Upgrade from GTX295

[n0x1ous]

what's the point of a 290 if the op isn't upgrading his screen any time soon?

because it fits within the budget he mentioned

 

[SteveGrabowski]

because it fits within the budget he mentioned

He should buy today then, because the cheap 290s are going away fast. This one is an unbeatable deal.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedbd

 

[n0x1ous]

He should buy today then, because the cheap 290s are going away fast. This one is an unbeatable deal.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedbd

Agreed - that's why I initially recommended 960 as well thinking the 290 deals were gone but then some other posters found a similar great deal on sapphire tri x 290. But yes he should act quickly before they are gone for good.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Agreed - that's why I initially recommended 960 as well thinking the 290 deals were gone but then some other posters found a similar great deal on sapphire tri x 290. But yes he should act quickly before they are gone for good.

I haven't seen a deal on a Tri-X in a few weeks now, where did you find a good one? I'm surprised the $250-$260 Tri-X lasted up until the 300 series launch at E3. Now pcpartpicker only has one at $390 from amazon.

 

[n0x1ous]

I haven't seen a deal on a Tri-X in a few weeks now, where did you find a good one? I'm surprised the $250-$260 Tri-X lasted up until the 300 series launch at E3. Now pcpartpicker only has one at $390 from amazon.

It was in stock on newegg yesterday or the day before for $259 - OOS now

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Here is another card I'd recommend, especially if the op wants to save a few bucks: GTX 760 for $142 shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500306

 

[RussianSensation]

Here is another card I'd recommend, especially if the op wants to save a few bucks: GTX 760 for $142 shipped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500306

Come on Steve, you just recommended a garbage hot and loud reference blower 760 with 2GB of VRAM. The worst of all worlds right there.

It should be an 'offense' to recommend junky blower cards in 2015. I hope less and less PC gamers keep buying blower cards and force AIBs to put 99% of their efforts towards open air cooled cards and AIO CLCs. Blowers are outdated tech and should die off besides niche cases like Tri-Quad SLI. Tiny heatsink + small fan = noise, high temps, horrible balance of noise vs. performance in overclocked states, etc.

This blower > 50 dBA of noise on a stock 970 card. You get what you pay for.

I would just get an XFX R9 290 with Lifetime Warranty (iirc within 30 days of registration) for $240 as it fits into the budget and will last the OP for 5+ years at his gaming resolution. This 10% off is valid until July 23rd. Lifetime warranty gives a peace of mind too and it has 4GB of VRAM.

Bonus, this is one of the quietest videocards from AMD or NV one can get:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si_eX9FlBQQ

Considering it takes 960 SLI to tie an after-market R9 290 ~ reference R9 290X, this is a solid deal given how long the OP tends to keep his GPUs.

After-market R9 290 = reference 290X ~ 960 SLI, but you get 4GB of VRAM + lifetime warranty too!