I have been looking at replacing my GTX 460 for some time now. I have mostly been looking at the R9 280X. The debate I want to know is:
Which brand and why?
I have been trying to do my homework with it. The ASUS and MSI R9's are to high of a disappointment in the newegg comments section which leads me to look at Gigabyte, XFX, and others (I do like the Gigabyte card and thing if I had to order today this would be it). I am little uncomfotable at the little feed back the lesser known cards have. ASUS and MSI have taken them selves out of question due to their A.) most recent comments and B.) the consistence of issues people have had (plus 20%+ gave them 1 egg). Which leads me to Giga. the third most commented card and the comments are a lot better than the ASUS and MSI brands.
I want to like ASUS and MSI but I just think too many people have had issues and I am not a gambling man unless I know I am going to win. To get me to consider ASUS or MSI better be a damn good reason other than that what about the other brands. Plus this will be one of first newly purchased GPU's. I do not overclock (I wouldn't mind learning but just dont have the time) and specs are as follows: (I am a bit worried about PSU but I will get over that if it comes to be a problem)
CPU: FX-6350
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 X 8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz
OS Drive: Kingston 128 GB SSD
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB
Video Card: GTX 460 (Needs to upgraded, looking at the R9 280x)
Case:Corsair 500R
Power Supply: CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
You can't go wrong with any Of those that you listed. I've got an MSI 270x, and it's great, never gets above 66c or over 70% fan speed overclocked. That said, if you go gigabyte, make sure to get the card with the metal shroud. That's about it.
I think you should go take a look at the Sapphire card. Sapphire is sort of like the EVGA of AMD cards, except they don't fool around with all the BS like EVGA.
I will most def give the spphire a look. I remember watching early reviews of the 280Xs on youtube and seeing the Toxic but didn't think to look it up. Thank you.
sapphire and zotac are separate companies but they are partnered together. They are joined in some sort of group, but product development is completely separate.
the sapphire vapor-x looks dope. i really wana try out those vapor chambers, i think the reference 290's have a vapor chamber too but amd didnt follow it up right with proper heat pipes and fin stacks like sapphire.
Okey as MisteryAngel said the Sapphire toxic is the best one you can get, I can vouch for it as I have it in my own system. One thing to look out for with that card is compatabilty, does you PSU have to 8 PIN connectors and does your case allow for such a long card as it pretty damn long, just barely fit in my cooler master storm tropper.
Yeah, the 500r is a solid mid size case with the hard drive cage removable. The PSU is where I am going to run into issues. I only have a 600w PSU and I wasn't planning on spending that much for just the card (maybe with shipping and handling and tax.). So I would be looking at closer to $500 for all said and done. Card, PSU, Shipping and Handling, and Tax.
in terms of wattage a 600W should be more than enough for that card as long as its 80+ bronze or higher, I could power it with my old PSU which was only 500W 80+ bronze so you should be fine. and since you are not planning on OC'ing yourselves they have already done it for you, so no need to worry about that.
Where I bought mine it was 10-15$ more expensive than the R9 280X from asus, but I live in norway and the prices are different here. And I have heard bad things about XFX graphic's cards sooo..
