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Best GPU upgrade for me to game at 1440p?

Hmmm, still not sure which way to go on my GPU upgrade!

I've ordered my 1440p monitor which should land today and despite reading loads of threads and reviews, I'm still not sure whether to go down the route of 290/X or GTX970!

The 290/X route appeals more I think but the biggest issue that is holding me back is the recommended PSU of 600W or in some cases 750W compared to the 450W of the 970's!?!?! :confused:

A few people on here have said that my 600W PSU will be fine but I don't want to spend £250+ on a card that could be borderline power-wise and then end up having to also upgrade my PSU!

Someone pointed me towards the following 290X:

Powercolor Radeon R9 290X PCS+ OC

I think this was recommended above the MSI card at a tenner less because of it having 3 fans rather than 2?

On the 970 front, which of the following would be the best?

Inno3D GeForce GTX 970 OC

KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 EX OC "Black Edition"

or is it worth the extra tenner for:

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0

Sorry for all the questions but I'm really trying to find the best option for me to game comfortably at 1440p - have no idea whether the VRAM issue on the 970's will affect me at this resolution???
 
I have recently replaced my 24" monitor with a BenQ 27" 1440 res jobbie, the BL2710PT, which I previously ran on a GTX 970. Due to the fracas regarding the Nvidia Vram issue, I rma'd said 970 and picked up a 290X 8gb from the MM (thanks Boomstick) and I can safely say the only difference I saw was that games seemed "smoother" with the 290x. Initially I thought this was a sort of placebo effect, but after others here were also noticing this, I now reckon its down to the 290x itself. Tbf, I notice no difference in performance when gaming other than this smoothness I mentioned, but when running fraps ingame, the 970 is a tad quicker than the 290x at 1080. when gaming at 1440, the 290x closes the gap a bit, but there isn't a lot in it at all that I've noticed.
On a sidenote, the extra 4gb I have on the card counts for nothing that I've seen either, BUT, should help a lot if partnered with another 8gb 290x in Xfire where the extra gpu grunt can be utilised.
Bottom line from what I've found is either card will do the job but the gimped Vram on the 970 "MIGHT" effect performance if pushing the in game graphical settings to ultra with loadsa AA at 1080p.
 
snips86x said:
There was a 290X Lightening on there for £200 the other day, may still be there!
Click to expand...

It was offered to me via my wanted thread but I declined due to a worry over the PSU requirements for it! (they seem to recommend a 750W PSU whereas I've only got a 600W!)

Having done a bit more research I think I should have listened as it's now sold! :(
 
StevieP said:
Hmmm, still not sure which way to go on my GPU upgrade!

I've ordered my 1440p monitor which should land today and despite reading loads of threads and reviews, I'm still not sure whether to go down the route of 290/X or GTX970!

The 290/X route appeals more I think but the biggest issue that is holding me back is the recommended PSU of 600W or in some cases 750W compared to the 450W of the 970's!?!?! :confused:

A few people on here have said that my 600W PSU will be fine but I don't want to spend £250+ on a card that could be borderline power-wise and then end up having to also upgrade my PSU!

Someone pointed me towards the following 290X:

Powercolor Radeon R9 290X PCS+ OC

I think this was recommended above the MSI card at a tenner less because of it having 3 fans rather than 2?

On the 970 front, which of the following would be the best?

Inno3D GeForce GTX 970 OC

KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 EX OC "Black Edition"

or is it worth the extra tenner for:

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0

Sorry for all the questions but I'm really trying to find the best option for me to game comfortably at 1440p - have no idea whether the VRAM issue on the 970's will affect me at this resolution???
Click to expand...

I run a 1440p monitor and 2 x GTX 970s.....1 is not enough! if your looking to get decent framerates you would need atleast a gtx 980 if its the nvidia road your going but tbh I would wait and see what AMD hit with the 390x
 
TiggerTime said:
I run a 1440p monitor and 2 x GTX 970s.....1 is not enough! if your looking to get decent framerates you would need atleast a gtx 980 if its the nvidia road your going but tbh I would wait and see what AMD hit with the 390x
Click to expand...

Depends what the OP wants from gaming. If money is an issue then Sli/Xfire is gonna be a no go, and a single card is the only option. Firstly, he can always turn down a few in game settings and reduce the AA to improve his framerates and this will depend on the type of game and experimenting with these settings and should give the op the desired results. Secondly, though not so desirable, is the option to run at 1080 rather than 1440, and kinda negates the whole point of getting a 1440 monitor, but if hes gonna be upgrading in the future to the next gen AMD/Nvidia gpu, hes got the monitor already in place to game at the higher res. He could also go for a 980, but I reckon that more cost more than what the op is prepared to pay.
I run my pc on a Corsair HX620 (in me sig) with zero problems/issues, you just need a good quality one.
 
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I think an 8GB card will be overkill for my purposes to be honest - I can't imagine I will be going down the X-Fire route any time soon!

In point of fact, my new 1440p BenQ monitor turned up today and I had a quick go on Elite: Dangerous at lunch and to be honest there was very little slowdown that I could notice on my existing GTX670! (which surprised me!)

I'm fairly sure that I want to be going for the 290X anyway as I'm sure there are far more demanding games out there that I will want to play in the future!
 
Time for a new psu?

I recently moved from a 750w bronze to a 1000w platinum and convinced myself that it was a good move - more efficient, can run 2 x 290 etc :p

More seriously, given nvidias push for gpu efficiency and , one assumes, AMD's move in that direction it may well be the case that 800w is enough in the future but I have doubts that 600w will be.
 
StevieP said:
I think an 8GB card will be overkill for my purposes to be honest - I can't imagine I will be going down the X-Fire route any time soon!

In point of fact, my new 1440p BenQ monitor turned up today and I had a quick go on Elite: Dangerous at lunch and to be honest there was very little slowdown that I could notice on my existing GTX670! (which surprised me!)

I'm fairly sure that I want to be going for the 290X anyway as I'm sure there are far more demanding games out there that I will want to play in the future!
Click to expand...

I would go GTX 970. I have no problems with mine, and my pc is almost exactly the same spec as yours. I have the same monitor now as well.... :)
 
StevieP said:
Noooooooo!!!!!!! I can't spend any more - stop putting idea's in my head!!! :p

Graphics card wise, is the Gigabyte R9 290X 4GB worth an extra £40 over the Sapphire R9 290 TRI-X OC 4GB card??
Click to expand...

Id say no. Not sure if the gig is that Good at cooling either. The 290x LE gaming at 249 is great value but same again not great cooler. For quiet good coolers the vapour x, powercolor and lightning's are rated the best.
 
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