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If you had £300 to spend what would you buy?

Sargatanas2511 said:
As the title says, I am looking at a new card, around the £300 mark (+-10%) and am interested in ideas for what card to get. I game at 1080p normally but do have a second 1080p monitor for 2560x1080 gaming on games it works for.

Currently to me the best card seems like a 390X at around £320 for the money but am willing to be talked into anything else.

Thanks for any input.
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What is the rest of your system bud?
 
dits said:
How does the MSI 780ti LE edition stack up against the 390X ?
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The 780Ti is essentially identical in performance to a 290X* thus the 390X is faster (it can be thought of as a overclocked 290X).

The 780Ti does only have 3GB of VRAM which may become (be?!) a problem in future titles even if it has the outright grunt to run them.

An 8GB 390 on the other hand will have the grunt and the VRAM thus is the better option right now.

*Turn off Fraps and you wouldn't be able to tell any difference.
 
RavenXXX2 said:
Gigabyte warranty goes by the cards serial number so you can safely ignore any 90 day warranty.
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There's a possibility that the returned card (B grade) has been registered by the original purchaser which would make the warranty useless for the second owner. I doubt if they just look at the serial number since any old faulty card from an auction site could be bought and sent for a replacement.
 
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Sargatanas2511 said:
Sorry I should have added that.

3570k @ 4.5Ghz
8GB (ordering 16GB with the card) of 1866Mhz RAM@ 9/9/9/27
Gigabyte Z77 UD5H board
620W corsair HX620
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Good shout on the 16GB. Seems more and more games require more and the CPU should be sweet at those clocks.

I would look at either of these, purely for warranty and price.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-289-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=3059

Free game with that as well (Civilization Beyond Earth).

Or

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-071-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

5 year warranty with that and a free game also (Assassin's Creed Syndicate or Rainbow 6 Siege).

Either of those will do you well and both are as good as each other. If you just want to game and do nothing else, I would grab the 390 or if you like to do other things like record your game footage, stream live to twitch or Youtube, have software automatically configure the optimum settings for you in games and have the potential to run 5K on your 2560x1440 screen if you so wish (5120x2880).

:)
 
I'm not sure how long PSU'S last but yours is about 7 or 8 years old?
It will probably be fine but I can't remember what connections they have
 
oweneades said:
The 780Ti is essentially identical in performance to a 290X* thus the 390X is faster (it can be thought of as a overclocked 290X).

The 780Ti does only have 3GB of VRAM which may become (be?!) a problem in future titles even if it has the outright grunt to run them.

An 8GB 390 on the other hand will have the grunt and the VRAM thus is the better option right now.

*Turn off Fraps and you wouldn't be able to tell any difference.
Click to expand...

The 390 has nowhere near the grunt needed to push significantly more than 4GB of vram. Witcher 3 maxed at 1080p will bring it to its knees while using around 2gb vram. And it's only going to get worse in future titles. Actually, I don't think you can use up the 980Ti's 6gb without running out of puff beforehand (I might be wrong though) and it's a much faster card.

Otherwise the 390 is pretty good but at this point in time I'd look for some second-hand bargain to tide me over till something that's not a rebrand arrives, either from AMD or Nvidia.
 
fs123 said:
The Sapphire Tri-x is probably the best cooler for any AMD card and is supposed to be the quietest too.
The 390X is around 10% faster than a 390 so if the difference in price is around £60-80 then it is a decent deal. You want a decent jump from your 7970 so get the best you can afford.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-r9-390x-tri-x-8gb-review/18/
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Sargatanas2511 said:
This is kind of my train of thought. If the gap was more like £100 I wouldn't be considering the 390X but even from the absolute cheapest 390 I can find it's £80 and from better cooled ones it's more like £50.
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If you want an upgrade to last a couple of years this is the way to go.
Sapphire 390x Tri-X.

If you only want it too last till the die shrink get a Sapphire 390 Nitro.

Now both available with backplates so keep an eye out for that.

My Sapphire Fury uses the Tri-x cooler and it's a great cooler.
 
Gregster said:
Good shout on the 16GB. Seems more and more games require more and the CPU should be sweet at those clocks.

I would look at either of these, purely for warranty and price.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-289-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=3059

Free game with that as well (Civilization Beyond Earth).

Or

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-071-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010




I like your calls, but the 390 is £39 less than the 390X I was eyeing, with a worse cooler. Is it REALLY not worth the £39 for it?
5 year warranty with that and a free game also (Assassin's Creed Syndicate or Rainbow 6 Siege).

Either of those will do you well and both are as good as each other. If you just want to game and do nothing else, I would grab the 390 or if you like to do other things like record your game footage, stream live to twitch or Youtube, have software automatically configure the optimum settings for you in games and have the potential to run 5K on your 2560x1440 screen if you so wish (5120x2880).

:)
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Thanks, but is there really that little in it that the 390 is worth £39 less than the 390X with a better cooler? I will look at the 970 though.
 
If I was buying right now I'd buy the cheapest OC model 780/(ti) or 290/(X) I could find and save the rest for next gen.
 
Rroff said:
If I was buying right now I'd buy the cheapest OC model 780/(ti) or 290/(X) I could find and save the rest for next gen.
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If memory serves me well the 290 and 290x set out to unseat the 780 and the Titan. And it ended up pretty much even.

The 780 was pretty much bang on with a 290, so by buying a 390 you're only getting a little more performance and a stupid amount of VRAM.

The 780 Lightning? heck, I would stick my neck out and say that overclocked it would be every bit as good as a 390.

The only concern I would have is that 3gb may not be enough to see you doing well at 1440p or above but stick to 1080p and it's one hell of a card for the money.
 
Rroff said:
If I was buying right now I'd buy the cheapest OC model 780/(ti) or 290/(X) I could find and save the rest for next gen.
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I know what you mean but this one will be passed onto my girlfriend anyway when I get a new one so that isn't too much concern to me. If I upgrade in 18 months or so then she would still have one that games properly.
 
ALXAndy said:
If memory serves me well the 290 and 290x set out to unseat the 780 and the Titan. And it ended up pretty much even.

The 780 was pretty much bang on with a 290, so by buying a 390 you're only getting a little more performance and a stupid amount of VRAM.

The 780 Lightning? heck, I would stick my neck out and say that overclocked it would be every bit as good as a 390.

The only concern I would have is that 3gb may not be enough to see you doing well at 1440p or above but stick to 1080p and it's one hell of a card for the money.
Click to expand...

I've had no problems so far gaming at 2560x1440 with 3GB but I'm very conscious that often I'm running it quite close to the limits - which is why I haven't gone 780 SLI.

If as he said its gonna be past down though then there is a good case for going for a little newer card.
 
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