Help

I am a first time builder and looking at what GPU I sould have. I will use a i5 4670K processor. I am struggling to choose between the GTX 770, R9 280x or R9 290. Money isn't an issue but the R9 290 is at the top of my budget. Also which company would you recomend (EVGA, Saphire, Asus etc.). I will be gaming at 1080p single screen. 

Thank you

Any of the GPUs will be sufficient. It's advisable to purchase the best GPU you can afford, but it really depends on your choice of games, and the rest of your build configuration.

So without knowing anything, I would recommend a Sapphire R9 290, followed by a Sapphire 280x, then the EVGA 770. The R9 290 is undoubtedly the fastest of the three.

Sapphire have some really good SKUs in this series. Good balance of performance and thermals. Attractive designs. EVGA are reknowned for their customer service. The 770 and 280x are pretty equal in terms of performance. I think the 280x is a little more suitable for modding games with higher res textures, which is why I would place it above the 770, personally.

Frankly any of these cards would be good for 1080p gaming, with multiple monitors surrounding.  

As far as brands go, the three you listed are on the top shelf so to speak. However any of today's manufactures can be trusted to buy a consumer graphics card from, all test each unit before shipping to the retailer. 

I would suggest EVGA because the NVIDIA cards have an awesome cooler. And if you do video editing, encoding, or anything like that you NEED CUDA cores. I would get the 770:

4 GB: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-Dual-Link-Graphics-04G-P4-3774-KR/dp/B00E5AEIKE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399575192&sr=8-2&keywords=EVGA+770

2 GB: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-SuperClocked-Graphics-02G-P4-2774-KR/dp/B00CZIQXBA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399575192&sr=8-1&keywords=EVGA+770

 

From personal experience, an EVGA 770 would be best. I've used EVGA cards for a while because they have a damn good lifespan and cooling. They can get a bit loud when on full load (assuming you're using precisionx), but that's never been a priority of mine.

I can also vouch for EVGA. They are an excellent company with heavenly customer support and warranty coverage. I personally love their GTX 770 it is a solid and fantastic card. I ordered mine from them directly at a competitive price and great shipping. They even automatically uploaded my invoice for me all I had to do was register the card.

I'm a bit of an EVGA fanboy myself.  All of my cards have been EVGA and my X58 board that is so reliable and still kicking like a champ is an EVGA board as well.  Like others have mentioned, their warranty and customer service is unbeatable.  I will say, though, I love how the MSI 770 Gaming card looks.  Just used it in a build for a friend and it's just sexy to me.

Thanks for all the replies, someone said to me the other week to get Nvidia just because it works better with and intel cpu. Will it work better then a AMD cpu? I am doubtful this is true but just want to know other peoples opinions. Thanks again for the replies

No. That person is telling a falsehood.

Benchmarks:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1037

And if you do video editing, encoding, or anything like that you NEED CUDA cores.

That depends entirely on what program you're using. Most productivity programs are either working toward OpenCL compatibility or have always had OpenCL compatibility.

Intel and Nvidia are cannon together If your into that sort of thing! But no Nvidia is a delicious muffin that can be enjoyed by all, even AMD.