GPU-Performance to Value Ratio

Hey there all.

With so many options for GPU's I'm having trouble figuring out which one to buy. Value is a huge concern otherwise I'd probably just buy a 980, hell 4 of them and be good, but I'd rather not spend 500+ a card; future proof or no. Can anyone put these architectures into perspective for me? 

 

GTX 970

780ti

R9 290 (X or otherwise)

 

http://youtu.be/JalO4oHjhQA

 

http://youtu.be/4DrWkExjjJE

 

If there are some architectures I'm not considering that would be gravy also.

Kepler is Old (780Ti) is an old architecture,

970 is Nvidia's New Architecture and is Power Efficient and from what we've seen, Overclocking Monsters.

AMD's Hawaii is Powerhungry and Hot as hell.

However, in the Price to Performance department, an R9-290 is the best you are going to get for your money, it performs about the same as as 970. well, the 970 performing a bit better in most games.

I own a R9-290 and it's freakin' sweet (Peter Griffin voice) but the R9-300 Series is rumored to come this summer, so if you want the best for your money the R9-290 is your best bet. but if you are willing to wait, then consider the R9-300 Series. if not if you want the current best than Nvidia's 970 will be a reasonable consideration.

I'm seriously leaning 970 bc it is a good balance of value and performance. Plus, with 3-way SLI I don't think I'll have any problems in the coming years.

But I remain open to suggestion.

Three 970's make absolutely no sense, because Scaling is never ideal, and SLI isn't perfect. Neither is CrossfireX on the AMD side. if you are willing to spend that much on "Having the best" than the 980 will be your best bet.

I would not recommend 3 way SLI.

Best to go with 1 r9 290, best value for money out right now. Don't go 3 way SLI 970s, I did and I regret it. The 3rd card im only getting a very tiny performance gain from it

3 Way doesn't make sense. Go with an r9 290 and buy another when they drop in price again.

Are you having trouble running multiple  monitors or what?

4K?

No. but like i mentioned scaling isn't ideal. you aren't going to benefit from a 3rd card, there is only one game that has next to perfect scaling and that's Tomb-Raider. every other game doesn't show any tangible gains with adding a 3rd card. in fact some will argue performance can be worse adding a 3rd card. and if you are going multi-monitors i'm pretty sure the general preference is going AMD. from what i've seen and heard from multiple people.

Any reason to go withe 290x over 290?

if you want an 8gig card yes if you want a 4gig card no.

Honestly no. they perform almost exactly the same, but there are some R9-290X 8GB models that will benefit you, if you are going multi-monitor gaming. if not, a R9-290 will be fine.

http://youtu.be/-6xzzt2tL38

Or http://pcpartpicker.com/part/diamond-video-card-r9290d54gv2

Anyone know when the 980 will go down in price again?

it wont go down in price and it hasn't gone down in price, not anytime soon anyways. the only time Nvidia ever drops a price for a card is either,

A. they release new GPU's to replace the old ones

B. AMD puts them in the corner when they drop their Flagship GPU, that destroys Nvidia's flagship.

Perfect example is when AMD released the 290x for $550. Nvidia Dropped the THEN $649 GTX 780 to $500. so if you want a 980 that bad for a reasonable price, Personally i don't think even the 980 is reasonable, after taxes and such, it still reaches the price of what the 780 launched as. you're going to have to wait till AMD releases the The R9-390x.