In need of help picking out a high-end GPU

C

CompletelyClueless

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Jul 5, 2009
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Oh great and wise [H]ard men, please tell this big dummy, who cant decide what to buy after a day's worth of research, what to buy

I've narrowed it down to 4 cards:

R9 290 4gb w/ Sapphire Tri-X cooler at ~$435
R9 290X 4gb w/ Sapphire Tri-X cooler at ~$530
GTX780 3gb w/ Asus DirectCU II cooler at ~$520
GTX780 6gb w/ EVGA ACX cooler at ~$570


I want to get myself a graphics card to service a 1440p setup, and be able to use the fat textures on upcoming games like Witcher 3 and others coming down the pipe in the next couple of years
As such i am a tiny bit wary of 3gb cards that might bump up to their vram ceiling, and i thought something beyond 3gigs might be nice insofar as making a build future-resistant

I would like to overclock whatever card I get as far as I can stability/heat-wise
Even at stable overclock, how many more frames per second would i get for the 100+ dollars between the R9 290 and the three other cards?
Where could i better make up the fps difference in a potential build with those 100 dollars?
Is it true that even though GTX780's can overclock better as a matter of percentage, compared to an R9 290x, it still cannot surpass an overclocked R9-290x's framerates?

What is this i hear about the reputation of Radeon drivers? Would physical performance not make up drivers potentially struggling with a game? I have not had a Radeon card since AGP was still a thing.
Are any of the cards particularly loud under load? I understand the first three at least are remarked on as quiet.
What about heat issues?
Are any ancillary features like PhysX substantial enough to tilt the choices one way or another?

One final thing i was wondering about is if i could wait for that new Asus Strix GTX780 since that's got a honking 6gb but there isnt even a release date on that thing and its probably gonna cost a lot


As an aside, should i have posted under either of the manufacturer-spec forums? Or since this concerns both companies' cards in the choice it should just be here?
Thanks for your help
 
Can't go wrong with either choice. Comes down to which games you play basically.
 
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http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-VAPO...09-40G/dp/B00K2OJ38O/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Expensive but amazing card in my opinion....Sapphire Tri-X would be pretty close though;)
 
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For 1440p with one card you want to go with the most power you can possibly get. The 290x is even faster than the 780 *Ti* at stock speeds. The choice between the 290x and a non Ti 780 is pretty easy and it doesn't have to do with money. If you wanted to compare the Ti and the 290x it might be a harder call but for me it would be because of the TITAN style cooler on the reference Ti, which I like because it expels heat from your case instead of circulating it, as all of these cards you're looking at do. I have to remind myself for 1 card it's a little less critical, though.

To fully overclock any of these cards to their maximum potential you would have to remove their coolers and install waterblocks and a loop. Overclocking GPUs on air is a dying practice. The 290s have plenty of headroom but cooling them is another story. Some folks will have better ambient temps and better setups for air cooling than others, but overclocking hi-current cards on air (including the 780) is going to force you to run the fans really really loud. At 1080p the single 780 would be the way to go... but at 1440p the same card playing the same game is going to get WAY hotter and it's going to be lackluster performance wise.

I own a 290x (Powercolor PCS+) and I've owned single and 2xSLI EVGA 780 superclock setups. I like both GPU brands but the 290x can do at stock speed @1440p about what the 780 can do at 1080p. No amount of overclocking of the 780 will make up the difference, and it will just get crazy hot.
 
My .02 for what it's worth:

First of all, smart move bringing this question to the community! It's great helping out fellow enthusiasts.

Ok, tackling your needs and plans:
  • Single card 1440p
  • High Res textures
  • Plan to Ovarclock GPU as much as it can handle

The AMD R9 290 is going to get you 1440p with high-to-extreme settings and 4GB of Memory
The NVIDIA 780 is going to get you 1440p with high-to-extreme settings and 3GB of Memory

Pros and cons?
Pros for AMD 290: Much cheaper, 1GB additional ram
Pros for NVIDIA 780: Geforce Experience Software (Suggests optimal game settings, has features like ShadowPlay which are great for streamers), G-Sync support (If you buy a g-sync monitor) and PhysX support (which I have really ever even cared about for the Batman games / other PhysX features in games have been take -it-or-leave it IMHO)

Cons for AMD 290: Linux driver support is arguable not as good as NVIDIA (I play games in windows so I really have no idea except for what I have read). No PhysX (for Batman). No gsync (but that only matters if you have a gsync monitor / and you get freesync support which is on the way) No geforce experience software (it's a nice feature, but I'm sure you can select your own game settings? IE MAXIMUM!!1! and it would be missed if you are a twitch.tv streamer)
Cons for NVIDIA 780: 3GB isn't great for high-res texture packs (AMD always seems to play it safe with more memory and it seems to keep paying off toward the end of the generation) It costs a lot more $$$!

IMO, windows drivers are in a place where it hardly makes a difference between AMD or NVIDIA. NVIDIA does seem to be on-point for day 1 game release drivers if that is your thing though.

Regarding sound: any 290 or 780 with non-reference cooling is going to be pretty palitable when it comes to sound. Non-reference cooling from each of the add-in-board partners is really solid.

Regarding the ASUS STRIX GTX 780 OC 6GB: Just call it $580 bucks. It gets you AMD R9 290x performance and 6GB of ram with a solid sound profile and all of the pros I listed above for NVIDIA.

Trying to sum all of this up...

If you are looking for high-res textures for 1440p, I can't condone getting a 3GB card. That leaves AMD 290, AMD 290X, and ASUS STRIX GTX 780 OC 6BG in my mind as your real choices. You can snag an AMD R9 290 with excellent non-reference cooling for around $400.00! (My choice would be the ASUS DCUII / check the [H] review). Going up to the r9 290x with non-reference cooling is going to cost you $100 more and in my opinion doesn't offer that much more of an advantage. THEN, at $180.00 more we have the ASUS STRIX GTX 780 OC 6GB. If the pros listed earlier really hit home for you, and you won't miss $180 bucks (which you can buy games with!) then I say go for it! (when it is available =)

Bottom line: ASUS DCUII AMD R9 290 for $400.00 DONE
Extra Credit: ASUS STRIX GTX 780 OC 6GB for $580.00 if those other features are important to you or if you are interested in owning a VERY unique card that is absolutely for enthusiasts.

Don't take my word for it though, read the [H] reviews which are excellent =)

P.P.S. I think you posted to the right forum.
 
Wow these comments are absolutely fantastic, it really gives me a lot of perspective compared to what i could scrounge on my own yesterday
Keep the insights coming!
 
I personally feel that the lower memory interface width on the 780's hampers their high-resolution performance more than their physical memory size.

The 780s have a 384bit memory interface, which is why they have lower performance in higher resolutions. At 1080p or even 1440p w/o AA, they are equal (not necessarily per dollar, but per tier). Adding extra ram does nothing to widen that 384bit memory bus.

The 290s have a whopping 512bit memory bus, which is why super high resolutions don't really slow them down as much. That one extra gigabyte does not make the difference, it's the fact that the 290's can theoretically move 30% more data in a single cycle. At 1440p you are starting to hit the wall where the 780s and 290s are similar, but as soon as you add a dollop of AA, max out your AF, turn up the textures and really thrash the memory, the 290s are going to pull ahead.

As far as drivers, AMD has competition to the Nvidia GeForce Experience application called "Gaming Evolved", but honestly I don't bother with either so I can't really tell you which one is the best.

My personal experience with brands: you've chosen some good players there. Sapphire is a personal favourite of mine, as well as EVGA. I've owned a few Asus cards and TONS of boards, but apparently they are having some serious QC issues recently so I can't really recommend them right now.

If you are adventurous, some lucky ducks have modded their 290 bios to unlock shaders and have it perform the same as a 290x. I don't know if AMD has locked that down yet, but if you are a gambling man...
 
CompletelyClueless said:
R9 290 4gb w/ Sapphire Tri-X cooler at ~$435
R9 290X 4gb w/ Sapphire Tri-X cooler at ~$530
GTX780 3gb w/ Asus DirectCU II cooler at ~$520
GTX780 6gb w/ EVGA ACX cooler at ~$570
Click to expand...

Basically what everyone else said.

Delete both 780s as they are on par with 290s, not 290xs and they cost more: Bench results

If you are willing to spend $570, then I say delete the 290 and go with the 290x.

I have a single 290x (reference design but with an AIO cooler strapped to it) and it handles 1440p pretty handily OC'ed at 1100/1350.

If a 780ti and 290x were equally priced i'd go with a 780ti (i've just had better past experience in the past with nvidia over AMD). However the cheapest 780ti is $100 more.

Now it is just which cooler you want on the 290x. The 290x get HOTT. The Tri-x cooler is an excellent choice. Also make sure you have good air flow in your case.

Pull the trigger on the 290x.
 
since your going to stick with solo card, 290 or 290x is the better choice. If at one point you went with XFIRE - I would not suggest such a route unless you went under water. But etiher choice is a good choice :)
 
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