We participate in a few contests hoping to win a grand prize, come on, that's what we all have done atleast once. So did I. What I didn't expect though, was that I would win. Et voila, I won.
The grand prize was a Sapphire R9 290X, have a look at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-21226-00-40G/dp/B00FLMKQY2/
After some research I came to the conclusion that this card runs flippin hot, the cooler isn't that great. It consumes a lot of electricity, and is pretty loud. I sure would like to build a gaming computer or a cryptocurrency mining rig with this, but I'm worried about the temperatures, the power it consumes and the noise.
That's why I ask your help. What would you do with this particular card? Maybe I can sell it and buy a better one? Or should I not worry about it?
Don't worry about the heat. They are designed to run hot. Also don't worry about power consumption. Even with it running at 100% 24/7, it's not going to make too much of a difference on your electric bill. As for noise, that's rather subjective. Some people don't care and others want quiet operation.
Personally, I care far more about the performance of a card than it's noise and heat.
I would probably sell it. I don't see you mentioned what you currently have. If your current card is good enough to last a year or two. I would probably sell it and invest in something you need.
My current GPU is a quadro fx 1800 . It's derp at gaming, but I'm not sure if I will need all performance of the 290x . For how much would you think I can sell it?
First off congrats on winning something I am sure there are quite a few jealous people out there. Secondly I may be one of the few people responding that actually own this card albeit the XFX version. First off it is a solid GPU I play everything on max settings and usually have no problem staying at or above 60 FPS. The card CAN run hot the highest I have seen mine get with auto fan control is 89 Celsius but I usually do manual fan control with ASUS GPU tweak. On auto it stays pretty silent hardly breaking 35% fan speed if you want it cooler it gets louder, at 100% fan speed it can be rather loud BUT I have only had it above 60% to see how loud it is. As far a power consumption goes(this is no way a scientific example) the month I finished my current build I also got a 47" flat screen TV for my daughters room and our power bill went up a whooping $3 so if there is a difference from my 7870 to the R9 290x it is negligible at best.
In summary if you want a solid card use it. If you want money sell it I wont even judge you on the ethics of entering a contest for an item to just sell it.
It's not a bad idea to take advantage of the high demand, sell it and get a new GPU that is better suited to your system/needs and pocket the rest of the cash. If you want to game and yet your Quadro FX1800 isn't cutting it, maybe it's time for an upgrade?
