290X or 780TI DECISION TIME

So it's time for me to make my decision for a new GPU and I'm stuck between these two cards.  I saw the 780TI out performing the 290X at a $100 more markup. I know AMD is coming out with mantle soon and Nividia is coming out with the G-Sync with monitors.  Honest opinions, what should I got with and why? 

 

Intel 3770K

Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2 x 8GB)

240 Kingston SSD

NZXT Kraken X60  CPU Liquid cooler

NZXT Hale90 Series 1000w Power Supply

Seagate 3TB Serial ATA HD

MSI Z77A-GD65 Z77 DDR3 1600 LGA 1155 Motherboards

Even though I have an AMD GPU and CPU I'm going to say go for the 780Ti if you have the money,it's a monster. Still though,290x is not a bad choice either,Idk how much of a boost mantle will give us but I'm guessing that it still won't outperform the 780TI.

I would even look at the 290/290x until they release non reference cards

Agreed. 

If you're watercooling it, go 290X. Otherwise you should go 780 ti.
The reference cooler is far better and there are aftermarket card available.
The 290X with stock cooler gets way too hot and is incredibly noisy.

"The fact is that the Radeon R9 290X is delivering the same performance once again for a $150 savings. It takes the competition a $150 more expensive video card just to perform on par with the Radeon R9 290X. This reinforces our conclusion once again that the Radeon R9 290X is an incredible value right now. You really do get a lot of performance for your money."

 

http://hardocp.com/article/2013/11/11/geforce_gtx_780_ti_vs_radeon_r9_290x_4k_gaming/7#.Up-yHeJK9kY

"When it comes down to bang for the buck, the Radeon R9 290X is offering that in spades. Even the Radeon R9 290 is close to R9 290X performance levels for a lot less expense. If you want the "fastest" video card, it is going to be the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. This cannot be denied, it has the fastest framerate performance, but only by a small margin. If you want to save some cash, and still get the same gameplay experience of the GTX 780 Ti, the Radeon R9 290X will save you $150. "

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/11/07/nvidia_geforce_gtx_780_ti_video_card_review/8

you'll get alot of people vouching for the r9 290x here because they are cost conscious users. aka poor.

 

i personally picked up the 290 because for $100 less i get just 10% less performance than the 290x. no  brainier for us poor folks.

I mean, if money is no object, then go ahead and quad-SLI the 780ti. That will get you the best performance possible. Otherwise, I think that the performance for the money ought to be taken into consideration.

I wouldn't get a 290x until after market coolers come out for it.

For the price, I could buy two R9 290's instead of a 780TI.  Would that be a smarter choice for playing say, Battlefield 4?

I would wait to get an aftermarket cooler if you went that route. Crossfire will cause some micro stuttering and can mess with the experience, plus they will produce more heat and voltage. You would get higher frame rates but crossfire and SLI are bugged.

wait for the 290x2 the dual 290x gpu.

780ti destroys all other single gpu options after overclocking, and by a very large margin. But the non-reference 290 or 290x will give some serious performance improvements over the reference design.

I was faced with the same decision Friday. After much consideration and benchmark videos I went with the GTX for a few reason. Chief among them I didn't want something that sounded like a riding lawnmower in my room. I was going to go with the 290x and get a Kraken G10 along with maybe a Corsair H80i or H100 to cool it and get rid of the fan. But once I did the pricing on that I was at price parity with GTX. The other reason is my gut tells me that G-sync is going to be bigger than Mantle at least for the next 2 or 3 years. Heck Battlefield 4 uses Mantle and the GTX still eats the 290x's lunch in that game. My opinion if your not going to put the 290x on a water block or wait for a non reference then go with the GTX

+1

I am not going to say that crossfire is perfect, but the microstutter problem has been worked out. Two 290s is a viable option and will give the best performance out of all options presented so far. Just make sure to have good airflow in your case as they get hot.