I am planning out a build and am looking at getting a previous generation gpu...as I'm not that much of a gamer, I like eye candy, but I don't depend on it.
I will be pairing it with a 27" 1440p monitor (my 32" 1080p is just...awful)
The gpu's I'm mostly looking at are the AMD 7870, 7950, maybe a 7970, and the gtx 680.
From what I do know, only a few games benefit with 4gb over 3gb, so I am, for the sake of simplicity, considering those two options the same.
What I m asking is if benefit is noticed at higher resolutions going over 2gb? and if the option is available, pick the higher ram amount- (even if that much vram wasn't standard?)
I'm no expert but I think you would run into problems with processing power before you fill up your ram. I use a 660ti with 2gb of ram and run dual 1080p monitors, and I run into problems with it not being able to keep up.
Also you should be looking at current gen cards, atleast for AMD, because they are rebranded of the last gen which means the last gen cards are quite expensive. The cheapest HD 7970 for example is about $409, while the new one, R9 280x, average around $330-350. So unless you are getting a last gen card from someone for cheap then you should look at the newer ones.
R9 280 is also a good option. It's almost a HD 7950 rebrand.
Most of the new cards are the old cards. 7870 ~= 270 or 270X, 7950 ~= 280, 7970 ~= 280X, and 680 ~= 770.
Between those cards, the 7970/280X will generally perform the best at 1440p.
i personally run a gtx 780 with my 1440p monitor and the only game i benchmarked where i did run into below 30fps was the witcher 2 with everything completeley maxed. So the benefits of more vram are that you can store more data of the rendered frames on the gpu. That means the more objects are on the screen the more vram you will need but it also means the higher resolution the textures on objects are the more vram you will need. Taking this into consideration, rendering a frame at 1440p means you have more pixel per frame you have to save somewhere. Ideally they will be stored in your vram until you can display it to your monitor which means you will need more vram the higher resolution you want to go.
Well...I was looking to get a used gpu...where I often see price reductions of $100+
2GB on a high-end GPU is sufficient at 1440p. Some people regrard 3GB as the sweet spot. I suppose it doesn't hurt to have more, but the GPU itself should be the main consideration. e.g GTX 770 2GB > GTX 760 4GB
Okay, I just making sure.
From what everyone said, not that many games will reap a huge benefit from it.
thank you, I think I will be getting an HD 7870, if I find the 7950 at a good price, then I'll get that.
What's your budget and location? I'll recommend a card
3gb of vram, is what i would recommend, if you could afford a R9-290 or GTX-780 that would offcourse be very nice, but a R9-280X would also be good enough.
Reason why i dont vote for a GTX-770 4GB, is because you can get a 280X for the price of a GTX-770 2GB. the GTX-770 4gb is alot more expensive, so this would make it not realy a good value for money card in my opinnion. youcan allmost grab a R9-290 for that price, especialy in Europe.
I was looking at previous gen cards (because I can get them much cheaper used)
If I had $350 to blow, i would be getting a 280x...but I don't game heavily, so i will be happy with a previous gen for the lower cost.
7970ghz is a 280X. its the same card.
I know that, but the 7970 is cheaper used...if I was buying new I would still buy the 280x for the sake of staying an a more "modern" line of gpus...
WAIT...Nevermind...I can get a used 280x for cheaper than the 7970...wat?
but the 7850/7870 is stupidly cheaper than a 270x...and for that price I could get two (but would only have 2gb, and I don't think I need it?)
Would it be worth getting the the 280x? or should I save the money, and get the 270x/7870 now and either crossfire in the future or replace it? mind, that I probably won't replace the gpu for some time...)
A single card is less problematic than Crossfire or SLI. The 280x is better suited to 1440p gaming.
I was looking at the HD series as I found them stupid cheap used.
Out of what I have found
280x - $180-$199
7970 - 180-$199
7950 - $160
7870 - $120
270x - $150
270 - $100
I couldn't find the 280
which would be a good option? I like to overclock (I like to get as much performance out of what I buy as I can)
Would it be worth it to just go dual 270 in crossfire (considering the little difference between it and the 270x, and the prices)
You find the used ones stupid cheap because they're heavily used. Because of the Litecoin rush a few months back, a lot of the used AMD GPUs on the market likely ran at a full load 24/7 for weeks or months at a time.
Less than 200 bucks for a 7970 is an amazing deal, if it's not imperative that it runs for another 2 years or so. It might last, but there's a better than usual chance that it won't.
I didn't think that mining would of caused so much damage to them-
Is it just the temps of excessive wear that otherwise would never happen in reality?
I think I'll go with a 7970...because that price is still pretty good.
I Would of actually of looked at the 7990 if I had $300 lol
It's impossible to say how long any given GPU is going to last, but one that was used at all is less likely to survive 2 years than one that's brand new, and one that was used for mining is even less likely than that. There isn't really a way to quantify it without doing a many-thousand GPU study. It's all luck, mostly.
I don't mean to try to put you off of those great deals, because they are great deals. I'd probably buy one, too, if I was looking for a new GPU.
ya 280X would be a good option. 7950 also.