upgrade phenom PC

[acerinpa]

I have read several " reviews" and the general consensus is the new R9 280x ( $300 - $310 for the overclocked Asus or MSI) is a better deal than the regular 7970 for the same price. I am concerned about the drivers for the new GPU R9 series - will they use the same drivers? Also remember reading something about the 280x that will be available now ( in 2 days) wont have the the latest and greatest "true audio" yet. Not sure if that makes any difference to me - but we do use the rig for multimedia.

 

[PP Mguire]

Only the 290x and 260x will have Trueaudio DSP.

The cheapest standard 7970 right now is $279 after a rebate, and the R9 280x is supposed to be fixed at 300 but initial market release I expect to be higher.

The only difference between the two is the 280x is the GHz edition 7970. So in that regard, they are practically the same depending on what 7970 and 280x you're comparing. For instance:
SAPPHIRE 100351SR Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC with Boost - Newegg.com
Newegg.com - PowerColor AXR9 280X 3GBD5-DHE Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Look at the specs. Only minor differences in clocks (7970 supports 11.2 as well).

That being said, when they release, get whatever is easier on your wallet. You'll get roughly the same performance from all cards in question.

 

[acerinpa]

Very good- I think I will probably be getting this for myself- the boy is unmotivated toward earning enough money to afford this- so I will probably sell him my 560ti (448 core) for $100 or ?? and i will buy this 7970. What is a fair price for my GPU?

what about this 7970:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127732

you mentioned ASUS or Sapphire- do you have a problem with MSI?

 

[PP Mguire]

I do not. Their Frozr coolers I support on AMD cards.

100 sounds fair for the 560ti. You'll get a huge boost if you get the 7970. Just remember, driver sweeper or format is absolutely necessary when switching.

 

[acerinpa]

yep - however, driver sweeper still eludes me on how to use it properly - last time I looked it said it was not supported anymore. Tired to use it when I was having all the difficulty downloading nvidia drivers over a year ago. I may need help using it. I will delete all drivers I can find in the windows device manager area before plugging in the new GPU. OR should I use driver sweeper, delete all the nvidia drivers and software, then load catalyst suite software with the latest drivers before plugging in the new 7970?

 

[PP Mguire]

While the 560 is still in, uninstall all Nvidia based product, reboot, run driver sweeper, turn off PC, install 7970, install AMD drivers.

 

[acerinpa]

very good- I assume " install 7970" means take out the 560 and replace with the new 7970. I took a quick look at driver sweeper - didn't seem that tough- I must have learned a thing or 2 since I tried before.

 

[PP Mguire]

very good- I assume " install 7970" means take out the 560 and replace with the new 7970. I took a quick look at driver sweeper - didn't seem that tough- I must have learned a thing or 2 since I tried before.

Yes it does lol.

 

[acerinpa]

I thought you might get a laugh out of that one.... I think you gave me you illness..... LOL.. fever with chills yesterday

 

[PP Mguire]

No bueno, but I feel good myself.

You ever figure out the specifics of the hardware in his rig?