Need help selecting my graphics card

[bebrigg]

After using this site for a long time, this is my first actual post. I am in the process of trying to sell both of my sapphire 7870 ghz edition graphics cards. I've listed them on craigslist and am considering ebay as well. I am running them in crossfire right now and I'm very pleased with their performance. However, I want to reduce my noise levels (my fractal define R4 came in today ), and I must admit that the microstutter is noticeable from crossfire at times. I want to get a single card that can match or exceed their performance while reducing my noise and heat.

Using the guide on this very website I read that you shouldn't upgrade cards unless you move three tiers up. I'm looking at the following four cards on newegg. I don't have a real preference between AMD and Nvidia so I would welcome any advice there. I'm hoping to get somewhere in the ballpark of $400 for my cards (I know that may be a stretch) and then maybe put $100 of my own cash with that to get the new card. I guess I just need some input from some knowledgable people out there.

Here are the four that I'm looking at, but I'm open to others as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127774

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127746

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130917

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127773

In case they are needed here are my system specs
amd fx 8350
sabertooth 990fx
850 watt corsair power supply
16 gb of 1600 g skill ram
hyper 212 evo air cooler (also thinking about selling and replacing with corsair h100i)
fractal define r4 case
840 evo ssd
toshiba 1 TB HDD

Thanks for your help!

 

[ingtar33]

to match or better your performance on the 7870ghz xfire, you'll need to go big and get a r9-290x... get the msi gaming r9-290x. that is one of only a handful of 3rd party cooling solutions that actually properly cools the r9-290x. It's also pretty quiet.

 

[sora]

I would go with the R9 290x or the GTX 770 or 780.

 

[Kian Palmer]

I highly recommend the GTX 780. I have had better experiences with NVidia graphics, mostly because of stability while overclocking, and I can just understand the model names more
If you can, go for the 780 Ti. It is definitely worth your money from the 780 to 780 Ti, but I am aware it may not fit your budget

Here's a 780 I found with the highest clock speeds: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130951&cm_re=GTX_780-_-14-130-951-_-Product

Just FYI, I personally stay away from Gigabyte's graphics cards. The specs are great, but there are just so many reports saying that cards have arrived with no backplate, run hot, capacitors popping/exploding, melting parts, etc.

 

[bebrigg]

to match or better your performance on the 7870ghz xfire, you'll need to go big and get a r9-290x... get the msi gaming r9-290x. that is one of only a handful of 3rd party cooling solutions that actually properly cools the r9-290x. It's also pretty quiet.

What about sapphire's 290x with the three fans? I found some good prices on it as well.

 

[ingtar33]

to match or better your performance on the 7870ghz xfire, you'll need to go big and get a r9-290x... get the msi gaming r9-290x. that is one of only a handful of 3rd party cooling solutions that actually properly cools the r9-290x. It's also pretty quiet.

What about sapphire's 290x with the three fans? I found some good prices on it as well.

it's alright. the Tri-X works well, it's the longest card you can get for it.