Worth to upgrade at this point?

[Eureka]

I've been inactive for the last two years due to changes in my job and I've finally got back into gaming/PCs, and wow, doesn't seem like too much has changed since I bought my 7950 back in 2/2013!

I just bought a QNIX QX2710 1440p monitor, been playing BF4. The monitor OCs to 90 Hz now, it uses to only go up to 80 Hz without artifacts until I changed the DVI cable to a 24awg one. I can't push it past 90Hz without artifacting. I'm thinking it could be the 7950 since it never could OC very much without glitching.

1) Does it make any sense to upgrade to a 290/290x from a 7950 at this point?
2) Would a change in card likely help me reach 100Hz or better on my QNIX? It doesn't frameskip at 96Hz (verified with a camera), but I'm getting crazy scan lines and artifacts past 96hz.
3) I'm also considering a 144Hz FreeSync monitor, but would my i7-4770k even be able to do 144fps on BF4 MP?

 

[Headfoot]

Got a buddy with an OCable 1440p screen he can get to 100hz (the Overlord Tempest) running on a 2500k @4.5 and a 290 and he certainly gets benefit from the 290. In places without too many objects he will hit 100 at the settings he uses. He also used to have a 7950.

If you can nab one of those 290x's for $250 like they've been going definitely do it. 290/290x/390/970 performance is good enough to hold most users over until the real show arrives at 14/16/20+ff whatever it ends up being on

 

[mohit9206]

I would hold off on buying a new graphics card as 7950 is still very powerful and wait until next year for new 14nm graphics cards.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd wait for now. I mean, you've waited this long and the 970/980 are almost a year old. See what comes next.

 

[tential]

Depends, what games are you trying to play?

For me, I'm getting the 290x to smooth out older games I'm playing and to add VSR. If you're getting a card to play new games.... It really depends on what you're playing and what you're aiming for.

Biggest reason for me is I want to be ready for a Freesync Monitor, and I want more VSR flexibility.

And XDMA crossfire flexibility.

IMO though, the 290x isn't going to be a better deal. If you wait, ya it may drop $20 more. But you miss out on that time gaming at high fidelity. And 290x for $250 or less really is the best bang for buck humanly possible right now. Crossfire for $500, undervolt it, keep at reference stocks, and you have a cheaper gtx 980ti alternative to hold you over til arctic islands/pascal. Winter is coming after all...

 

[Headfoot]

7950 is going to be woefully inadequate for 1440p at 90hz. I'd get the 290x while deals last.

 

[brandonmatic]

I had a 7950 that was a real champ when overclocked to 1100 (which it did easily). I just replaced it with a Tri-X 290x, which is quite a bit faster. I play at 1080p and could probably have hung on to the 7950 for a while longer. But at 1440p I think you'd see a huge performance bump going from a stock 7950 to a 290/290x.

I doubt you'd have better results overclocking your QNIX with another card. I think that's just the luck of the draw with the panel itself.

 

[boozzer]

this is a bad time to upgrade imo. unless you don't mind buying a stop gap gpu and selling it 9 months - a year from now.

 

[cmdrdredd]

this is a bad time to upgrade imo. unless you don't mind buying a stop gap gpu and selling it 9 months - a year from now.

I agree. DX12 isn't being used yet in games and the next GPU releases will perform much better in DX12 than GPUs you can buy right now. This has always been the case. I think for DX12 we will want the next iteration. That's just assuming you want to keep the card for a significant length of time.

 

[RussianSensation]

I just bought a QNIX QX2710 1440p monitor, been playing BF4. The monitor OCs to 90 Hz now, it uses to only go up to 80 Hz without artifacts until I changed the DVI cable to a 24awg one. I can't push it past 90Hz without artifacting. I'm thinking it could be the 7950 since it never could OC very much without glitching.

Right now the prices of used after-market R9 290/290X cards are low and HD7950 has bottomed out in resale value, which means in terms of upgrading, it's not that expensive if you resell the 7950 and grab a 290/290X. Just make sure to buy an after-market 290/290X should you decide to upgrade.

