OCUK Cutom 690? or Titan?

b3rnwa · 25 Apr 2013 at 19:16

hello all.

before i start i'd like to explain how i got here, although if u don't mind i'd rather skip the whole mummy n daddy baby making part, i don't need any other reasons reasons to start therapy...

overclockers are soon to receive an order for a new base rig: Ultima 9400a Eradicator as well as the components required to bring my current rig up to the same level. when we're finished both p00ts will be very similar (990FX mobo, FX-8350 @ 4.6ghz, 16gb DDR3 1600mhz, 250gb SSD), which leaves the question of graphics card...both cards will have the XSPC Razor Waterblock but given a choice, which one would you buy? and if u can please state your reason why. it helps me make an informed decision

Upon researching the subject extensively, i've concluded that whilst PC enthusiasts are amongst the most knowledgeable people on earth, you are utterly incapable of agreeing on anything.

the difference in price (as of now) is £59.01 in the 690's favor (was £49.01 yesterday!) and since i'm not made of money i'd like to make the right choice...

please help me. will beg if needed :/

Nickjf20 · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:01

I'd go with the 690 and not bother with the waterblock.

The stock cooler is a brilliant piece of engineering (which cannot be said for the PowerColour 7990)

If I were spending £700 on a graphics card, I would want a no-compromises design from renowned manufacturer. The performance difference is minimal.
I'd much rather give my money to Nvidia than PowerColour

Then again, if it were me, I'd wait for the AMD designed 7990 and build the rig myself

pgi947 · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:06

It is a good cooler, but it has nothing on a slab of machined copper

Tbh, it doesn't really matter which one you buy, both will perform really well and both will give you the grunt you require in games.

fishingcat · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:15

I see no point in buying the official HD 7990.

For the price you can get two HD 7970s and overclock for greater performance, and if your case only fits one GPU the open design will play hell with temps anyway.

Kaapstad · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:16

pgi947 said:
It is a good cooler, but it has nothing on a slab of machined copper

Tbh, it doesn't really matter which one you buy, both will perform really well and both will give you the grunt you require in games.

+1

One thing to check out with someone like Humbug who knows the AMD mobos/CPUs is if a multi GPU solution like the GTX 690 will go as well there as it does on intel setups.

I use both the GTX 690 and Titan, they are both great cards to use.

Rusty0611 · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:19

I would go for a 690 in your situation.

andybird123 · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:22

I would wait a month in your position and get a GTX780 - which should be only a tiny touch slower than a Titan, but around £500

Gregster · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:54

I would go for a Titan if you plan on going multi monitor or a very high res monitor in the near future. A 690 would be ideal for a single 1920x1080 monitor.

Geeman1979 · 26 Apr 2013 at 10:12

Gregster said:
I would go for a Titan if you plan on going multi monitor or a very high res monitor in the near future. A 690 would be ideal for a single 1920x1080 monitor.

So are you implying anything above 1920x1080 on a single monitor a 690 is going to struggle?

andybird123 · 26 Apr 2013 at 10:22

geeman1979 said:
So are you implying anything above 1920x1080 on a single monitor a 690 is going to struggle?

690 has 2GB of VRAM (effective), Titan has 6GB and GTX780 will have 5GB

2GB is currently fine for 1920x1080 or even 2560x1440, however for multimonitor 2GB starts to struggle at higher settings (though you would need 2 Titan's for this anyway)

we also don't know what the future holds, for 2560x1440 or 4K (if you were interested in that), a Titan would be the most "future proof" of the two, it would also have an upgrade path (a 2nd card) where as buying a 690 now your only real option for an upgrade would be to sell the 690 and buy something else

with new cards possibly less than a month away, it really would be best to wait a few weeks, we've been hearing rumours of the Titan LE for quite a while now, and the latest rumours suggest this will be released as GTX780 at prices not too far off GTX680 launch prices

what you would pay for an in stock Titan now, you could get SLI Titan LE in the next month or so

LtMatt · 26 Apr 2013 at 10:27

5% of the titan performance for half the price? I find that hard to believe but if thats true ill get one. Can't see it happening in a million years though at £400.

