• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Pondering an upgrade

MichaelAwkward

MichaelAwkward

MichaelAwkward

Soldato
Joined
22 Jul 2014
Posts
3,907
Location
Oxon
Currently have a MSI GeForce GTX 670 PE OC 2GB card, just upgraded memory to 16GB and a new 1440p monitor for GTA 5. However I hear I may struggle due to my GPU memory.

With this in mind, which would be best...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-364-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

OR

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-001-GX&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

OR the wildcard...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-359-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

Thanks guys. Also is the reference GTX 970 worth the extra cash?
 
You will struggle. A mate of mine recently ditched his 670 because he had to play at 1080p and even then he had to reduce settings.

The stock 970 is the only one that'll dump the heat out of the back of your case. I usually always use that type.
 
I wouldnt get any of those above other than the Asus 290x.

However, as you mention GTAV, you should go Nvidia as it seems to perform better.

My personal fav is the gigabyte G1, but the MSI and the Asus will get the job done.

As said above, if you want heat out of case then reference it is.

But at your resolution, you might better off with a 980 if you can stretch that far.
 
As far as GTX 970s go, the top 3 are the MSI, Asus Strix and Gigabyte G1. I'd go MSI since it seems you are on a budget. As for the 8GB R9 290X... I haven't seen many benchmarks. Modern day games are starting to push beyond the 4GB limit.

GTAV is a memory hog. And here lies the big issue. Some places, the 290X performs better than the 970 at GTAV, but in other places its the 970. I guess it comes down to the other features. G-sync or freesync? The 8GB 290X may be the better option for very high resolutions. I'd check benchmarks on the games you play before committing to one.

Edit: Slightly better performance 980 isn't worth the extra money. The 290X/970 are in the price to performance sweet spot, go for one of them.
 
Hmm. R9 290X seems the best for money at that price then. I think I'll wait until I get GTA V and see how it runs before I upgrade. Hopefully the R9 290X will still be on offer by then. Or is it due to be replaced soon by the 390?
 
These crazy value 290X offers are pretty much there to clear the 200 series stock as they are soon to be replaced. Now is the time to bite if you want a new 290X, but there is nothing wrong with waiting to see what performance the 390 will offer, although it'll be more expensive.
 
Hmm, in the case I may hang fire a bit and see what's available in a month or two. I bought my GTX 670 when it was going out of fashion and I would've liked it to last longer ideally.

Thanks guys
 
a single 980 will give you playable frames at 1440p on max settings but you wont maintain 60fps (with x2 msaa)

definately dont go for a 970, out of those two i think a 290x for 229.99 is a pretty good deal
 
The current 290x price is one of those situations that don't last. Gibbo posted a couple of months ago saying that AMD would not launch the 390 cards because there was a massive stock pile of 290 cards. These current prices are AMD basically getting rid of them cheap.

The 380 is supposedly a rebrand of the 290x and I'll bet you now it won't cost no £229. I would say nearer £300.

Right now there really is no reason to go Nvidia if you're sticking to a single card. I had a 290 non X in my rig a little while ago and I tell you what with a little bit of overclocking it was every bit as fast as one of my Titan Blacks.

The drivers worked first time too. I just wouldn't do Crossfire right now. Not until AMD pull their collective fingers out.
 
opethdisciple said:
I wouldnt get any of those above other than the Asus 290x.
Click to expand...

I especially wouldn't get the Asus 290x, There's plenty of sources showing that in buying one you're take the risk of getting a card that does not handle the heat very well and like with my MSI Twin Frozer 290x throttling becomes an issue.

@ OP, If you go for a 290x go with a Sapphire non reference model, The 970 is not suited for 1440 gaming really, Nvidia made sure of that. You should lower settings for a few weeks and wait for the 300 series and then you'll have new cards to choose from and reduced prices on old cards.

If you just bought a new 1440p monitor why didn't you go with a free-sync or G-sync model? This has got to be the most important Monitor tech to include when buying a new monitor now.
 
I have a friend with a 690 (so 2x2gb) and an x58 i7 920 that insists he would see no benefit from upgrading, playing on a RoG Swift.

Not really played with his machine myself but perhaps GSync is doing it's job for him.
 
nashathedog said:
If you just bought a new 1440p monitor why didn't you go with a free-sync or G-sync model? This has got to be the most important Monitor tech to include when buying a new monitor now.
Click to expand...

I'm not /that/ into gaming. Mostly strategy games and simulators other than the occasional big name like GTA V. The monitor is a Dell U2515H.

I think I'll take your advice and hang on/see how it runs first before upgrading.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
A GTX 980 is almost twice the price of the R9 290X... I'm not gonna get twice the performance am I?
Click to expand...

Sorry I was initially talking about the 970's. The only reason why I mentioned the 980, is becuase up to around 1200p the 970 is fantastic.

Although it will still work great at 1440p, personally I think at this res, you should do it justice and get the more powerfull 980.

As for the 980 being twice as fast as the 290x no, it isnt. I suppose a cheap option for you is the 290x, but Nvidia do better in GTA V.
 
If the 3 top 970s are the same price right now (they weren't last I checked), then go for Gigabyte G1 or MSI for the higher clocks. Also I'd always argue 290x/970 vs 980 at that price point, just because the performance increase of the 980 isn't worth the extra money paid IMO. But if £500 is the budget, then of course go 980.

This is an odd time to buy a new graphics card because new ones are around the corner. If the info on 290x stock is true, then now is the best time to buy one, otherwise I'd wait till June for the new cards to release. Unless there will still be a few 290x knocking around maybe?

An update on GTAV, I saw some live benchmarks earlier today. The 290x maybe pulls ahead of the 970 15% of the time, but otherwise there can be up to a ~10fps increase with the 970 at 1080p on very high settings with MSAAx4 and maxed advanced graphics. The 970 kept above a 30fps threshold, while the 290x didn't.

If you don't mind paying ~£70 more for ~10 more FPS on a 970, then go for it. Might I also add that OCUK do special offers at times, like 2 instances recently where the MSI 970 dropped to £269.99 (which is why I thought it cheap).
 
MichaelAwkward said:
Just realised that my PSU may be an issue. I have a EVGA GS 550W. I noticed the R9 290X's say 600W minimum...
Click to expand...
Your EVGA GS 550W is a quality PSU that can deliver max output of 540W on the 12v rail.

A stock 290x consume only around 230-270W on average, and highly overclocked 290x running demanding graphic settings such as SuperSampling or higher than 1920 res would peak at around 330-340W max.

So basically as long as the rest of your system doesn't consume more than 200W (540-340W), you'd be fine.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom