Upgrading from R9 280x

[Shaun Jones]

So I built my PC exactly 4 years ago on a budget with alot of help from a few people here, for only £500 I managed to run most games the entire time on very high some ultra and enjoy it but some recent games are leaving me constantly on low and still struggling to hit even 90fps

My setup:

Powercolor R9-280x
i5-4670k OC'd to 4.0
4x4gb Corsair DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance CL9
Asrock extreme3 z87 mobo
corsair 1000w PSU (I know it's overkill but friend move abroad sold it cheap)

I was originally considering crossfiring my GPU as I can get another card of the same for around only £70 but was looking at the 1060, 1070 and 1080 and wondering if it would be worth just upgrading now and selling my old card to go towards it, but I was also wondering if i'm going to be bottlenecking if I don't upgrade any other components if I upgraded the GPU.

I'm also considering maybe trying out VR in a year or two but waiting for prices to drop probably, just something to maybe consider.

Thanks in advance for any feedback. I realise there are alot of threads on upgrading from the 280x but I wanted to maybe find someone that could help me when considering the whole system.

 

[animemangamer]

I would suggest waiting until you have enough budget to upgrade to a newer platform like Intel Z370 or AMD Ryzen with DDR4 memory. if you are just looking to upgrade to a much better decent GPU the GTX 1060 or RX570/580 are nice options.

 

[dontlistentome]

The 280x is roughly equivalent to a 1050 Ti so a 1060 would be the least card I'd say counts as an upgrade. An RX 570 would be the AMD upgrade card. You mentioning 90fps and VR makes me think you really need a new platform.

As it stands, games are starting to use more than 4 cores/4 threads. On top of that, if you're looking for 90fps rather than 60fps then you ideally want something more than a 1060 which means realistically you want something better than an i7 4xxx series CPU. That all adds up to a new platform.

 

[jojesa]

Could you post your monitor specs?
Go with RX580 or GTX 1070 with you current setup.
If you find a good deal you could go with something more powerful and you could take advantage of it when upgrading to a new system.

 

[Shaun Jones]

I would suggest waiting until you have enough budget to upgrade to a newer platform like Intel Z370 or AMD Ryzen with DDR4 memory. You didn't mention what GPU you are using right now but if you are just looking to upgrade to a much better decent GPU the GTX 1060 or RX570/580 are nice options.

I said "Powercolor R9-280x" for GPU

I take it with the motherboard I have I'd have to upgrade that too socket wise I think but yeah in the long run I do want to upgrade but going to be about a year so thinking if I get the card now I can atleast use that as a little boost and it'll be usable in my next build

 

[animemangamer]

I would suggest waiting until you have enough budget to upgrade to a newer platform like Intel Z370 or AMD Ryzen with DDR4 memory. You didn't mention what GPU you are using right now but if you are just looking to upgrade to a much better decent GPU the GTX 1060 or RX570/580 are nice options.

I said "Powercolor R9-280x" for GPU

I take it with the motherboard I have I'd have to upgrade that too socket wise I think but yeah in the long run I do want to upgrade but going to be about a year so thinking if I get the card now I can atleast use that as a little boost and it'll be usable in my next build

Oops 😀

Yes upgrading pretty much means CPU, Mobo, RAM and together with the new GPU that is pricey upgrade. So like another suggested get a GTX 1060 or RX 580 but that is only about 50% improvement in performance.

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB-vs-AMD-R9-280X/3639vs2192
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-580-vs-AMD-R9-280X/3923vs2192

 

[Shaun Jones]

The 280x is roughly equivalent to a 1050 Ti so a 1060 would be the least card I'd say counts as an upgrade. An RX 570 would be the AMD upgrade card. You mentioning 90fps and VR makes me think you really need a new platform.

As it stands, games are starting to use more than 4 cores/4 threads. On top of that, if you're looking for 90fps rather than 60fps then you ideally want something more than a 1060 which means realistically you want something better than an i7 4xxx series CPU. That all adds up to a new platform.

Could you post your monitor specs?
Go with RX580 or GTX 1070 with you current setup.
If you find a good deal you could go with something more powerful and you could take advantage of it when upgrading to a new system.

Originally I was using a semi decent monitor cant remember the model but it broke so I ended up using my TV in the meantime (which will be the first thing I change) I used to get around 120fps in most games using 720p on my 120hz projector, didnt use it often but just used it as a reference as I play in 720p when playing more competitive games.

And yeah I was expecting to be told that it might be time to upgrade already but thinking about a good GPU that will last me into the new build once I can manage it

 

[ShadyHamster]

If you don't want to spend a lot upgrading your whole platform then my suggestion it to find a used i7 4770k/4790k then go for something like a gtx 1070 or 1070ti.

 

[Shaun Jones]

The 280x is roughly equivalent to a 1050 Ti so a 1060 would be the least card I'd say counts as an upgrade. An RX 570 would be the AMD upgrade card. You mentioning 90fps and VR makes me think you really need a new platform.

As it stands, games are starting to use more than 4 cores/4 threads. On top of that, if you're looking for 90fps rather than 60fps then you ideally want something more than a 1060 which means realistically you want something better than an i7 4xxx series CPU. That all adds up to a new platform.

