Picking one

Sorry I don't mean to ask a newbie question but I built a rig a while ago using a single 20" monitor .. Well I got a Samsung Syncmaster P2770 monitor for gaming and I noticed when I play certain games the frame rate dropped .. Also when I play Dayz the game is laggy.. So I was looking at upgrading my Video card and would like some input Please

Resolution-1920 x 1080

Specs
CPU = AMD FX-8320
Motherboard =MSI 970
RAM =G skill sniper 8gb
PSU =Seasonic 850w
Current Video Card = Powercolor R9 280X
SSD- Samsung 850 EVO
Storage- Samsung spinpoint 1tb

What is your budget and how much does energy efficiency matter to you? And are you looking at used or only new? Bearing in mind that a card that uses more energy produces more heat, so case airflow is a factor. If you're budget is real tight you could pick up another 280x and Xfire the cards until the new cards from AMD and nVidia are all out and the dust settles on pricing.

Alaric said:

What is your budget and how much does energy efficiency matter to you? And are you looking at used or only new? Bearing in mind that a card that uses more energy produces more heat, so case airflow is a factor. If you're budget is real tight you could pick up another 280x and Xfire the cards until the new cards from AMD and nVidia are all out and the dust settles on pricing.

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I don't have alot of money to play with but my plan was to pick up a used card and my case plenty of airflow for proper cooling.. I though about doing Xfire but wasn't sure the 850w ps could handle it

No pb with your PSU, it will handle a couple of OC'ed 280x's easily.

Or, you can sell the 280x and grab a 1060 or a 480.

You would be +/- $200 out of your pocket, and well worth it IMO.

Have you tried OC on the GPU? Perhaps a mild OC might help youy scrape through until all the nextgen GPU are released ?

^+1

And is the CPU overclocked? Because if running at stock clocks, it bottlenecks with a 280x.

knoober said:

Have you tried OC on the GPU? Perhaps a mild OC might help youy scrape through until all the nextgen GPU are released ?

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Tír na nÓg said:

^+1

And is the CPU overclocked? Because if running at stock clocks, it bottlenecks with a 280x.

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Would you suggest as a overclock.. Sorry I don't mean to be a noob but this is my only video card and don't have the money for a replacement..

Others may have different methods but I use MSI Afterburner and it works well. Move your core clock up by about 5mhz and test for stability and then another 5 and another 5 until it blue screens during testing. Then dial it back until you don't get any more blue screens or screen tearing or anything of that ilk. Repeat the same process with the memory. Keep an eye on your temperatures. There is a tab in afterburner that will show them to you. Google or ask around but to my knowledge 80C is max for most GPU (please check your facts though, just because I think that's right does that mean it is), but the cooler your GPU is the happier it will be.

Once again please check facts on this one, but I do believe that there is little risk to overclocking a GPU at stock voltage. As long as you don't cook it with high Temps or too many volts, most problems are recoverable. That said, it is your hardware not mine, so if you don't feel comfortable taking the risk then don't. I would hate for you to lose a card to a fluke or something.

CPU overclocking is a different beast but there are folks here that can help you with that too if you would like