Need help deciding on a GPU

Hardware Hub GPU
1

Hiya techies, so basically I need a new GPU, and to help ya'll help me I'll write my current hardware, and preferences down:

First and foremost right now I use an MSI 560 ti HAWK card as my primary GPU, other specs are:

CPU: 4770k

MOBO: ASUS ROG Maximus VI Hero

RAM: HyperX Beast 2x8Gb 2400Mhz C11

Cooler: Corsair H100i

PSU: Corsair AX860

SSD: 2xKingston HyperX 3K 120Gb - RAID 0 240Gb baby!

Monitor: ASUS VG278HR

Case: CoolerMaster HAF X

Storage: none, a short circuit killed all of my HDDs :(  so yeah, I need a storage drive as well.

All of the above, except the h100i and AX860 are already installed, and stress tested for a week already, and I can give a small review on any if asked.

Only thing left now is the GPU, the 780ti is definately too expensive for me (and redundant consitering I play only in 1080p), so my main picks are:

ASUS 780 DCU2 TOP (in February, no moolah now) 878$ - I know WHAT?! For that kind of money I can get a Sapphire 7990 here no problem.

ASUS R9 280X DCU2 TOP (NOW! change in 2015 for GTX880) 410$ -pretty reasonable if you ask me  :)

ASUS R9 290 DCU2 (in February or when available) 580$-600$ projected price by me

I'm leaning torwards the 280X because of the great price right now, and the availability, but generally prefer nvidia.

Considering the mishap with my HDDs I found myself in need of new storage, so I'm considering either WD Black or WD Blue 1Tb for storage and game installations, all but BF4 and Civ V, in which I care about drive performance. - Why should I (or shouldn't) get the WD Black for 40$ more?

 

What do I play: BF4 multiplayer 80% of the time, other games like Civ V, borderlands 2,in the future, Watch dogs, GTA V, AC 4, Batman AO, I'd MAYBE play in 3d since I own a 3d Vision capable monitor with kit but I can give that up if i get the 280X until 2015 when I would exchange it for a Maxwell/GTX880 card since I don't really use it that much/never... 

 

EDIT: Prices inserted for reference.

2

I'd wait for the 290, but that's just my opinion.

3

Tnx, it's a valid one, BUT if i choose to buy a 290 I probbably won't be able to upgrade to a 880 when it comes out.

4

Well, it is up to you, but why not just upgrade to 880 then whatever card you have? Sure it might not be a sensible upgrade in performance but still. Also Mantle might turn out to be something good.

5

Yes, that's why I was kinda hoping the 280x would serve me well for the next year or two, as I could bring myself then to buy a Maxwell based card, if I cash out on anything more than a 280X I won't be able to upgrade for at least 2-3 years...

6

r9 280x is a hell of a card for 1080p besides being much cheaper than a 780 but it will perform like a 770 (more or less)

if you want to game in 1440p buy the 780 now or wait for the r9 290 non stock cooling.

If you want to game at 1080p r9 280x should work just fine for three years or so.

But definitely wouldn’t recommend buying a 280x and then an Nvidia flagship next year because you will be spending more than the double (+400$ + +800$) and don't expect "880" to differ more than 20-30% maximum from the 780 (and that would be an AMAZING leap) 

7

Tnx for the advice, what bugs me really is that the 280x is now a 2 year old card already, so I dont' think it will perform as well with next-gen titles, as say, the 780 will. That said it seems the 280x performs as good as the 780 in battlefiled 4 which is the game I play like 80% of the time, at least until next-gen games kick in.

As far as 880 goes, I'm pretty much settled to get one since I feel it's gonna resemble the 8800 (no pun intended) because of the new bits of technology it's gonna implement, like unified memory and ARM architecture... So if it's 780 money half a year after it's release I'd be hard pressed not to get one.

8

So if you are going to buy an 880 I would advice you to either wait with what you have or spend as little money as you can (for example, the r9 270 (non x) is playing battlefield 4 ultra on 40-60 fps) and it's cheaper than the 280 in case you want to save for the 880.

I am also going to say that the reselling price for the 780 will be higher than the 280's and 270's. so make the maths in case you can buy the 780, sell it when you need and buy the 880.

I hope info was helpful, Good luck :D

 

9

Tnx 4 the reply, the problem is I'm from Bosnia and the 780 here is 2 times more expensive than the 280x, and currently I have a well-overclocked 560-ti Hawk edition card which purrs along at 1020Mhz core, so a 270 wouldn't eb a big upgrade for me really. I do prefer nvidia generally, but i love money more so I'm always on a look out for a good deal, which the 780 here clearly isn't as the prices haven't dropped here like they did in Murrica last month.

10

Do you honestly think the 780 isn't using old technology as well?

We haven't come a long way at all ever since geforce 7. The jumps in performance are so small you can still play most games on high on a gtx 280.

11

Good point, the 290//X still uses the same technology as 7970 with just a bigger chip, but still some tweaks are applied every generation. But essentially the 780 is a newer and better card than a 280x/7970Ghz. Saying otherwise would imply I should stick with my 560ti 448 because I can play BF4 with very high settings and maintain FPS above 60... But I own a 3d vision monitor capabel of delivering 120FPS... In all honesty I tested it and I personally can't notice the difference 60/120fps, and my gameplay doesn't improve even in very fast mulitplayer team deathmatch game.

12

Then get a 770 or a 280x, you aren't really future proofing that much going with the most expensive thing, unless there's a difference in bandwidth and memory.

13

My 280X has just arrived, I'll check it out when I come home from work. It's an ASUS DCU2 TOP,