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970 or 290X

mark43

mark43

mark43

Soldato
Joined
14 Aug 2007
Posts
4,227
Sorry, I'm sure its a very common one but I'm really struggling to decide between a 970 and 290X to replace my aging 6950. I'd really appreciate any thoughts anyone has.

Current specs:
Coolermaster CM 690 II case
2500K
Asus P8P67
8GB 1600 MHz
Corsair 650W bronze PSU
512GB SSD
MSI HD 6950 Twin Frozr III
Screen - 1680 x 1050 (might replace fairly soon but probably only go 1080P)

I've been specifically looking at these two cards, though happy to hear any other suggestions

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-010-GX
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-281-MS

I guess there isn't much in it performance wise and the AMD is a bit cheaper. Based on everything I've read over the last few days, here are my concerns with each (which maybe I am right or wrong to be concerned about):

970:
- Possible coil whine - I know the one I linked is supposed to be whine free, but some people have expirienced it still
- The 3.5GB RAM issue - not currently a problem at my res I guess, but maybe a future issue?

290X:
- The whole temperature thing - I realise 3rd part cooling has sorted this but it does seem a shame to be pumping out so much hot air, even if I have a roomy case that can cope.
- Potential noise? - As it needs more cooling is it likely to produce more noise.
 
With current prices the choice is easy, 290X.

I got my card recently on mm and it is not noisy at all.
 
I have a Xfx 290 and its very quiet and i cant hear it over the case fans but it is at stock ! So all the noise heat issues are exaggerated in my mind ;)
 
In a minority it seems, but I can't speak highly enough of the KFA2 GTX 970.

And I have absolutely no coil whine...

GTA V on very high settings at 1080p only uses 2.5GB of the available memory, so I'm very pleased.
 
If you are at 1080p everyone i've seen, other than the people in this thread, say the 970. It's faster at 1080p than the 290x but struggles when going past it.

It's quieter and uses less power too!
 
You got 2500K CPU, GTX 970 get more performance out of it and use about 150W less power consumption than 290X.

If you play GTA V then get GTX 970 which is about 30% faster than 290X on 2500K at stock clock.

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Thanks everyone again.

Those benchmarks are interesting, I am just starting GTA V, surprised at how big a difference there is there.
 
It's only as the resolution scales that the 290x starts to become the faster card.

Below 1440p the 970 is the faster card.

And as has been mentioned above, it is a lot faster in GTAV. You also get lots of Nvidia tech which frankly I find I cant live without.

MFAA, Adaptive Vysnch

Then you've got aditional goodies such as: TXAA, PCSS, Physx, DSR.

For example, I have just enabled MFAA in GTAV. It has basically given me 4xMSAA at the cost of only 2x MSAA. If you've played the game, your realise what a difference this actually makes to IQ.
 
Upgrade to a 1080p monitor first imo, whats the point of having a beast graphics card but nothing to show for it?
 
a66as said:
Upgrade to a 1080p monitor first imo, whats the point of having a beast graphics card but nothing to show for it?
Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah I think I may look to do this at the same time. The main reason I haven't so far is that I didn't want to give my old card any extra work to do. I've kinda been willing my old screen to break to give me a reason, stupid reliable thing!
 
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