GTX 970 250$CA or R9 285 210$CA

Hi guys this is LightSwordM here. Today, I'm doing a PC build, but this is about the GPU. I am about to upgrade from an r7 260x, and I'd like to know if I should go with AMD with the r9 285 for 210$CA or go with the GTX 970 for 250$. Is it better to spend 40$ more, or get the r9 285? Budget is 350$(GPU) without taxes.

970 absolutely. System specs ? 

Intel i5-4590 3.3 GHZ LGA 1150(for Broadwell and Haswell upgrading)no OC needed

G.Skill RipJaws X(2x4 Gb) 8 gb

MSI-H81 P33 Micro ATX Motherboard

Corsair CX600 80+ Bronze or ThermalTake 550W(I have both of them :D)

Cougar Volant Black(my old case)

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200Rpm

I already bought all the parts except the GPU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

the 970 is a much more powerful GPU then the r9 285. The 970 sits right between the R9 290 and the 290x performance wise. Also the 970 overclocks very well and uses less power then the 285. It is the 3d best single GPU you can buy right now 980 > R9 290x > 970 > R9 290. Unless you can get a R9 290x for cheap (which may be too much for your current PSUs) the 970 is the way to go!

290x is only faster than a 970 at 4k, at 1440p they're pretty even and the 970 is certainly faster at 1080p.

I keep hearing this from people on here!?! I'm just saying it now it's a damn lie perpetuated by people who don't read!

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/11/03/asus_gtx_970_strix_directcu_ii_video_card_review/10#.VJhrql4DA

A 970 is a great card make no mistake but it is the replacement for a 770 not a 780 as such it compares directly to a R9 290 non X  

I don't see what card it's meant to replace has anything to do with its performance tier. If we're going with that, the GTX 980, as the replacement for the GTX 760, should be compared to the R9 285.

Anyway, benches that show the 970 is generally faster at 1080p and generally slower at 4k:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8568/the-geforce-gtx-970-review-feat-evga

Also, the hardocp review is irrelevant since they aren't testing at 1080p. Or 1440p. Or 4k.

The high-end cards that fit your build and budget are the 970 and the 290. If you got the money or find a x-mas deal... go for a nice 970 strix or a comparable after market cooler. If you decide that you budget could be a bit tighter, get a 290 (non x) from sapphire or msi. Both are really good cards for their price and should wreck everything at 1080p and 1440p!

Testing stock 290's/x vs an EVGA 970 with a max overclock on it isn't reflective of reality and thus should be discarded and shat upon.

The 970 is the way to go, in this case Lightsword already has PSUs which would be hard pressed to handle a 290x. Just keep in mind without overclocking to the max a 970 will not perform like you are seeing in people's benchmarks. It's still really good but, it only narrows the considerable gap between it and the near identically priced 290x by overclocking.