPU if you want to run Star Citizen and BF reasonably well.

You will just be CPU limited on newer titles if you throw money at better graphics without upgrading that platform first. Get yourself a nice Z97 4670k/4690k combo and then worry about the gpu later.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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I know the CPU is kind of old, however it did run BF3 to my expectations, again I really just need medium settings. Now is not a good time for a complete rebuild. I was thinking that the new card could go into a new machine later in the year or next year.
 

n0x1ous

Platinum Member
Sep 9, 2010
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i would say r9 280/x then. The 3gb VRAM will better serve you than the 2gb on the 760 plus the 2 games you listed both support mantle which will help alleviate the bottleneck of that old core2quad
 
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KaRLiToS

Golden Member
Jul 30, 2010
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I would get a R9 280x obviously or a GTX 770 but the 770 is too expensive for what it brings... and no Mantle.
 

SinOfLiberty

Senior member
Apr 27, 2011
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get 780 ti, it is very powerful and not that expensive, when compared to low performing 290x(with water cooling)
 
Feb 4, 2009
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Tiger direct has a good deal on a 7950 if you don't mind going back a generation. Add another 100-200 to the core and you are pretty dang close to the r9 280x

Thanks Captain, I found a R9 280x open box, warranty is intact for $214 with tax near me. I'll probably get it now.
Unless the RussianSensation posts otherwise. No disrespect to anyone here, the Russian knows all.
 

Greenlepricon

Senior member
Aug 1, 2012
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Thanks Captain, I found a R9 280x open box, warranty is intact for $214 with tax near me. I'll probably get it now.
Unless the RussianSensation posts otherwise. No disrespect to anyone here, the Russian knows all.

That's an awesome deal with the warranty! Enjoy the new card!
 

exar333

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2004
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OP - you could sell your current Q9650CPU/MB/RAM and get a newer system for about the same money. Just a thought. Those Q96xx CPUs alone go for close to $150, which can net you a solid CPU like a 2500k + a cheap MB. Just a thought....

280x is a great choice in the price range. :)
 
Feb 4, 2009
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OP - you could sell your current Q9650CPU/MB/RAM and get a newer system for about the same money. Just a thought. Those Q96xx CPUs alone go for close to $150, which can net you a solid CPU like a 2500k + a cheap MB. Just a thought....

280x is a great choice in the price range. :)

Q9650's are selling for that much?
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
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Thanks Captain, I found a R9 280x open box, warranty is intact for $214 with tax near me. I'll probably get it now.
Unless the RussianSensation posts otherwise. No disrespect to anyone here, the Russian knows all.

Thank you for such a compliment. I cannot accept it however since there are members in our VCG section which are much more experienced and knowledgeable. What makes it easier for you is that multiple people can give you advice and you can make a decision based on the general trend of opinions. With more than 1 opinion, you can feel more confident that people have taken the time to give you advice that isn't 1 sided. I make mistakes too ;)

$214 for an Asus R9 280X DCUII is an excellent deal. This card is pretty quiet, especially if you raise the temperature ceiling to 75C (set up a custom fan profile in Asus GPU Tweak or MSI afterburner). Overclocking wise, it is also pretty good.

Performance is up there with the much more expensive 770 because it has higher GPU clock (1070) and higher GDDR5 clock (6400) than even 7970Ghz edition.

r9_280x_spec.png


perfrel_1920.gif

7051


Voltage should be unlocked on this card up to 1.3V (Asus GPU Tweak).
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_radeon_r9_280x_top_review,27.html

As mentioned by others, your CPU will hold you back, especially in BF multi-player. If you can, see if you can sell your platform and reinvest the funds into Z97 + 4690K. This platform should last you a while. You have plenty of time to find a buyer for your current platform since the next BF's launch date is still far away. Even moving to a used 2500K platform is worth it.
 
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Feb 4, 2009
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Thanks I picked it up on Monday. Star Citizen definitely runs on medium settings, takes forever to load but hey its a alpha. The card has a different noise than my gtx260 not louder but different. Is mantle automatically enabled on a game that supports it with the most recent driver?
I also got a $10 rebate and they still had some silver rewards (out of gold) for 2 free games. I feel good about the price.