290x vs 970 @ 1440p

Hardware Hub GPU
1

Okay so as I have asked before I am looking at a new GPU to purchase, with the intention of getting a second one later on down the line, first let me outline my specs. 

i5 2500 3.3Ghz (Non K), 8GB 1600Mhz RAM, G1 Sniper M3 LGA 1155, OCZ 750W Bronze 80+ PSU.

Okay so with that first off, after the first GPU what would I need to change to allow me to use two? I have a Fractal r4 case, so space and airflow is no major issue, and I can always set pressure to negative to keep the cards cool if need be.

Secondly, will my CPU bottle two of them? one I have no doubt it will do easily, but unsure about two, also what lanes should I have them in on my board, x16 and x8? which of course would run them at x8 together, but what performance would I loose between them?

I also would like a quiet card, a bit of noise I do not personally mind, I just dont want the thing to scream at me, or make my case a small oven, I hear the 290x do this, is this true?

I want to play at 1440p of course, the desktop will be at 1080p, but games will be of course at 1080p.

The game bundles also intrigue me, which would you personally go for?

Would I be better getting a bigger frame buffer? or stick at the 4GB standard?

Will the bus affect the speed overall? the 970 is 256, the 290x is 512.

Any other suggestions on why I should pick which card? the main use will be gaming.

Many thanks!

2

1. You don't have to change much. Put the new Card into the PCI 1 and the old one into the PCI 2 and then connect them to power and Boot -> install the drivers for the new one and of you go. (Mostly it works like this :-)

2.Your CPU supports 2 GPU if your Motherboard supports 2. You will run 2x8 Lanes so the new card will perform a bit less, but It's not a huge difference, not knowing what card you already have I can not answer if this makes sense or is just a waste.

3. I have a GTX 970 and a R9280x in my R4. The 970 makes no noice at all, while browsing and listening to music, as it only turns it fans on when you play hardcore. My 280x has a damaged fan so I don't know how loud it would be. I like the Nvidia drivers an  programs more then the AMD but this is personal preference. 

4. 1440p will be managed by both cards, you could even run 4k on them, I have 2 1080p screens hooked up to both of mine, works perfectly 60+ frames in BF3 on ultra.

5. 3GB or 4GB you will not notice now. in 1-2 years you will probably but I don't think it matters so much.

 

Hope I helped.

 

JS

 

3

Okay so if you wanted a card to last for a good while say a few years, would you purchase a r9 290x 8GB or the 970 then SLI later down the line?

Thanks!

4

I definitely wouldn't buy an 8GB 290x, they're too expensive right now.

5

get the amd r9 290x for 300 dollars  if you want that extra 8 fps spend that extra 40 dollars and have a great time dealing with nvidia drivers

6

So if you want to stick to your card for we say the next 4 Years go with the 290x. It is the better card, but also more expensive. I personally went with the 970 as I rather upgrade in 2 years. this will cost me more but I get a new kick ass GPU every 2 years. If you don't have the money or the time to upgrade I would stick to the 290x.

I see you already have AMD so I would stick in your case to the 290x as it is a bit risky mixing Nvidia and AMD in a system. My system didn't work first with 770 and 280x and now I have the 970 it works, but I changed MB and CPU to so I don't know what was the problem.

7

only 25% more so not a big deal considering 100% more Vram

8

See my issue is I am out dated with Nvidia drivers, also I used to roll Nvidia with this system, it was a 250 gts (when I was merge building) but anyways, so you think for 2k a r9 290x is best, which cooler should I get, and also what is the noise like? stupidly high?

 

9

There around the same price here

10

$500 vs $300.

11

I don't know how noisy the 290x is but from what i heard I heard a lot :-) People having the 290x tend to say that it is noisy. If you don't go with the stock cooler and buy something like ASUS or Sapphire you should be fine I think.

12

In my country its 400 to 500 if you buy ASUS

 

13

Fair enough.

Are there any benchmarks indicating that the 8GB is actually helpful? I've only seen the tomshardware benchmarks, but they aren't very useful since they had a stock 4GB card.

14

Sapphire Vapor X is one of the most quietst 290x cards out there.

Msi 290X lightning, is the fastest i suppose.

But offcourse a GTX970 is also a good choice, i would say dig up some 1440p benchmarks and look which card is better.

15

I don't think you will notice the 8GB yet but we went from 2GB in 2012 to 4 in 2014. The speed will be the same just no frame drops in games like Skyrim/GTA/Watchdogs. If you make a 1:1 comparison the 970 wins but If he wants to use his old card witch is AMD it is better to go on an use AMD. There is not much alternatives from AMD against the 970 aggressive pricing. 

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Thanks. How much louder is it than the HD and CPU cooler? can you hear it or is the rest louder.

17

thats hard to say because idk which cpu cooler you use.

i think that a Sapphire 290X or GTX970 it self, are more quiet then most aircoolers.

18

The R9 290x's are really cheap right now and will outperform a 970 by a decent margin, given that the R9 290x is only around 320$ USD and the 970 is around 350$ I don't think its even a question; however, the 290x runs much hotter and draws lots more power so that is a thing. A custom cooled 290x like a Tri-X or a MSI twin frozr will beat a 970 (the replacement for the 770) black and blue. In real life a 290x is only 15-20% worse then a 980; given that 980s are beast, and cost 550+ there is alot to be said about the 290x. it's also worth noting that the R9 290x perform better at higher resolutions compared to 970/980s. At 1440p and 4K the 290x is going to narrow that 15-20% gap down to like 10%. This performance gap could be a driver issue on the green team or more possibly the limitation of a smaller memory bus. Also, SLIs drivers have issues in a few games and programs; although, I'm sure that will be fixed in short order. Just be aware, that is a thing 

If you go with the more powerful AMD cards you will be forced to upgrade your PSU if you go for crossfire, your power bill will be a little more, and 290x's put off quite a bit more heat. Even with all that considered, I feel the 970 is the green teams answer to the 290, and given current pricing the 970 isn't really a thing. we aren't comparing the right things to each other anyway. The 970s which are great cards, but shouldn't be compared to AMDs flagship card (the 290x) rather it compares better with the 280x and 290. All that being said, With a 970, an SLI upgrade will be no problem later on; you would be able to pop it in, plug it in, and it would work. This could be done without other upgrades to the system, but overall your system would have lower performance. It comes down to what you want, and how much money you have to spend. The 290x's would cost a little more because of the PSU you would need to run them; most sites put them in crossfire at full load around 650 watts, more if you overclock them. 750 watt PSU isn't going to fly for that. The 970 will work without system upgrades, they are fast, overclock well, draw little power, and run cool. it's around 700$ for the 970s or, around 800$ for a new PSU and 2 R9 290x's

CHOOSE NOW!?!

19

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-353-SP&tool=3 - 8GB UK one, rather good reviews.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010 - MSI 970 

 

20

I don't know where you get your infos from. If you look at benchmarks the 970 outperforms the 290x slightly.

here

Idk how good those benchmark are bot the 970 wins too here