Upgrading the GPU

TheDjynx

Honorable
Nov 6, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hi guys

I have been upgrading my semi-old rig for the last month and now I probably only need the GPU. I will be moving in with my girlfriend in 45 days, so this is the last time I will have the money to upgrade in a while =) I currently have:

Asus P8Z68VLX motherboard (Only crossfire, no SLI)
Intel i5 2500K with Hyper 412 cooler @ 4.5 ghz
16 GB DDR3 Kingston HyperX 1600mgz ram
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD
Corsair TX 750 Watt (12v, 60 amps) PSU
XFX Radeon 6950 2GB
Asus 24" 144hz monitor

Obviously, the GPU is the weakest link and I have briefly considered getting a used 6950 for CF and waiting for maxwell or maybe 2x R9 280x CF. For single cards, I was considering 290 when the brand-coolers appear, but I am not sure the PSU is enough for adding another 290 later on.

I will mainly be using it for BF4 and it is important for me, to hit 90-120 fps. I don't care much for AA as long as everything else is on ultra; I can really feel a difference being at many frames and using Lightboost on this monitor.

What would you guys do? Help me spend my money before my GF turns it into a designer couch or something =)
 
A 750W PSU could run any single gpu system. 850W-1000W is recommended for Crossfire. The 290 looks very good but AMD cards have a tendency to suck quite a bit of power. I'd have to agree with you to wait until 290s with aftermarket coolers come out, it looks like a great card with a heck of a price/performance ratio. Hope this helps.
 
Right now go with r9 290x. It's still a great card and can give you better price/performance than Nvidia. But if you'll use CF later on then you will also have to upgrade you psu. while CF 850 watt is the least neededb but if want to oc them, then go for 1000 Watt psu.
 


Ahh hadn't even thought of this problem. I'm guessing CF on my board would give terrible performance then? The 290x with brand-coolers are coming late November, but how about the 290?

 


Being basically the same card with disabled stream units I would expect to see them come with the coolers at the same time.