worth upgrading from a 7970 to a 290x?

[stag3]

now that the 290x's are hitting the $300 mark
is it worth upgrading from a 7970? from reading benchmarks the 290x is ~30+ % faster

i may be cpu limited?

 

[cmdrdredd]

You might start to be CPU limited at 1080p, but you will definitely be able to run close to max detail settings.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Pretty sure you can snag one for $250 or less. At that price, it's a steal. The upcoming 380x will only be <=50% faster but prolly 3-4 times as expensive.

 

[lehtv]

I think a 7970 is a great pair for an i7-965 @3.85. Upgrade both at the same time.

 

[Silverforce11]

Saw a feal amazing deals on R290X, PowerColor for $225 and Tri-X for $240, at those prices, it will be very hard to beat the amazing perf/$ even with next-gen stuff.

You can always turn up the graphics quality as soon as you hit a CPU bottleneck, it shouldn't be a problem at all. There's still lots of games where R290X/980 struggle to hit 60 fps at 1080p when maxed settings.

 

[stag3]

i play everything @ 2560x1440 so im cpu limited for sure hahah
i guess i can pick one up and go down to 1080p and enjoy the eye candy
thx

will be looking for the sub ~250 290x then

 

[Silverforce11]

1440p is nearly always GPU limited.

 

[Techhog]

Pretty sure you can snag one for $250 or less. At that price, it's a steal. The upcoming 380x will only be <=50% faster but prolly 3-4 times as expensive.

You seriously think the 380X will be $750-1000? Seriously?

 

[Magic Carpet]

You seriously think the 380X will be $750-1000? Seriously?

I expect it to be around the $699 mark. Not quite a grand. Of course, I could be wrong. But it's unlikely to be cheap. And

 

[garagisti]

I expect it to be around the $699 mark. Not quite a grand. Of course, I could be wrong. But it's unlikely to be cheap. And

I expect it to be priced reasonably lower than the 295x2. I've been wrong before...

 

[Attic]

I think a 7970 is a great pair for an i7-965 @3.85. Upgrade both at the same time.

Agree with this.

At 1440p you will get strong benefit in areas with the 290x, but this late in the 290x life,.. i'd wait for next gen to see what it brings and bank on going new GPU with a new CPU/board.

 

[Borealis7]

i would say keep waiting. i'm on a similar performing card - GTX680 - and the 30% or so performance increase is not enough for me to upgrade and we have no idea what both companies have planned for the june-july timeframe. i'll probably end up getting a used GTX980 in a couple of years.

 

[Temuka]

Saw a feal amazing deals on R290X, PowerColor for $225 and Tri-X for $240, at those prices, it will be very hard to beat the amazing perf/$ even with next-gen stuff.

You can always turn up the graphics quality as soon as you hit a CPU bottleneck, it shouldn't be a problem at all. There's still lots of games where R290X/980 struggle to hit 60 fps at 1080p when maxed settings.

Where for the god's sake you saw anywhere 290x for 225$?? Show me and I will buy it immediately

 

[Socio]

I upgraded from a pair crossfired 6950s to a 290x only got minor a boost in FPS on the top end but did get a good boost on the low end where my FPS would drop before held at much higher FPS.

Like Playing WoW and doing the Ashran massive battles my FPS would drop to 10 or less making it virtually unplayable even on the lowest settings, now I can do it on good settings and have it stay around 30 fps.

 

[Crow550]

Saw a feal amazing deals on R290X, PowerColor for $225 and Tri-X for $240, at those prices, it will be very hard to beat the amazing perf/$ even with next-gen stuff.

You can always turn up the graphics quality as soon as you hit a CPU bottleneck, it shouldn't be a problem at all. There's still lots of games where R290X/980 struggle to hit 60 fps at 1080p when maxed settings.

When & where was the 290x Tri-X $240?

Where for the god's sake you saw anywhere 290x for 225$?? Show me and I will buy it immediately

Keep an eye on the Hot Deals section: http://forums.anandtech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16 and Slickdeals.net and it's forum.

It was a PowerColor TurboDuo 290x: http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usa...VMtUkV12XwnS1nqxU0&ir_cid=3092&ir_affid=10451

The 290x MSI Lightning is also $300 @ Newegg.com

Also a regular 290 by XFX for $220 @ NewEgg.com (XFX also offers Lifetime Warranty too. MSI 3 and I think PowerColor 2.)