R9 290 CF pull the trigger? for 1440p..

[Hauk]

Buying a 32" 1440p monitor, I can buy a 2nd 780Ti for SLI, or sell the one I have and move to something else. Next gen around the corner, 970 memory fiasco, 290 prices looking sharp!

What to do?? Ugh..

 

[RussianSensation]

If you can sell a 780Ti for $300-350, you can get dual R9 290 XFX for $440. (2 rebates per household). If 300 series and GM200 force major price drops, or bring massive gains, you can always resell each 290 for $100 each in 12-15 months, losing barely $200 in resale value making your cost of ownership very low.

Some of those XFX 290 cards can also unlock to a 290X! Ask WhoBeDaPlaya how to perform the unlock.

Even MSI Gaming 290X is just $260.

The only reservation I have is if you heavily play many GW games. In that case, maybe it's better to get dual 970s for you. 3.5GB is still more than 3GB on your 780Ti.

Still, selling a 780Ti for > $300 and getting dual 290s for $440 sounds like a very cheap stop-gap solution until you upgrade again in 2016.

 

[Plimogz]

[...]dual R9 290 XFX for $440.[...]

Some of those XFX 290 cards can also unlock to a 290X! Ask WhoBeDaPlaya how to perform the unlock.

[...]

This certainly is interesting to me.

I should say that someone going CF 290(x) may want to look into how the different AIB partners' designs stack up when running two -- my XFX 290 DDs are excellent as single cards, but the temps on the top card aren't great (which is to be expected, granted). Perhaps some of the bigger designs do better on top, certainly worth a look into if you're shopping.

 

[Hauk]

If you can sell a 780Ti for $300-350, you can get dual R9 290 XFX for $440. (2 rebates per household). If 300 series and GM200 force major price drops, or bring massive gains, you can always resell each 290 for $100 each in 12-15 months, losing barely $200 in resale value making your cost of ownership very low.

Some of those XFX 290 cards can also unlock to a 290X! Ask WhoBeDaPlaya how to perform the unlock.

Even MSI Gaming 290X is just $260.

The only reservation I have is if you heavily play many GW games. In that case, maybe it's better to get dual 970s for you. 3.5GB is still more than 3GB on your 780Ti.

Still, selling a 780Ti for > $300 and getting dual 290s for $440 sounds like a very cheap stop-gap solution until you upgrade again in 2016.

it's a 780Ti Classified, I'm seeing ~$400 on ebay, now's the time to sell. Yes these 290/x deals with good aftermarket cooling are very attractive. Nice driver improvements as you pointed out. Checking the links thanks..

 

[RussianSensation]

I would even take MSI Gaming 970 SLI. Look at GameGPU data. NV isn't optimizing for 780Ti/SLI.

Maybe get EVGA cards so you have the step up option. Otherwise, literally buy 290s knowing you will sell them in 12-15 months tops.

 

[wand3r3r]

^ The only thing is that maxwell SLI doesn't seem to have much, if any, benefit over XDMA crossfire. Add in the known 3.5 GB limitations and potential stutter in SLI due to that and there's no way it's worth the risk, especially with the current prices.

I'd go the significantly cheaper route and my bide time until the market settles down with the 380x and 980 ti's coming this summer.

I'd either keep the 780 ti, or drop it while it's still worth quite a bit and get cheap 290's which probably won't lose much value this year.

 

[Headfoot]

100x better idea to do a temporary 290 CF over 780 TI or 970. At $220 I really don't know how much room there is for those to move down used. I can believe they'll go much under $150 even after the 380x comes out. They just have too much performance to go below that. I still see used GTX 680s for $150 at times... Can't believe you'll lose much more than $100-$150 total selling the two of them @ 380x launch