AAAGGGHH... which one now??!!

ttaskmaster · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:00

Silly me, didn't notice the 780 Lightning price was a This Week Only special...
So now my budget is up to £430 bracket.
I want the best performance for that price, preferably from a card that is (generally) quiet and easily cooled in a standard Corsair 500R case (ie, no water).

I also *promise* this is the last time I'll ever ask about or even mention this... until I next upgrade in a few years to a DDR9 card or whatever we're using by then!

I need something for 1080p gaming that will be OK in forthcoming games like Star Citizen, Elite, WatchDogs, The Division, etc and will run well with:
- FX6350 (OC to 4.5GHz)
- MSI 970A-G46
- 650W OCZ PSU
- 8GB 1866 MHz RAM (can always buy more)

I know that kit will hold the GPU back a bit, but I will be upgrading most of that lot well before I can afford a GPU upgrade.

I'm fairly set on a GTX780... but which one?
I've been pretty sold on the 780 Lightning, which apparently can overclock very high very nicely (perhaps to the level of a stock Titan, if I recall the reviews correctly?)... That part may be restricted by my Mobo/PSU though?

So it seems my choices are now:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 780 iChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra DHS Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £429.95
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £429.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x "GHz Edition" 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £419.99
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 780 HOF 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **ALL WHITE** £419.99
Total : £1,709.47 (includes shipping : £8.00).

At this level, is it really a case of biggest numbers are best, or is there more behind it?

Or would I be better off with an AMD solution?

elJarmen · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:06

I was in a similar situation and chosen to go with the Sapphire R9 290 Tri X. You're getting 95%+ of the same performance for 20%-30% of the price. Granted you may come across an issue or two but nothing unsolvable especially with the help of some of the dedicated members of this community.

RetrogamerX · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:08

ttaskmaster said:
Silly me, didn't notice the 780 Lightning price was a This Week Only special...
So now my budget is up to £430 bracket.
I want the best performance for that price, preferably from a card that is (generally) quiet and easily cooled in a standard Corsair 500R case (ie, no water).

I also *promise* this is the last time I'll ever ask about or even mention this... until I next upgrade in a few years to a DDR9 card or whatever we're using by then!

I need something for 1080p gaming that will be OK in forthcoming games like Star Citizen, Elite, WatchDogs, The Division, etc and will run well with:
- FX6350 (OC to 4.5GHz)
- MSI 970A-G46
- 650W OCZ PSU
- 8GB 1866 MHz RAM (can always buy more)

I know that kit will hold the GPU back a bit, but I will be upgrading most of that lot well before I can afford a GPU upgrade.

I'm fairly set on a GTX780... but which one?
I've been pretty sold on the 780 Lightning, which apparently can overclock very high very nicely (perhaps to the level of a stock Titan, if I recall the reviews correctly?)... That part may be restricted by my Mobo/PSU though?

So it seems my choices are now:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 780 iChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra DHS Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £429.95
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £429.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x "GHz Edition" 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £419.99
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 780 HOF 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **ALL WHITE** £419.99
Total : £1,709.47 (includes shipping : £8.00).

At this level, is it really a case of biggest numbers are best, or is there more behind it?

Or would I be better off with an AMD solution?

I had the 780 iChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra DHS Edition and that cooler is truly amazing, but the MSI 780 Lightning is a killer card

Davanius · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:10

I have the ghz edition card and it's fantastic. Fast and quiet with a good looking back plate.

Would have got the ichill though if it was on offer when I bought it.

humbug · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:11

Good Grief they are all over £400. ridiculous price for those cards, an overclocked 280X will keep up with them

Save yourself some money and go for 290, you get more GPU for your money. here £100 saved and its faster.

Davanius · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:21

humbug said:
Good Grief they are all over £400. ridiculous price for those cards, an overclocked 280X will keep up with them

Save yourself some money and go for 290, you get more GPU for your money. here £100 saved and its faster.

You mean an overclocked 290 right?

humbug · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:26

Davanius said:
You mean an overclocked 290 right?

No, i mean a stock 290. Look all the way down here, in most things the 290 is significantly ahead, where its not its so tight between them it makes no difference. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1036

@ ttaskmaster, bigger price numbers mean nothing, Nvidia are just more expensive, thats all.

You get more GPU going AMD, i can't say the same about CPU's, you really should have spend that £100 your saving against the 780 on an Intel i5 Rig.

Martini1991 · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:34

That Sapphire R9 290 with custom cooler for 299.99 would have been where my money goes.

I'd personally pick an R9 290 over the GTX780 to be perfectly honest, although one with a custom cooler.

Davanius · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:35

humbug said:
No, i mean a stock 290. Look all the way down here, in most things the 290 is significantly ahead, where its not its so tight between them it makes no difference. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1036

@ ttaskmaster, bigger price numbers mean nothing, Nvidia are just more expensive, thats all.

You get more GPU going AMD, i can't say the same about CPU's, you really should have spend that £100 your saving against the 780 on an Intel i5 Rig.