I guess you are playing with some settings turned down because it seems modern GPUs can't get 80-90 fps in BF4 at your resolution without some compromises. If you have a 7950 that barely overclocks, moving to an R9 290/290X should be a big boost if you turn settings down.

I agree. DX12 isn't being used yet in games and the next GPU releases will perform much better in DX12 than GPUs you can buy right now. This has always been the case. I think for DX12 we will want the next iteration. That's just assuming you want to keep the card for a significant length of time.

Right but right now is a unique situation for 290/290x cards in the used market where no one wants them. We have Sapphire Tri-X 290 selling for $180-190 used in the for sale section. If he sells his 7950 for $70-80, that's a $100-120 upgrade to get 80%+ more performance. Chances are 16nm HBM2 GPUs will not be cheap. Right now most 970's sell for $280-330, 390 for $300-330 and 390X for $400-430, 980 for $430-480. In that context a used 290/290X is an incredible value stop-gap upgrade if the OP patiently hunts for a used after-market card.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Right now the prices of used after-market R9 290/290X cards are low and HD7950 has bottomed out in resale value, which means in terms of upgrading, it's not that expensive if you resell the 7950 and grab a 290/290X. Just make sure to buy an after-market 290/290X should you decide to upgrade.

I guess you are playing with some settings turned down because it seems modern GPUs can't get 80-90 fps in BF4 at your resolution without some compromises. If you have a 7950 that barely overclocks, moving to an R9 290/290X should be a big boost if you turn settings down.

Right but right now is a unique situation for 290/290x cards in the used market where no one wants them. We have Sapphire Tri-X 290 selling for $180-190 used in the for sale section. If he sells his 7950 for $70-80, that's a $100-120 upgrade to get 80%+ more performance. Chances are 16nm HBM2 GPUs will not be cheap. Right now most 970's sell for $280-330, 390 for $300-330 and 390X for $400-430, 980 for $430-480. In that context a used 290/290X is an incredible value stop-gap upgrade if the OP patiently hunts for a used after-market card.

That always happens with a new release. Which is why I say wait a bit. There might be a bunch of 390s up used when there's a new release. Who knows. I mean unless someone is planning to play a new title and needs the performance now.

 

[tential]

Ya rs, I am spam calling my little brother to pick up a 190 r9 290 for me and ship it to me.

My 7950 if I sell for even 100 that's a 90 upgrade for a huge boost

Edit: where is that sapphire 290 link please I'm on mobile and can't find it and dibs.... Stay away guys

 

[RussianSensation]

That always happens with a new release. Which is why I say wait a bit. There might be a bunch of 390s up used when there's a new release. Who knows. I mean unless someone is planning to play a new title and needs the performance now.

Well it's true that the longer you wait to upgrade, the better price/performance increase you can generally get. However, I am not sure how long it'll take before cards like 390/390X/980 will fall to $180-200. The major advantage here is that the 7950 has bottomed out in resale value but used R9 290/290X are also getting there because the next level up in GPUs is 70-100%+ more expensive. It might take 1.5+ years before 390X/980 can be found used for $180. 390 or 970 isn't that much better than an after-market 290 and even more questionable against an after-market 290X.

But in general yes, you are right that once 16nm HBM2 GPUs launch, there should be big discounts on 28nm GPUs. I don't expect GP204 (970/980 successor) to launch until Q2 2016 though. If he is willing to duke it out on the 7950 until then, sure he might be able to find a GTX970 for $200 used.

Edit: where is that sapphire 290 link please I'm on mobile and can't find it and dibs.... Stay away guys

I don't often check the FS forums but guskline had his awesome Tri-X 290 for sale for $180 with $5 shipping I believe. I think you didn't want to pay for shipping. I have a feeling there will be last minute fire-sale 290/290X cards this Q4 2015 as stores clear out of their remaining stock. If not, as cmdrdredd said, there will likely be further sales on 390/970 level cards.

