Hey guys, So ive reached a tricky situation where my twin 290 windforce cards are getting raped in the summer heat here in NZ (ambient temps between 25-33c for 2-3 month period. Now in the winter it's fine generally but I detune a lot of my setting so the top card doesn't throttle at 94c limiter. Ive been investigating looking at a water cooling the top card only but due to the availability of parts here in NZ the price to get the components id need with the shipping is huge. The other option was to pick up the corsair HG10 with blower as they seem to be very effective but I cant find anyone who stock them anymore????? I do love my current setup and they power my 1440p 144hz monitor perfectly for most of the games I play. But im at a crossroads on whether I cut my loses, sell my cards and buy a single 980 ti to reach the same performance? Not to mention I have Freesync monitor but it feels AMD cant provide an offering that can compete with the 6GB 980 Ti.... Your thoughts?
Do what I do - do not play games in summer Or go with GPU light games. Many such great games. And wait for new GPUs.
Air conditioning? I wish! I live in a military barrack room - my single window coffin box doesn't allow for fancy air con units! Sweat is just an everyday part of life when trying to jam BF4 :bang:
I think I'd swap them out for a single card in your situation, can't be fun trying to game in a tiny room with crossfire 290's.
Yea the hard part about that question is - I want to keep with AMD cards for the sole purpose of being able to use the freesync tech with my monitor (if I choose to...) However it seems at the moment that the 980 TI is the most competitive card available on the market. I mean there is the fury X but that's 4gb version and isn't as powerful at 1440p.
You could always check out the Fury (non x) and try unlocking it to Fury X, I'm not sure if that's possible with the newer cards but it was pretty common with the earlier versions. Granted, the performance wont be there (compared to a 980ti) but you'll spend a lot less and still get Freesync.
IMHO Fury (X) is not a good replacement for your 290 CFX. You have 2 main problems: heat and you tied yourself to AMD side buying a FreeSync monitor. In your case i will follow Noisiv advice: Stick with light games (single GPU) until summer is over. When Polaris is out look for a middle-high range single GPU model with at least 8 GB VRAM to replace your setup. If you found an AIO WC GPU version that will be optimal for you. Buying a 980ti doesn't worth in your case.
Keep it until both companies have their 16/14nm parts out. And after NVIDIA has the "Ti" model out (right after the "normal" and "Titan" ones for the cash grabs).
To keep or not to keep, that is the question? whether 'tis easier on the wallet to keep the cards, to stand the heat, sweat, and stank of the body or take action and be a nagging nun and by buying a 980ti, end all. To lose/gain fps, game cool and by cool to say we end the hot wind, the drops of our sweat and the thousand natural waves of odor slapping our nostrils. 'tis a thought, a dream to be lived. But in all seriousness, keep the cards, you won't be happy when the next gen cards deliver better performance for same price.
We still don't know the long term Crimson effect over customers. The short ones don't look very promising so i fear the worst...
safe it for later release bro..but if you still want it now i vote for GTX 980Ti..it's more power perform more cold-quit and more ENERGY SAVING:thumbup: look for custom PCB&Cooling will more kicka$$ than refer :tomcat:
Wait tbh. Coolest card for the summer would be fury x but tbh not worth is considering how close we are to the release of polaris and pascal. 980 ti is already old
I also go the way of : Wait for the new generation of cards. I feel they are going to be quite a leap forward having the last gen missed its die shrink upgrade due to complications reached in the 20nm process (now fixed for that and smaller (FinFET)) But here is a small possibility of a thought that might help tide you over until they arrive and solve your heat issues... A Cloud Gaming Service. Perhaps you have something like OnLive (no longer running due to Sony buy out) local enough to you for lag to not be an issue? Here are some I found with a small search, though not local for you I think: http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/04/06/rip-onlive-cloud-heres-your-alternative-gaming-services/ If successful you could even then sell your current cards while their price is higher too. Good Luck
From performance/value standpoint is it not good idea to go for 980Ti over 2x r9-290s. Your cards are serving you for quite some time I guess, but getting 980Ti now, or in summer will mean that that new card will soon become very inferior (in value) to next generation of AMD/nVidia's cards. As written above, it is not next generation on old manufacturing technology. Those will be new generations on new manufacturing nodes. If you are 100% sure you are in market for card priced as 980Ti is now. Sell one of your cards before summer, play at lower details and cap your fps to 72fps to reduce heating a bit. At time next generations are here, go for top card (be sure it is a top card). You'll be happy you waited. Should be noted that while Fury X is capable to stay at very lovely low temperature under heavy load. Heat radiated to room is not based on current GPU/PCB temperature, but on Energy eaten by card. Therefore Fury X will radiate as much heat to room as r9-290x while staying cooler.
If you absolutely cannot wait for the new generation of cards which will be imo(and others it seems) the best route, then a Custom pcb and if possible a watercooled 980Ti(e.g GB 980Ti Xtreme WaterForce edition) would be your next best option. If going by reviews and such, you will gain in a few games and loose in others@25x16. Also found a site, and I don't know how credible it is that has a comparison between a 290X CF and a Titan X OC scenario which fits exactly I would say in your situation. TITAN X OC vs 290X CF Comparison P.S: Also Fury X would be the next best alternative to the 980Ti since you have a FS Monitor and assuming you can get find it at a good deal less than a 980Ti. E.g if its like 50euro less for the Fury X, I would get the 980Ti. Now if its 100euro less, I would think it twice, if I was price conscious. If not then, the 980Ti would be an excellent choice power consumption/heat wise.
Some very good advice all round thank you! Yea its definitely preferable to keep my current cards - ive found one of those HG10 brackets on ebay which may work but I think ill just detune them and run them light until the new AMD cards are out which seems like the most logical choice. Hell - I might even try ghetto up a fan(s) mod inside my case to suck that heat away faster and keep the back of PCB cooler on the top card. May work - its only until summer passes here then it should be okay.
