So after my previous graphics card died I find my self in need of a new one. I have a budget of about £150. That's about the price of a GTX 960 new. However on ebay 290's are going for about 150. That is used but with PayPal protection I feel very safe. With polaris and Pascal coming very quickly would it be worth waiting for them or just get a 290. I only gaming at 1080p60 because that's I want and I am very satisfied with it.
Wait for Polaris and save up some cash if you can. That would give you great performance/dollar and AMD so it should perform better in dx12 (which is what we're moving towards) as well as not having to worry about it becoming obsolete due to driver nerfing like Nvidia has been known to do.
That being said. If you can't wait/save then go with a 290 because overclocked it is still a damn good card for 1080p 60Hz.
I might wait if I can hold off playing games any longer. Just want get some portal running through my bones again.
Not worth it. The 290X lacks behind the 390 allready (Funny note: Most people seem to completly ignore the 5 to 20 FPS difference between 390 and 290).
Just wait. Maybe you can get a 370 or 380 for cheap when Polaris hits.
ive got a R9 270 that im not using if you want and im in the UK
Nah its ok. I think I am going to wait for whatever the 480(x) comes out. Thanks for the offer though.
Just wait for polaris
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At this point is better to wait for Polaris we are too close and you could get on a great deal on another card even a 290x
Yeah. I'm going to wait. Not that long until they come out so I can ave in the meanwhile.
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Well i think if you could pickup a Sapphire 290X VaporX, Sapphire 290X TriX OC or Msi 290X lightning for arround $150,-.
That wont be that bad of a deal.
Thing is we are so close that maybe if he waits a couple weeks he can save even more
Yes thats fair enough ☺
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I bought my 290X (eBay, ~$200 USD or so) a little over a year ago, and (after some tuning magic) its been great for gaming at 1440p in pretty much any game released to date.
That being said, the card consumes monstrous amounts of power and, if it wasn't under water, it could pass for a space heater. The cards releasing this summer are likely going to offer similar performance at much lower power and thermal levels.
If power usage and/or temperatures are a concern to you, I would recommend waiting for newer cards. If not, then you have the option of going for a still very relavent card at bargain basement price.
If you jump on it make sure your PSU has the plugs and juice needed. You can even go to the website and download the manual b4 you buy. Look up some reviews etc. They will give you a sense of whether you will be happy with it.
It is a killer card for 1080 and more powerful then anything I own.
You will be fine with a 290. I have a 290 and for my uses its basically overkill since all i will be doing is playing Borderlands 2 at ultra setting loosing my life over until Overwatch comes out ( Haven't played the beta but looks like that it will be my game to play that was with League of Legends.). As for playing games right now you will be fine playing them at around med-high settings for your requirements. As for thermals.... its nice to have a heater therefore saving you a bit on the heating bill since you live in a fairly cold climate most of the year.
No, it's a bad idea to buy old stuff generally. Now it is doubly so as the new process tech is miles ahead compared to a several years old thing like the 290. Save your money, buy the new gen.
if you can get a good version of a 290 (X) with non reference cooler for under $200 i would jump on it if you are only doing 1080P or 1440P under 144hz. if you are going for 144hz 1440p - 60hz 4k i would wait for 1080ti (1090 hopefully some time just cuz) or the replacement for the fury when they launch.
Borderlands 2.....Totally forgot to ask if your on Win or Linux....my bad
No, since Polaris is coming out soon which would replace 290x/390x as AMD's new midrange card but better TDP, Performance per Watt, and overall performance. I would also say no to 390x for current R9 290x owners. I would imagine people that bought R9 290x don't care about TDP at all, and I would also imagine if they stuck with the card all these times that it would have a Kraken G10/corsair HG10 by now tame it, so if they overclock both core and memory it they can easily get GTX970/1070(Stock) theoretical teraflops of performance at around 6.4/.6.5 and be good for a while.
PS.: It's funny how R9 290x got so much flack for its 95°C thermals, because it pretty much made AIO/Air Cooled hybrid GPUs a trend and "cool".
I've been doing some builds lately with the same budget. If you can find a gtx 780, although getting a 290 would not be a bad purchase. It gets around the same fps as a 970 (little lower). Try not to get a reference one, they are literally leaf blowers.