Techlopnik: The R9s Descend From The Stratophere

"PS9" (PS9) 03/09/2014 at 01:53 • Filed to: None

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It appears the scyptcoin mining craze has hit it's peak. We still have a ways to go before these return to MSRP, but if you're looking for any of the 290-280-270 cards, you will soon be able to get one without being ripped off.

I suspect folks who didn't find quick cash will be dumping their gear on to eBay soon. You should be able to find an even better deal on them if you just wait a little longer.

JustWaitingForAMate > PS9 03/09/2014 at 03:00

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Pity, I should have waited, but I jumped at a 7970 OC with a stupidly low price.

DrJohannVegas > PS9 03/09/2014 at 03:46

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When I was building my new rig, I had to wait 2 weeks to catch them when they came back up on Newegg. (Got it below MSRP, but they sold out in 4 hours.) R9 270 over here, and man is it nice. Good to hear the madness will soon end. I'm looking for a bit more power, might bump up to a 270X or 280.

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > PS9 03/09/2014 at 03:52

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I thought the commercial mining activites had pretty much made it impossible if not extremely difficult to mine for Bitcoins?

I suppose I'll benefit from the price drops, though. Eventually.

Axial > JustWaitingForAMate 03/09/2014 at 04:11

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The R9 280X is literally the same hardware as the HD 7970. Only the R9 290 and 290X are truly new.

GhostZ > Krieger (@FSKrieger22) 03/09/2014 at 04:12

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Graphics cards aren't used to mine Bitcoins (which are SHA-256 based) they're used to mine the hundreds of other Scrypt-based (such as Litecoin) alternatives. Bitcoins are mostly mined via Bitcoin-specific circuits designed for SHA-256 and nothing else.

JustWaitingForAMate > Axial 03/09/2014 at 04:17

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Yeah, I was looking to do a jump to the 290/x. But the fact I'm still running an i7-930 I didn't know if I'd be hitting bottlenecks with the rest of the system.

Krieger (@FSKrieger22) > GhostZ 03/09/2014 at 04:20

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Oh? I think you might have gotten what's being done now and what was done in the past. Yes, the most profitable way to mine Bitcoins is via dedicated circuits now, but once upon a time you could mine for them with a suitable graphics card, as seen here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_ri…

Axial > JustWaitingForAMate 03/09/2014 at 04:21

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You would be. I've got an i7-3820 and I have bottlenecks with two HD 7970s, which a single R9 290X can rival.

Buying the 7970 was probably a smart move. I don't even have my second card active 95% of the time in games, and I'm pushing 1440p rather than 1080p.

JustWaitingForAMate > Axial 03/09/2014 at 04:24

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Yeah, I'm also stuck at 1920x1200 on the monitors, so I wouldn't really get much improvement unless I grabbed a new 27 inch to go along with the card.

Fookin' Prawns > PS9 03/09/2014 at 07:25

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One can only hope. I stuck with Nvidia for my upgrade but the R9 series packs a hefty punch for the price. If it wasn't for Shadowplay I would have probably gotten a 280.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > PS9 03/09/2014 at 08:26

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I've been more of an Nvidia GeForce guy, but it's a pity AMD Radeon cards are currently pricey.

The only issues I'd have with a Radeon are with the drivers, as they don't work right half the time in some cases.

GhostZ > Krieger (@FSKrieger22) 03/09/2014 at 12:26

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I think it's been at least 2 years since anyone could even attempt to mine Bitcoin with graphics cards, long before the price rush on R9s, and they were only used because no ASICs had been developed then.

302? I think yes > PS9 03/09/2014 at 22:13

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Only way I'll ever buy AMD cards is if EVGA starts releasing AMD cards.