You have made a mistake then in the first line where you have written an overclocked 280x.

humbug · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:39

eh?

I said

humbug said:
Good Grief they are all over £400. ridiculous price for those cards, an overclocked 280X will keep up with them

Save yourself some money and go for 290, you get more GPU for your money. here £100 saved and its faster.

Davanius said:
You mean an overclocked 290 right?

humbug said:
No, i mean a stock 290. Look all the way down here, in most things the 290 is significantly ahead, where its not its so tight between them it makes no difference. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1036

@ ttaskmaster, bigger price numbers mean nothing, Nvidia are just more expensive, thats all.

You get more GPU going AMD, i can't say the same about CPU's, you really should have spend that £100 your saving against the 780 on an Intel i5 Rig.

Davanius said:
You have made a mistake then in the first line where you have written an overclocked 280x.

An overclocked 280X would keep up with a 780, a stock 290 is faster than that 780.

Davanius · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:41

Sorry Humbug, I am in denial about having a cracking headache.

humbug · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:41

Davanius said:
Sorry Humbug, I am in denial about having a cracking headache.

lol..

Gregster · 4 Apr 2014 at 14:53

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-227-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

That would be my choice, purely because it is the beastiest 780 going and I can't clock a Titan faster than a 780 (and that is with water cooled and voltage unlocked). Simply amazing cards and the warranty is transferable, so should you sell up at a later date, the new owner gets the remainder of the warranty. Only EVGA do this and it is a proper plus in my book.

Also worth a mention is WatchDogs is an nVidia title and so is the Division and Star Citizen will have PhysX as well

thefogo · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:00

290 Tri-X I'd say. You would be mad as a hat to spend £100 more on a 780.

RetrogamerX · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:03

Gregster said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-227-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

That would be my choice, purely because it is the beastiest 780 going and I can't clock a Titan faster than a 780 (and that is with water cooled and voltage unlocked). Simply amazing cards and the warranty is transferable, so should you sell up at a later date, the new owner gets the remainder of the warranty. Only EVGA do this and it is a proper plus in my book.

Also worth a mention is WatchDogs is an nVidia title and so is the Division and Star Citizen will have PhysX as well

^^^^
This

EVGA 780 Classy gets my vote.

Lex1970 · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:08

The quietest and coolest 780 for under four hundred pounds without question is the f
Gainward glh phantom gtx780

Ian Evey · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:20

humbug said:
eh?

I said

An overclocked 280X would keep up with a 780, a stock 290 is faster than that 780.

You do make some silly blanket statements, you obviously just try to rub people up the wrong way and try to persuade them to buy amd cards, even though you have n0 experience using a 780.

ttaskmaster > Any 780 you have choosen above will be fine, I can only comment on my card which is the ichill herculez ultra ( None DHS edition ) which is £399 at present but might be on a this week only soon.

It sits at 65 degress when overclocked to 1228 mhz core and 7400mhz memory, That is the limit of this card using stock volts

It is very quiet but 30cm long and requires 3 slots as the cooler is HUGE.

RetrogamerX · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:24

Ian Evey said:
You do make some silly blanket statements, you obviously just try to rub people up the wrong way and try to persuade them to buy amd cards, even though you have n0 experience using a 780.

ttaskmaster > Any 780 you have choosen above will be fine, I can only comment on my card which is the ichill herculez ultra ( None DHS edition ) which is at 65 degress when overclocked to 1228 mhz core and 7400mhz memory, That is the limit of this card using stock volts

It is very quiet but 30cm long and requires 3 slots.

It is funny the amd guys just storm the post lol

ichill herculez ultra is the best cooler I've seen on 780, Amazing temps even on full load. but the bad 3 slots If you want to go SLI I wouldn't get this card. Too big!!!...not much oc'ing head room. I say any EVGA 780. Classy being top dog.

I still think the Ref Titan Cooler is a great looker.

Ian Evey · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:28

RetrogamerX said:
It is funny the amd guys just storm the post lol

ichill herculez ultra is the best cooler I've seen on 780, but the bad 3 slots...not much oc'ing head room. I say any EVGA 780. Classy being top dog.

To be honest, mine did 1120 out of the box and 6200 memory, it will goto 1228 and 7400 memory, I dont call that not much headroom

, And if i had the guts to try to get the non boosting bios working on mine it would probs go higher.

ttaskmaster · 4 Apr 2014 at 16:20

humbug said:
@ ttaskmaster, bigger price numbers mean nothing, Nvidia are just more expensive, thats all.

I meant bigger numbers as in clock speed and so on.
Price is not a factor, below £430-odd so I'm happy around that mark.

humbug said:
You get more GPU going AMD, i can't say the same about CPU's, you really should have spend that £100 your saving against the 780 on an Intel i5 Rig.

I've kinda been an AMD fanboy generally, but have no problem going Nvidia if they can do better. The CPU and board weren't down to me, though, but a very thoughtful gift. I'll obviously upgrade when they get too old to really cope, but should be fine in the meantime.