500W is enough for every singleGPU card. buy one from a quality brand (like for example BeQuiet, Seasonic, Enermax) and you shouldnt need a new PSU for the next 7+ years.
the R9 280X has 1 6pin and 1 8pin, but thats no problem for good 500W PSUs, they usually have 2 6/8pin connectors.
will this work?
http://www.ebay.com/...=item27eaea4517
it´s an acceptable PSU without real weakpoints, but it´s rather a "low budget" PSU. after a quick research i would say that it´s not bad, but also not that good. it´s a sufficient PSU, not more, but for 30$ you shouldn´t go wrong with it, and it is a big improvement compared to your current PSU.
500w good enough? and i need 2 6pin cords right?
Yes, it is good for a single GPU.
Here are 3 units (if you don't have a 500W PSU)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817438016 ($29.99 after MIR)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817182278 ($24.99 after MIR)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139027 ($29.99 after MIR)
it´s an acceptable PSU without real weakpoints, but it´s rather a "low budget" PSU. after a quick research i would say that it´s not bad, but also not that good. it´s a sufficient PSU, not more, but for 30$ you shouldn´t go wrong with it, and it is a big improvement compared to your current PSU.
sounds perfect then =)
@ above me: wuat??
People have spent a lot less and gotten into the Top500, so yes, lolwat indeed.
I manage about 75fps on average with this setup:
1 x Intel i7-4790K
1 x Intel i7-4960X
96GB corsair Platinum RAM
2 x Radeon R9 295X2 GPU's
2 x GTX Titan Z Hydro copper
asus rampage IV extreme BE mobo
gigabyte GAZ97X mobo
4 x Hitachi he6 HDD's
4 x Samsung EVO 1TB SSD's
2 x asus PB321Q Ultra HD Monitors
It only set me back £30,000 but I do love Mass Effect
(lolz if only I could afford this a dream machine built by the publishers of Maximum PC, September 2014 edition).
Sorry OP I couldn't resist.
You are trying too hard
anyways... thank you all for your suggestions, I feel a lot more prepared to make an informed decision now 
Damn, I thought I was set for the 280X for my next upgrade, but that 285 looks pretty sweet...
@OP I know you're trying to be super budget conscious here but IMO the best computer tech advice you will ever hear is thus: do NOT skimp on your PSU.
You do not want to learn this lesson the hard way. The hard way involves your computer being ON FIRE.
Have you tried turning it off and back on again?
Have you tried turning it off and back on again?
Or maybe updating Adobe Reader.
Don't forget to run a full virus scan.
Don't forget to run a full virus scan.
I was referring to Tales of IT, aka 4chan tech support. If you've never read it before, you're in for a treat.
Part 1: http://imgur.com/a/iJD8f Part 2: http://imgur.com/a/B9wqU
sounds perfect then =)
If there is one component you shouldn't skimp on, it is the PSU. A PSU which goes bad can take out a bunch of expensive components like your motherboard and CPU.
Some general guidelines -
(1) The rated wattage can be misleading. Some manufacturers use peak wattage whereas the correct one should be average wattage.
(2) Some manufacturers get the wattage by adding up the various rails. The rail you should pay attention to is the +12V rail. Around 36 to 40A on the +12V rail should be the minimum.
(3) Only buy from reputable brands and avoid buying second hand. PSUs deteriorate over time and it is not worth saving a few dollars and risk a bad PSU taking out your system.
(4) Read the reviews on Newegg or if available, on reputable tech sites like Anandtech.
I was referring to Tales of IT, aka 4chan tech support. If you've never read it before, you're in for a treat.
Part 1: http://imgur.com/a/iJD8f Part 2: http://imgur.com/a/B9wqU
And I was thinking BOFH. 
If there is one component you shouldn't skimp on, it is the PSU. A PSU which goes bad can take out a bunch of expensive components like your motherboard and CPU.
Some general guidelines -
(1) The rated wattage can be misleading. Some manufacturers use peak wattage whereas the correct one should be average wattage.
(2) Some manufacturers get the wattage by adding up the various rails. The rail you should pay attention to is the +12V rail. Around 36 to 40A on the +12V rail should be the minimum.
(3) Only buy from reputable brands and avoid buying second hand. PSUs deteriorate over time and it is not worth saving a few dollars and risk a bad PSU taking out your system.
(4) Read the reviews on Newegg or if available, reputable tech sites like Anandtech.
Geez, you were on a clean 100% score until that very last noun phrase.
And I was thinking BOFH.
Geez, you were on a clean 100% score until that very last noun phrase.
I blame it on jet lag. 
Just returned from Borobudur and needed a few games of ME3 to get all that culture out of my system.
I blame it on jet lag.
Stop making up places to give yourself an excuse. Next thing you'll tell me there's an animal called a walrus.
Stop making up places to give yourself an excuse. Next thing you'll tell me there's an animal called a walrus.
Sigh ... this is what happens when I have to get up at 3 a.m. because the missus wants to watch the sunrise from Borobudur (triple spell-checked). I have a perfectly witty repartee about walruses somewhere. I'm sure it will come to me after another 6 or 7 cups of coffee.
Stop making up places to give yourself an excuse. Next thing you'll tell me there's an animal called a walrus.
or a puma 
Sigh ... this is what happens when I have to get up at 3 a.m. because the missus wants to watch the sunrise from Borobudur (triple spell-checked). I have a perfectly witty repartee about walruses somewhere. I'm sure it will come to me after another 6 or 7 cups of coffee.
Red vs Blue reference, sorry if that's obscure.
or a puma
I call it a warthog.
My real setup is running a Single gtx680 with i7 3930K and 32 GB RAM and it runs ME3 with everything on at 45-50fps.
It's teamed up with an 800W PSU. Even without liquid cooling the card stays at 40-50C unless it's really warm as it has been this summer, then it was reaching 60C with fan @ 50% (auto).
It is quite a long card and takes two slots up - this is an important thing to check as well! That your case has the room and some motherboards don't seem well designed for where the PCI-e slots are in relation to other stuff.
It also ran Metro which incidentally came as a freebie at about 45fps which felt slow to me at times. However I do run a 2560 x 1600 PA301 which is something else to consider. Have you got a single or multiple monitor setup and what resolution are they because this will impact quite a bit. When I was running the same system but on a 1920 x 1080 monitor, Mass Effect did reach around 55-60fps which is a drop of 10fps.
EDITED: missed a page of posts (crap Internet) where someone else mentioned the size of the card.
A reputable PSU will make life a lot easier in the long run bringing you efficiency, reliability and they are modular now meaning that all the cabling is separate to the actual unit and not fixed as they used to be. That's a big plus in my book.
Unfortunately if you own a PC you are faced with these choices and upgrading one component often means having to change something else as well. It isn't always going to give you massive increases in performance but the GPU can give the single biggest boost if you go from older generation cards to newer ones. Just jumping a generation though isn't always financially beneficial. If I was to buy at GTX780 for example it would boost performance by about 24% for games I'm playing currently - would I pay £300-350 for that, No.
It's ok man/woman, you will learn to troll one day. Keep trying.
one last question, my current PSU has a 4pin CPU plug, but most of the 500w PSUs have an 8pin CPU plug, is that a problem or can I just split it?
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