• 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.

290/290x VS 970

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle

Winky_The_Winking_Turtle

Associate
Joined
13 May 2012
Posts
2,191
Hi,

I'm sure this question gets asked a lot around here 'cause they're both decent cards competing around the same price point, but I just need some advice to decide which one.

A 290/290x would cost less by itself, but it would mean I would have to upgrade my PSU (since some 290x's are very power hungry and I don't think my 600w is enough...)

A 970 (the card itself) would cost more, but overall it would technically cost less as I don't believe it required a 600w+ PSU.

However, I plan to also pick up a new monitor sometime soon, and 1440p is looking like a nice sweet spot.

Does the whole "3.5gb" really make that much of a difference? I'm just worried as I know that higher res needs more VRAM, and I don't want to suffer as a result. Both cards are typically listed as 4GB however. (Even then, can these cards push 1440p, or should I just get a really high quality 1080p panel?)

Also in regards to drivers/DX12, do Nvidia cards get the same supposed "boost" that AMD cards are getting? I've only owned AMD so I don't know what their drivers are like personally, I'm guessing their good and the cards are supported for a long time?

Also is now the best time to pick up a 970? 290's have come down in price 'cause of 3xx series, but as far as I know no new batch of Nvidia cards are coming anytime soon.

Thanks for any advice :)
 
As far as I can see 290/290X's have actually increased in price and you can pick up several brands of 970's for less.
 
Having the same decision as yourself, think I've decided on the 970 due to it's lower heat and power usage. Also reading comparisons there doesn't seem to be enough in it for one to be better than the other.
 
600w is more than enough, so long as the PSU is decent.

You can't really go wrong with either 290x or 970 @ 1440p. I'd favour the 290x slightly but it also depends on what model you're looking at, as some have better cooling/OC than others. And since they're cheaper anyway, it makes sense to go with that.
 
I think the question should be whether to go for a R9 390 or a GTX 970. Probably better going for an 8Gb 390 if you are planning at gaming >1080p in the future.
 
Poneros said:
600w is more than enough, so long as the PSU is decent.

You can't really go wrong with either 290x or 970 @ 1440p. I'd favour the 290x slightly but it also depends on what model you're looking at, as some have better cooling/OC than others. And since they're cheaper anyway, it makes sense to go with that.
Click to expand...

But isn't an R9 390 marginally quicker than a 290X and from what I can see the same price new?
 
The performance of the 390/x cards is deceptive because they come factory overclocked quite high but there's no more room to push them. On the other hand, the 290x has more room to push so you get close to parity in performance - but much cheaper.

They seem the same price but I can assure you that if you hustle now and look around you can find 290x for cheaper (new). But I can't say anymore about that here, it's against the rules.
 
CX600 isn't great, but it should be fine for a 290X

If you do upgrade, most-all current Corsair PSUs are overpriced for what they are, and the lower end one's are quite mediocre
 
The 970

Your current Psu will run it no problem as they're very efficient.

Both the 970 and the 290X will perform within a **** hair of each other, wins coming from either side.
 
Am running 290 x 2 - very pleased :D

But in your situation I would go with the 970 (less power & probably a lot less noise).:)
 
CX600 might not be the greatest but its much better than some generic supply & easily enough for 290x/ 390.

But 290X have gone back up in price, so not worth considering now. At £230 they were great value.
Another thing to bear in mind, coolers on 390 are better than 290x in general, only sapphire really nailed the 290x cooler, most manufacturers have a good cooler on the 390/ 390x.

To me, your choice probably comes down to this 390:

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

or this 970 :

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

with neither needing new PSU.

Not really sure which is a better card at 1440p :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom