R9 270x toxic (Sapphire) or Sapphire dual-x R9 280 (non x)?

[Nick J]

I'm in the market for a budget PC. I'm pretty sure on my other components, just can't decide on GPU. Gaming is NOT the main use of this PC. I plan to use it for some Gaming (Skyrim, Grid: Autosport, Watchdogs), and also some image processing and rendering. I have anywhere from 200-250$ for graphics, so any recommendations are welcome. Thanks in advance!
System minus GPU:
Cpu-Intel Xeon 1270v3 haswell
Mobo-MSI z97 gaming 5
Ram-gSkill ripjaws 8gb 1600 MHz cl9
Case-Cooler master HAF xm
PSU-Enermax revolution 85+ 850 watt
CPU cooler-enermax ets t40
Gpu-????

 

[Calnin]

If it's just a side thing, and graphics on the game itself wouldn't matter as much to you, then any r9 270/270x would do just fine. Spend more money on the RAM.

 

[dovah-chan]

You sure about that xeon? Hope you know it can't be OC'd. Also what monitor resolution are you working with? If you're on 1080p and just look to do some light gaming a 270X or a 760 would be a good option. Any higher and you'll definitely need a better card. Also if you're planning to use your card in conjunction with your CPU for use with OpenCL compatible applications then an AMD card would be the better choice as they don't cut off as much compute power as Nvidia does on their non workstation cards.

 

[dovah-chan]

Also your PSU is way overkill at 850W. You could easily lower to the 400-600W range and still have a great deal of voltage to work with. You could try to lower your PSU wattage and maybe find a little extra cash to invest in an SSD?

 

[Calnin]

If you're going with a xeon, the 1230 would probably be the one you should go for... Anything above that, you might as well go with an i7.

 

[nikoli707]

why do you have a bunch of enermax stuff on there.

like calnin said... just get the e3-1230v3 if you are not going to be overclocking... or get the i7-4790k and a hyper 212. the r9-280 obviously would be a better choice than the 270x.

 

[Nick J]

If it's just a side thing, and graphics on the game itself wouldn't matter as much to you, then any r9 270/270x would do just fine. Spend more money on the RAM.

OK thanks. Will the 270x be able to play games at 1080p on at least mid settings? I don't need high or max, but I can't stand low

 

[Nick J]

I got xeon as a gift, so I didn't think getting an i7 was worth it just for the over clocking.

 

[nikoli707]

oh well if you already have the xeon... awesome. that makes things easy. just get the r9-280 then...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $189.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-14 23:39 EDT-0400

i had an msi twin frozr 7950(r9-280). it was a boost model and i overclocked it to 1100mhz for my 24/7 settings and it honestly had no problem running crysis 3 on medium settings at 1440p. most other games all i had to do was lower a couple settings, mostly AA to achieve great frame rates. at 1080p it will near max out most games. if your really trying to save some money you can get the pitcairn based 270x... but the tahiti chip in the 280 is much better.

also... any 600w power supply from seasonic, xfx, antec will suit your needs... you dont need any more than that. and you dont need a fancy cooler for the xeon... they are already cooler running chips compared to their equal i7's... even a $15 tx3 would more than keep the xeon cool and quiet. the msi gaming 5 z97 is really made for those who wish to overclock and need sli/cfx support so its pretty much overkill unless you intent on running dual card in the future.... though if you do plan on that you should be buying a much higher tier 290/780. you could save quite a few bucks and or get a higher tier graphics card if you switch out a few unnecessary parts.