I currently have r9 270x sapphire,do you recomend a second 270x or a r9 290 asus 4gb(note that a second 270x would cost much less and will be preffered if i get the same or even a little worse performance than a 290)I play on 1080p,not on two monitors no 1440p or 4k.
I would upgrade because crossfire does not always scale very well or work at all. Single card configs are always the best idea. If the games you like are good with crossfire though it maybe worth it. You are going to be getting double the v ram on a 290 though. Dual cards are cool for the bragging rights and what not but when it comes down to it the performance is not always there depending on the game and they can be a pain in the neck to keep working. My $0.02
Thank you for your insight,i think i am going with asus 290 4gb its on a deal on 270 euros i think its very much worth it!!!
You are about to get allot of comments like "Single card config is best hur dur". This may be true, but a crossfire setup is also nice for the money. I am running a 7870 in crossfire (7870 = 270x). Games like CS:GO, Crysis 3, Battlefield 4, Titanfall, Call of Duty, all perform very well in crossfire since AMD's drivers have been greatly updated and improved. 270x's also scale very well, meaning its closer to double the fps increase than other cards. Also, its great for the money. My brother is running a 290 4gb and we are extremely close in benchmarks in 1080p, and overall performance in games (I have a overclocked FX 8350, and he has a stock speed i54690k). However, there are drawbacks, like waiting for new games to update and utilize crossfire. One good example is Far Cry 4. It does not run in crossfire at all. AMD and Ubisoft are working to get it running, and i'm just here waiting for the updates :/. Another drawback is 2gb of VRAM. This will hold you back 1440p, and in some very few cases, 2gb can hold you back in 1080p in certain games. Heat also may be an issue, but it really is not if you have adequate cooling. I stay around 65c with my two cards ("OMG, crossfire will MELT you PC its so HOT", no just no). You may also hear people complain that they cannot stand the noise.... OMG the noise!! no just no. I usually always wear my gaming headsets while gaming and cannot hear anything, and if I use my speakers, my speakers are always louder than my cards. Another thing you need to consider is a good PSU to run the two cards. But the 290 also needs a decent PSU. Also, make sure your motherboard supports crossfire in both x16 lanes, important!
So basically, if you want to save money and play newer games that utilize crossfire, go for it, its great for the money. If you are scarred from the many problems that people try to tell you crossfire has, but doesn't since crossfire has been greatly improved besides on some select games, or if you just want a piece of mind, go with the 290.
Most of the crossfire problems are from 2012/2013 -_-
BTW, consider buying a used 270x on ebay for like 100$. I Bought my second 7870 for dirt cheap on craigslist, and got a huge performance increase without upgrading to a 290x when they where a billion dollars.
That is really encouraging,i thought it would be a huge pain in the ass to set up the crossfire but from your prespective i see mo money in my pocket,i usually dont buy brand new games i am more of the waiting type of guy(unless it a game i hugely anticipate)so all the issues are fixed by the time i play most of the time,i never really play 1440p,i tried it in som but i didnt see the reason to go to 30 fps from 40 for some pixels my screen doesnt even have :PSo i will be going with the crossfire then,i have 650w corsair ps,should be enought right?
I wouldn't ever consider crossfiring 270x's or 7870's. They are so hit or miss in crossfire it's not even funny. Some people get 95% scaling and for some they lose performance in the same games some people had 100% scaling in. Why? Who knows. It's weird, but documented and doesn't make sense. I'd have to recommend going single card and spending a little bit more.
290. 4gb is gonna be needed very soon
A quality 650w PSU should be fine. The comment below says "4gb will be needed very soon". I would have to say that isn't true when it comes to 1080p gaming. Few games will take up 2gb of GPU ram in 1080p maxed out. If you turn off anti-aliasing, you should be even better off.
If you want to save money (maybe put the saved $$ towards an SSD, 2nd monitor, games, watercooling) and aren't afraid to experiment a little, a 2nd 270x for cheap will be great in my opinion.
If you want to spend a bit more, and want a piece of mind, a 290 is great too.
Go 290 but don't go Asus, the cooler was made for nvidia and does not fit well on the 290. It works but temps are a bit higher.
Check sapphire. Specifically the Tri-X and the Vapour-X. Tri is cheaper but a little louder and hotter and the Vapour is damn near silent and cool.
I have the Tri-X and it never hits more than 75C at full load and stays nice and quite. I use headphones so I don't hear it much. If you don't use headphones I would go Vapour-X.
I have 2 HIS R9 270X's in Crossfire in my second build. Temps never go over 70C. Running them with an 8120 @ 4.4ghz. Easily plays everything at 1080p ~60fps. If you can get a cheap 270X it might be worth it, especially with the new 390X, 380X and 370X coming out in a few months...