So the time has come that great time where you sell off your old GPU and spend all of your money on a new one. Currently I have a GTX 660 and it works ok for the 1080P screen I have but it's really now showing it's age, I'd like to know what you think would be best for me.
GTX 960 GTX 970 (I'm now broke if I buy the + some) AMD R9 290 (See above) AMD R9 280X
As for the rest of my system here are the specs
AMD 8320 8GB RAM SLI/Crossfire compatible motherboard 750W 80+ Gold PSU A case that is a nightmare on earth.
EDIT #1: When I say SLI compatible I don't really trust that it is see as it gave me the middle finger when I tried SLI for my 660.
Personally, I think the 970 is the sweet spot right now...even with the whole memorygate thing. You get a lot for your money and it plays anything at 1080p just fine. Not only that...but it's very power efficient. You'll be able to SLi without having to upgrade to a higher wattage PSU.
The 960 plays a lot of games at 1080p at medium/high settings. However, with newer games being more demanding who knows how long you'll be able to do so and the performance gains you get when SLIing 2 960s is not worth the cost.
go with a 290. Its on the same level as the 970 and they're selling for 40-100 less right now with a MIR/sales. For ~$250 it blows everything else out of the water for price to performance. Also, while the 970 is more power efficient, in a lot of cases it'll draw almost as much as a 290, especially once you start to overclock. And as for the whole "enjoy your card melting down" heat issue with the 290(x), its completely gone. With my sapphire 290 tri-x overclocked to 1160/1550 my card never breaks 78 with the fans never breaking 50, so the heat is completely controlled.
The 970 for sure. All this crap wih people complaining about it is way over exaggerated. Yes they lied but the card is amazing value for the performance.
If you got to get the GTX 970 cuz you love PhysX then get it used so you don't support liars. Nvidia you should be ashamed and you still haven't admitted to telling a lie. As for other options when the 290 and 290X are priced right like they were 3 weeks ago or maybe a little less then they are definitely worth getting. Anyway best of luck to you OP in choosing a card and happy gaming.