GPU upgrade from AMD 7770

Hardware Hub GPU
1

Hi Tek Syndicate,

So I am possibly in the market for a GPU upgrade around the $200 mark. First let me include my system summary from Speccy:

Summary
Operating System
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
CPU
AMD FX-6300 21 °C
Vishera 32nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 399MHz (5-5-5-12)
Motherboard
ASRock 970 Extreme4 (CPUSocket) 33 °C
Graphics
ASUS VN247 (1920x1080@60Hz)
2048MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series (XFX Pine Group) 34 °C
Storage
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-00KUWA0 ATA Device (SATA) 32 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSB0 ATA Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Power Supply
Thermaltake 600W

I was looking to upgrade to an SSD but I realized that I am not really worried about boot up times and load times. Coming from years of laptop use, the times are more than satisfactory.

From all the research I have done so far, I am thinking about the 280X which I see goes for around $200. Just looking to get some advice from Tek Syndicate as I am not experienced and it would be my first upgrade. I appreciate any suggestions.

2

If you can hold off till the 3xx series launches prices should fall across the board at least on AMD gpus. A price point of $200USD should get you a really good 1080p card at that time but if you cant wait a 280x or 290 would be fine. Maybe a 285 if you could find one

3

When are the 3xx series due to be out? I am not in a hurry for an upgrade really.

4

There hasn't been a date put out that i'm aware of but it will be soon. Likely around computex

5

i expect them to be announced at computex.

6

Anyone else notice that his ram is running at 800mhz 5-5-5-12? That's like DDR2 speeds.. lol

OP, did you do that intentionally?

And as the others have said. Hold off on the upgrade until summer. My mom has an HD 7770 paired with a Pentium G860, and it's enough for the grand children to game on.

7

sounds like he's using 1600MHz, most software reports RAM at half the speed

8

Duh. I did double it. It's running at 399mhz (aka 800mhz) 5-5-5-12.

You can't get that timing on 1600mhz.....

9

Just look at it and see for yourself... lol

10

I apologies I just skimmed through the original post, my guess what ever he is using to display the specs gave a mis-reading as a lot of third party ones do

11

It's cool. It's probably best to bring it up so that the OP can check to see if it really has clocked itself down to DDR2 speeds somehow? Or perhaps he did it intentionally?

That's why I had to ask in my original post.

12

If you can find a R9-280X for $200 then great. I would go for that. But if you are on a strict budget or you can't find the 280X for cheap. i would grab the R9-285. It has all the AMD features, and is amazing for the price. I've seen a few that is as low as $180

13

Uhh that seems to be an error. I restarted Speccy and it now reads:

RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 797MHz (9-9-9-24)
14

Newegg has it for $190 after $20 rebate. Hence why its tempting me to go for that.

15

oh the definitely grab the 280x without question. that's an awesome card.

16

Thanks for the feedback guys. Thinking about it I realised, I am not actually going to afford 3xx series cards and would be getting this tier of card anyway. If the price drops, it would maybe drop to around $170 at most and $20 difference between getting it now or in June.. I think Ill just get it now.

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