Final Gpu Decision!

So I'm making my final decision on a new Gpu!

 

Which Gpu would you go with?

 

1. AMD Radeon R9 290X  ( Reference Cooler ) - $230 - $270

 

2. Asus GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum Edition - $400

 

3. Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X  Crossfire - $400 Pair

 

4. Evga GTX 770 2GB SLI ( Reference Cooler ) - $400 Pair

 

5. Nvidia GTX 970 ( Any Aftermarket card ) - $329 - $379

 

Thanks!

well... for the SLI 770's you'd want 4GB models... so that's out... the 280X is pretty vastly outclassed by any other GPU you listed... so that's out... I'd DEFINTELY want an aftermarket cooler on ANY 290X you considered... and for that price, the 970 would likely stand firm... I'd trust the EVGA, ASUS, and MSI models... if any significantly out weigh the 290x price, I'd go that route... but a 780 ti certainly doesn't command an extra $70 over a 970... and for the 290X... the cheapest I see is $280? The cheapest decent one I see is $300... and yea I'd pay the extra $20 for EVGA 04G-P4-2972-KR over MSI 912-V308-001

1. Not the reference cooler, just don't. See if you can find any of the aftermarket coolers (preferably the Tri-X from sapphire) for a similar price.

2. 780ti might sound like a good deal at that price but you're still limited to 3GB of VRAM. Some newer games have been absolute VRAM hogs, so even though you're still fine right now I wouldn't feel so comfortable about it in a year or so.

3. 2 midrange cards in crossfire, again limited to 3GB of VRAM, nah. I wouldn't go for it.

4. Performs slightly worse than the 280x in some games, even less VRAM, nope. Not even a question.

5. That seems to be your best bet right now. Performs really well at 1080p, just keep in mind that it struggles at higher resolutions.

 

I would either go for an R9 290(x) with a nice aftermarket cooler or for a 970 in your case. They should perform fairly similar, the R9 290(x) would consume more power but also be quite a bit cheaper. I think it really comes down to your preference, the features that you want, etc. Both are very good choices, but for anything higher than 1080p gaming I would really suggest the R9 290(x), just stay away from the reference design.

290 or 290x with a good non reference coller (sapphire tri-x for example). Otherwise the 970.

I'm pretty much looking for a card that can do 1080p @ 60 Fps Smooth with Ultra/High Settings.

970 / 290x , SLI / Xfire is not a good idea .

Just make sure the 290 has an aftermarket cooler .

780ti ~ = 970 or 290x 

a single high end can do that .

The 970 or 290 / 290x are your best bet.

wow...these cards are going out of stock sooner than I thought. I was looking for a 970 in the $300 price range, but looks like they all gone away. What do you guys think...should I wait until cyber monday?

 

Then either 970 or R9 290(x). The R9 290 is the best value out of all of them, the R9 290x should beat the 970 for the most part, and the 970 has the usual Nvidia features + lower power consumption. It really depends on what you value the most here, best price/performance ratio? Best performance in your price range? Or paying a bit more for Nvidia + lower power consumption?

Power isn't an issue with me.

 

Whatever can do 1080p , 60 Fps , Ultra/High settings I'm happy.

I don't mean to sound rude or anything but just grab a non-reference 290, its pretty much the best value you can get for your money, you can find good non reference cards (PCS+) for as low as 240USD without rebates and 210USD with Rebates. At that price it would be crazy to go for anything else.

Would a 7990 still be a decent competitor for the right price or am I just over thinking now... 

I've been searching for a new gpu for over a month now and still can't decide on what meets my needs.

If my memory serves me right then that's a dual GPU card. It's basically 2 lower clocked 7970s (=280x's) on one PCB, definitely not worth it IMO. A nice aftermarket R9 290 or a gtx 970 are your best bet right now in your pricerange and for your needs.

Yes a 290 would be best, I actually saw a non-reference one as low as 200USD with rebates. These are still very good cards and are almost as fast as the GTX970s. This is incredibly good value for money and I doubt we will see anything this good for a quiet a while.

One should be more than enough for 1080p, although since you were considering getting a 970 you could get two of these as they will not be that much more than a good GTX970, and scaling is very good on demanding games. That would allow you to upgrade to a much nicer monitor and not take such a hit on fps.

Only reason I asked is because I can get my hands on one for a decent price..

 

But I guess I will stick with ether a R9 290 or GTX 970

When I looked at benchmarks the card still beats the R9 290 and GTX 970.


Of course that's going to depend on the games but I only play BF4 and Call of duty Advanced warfare and that's usually  when I have time to play.

 

980? It's the price of a 780ti and performs more or less the same but it also has 4GB or Vram vs the 3GB from the 780ti which is a bottleneck for that card

From what I've seen a 980 is more than a 780Ti..

Why not get a 290x with an aftermarket cooler? Even a 290 is way better with a nice XFX or Gigabyte cooler. Are you going to put a waterblock on it? If so, then then look on Ebay. A friend of mine got two R9 290's with waterblocks attached for $400. 

 

FYI, AMD cards overclock insanely well under water. Otherwise, get an XFX, Asus or Gigabyte 290 or 290x. For the money, nothing beats them. 

I was set on a 7990 from the start of looking but when I started asking everyone said to get a GTX 970 / R9 290/X.

 

I looked on ebay and the reference R9 290/X are around $200 , I have good airflow in my case so I'm debating if I can keep the card cool with its reference cooler. 

 

I managed to keep 3 - 7950's Overclocked in 3-way crossfire cool so I think a single R9 290/X should be easy.