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970 vs 290x vs 290

In most yes, in couple borderlands and batman being the two that use it well.

Some games like them two above you can run on your cpu, performance will be much lower but depending on cpu can be very playable. I completed batman with it running on my CPU.
 
The Lightnig might be the fastest of the three, but the 970, will have access and will be optimized for all the Nvidia goodness, in the Game Works Titles.

What games does the OP play?
 
my pennies worth would be to think of the cards as exactly the same when playing games the 290x outputs a bit more heat but is cheaper, the 970 is a bit cooler, Personally i would choose which one you like the look and features of, for the price of all 3 cards there really is no right or wrong decision.

If i was buying a card right now it would probably be the 290x lightning.
 
Mostly I have been playing wow, but before you start recommending a 270 I'm planning on purchasing more AAA games. I play skyrim with a decent amount of mods so I'll appreciate the 4gb vram. I shall be playing gta v on it when it's released along with dying light and cod aw. As and when I find good deals. I wouldn't plan on upgrading for about 2 years.
As a side note I do spent a fair amount of time in Photoshop (and the Adobe ecosystem in general) would any of these cards offer a clear real world performance boost?
 
Lightning

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Galax

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At the current price, I think the 290 Lightning is the best value for money card available. Especially if you like tweaking (not twerking).
 
For Photoshop and the Adobe world in general isnt Cuda more valuable than the AMD equivalent? (Open CL (could be wrong :p)

Theres no doubt the lightning is the faster, better built card. But the 970 will have that Nvidia touch for Game works games. Which most of them seem to be the biggest most popular titles.

I would say it comes down to one thing then. Adobe. If AMD's support in Adobe is as good as the Nvidia one then go for the Lightning. If i isnt then you need to way up whats more important. Gaming performance vs (Still good) gaming performance but better Adobe support.
 
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I do appreciate twerking although it is not something I would personally partake in. Tweaking I probably wouldn't do much, but having the option to in the future to push out more performance can't be a bad thing. I presume both cards could be watercooled in the future with equal difficulty?

It was my impression that CUDA offered better performance than openGL however I have been told otherwise since. Im guessing it isn't as clear cut as before.
 
I went 560ti - 660 OC > 280X > 970 GTX and to be honest I'll never go back to AMD, Mantle wasn't all that as far as I'm concerned and Nvidia has better features and just nicer to use. There was nothing wrong with my 280x it ran fine every day of usage, I just prefer Nvidia
 
Although the 290X is at a great price, I personally would go for the 970. You won't go wrong with either though. Just take a look at what games run better on what hardware.
 
Neil79 said:
I went 560ti - 660 OC > 280X > 970 GTX and to be honest I'll never go back to AMD, Mantle wasn't all that as far as I'm concerned and Nvidia has better features and just nicer to use. There was nothing wrong with my 280x it ran fine every day of usage, I just prefer Nvidia
Click to expand...

Not sure that comparing a 970 to a 280X (or Mantle on a 280X) is particularly wise.
Oh, and neither is saying never ;)

If your main game is Skyrim, then 'nuff said.
 
£300 was just a guess, it's more likely they'll come in around the current 970 price at the time. Few months gives you plenty of time to save an extra 50 quid if needed for a better card?
 
To be fair a few months would be more likely to give me time to spend what I currently have. I'd be happy to wait but I wouldn't spend any more than I would now in a months time.
 
The fact the op is reluctant to snap up the 290x lightning (which is the faster card - thats not to say the 970 is slow) indicates the op wants an Nvidia solution.

What resolution do you game at?

I would still grab the 970. Hence why I have one.

You've got some 970 reviews here and here.

Some 290x reviews here

Either are sexy.

If you want Nvidia and better support in Game Works Titles grab the 970. If you want Mantle then grab the 290x. (Mantle is pretty redundant when DX12 comes out mind you.)

But waiting is another option AMD should have some new cards out within the next few months.
 
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290 lightning is a very good bargain. Heck if any lightning card comes up on a deal be it nv/amd, snap em up. The word lightning in an msi card means overclockers take notice. Much fun to be had.:D
 
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