r9 270x CF or a regular 290

[Berry30]

Hi, i have a Sapphire r9 270x Toxic. Im wondering if i should buy another one and run it in crossfire or if i should just buy a r9 290. My psu is a evga 650 watt fully modular NEX650g Supernova. Thanks for the help.

 

[Robert Cook]

well that power supply would not really be enough to safely run two 270s, and it can run a R9 290 is you do not overclock it too much. also you will not have VRAM issues, as while two R9 270s in Crossfire perform well, the second you try to play a game that wants more than 2 GB of VRAM, you are sunk, whereas the R9 290 will better as it has 4GB also, not all games support crossfire.

 

[Berry30]

well that power supply would not really be enough to safely run two 270s, and it can run a R9 290 is you do not overclock it too much. also you will not have VRAM issues, as while two R9 270s in Crossfire perform well, the second you try to play a game that wants more than 2 GB of VRAM, you are sunk, whereas the R9 290 will better as it has 4GB also, not all games support crossfire.

I will be upgrading to atleast a 850 watt psu soon. Most of all the new games support SLI/CF. The thing is i can buy a psu and a gpu for the same price as a 290

 

[Robert Cook]

understood, but think of it this way, you can get two R9 270s, but they will not perform any better in games that need more VRAM, so only games that use less than 2GB of VRAM at the given setting will work very well, the rest will fail miserably. whereas the R9 290, might get slightly lower frame rates than the dual R9 270s ( in games that the R9 270s excel in), but you will be able to play more games at ultra, and still have a good 50-60FPS.

 

[Berry30]

understood, but think of it this way, you can get two R9 270s, but they will not perform any better in games that need more VRAM, so only games that use less than 2GB of VRAM at the given setting will work very well, the rest will fail miserably. whereas the R9 290, might get slightly lower frame rates than the dual R9 270s ( in games that the R9 270s excel in), but you will be able to play more games at ultra, and still have a good 50-60FPS.

Ok, that makes sense. I guess im going to just buy a 290. How much watts does a psu need to power 2 of these cards? I might as well upgrade my psu to the right amount if i want to cross fire the 290s in the future.

 

[Robert Cook]

I would say 1000 Watts to be safe. I am sure 850 could work, but when you look at the pricing on power supplies , more often than not, the jump form an 850 to a 1000 is not much. just be sure too get a reputable brand. EVGA, Corsiar (AX RM HXi...), Rosewill, (the higher end models like the photon.) ,seasonic...

 

[Berry30]

I would say 1000 Watts to be safe. I am sure 850 could work, but when you look at the pricing on power supplies , more often than not, the jump form an 850 to a 1000 is not much. just be sure too get a reputable brand. EVGA, Corsiar (AX RM HXi...), Rosewill, (the higher end models like the photon.) ,seasonic...

Thanks so much for the replies. You have been very helpful.