Geeman1979 · 26 Apr 2013 at 10:34

andybird123 said:
690 has 2GB of VRAM (effective), Titan has 6GB and GTX780 will have 5GB

2GB is currently fine for 1920x1080 or even 2560x1440, however for multimonitor 2GB starts to struggle at higher settings (though you would need 2 Titan's for this anyway)

we also don't know what the future holds, for 2560x1440 or 4K (if you were interested in that), a Titan would be the most "future proof" of the two, it would also have an upgrade path (a 2nd card) where as buying a 690 now your only real option for an upgrade would be to sell the 690 and buy something else

with new cards possibly less than a month away, it really would be best to wait a few weeks, we've been hearing rumours of the Titan LE for quite a while now, and the latest rumours suggest this will be released as GTX780 at prices not too far off GTX680 launch prices

what you would pay for an in stock Titan now, you could get SLI Titan LE in the next month or so

Agreed!

I game with a 690 at a 2560x1440 and not seen any problems at all at that res. Admittedly I'm not a big gamer, although I do play BF3 which runs spot on at full settings.

andybird123 · 26 Apr 2013 at 10:41

LtMatt said:
5% of the titan performance for half the price? I find that hard to believe but if thats true ill get one. Can't see it happening in a million years though at £400.

I'm assuming you meant 95%

I was thinking more like £450-500, which looking at some of the in stock pricing for Titan, is yeah about half price

obviously there will be the usual launch day rush to increase prices, so ordering in the first few minutes the prices go live will probably pay dividends, I think there will be a couple of sub-500 780's around on launch day if you are prepared to wait a few days for delivery ($599 RRP, 1.52 FX, 20% VAT = £472)

Gregster · 26 Apr 2013 at 12:10

geeman1979 said:
So are you implying anything above 1920x1080 on a single monitor a 690 is going to struggle?

Absolutely not. I used 2GB cards at 5760X1080 with no problems but the later games did go over the limit at that res and I expect that will be the norm with future AAA titles.

Yaayuh! · 26 Apr 2013 at 12:14

I'm loving the GTX 690, wish i'd got one earlier. So smooth i forget it's 2 GPUs.

Yaayuh! · 26 Apr 2013 at 12:18

andybird123 said:
I think there will be a couple of sub-500 780's around on launch day if you are prepared to wait a few days for delivery ($599 RRP, 1.52 FX, 20% VAT = £472)

You need to add on the "UK/EU electronics and components are more expensive than Asia and US" tax on top as well. Graphics cards are usually £25-£50 cheaper in the US anyway.

Geeman1979 · 26 Apr 2013 at 12:49

Gregster said:
Absolutely not. I used 2GB cards at 5760X1080 with no problems but the later games did go over the limit at that res and I expect that will be the norm with future AAA titles.

I'm not a big fan of Triple screen gaming anyway. I've gone back and forth a few times and didn't get on with it. So in short, a 690 is spot on for my usage at 2560x1440p. Imo! A 690 will cope fine right up to 1600p for a good while yet until I experience otherwise.

andybird123 · 26 Apr 2013 at 12:59

Rossi~ said:
You need to add on the "UK/EU electronics and components are more expensive than Asia and US" tax on top as well. Graphics cards are usually £25-£50 cheaper in the US anyway.

exactly, that's why I calculate it at 472, but I'm guessing 499

the last 2 product releases I've bought on launch day (670 and Titan) have been exactly this, $ RRP / FX rate + VAT + 5%

b3rnwa · 27 Apr 2013 at 07:53

thanks peeps.

due to 'a series of unfortunate events', i only have one functioning eye, which means i have exactly 1/2 the peripheral vision of everyone else. This is fine with one, maybe two monitors, but anything more than that and its really quite pointless in games. I do however dabble in various 3d apps (blender and hammer editor mostly), where screen space is priceless. Ideally i need a very high resolution so that more information is in my focal point. i use a 32in Sony Bravia @ 1920 x 1080 atm, but its simply not enough if i'm honest. i could either get a multimonitor setup, or wait for a UHD display, both of which would benefit from the Titan rather than the 690. That said though, it'll be a long while before UHD's come down to a reasonable price point :/

Kaapstad · 27 Apr 2013 at 09:08

b3rnwa said:
thanks peeps.

due to 'a series of unfortunate events', i only have one functioning eye, which means i have exactly 1/2 the peripheral vision of everyone else. This is fine with one, maybe two monitors, but anything more than that and its really quite pointless in games. I do however dabble in various 3d apps (blender and hammer editor mostly), where screen space is priceless. Ideally i need a very high resolution so that more information is in my focal point. i use a 32in Sony Bravia @ 1920 x 1080 atm, but its simply not enough if i'm honest. i could either get a multimonitor setup, or wait for a UHD display, both of which would benefit from the Titan rather than the 690. That said though, it'll be a long while before UHD's come down to a reasonable price point :/

You could get yourself a 30" 1600p monitor, this will give double the resolution you are using now but unfortunately no 3D.