Radeon 7850 or R7 260x? EDIT: Went with the R9 270.

[TurtleCrusher]

I've got a limited budget and one of these three specific card I'm deciding over. The main reason I'm upgrading is for the larger framebuffer. 1GB doesn't cut it in NBA 2K15 and extra GPU power is appreciated. I'd like to stay with a single 6-pin connector and under $120 or less out-the door.

Powercolor 260x (OC) 2GB $95 Refurb

Sapphire 260x 2GB $99 after $20 MIR

Powercolor 7850 2GB $119 Refurb

Gaming at 1680x1050 on a single monitor.

 

[spaceman]

of those 3 id go 7850
but
ive seen mint 7950s for $100 on fs/t ofc 2x pin probably

 

[Zorander]

If you're willing to buy used, you can grab something like the 7870 for less. I got one for my HTPC for about $90.

 

[Nohr]

I'd go for the 7850. The 260x is a rebadged 7790.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I've already been burned on buying a cheap 7850 a few months ago that would artifact out after several minutes of gaming. Thankfully I bought it from a store I could return it to. A used AMD card is a no-go due to the high volume of miners our there.

 

[RussianSensation]

What about a new R9 270 for $130?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-545-_-Product

It's $10 more than that 7850 but it's a new card and still is a 6-pin.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

That might be the ticket. I hate factoring in rebates but $30 might go a long way. looks like the same practical power consumption as my 6870. Why the 6870 has two 6 pin connectors is beyond me... is there usually a lot of OC headroom on a 6870? Getting a 2GB card at my res is likely a good match for the next 3-4 years, right?

If any of you are in the Portland area, my 6870 is on Craigslist for $50.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I decided to get the R9 270 2GB. I'll have it by Wednesday.

 

[Abwx]

.........

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/916-19/recapitulatif-performances.html

 

[Headfoot]

. A used AMD card is a no-go due to the high volume of miners our there.

Pretty irrelevant if you check what fan type the card uses... this is a mountain out of a molehill

 

[Attic]

I decided to get the R9 270 2GB. I'll have it by Wednesday.

That's a nice upgrade from the 7850. The 270 should OC well, 1ghz on core.

Comparison of Specs

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Pretty irrelevant if you check what fan type the card uses... this is a mountain out of a molehill

Would you want to buy a card that's been running furmark for over a year? Because that's what you're doing when you buy a previously-mined card. I spent $80 on a 7850 and thankfully was able to return it to a second-hand hardware store. Person to person or on CL? Good luck getting that dispute taken care of. I don't have time and money to be cross-shipping defective items even if I'm in the right.

It was this Sapphire 7850.

That's a nice upgrade from the 7850. The 270 should OC well, 1ghz on core.

Comparison of Specs

I've currently got a 6870, so it's looking like about double the performance of the 6870 according to how much better the 270 is in comparison to the 5870. The 270 that I got has a 30Mhz OC on stock settings, so even more if I don't touch it. If I'll have time I'll likely post a comparison review similar to what I did when I upgraded from a 4830 512MB to the 6870 1GB.

Will the two-fan Powercolor HSF be quieter or more effecient than the single-fan 6870 HSF that I have right now? The single fan on the 6870 seems more robust than a single fan on the Powercolor 270, but then again there is two of them.

 

[Attic]

Would you want to buy a card that's been running furmark for over a year? Because that's what you're doing when you buy a previously-mined card. I spent $80 on a 7850 and thankfully was able to return it to a second-hand hardware store. Person to person or on CL? Good luck getting that dispute taken care of. I don't have time and money to be cross-shipping defective items even if I'm in the right.

It was this Sapphire 7850.



I've currently got a 6870, so it's looking like about double the performance of the 6870 according to how much better the 270 is in comparison to the 5870. The 270 that I got has a 30Mhz OC on stock settings, so even more if I don't touch it. If I'll have time I'll likely post a comparison review similar to what I did when I upgraded from a 4830 512MB to the 6870 1GB.

Will the two-fan Powercolor HSF be quieter or more effecient than the single-fan 6870 HSF that I have right now? The single fan on the 6870 seems more robust than a single fan on the Powercolor 270, but then again there is two of them.

That dual fan on the 270 should operate at near silent levels given you have a case that is properly ventilated. Dual fans IME are always quieter, substantially so, vs a single fan solution.

I had a single fan 7850 that was ultra quiet.

 

[Pneumothorax]

Would you want to buy a card that's been running furmark for over a year? Because that's what you're doing when you buy a previously-mined card. I spent $80 on a 7850 and thankfully was able to return it to a second-hand hardware store. Person to person or on CL? Good luck getting that dispute taken care of. I don't have time and money to be cross-shipping defective items even if I'm in the right.

I bought an ex-mining 290x reference card which probably ran 90+C all day. Runs great, no artifacting at all and even o/c. I guess there will be some damaged ones out there...

 

[TurtleCrusher]

That dual fan on the 270 should operate at near silent levels given you have a case that is properly ventilated. Dual fans IME are always quieter, substantially so, vs a single fan solution.

I had a single fan 7850 that was ultra quiet.

I've got three intake 120mm fans, one on front, one bottom, and one from the back to blow on the VRM area. The top two 120mm fans exhaust heat to the top.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I bought an ex-mining 290x reference card which probably ran 90+C all day. Runs great, no artifacting at all and even o/c. I guess there will be some damaged ones out there...

If people don't watch their temps and set up good fan profiles, most likely it'll get damaged. One that's been taken care of properly, sure, but it's even more of a crapshoot than buying a used car. It's not worth the $40 savings IMO. Especially after getting 1 dud.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

While I dont/didn't have the time to do a review on the change, performance is way up in the few games I've been able to have time to play. NBA 2K15 can now be played with high textures instead of low. On low it was still hitting 1.2GB at 1680x1050 with no AA. Now I can put it on high settings with 2XAA and still get 60FPS. Special effects can be turned on now and the game looks amazing. GPU load is only from 45-65% during the game, but RAM usage is 1930MB with 65MB of virtual GPU ram usage.

Here's some pics in comparison of the two cards and an in-game screenshot.

The R9 270 is a lot smaller but the weight isn't that much different. It seems like the R9 270 has a heavy HSF for what it is.

It seems like the pixel fillrate is nearly identical to my 6870, but the memory bandwidth is significantly higher. Power consumption should be identical or less. Idle clocks are lower with the R9 270. Performance is all-around much higher though in other games that I play. In benchmarks the R9 270 should be almost 2x as fast as the 6870, and it definitely fells that way. The fan barely ramps up during intense load and when it does I don't hear it. The max temp I've had while gaming is 66C and the max fan speed it's been according to GPUz is ~50%.

One quick question, even though the box says DirectX 11.2, isn't the entire GCN line going to be DirectX 12 compatible or did I just shoot myself in the foot?

 

[Plimogz]

Which cards will actually be branded as full-fledged dx12 is still up in the air, afaik.

I'd say you did fine if your $130-ish investment holds you over until Win10/dx12 hits and everything gets set in stone -- it'll keep a good share of its value and you can re-evaluate when all the cards are on the table.