Yeah when I play competitive I play 720p soley because it is what i've gotten used to sensitivty wise that going higher was always a difficult thing for me to get used to, but I still do play 1080p when playing platform or single player campaigns

Yeah im guessing from the sounds of it im gona have to start planning my new build sooner rather than later then, think the 1060 with an i7-4xxx series would bring me to ultra settings for some time or not quite meet it? also what about VR any idea?

 

[animemangamer]

The 280x is roughly equivalent to a 1050 Ti so a 1060 would be the least card I'd say counts as an upgrade. An RX 570 would be the AMD upgrade card. You mentioning 90fps and VR makes me think you really need a new platform.

As it stands, games are starting to use more than 4 cores/4 threads. On top of that, if you're looking for 90fps rather than 60fps then you ideally want something more than a 1060 which means realistically you want something better than an i7 4xxx series CPU. That all adds up to a new platform.

Could you post your monitor specs?
Go with RX580 or GTX 1070 with you current setup.
If you find a good deal you could go with something more powerful and you could take advantage of it when upgrading to a new system.

Originally I was using a semi decent monitor cant remember the model but it broke so I ended up using my TV in the meantime (which will be the first thing I change) I used to get around 120fps in most games using 720p on my 120hz projector, didnt use it often but just used it as a reference as I play in 720p when playing more competitive games.

And yeah I was expecting to be told that it might be time to upgrade already but thinking about a good GPU that will last me into the new build once I can manage it

I would skip GTX 1070 because 1070 Ti came out and price difference is small but performance is huge as 1070Ti competes with the GTX 1080 now.

 

[Shaun Jones]

If you don't want to spend a lot upgrading your whole platform then my suggestion it to find a used i7 4770k/4790k then go for something like a gtx 1070 or 1070ti.

ah ok thanks I couldn't find a CPU anyone said was worth upgrading to that was Socket 1150 all the suggestions I was getting where Socket 1151 forcing me to also upgrade the mobo so this could be a good stop gap while saving for an actual new build, then use what I have thats compatible and upgrade the mobo and then the CPU when necessary basically

 

[Shaun Jones]

The 280x is roughly equivalent to a 1050 Ti so a 1060 would be the least card I'd say counts as an upgrade. An RX 570 would be the AMD upgrade card. You mentioning 90fps and VR makes me think you really need a new platform.

As it stands, games are starting to use more than 4 cores/4 threads. On top of that, if you're looking for 90fps rather than 60fps then you ideally want something more than a 1060 which means realistically you want something better than an i7 4xxx series CPU. That all adds up to a new platform.

Could you post your monitor specs?
Go with RX580 or GTX 1070 with you current setup.
If you find a good deal you could go with something more powerful and you could take advantage of it when upgrading to a new system.

Originally I was using a semi decent monitor cant remember the model but it broke so I ended up using my TV in the meantime (which will be the first thing I change) I used to get around 120fps in most games using 720p on my 120hz projector, didnt use it often but just used it as a reference as I play in 720p when playing more competitive games.

And yeah I was expecting to be told that it might be time to upgrade already but thinking about a good GPU that will last me into the new build once I can manage it

I would skip GTX 1070 because 1070 Ti came out and price difference is small but performance is huge as 1070Ti competes with the GTX 1080 now.

ah ok thanks i'll look into that more then, in the long run when I get round to it could you suggest Mobo Ram and a CPU that might be worth looking into when I do upgrade completely as it'll be within the next year anyway. alot of games coming out next year i feel im gona struggle on

 

[MTGGaming]

I mean I wouldnt mind actually buying the R9 280x if you wont need it anymore
but as others said i see that a 1070 is a good option

 

[animemangamer]

The 280x is roughly equivalent to a 1050 Ti so a 1060 would be the least card I'd say counts as an upgrade. An RX 570 would be the AMD upgrade card. You mentioning 90fps and VR makes me think you really need a new platform.

As it stands, games are starting to use more than 4 cores/4 threads. On top of that, if you're looking for 90fps rather than 60fps then you ideally want something more than a 1060 which means realistically you want something better than an i7 4xxx series CPU. That all adds up to a new platform.

Could you post your monitor specs?
Go with RX580 or GTX 1070 with you current setup.
If you find a good deal you could go with something more powerful and you could take advantage of it when upgrading to a new system.

Originally I was using a semi decent monitor cant remember the model but it broke so I ended up using my TV in the meantime (which will be the first thing I change) I used to get around 120fps in most games using 720p on my 120hz projector, didnt use it often but just used it as a reference as I play in 720p when playing more competitive games.

And yeah I was expecting to be told that it might be time to upgrade already but thinking about a good GPU that will last me into the new build once I can manage it

I would skip GTX 1070 because 1070 Ti came out and price difference is small but performance is huge as 1070Ti competes with the GTX 1080 now.

ah ok thanks i'll look into that more then, in the long run when I get round to it could you suggest Mobo Ram and a CPU that might be worth looking into when I do upgrade completely as it'll be within the next year anyway. alot of games coming out next year i feel im gona struggle on

This is the higher end:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($350.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($199.98 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $700.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-16 21:39 EDT-0400

You can also opt use the i5-8600K save $100.