Ahhh so you are guessing then. Also, the only thing about a launch is a site claiming Q1 of 2015 for a launch and that could mean March of 2015, so 3 months wait becomes a 6 month wait and using my own impatience, I struggle to wait a week when something is out already that has what I need.
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Best Bang for Buck! Nvidia or AMD now..
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Ahhh so you are guessing then. Also, the only thing about a launch is a site claiming Q1 of 2015 for a launch and that could mean March of 2015, so 3 months wait becomes a 6 month wait and using my own impatience, I struggle to wait a week when something is out already that has what I need.
Guessing yes
as with no concrete specs or them being reviewed you have to make a educated guess by Amd's track record on a whole and that it would be suicide for them to release a card only a little better than their old gen for the same price the 290 launched. Nvidia customers pay the premium when the full fat comes out but everybody expects Amd to be much cheaper for the same performance.
Guessing yes
I guess you didn't take notice of the 285 then. That was no better than the 280X and with a 256bit bus and cost the same as the 280X, if not more.
That aside, I am sure AMD are working hard on something and have taken note of what is what with the 980/970 and are taking consideration of what Maxwell will also offer in terms of nVidia's potential bigger cards. I have no idea why the 980/970 is such a successful launch and having seen AMD owners selling 290s/290Xs and nVidia owners selling 780s/Tis to buy a 970/980, I kinda think there must be something that I am missing. maybe it is the feature set that people want, maybe it is the cooler running cards that people want, maybe it is the drivers people want, I don't know personally but I do feel that the 970 is a fantastic card that beats my Titan hands down and costs a quarter of what I paid, so maybe there is something there.
@ The OP, You can't go wrong with a 970 and for the money and features, jump on it today before they are all sold out like has been happening.
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I wouldn't buy a gpu yet, A couple of months ago half the users on this forum were laughing at me for selling my 780 because I thought it wouldn't have enough ram in the long term, And here we are 2-3 months later and we have around 6 games that are all close to release that have recommended specs quoting around 6 gb's of video ram for optimal performance, So with that in mind you need to consider if your happy lowering settings or if you want to be able to max the settings, If your happy get a 4gb card (AMD/Nvidia) if not get an older gen 6gb card (Nvidia) or wait and see if the 8gb 970 and 980 models appear. Personally I'm holding off as long as I can in the hope of another not too far off release from either brand that has plenty of grunt and ram.
Should be fine.
It's never the right time to buy a GPU as things change so much.
Heck I paid £266 for a 290 back in December 2013 and already it has been knocked down by the 780s and now the 9 series stuff.
The 970 offers fantastic value.
Getting 120-140fps at 2560x1080 at High settings in BF4 is good enough in my books.
Long winded way of saying you haven't got a scooby and you're guessing. OK
I did notice the 285 but I am not concerned with mid range cards that don't affect high end Amd prices as they are quite a bit lower than what the 390 will come in at. My only concern is when midrange cards from any brand come in at what high end cards should be. If 290 Amd users are switching it's probably to do with the heat and noise the ref coolers had. Heat and noise is not a factor for changing with a Vapor-x.
Don't think there's many changing for extra performance of the 970 as there is none over Amd's year old gen 290. Don't think many would just change over power consumption but some might change to play with a new toy and have money to burn instead of waiting for a sizable increase in performance. These people will no doubt buy the next full fat toys to play with as well. As for drivers when I had Nvidia cards I found them no better then Amd's drivers and feature wise between both brands it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other but I have noticed you don't usually have to pay extra for Amd's features.
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Guessing yes
AMD's track record? So examples like a 6770 being a 5770 in a fresh dress don't count then? Or the 200's being 7000's? That's 2 seperate gen examples, At the end of the day they both do it. I wouldn't say people expect AMD to give the same for cheaper, I'd say they hope to get similar performance on the cheap.
Educated guess by Amd's track record and that it would be suicide for Amd to release a high end card so long after the 290 without at least 30%-50% more performance for the same price. They would not get away with Nvidia's tactics.
Well I tend to look at what the OP is after and recommend on that. I have recommended countless cards from 7950s/7850s/290s etc and not too often I have recommended an nVidia card unless the OP wants something that nVidia has (ShadowPlay/G-Sync/PhysX/GameWorks) etc etc. And now with the addition of DSR, and MFAA, nVidia's R&D expenditure is paying off.
Regardless of what is around the corner (I don't have a crystal ball), I tend to recommend on solid facts and with nothing about a launch from AMD even being mildly hinted at for this year, I am afraid the card to recommend to someone who wants to game at high spec and not bench, the 970 hits the spot.
As for the 290 being faster than the 970, I think you need to look at some reviews
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/9.html
I am talking about their track record on high end cards.
As for the 290 being faster than the 970, I think you need to look at some reviews
I did not say the 290 was faster than the 970 but there is not enough sizable increase in game either compared to year old tech. While Amd's 390 is not out yet looking ahead is always good in graphics cards and looking at brand tactics is also good as you can often yet more for your money by waiting a bit more even if that waiting a bit more is the time Nvidia drop their high end prices Maxwell prices to £100 more than Amd's launch high end prices and you are only paying £100 premium then.
Regarding 290 vs 970 they're pretty much even when you overclock both of them assuming you don't get an average 290. A well clocked 290 pretty much matches an overclocked 970 in most situations. Winning some and losing others.
There's no doubt what card I would buy if I was buying today though.
There's no doubt what card I would buy if I was buying today though.
9 series are still on day 1 drivers though, I'd expect a 5% boost at least from those alone for a new architecture, there was 1 or 2 drivers that boosted the 7 series cards nicely giving people an extra few hundred points in some benchmarks and 5-15fps more in some titles. The 290's I've seen scoring higher in the benchmark threads are on very good clocks and not what I'd call average, some of them may not even be game stable. There's also the fact 9 series are limited by voltage and power at the moment as well until custom bios are released and flashable. People got an extra 100mhz or so out of 7 series cards with skynet bios and when this happens mixed with optimized drivers the 970's will really start pulling away.
Nope just a guess.
True - but remember that in Heaven for example for some reason or another it favours nVidia's cards. My 780 on pretty ordinary clocks tonked my 290 which was running at the edge of the abyss.
970 is 100% a better card. I wish I had one but the difference between it and the 290 is pretty insignificant either way. If nVidia can make some improvements then that's good but don't think it will really swing it all in favour of them. May just edge a few % here and there as you say.
970 is 100% a better card. I wish I had one but the difference between it and the 290 is pretty insignificant either way. If nVidia can make some improvements then that's good but don't think it will really swing it all in favour of them. May just edge a few % here and there as you say.
The problem I see with your theory is you will never buy, as there is always something around the corner. I bought a pair of Titans on release day and if I had waited 6 months, I could have save money and got the 780 and then if I waited another 4 months, I could have grabbed a 780Ti or 290X and if I waited another 3 months, I could have grabbed the Titan Black and if I waited another 4 months, I could have grabbed the 980....