 

[tential]

Well it's true that the longer you wait to upgrade, the better price/performance increase you can generally get. However, I am not sure how long it'll take before cards like 390/390X/980 will fall to $180-200. The major advantage here is that the 7950 has bottomed out in resale value but used R9 290/290X are also getting there because the next level up in GPUs is 70-100%+ more expensive. It might take 1.5+ years before 390X/980 can be found used for $180. 390 or 970 isn't that much better than an after-market 290 and even more questionable against an after-market 290X.

But in general yes, you are right that once 16nm HBM2 GPUs launch, there should be big discounts on 28nm GPUs. I don't expect GP204 (970/980 successor) to launch until Q2 2016 though. If he is willing to duke it out on the 7950 until then, sure he might be able to find a GTX970 for $200 used.



I don't often check the FS forums but guskline had his awesome Tri-X 290 for sale for $180 with $5 shipping I believe. I think you didn't want to pay for shipping. I have a feeling there will be last minute fire-sale 290/290X cards this Q4 2015 as stores clear out of their remaining stock. If not, as cmdrdredd said, there will likely be further sales on 390/970 level cards.

It's gone and I didn't know the shipping was $5. I thought it was shipping I'd have to pay haha oh well. Of course the Ebay listing I was watching closed at a price I could have purchased at but I got distracted at work. Oh well, they're going so cheap on ebay I'll get one/two like that and undervolt so I can use it with my 720W PSU.

 

[RussianSensation]

It's gone and I didn't know the shipping was $5. I thought it was shipping I'd have to pay haha oh well. Of course the Ebay listing I was watching closed at a price I could have purchased at but I got distracted at work. Oh well, they're going so cheap on ebay I'll get one/two like that and undervolt so I can use it with my 720W PSU.

Whatever you do, do not buy a reference 290/290X should you go that route.

Also, since you are buying used, you have plenty of time to do research on the coolest and quietest 290 cards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRWi3Bz0qc

The Vapor-X and Tri-X are probably good bests on price/performance and noise levels.
http://www.computerbase.de/2014-05/amd-radeon-r9-290-290x-roundup-test/3/

Having said, you are also in a similar situation to the OP where if you held on to 7950 that long, you could coast to 16nm GPUs in 2016.

 

[tential]

Whatever you do, do not buy a reference 290/290X should you go that route.

Also, since you are buying used, you have plenty of time to do research on the coolest and quietest 290 cards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRWi3Bz0qc

The Vapor-X and Tri-X are probably good bests on price/performance and noise levels.
http://www.computerbase.de/2014-05/amd-radeon-r9-290-290x-roundup-test/3/

Having said, you are also in a similar situation to the OP where if you held on to 7950 that long, you could coast to 16nm GPUs in 2016.

I probably could, but I just want more performance. Seriously, it's like $100-150 upgrade over my 7950 for a LOT more perf. That's not bad at all.

I was willing to buy a Fury X, I really don't care lol. I just decided to get a R9 290/x first. And if it's not enough, I'll add a second one. $400 for high end GPU performance to last me for the next year? I mean, my sennheiser wireless headphones lasted shorter than that . But I had never planned on moving to an apartment so I guess they'll have to wait to be usable again.

Reference 290x are cheaper. But they're also not usable lol. The Direct CU, MSI Twin (whatever), and Sapphire Tri-X cares are the only ones I see, with the Sapphire ones going for slightly more.
290x is just the level of performance I need now though, it's a big enough boost over the 7950 to get my games to be a locked 60 fps, and it's also capable of working with Freesync for when my monitor comes out. Then I can get a second 290x cheap as well and use 4K.

Crossfire Fury/x, while nice, isn't the level of performance I want for the games currently out. I'll use Pascal/Arctic Islands for GTA5/The Witcher 3, etc. No new game is being played on a current gen GPU for me.

 

[RussianSensation]

I probably could, but I just want more performance. Seriously, it's like $100-150 upgrade over my 7950 for a LOT more perf. That's not bad at all.

Ya, if you can find a good after-market 290/290X, go for it. If a $180-220 290 get crippled for next gen / DX12 games, not a biggie since it's not expected to be a powerhouse. It's just remarkable how horrible the value proposition becomes once we leave the 290/290X/970/390 level of cards. 290X offers ~ 80-81% of the performance of the $550 Fury at 1440P.