my budget is around $240 CDN. For that price at my local retailer I can get either a sapphire r9 285 itx 2gb or r9 280 club 3d royalking 3gb for the exact same price. Which one would you get? I know the 285 is newer with trueaudio, freesync support,etc. On the other hand, the 280 has the extra 1gb of ram. I need some help. I am currently using two r7 260x's which I am giving to a friend at the end of the month due to crappy performance. please help.
The cards in terms of performance are pretty much neck and neck. Its whether you will use the 285 features like FreeSync, or whether you prefer the extra 1GB of RAM. What resolution are you currently on? EDIT - I just realised you said the ITX 285, any particular reason? The Club3D 280 will have a large cooler therefore lower temps and less noise.
With that money you can buy an Sapphire R9 280 or MSI R9 280-230CDN rebate (newegg.ca,no worth to buy club 3d),and with a little OC you can have an 280X. But you can wait a while to see what stuff will come from AMD with new R7-R9 3xx series.
I was in the same position as you a month back.I decided to go with 280 because freesync is gonna be very rare.Almost useless unless you have a freesync monitor too, which is also very expensive to begin with.For me at least it seems that freesync, will be even more rare than a game with TressFX in it.Anyway.I would advise you to go with 280 because of the extra 1 GB Vram.It's also been proven that even in 1080p some games go beyond 2 GB's like 285 has.Dying Light, Shadow of Mordor etc.285 and 280 are having the same performance btw.Then again 285 has 4K VSR, but how is this gonna help with 2 GB's Vram?Seems pathetic to me.Stick with 280 i'd say.For now it may not have VSR, but it will get one near summer worst case scenario.Still....you will be having all kinds of resolutions except 4K if that's fine with you. Just think about it.Do you want a GPU with 4K and little amount of memory that may or may not justify it OR you want a GPU with way bigger memory but not 4K? I would go with 280 if i was you (which i did ) and i'm pretty happy.VSR will come to you sooner or later IF you go with 280.Just not 4K.Remember that.
this sucks. I have to go with a r9 270 powercolor turboduo 2gb. Mainly because I did my monthly budget wrong. There is a perk to this. I can put two of these cards in xfire and still not have to get another psu. I am currently using a antec 80 plus platinum 650 watt psu. And I already sold off the r7 260x's for next to nothing. LIKE I SAID, I can't afford a r9 280 due to the budget and I am currently using a intel hd 4600 off of my i5 4460 cpu for graphics. I can get the r9 270 for $180 cdn with a $20 MIR.
your right. And thing that really sucks is where I am getting the r9 270, they have a sapphire toxic r9 280x for $299 cdn on special.
80 Plus Platinum is a bit overkill for your system isn't it? I mean fair play it is probably indestructible but I run a 620 80+ Bronze with a overclocked 7950 and its rock solid. I am sure if you give the 270 some welly it will perform well and you will have less problems with having a single GPU. I would advise try stretching to the 280(X) though, make your PSU worthwhile!
