GPU choice Query

[_syn_]

I posted in the General section yesterday regarding an upgrade and im having a particularly hard time selecting a suitable graphics card.

ive narrowed it down to 3 possible cards:

Nvidia 780
AMD R9 290
AND R9 280x

I would be willing to spend £300 is (+ or - 100 within reason). My current annoyance with my current setup is the noise my GTX 570 HD makes these days. looking at the range for the above cards, i've noticed some come with either 2 fans or 3. In the interests in keeping noise to a minimum would i be best to select a model with 3 fans?

The advice i was given regarding the 290 was to wait for the non ref versions for better cooling. Does anyone know roughly when these will be available? are we talking a few weeks or months?


rest of my current spec in case people ask:

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA775)
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD 2560MB GDDR5
Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant Power Supply
Coolermaster Storm 'Scout' Gaming Case
Samsung 840 Series Pro 256GB SSD
CORSAIR CMX12GX3M3A1600C9 12GB (3 x 4GB) (one stick failed so down to 8GB)

 

[MowyTone]

Just as a thought...have you opened up the card to see if it is getting clogged up? It could be making more noise as the fan is having to work harder


e: or is it 'my G card is too noisy, it's just the excuse I need to buy a new card'?

 

[Boomstick777]

Just as a thought...have you opened up the card to see if it is getting clogged up? It could be making more noise as the fan is having to work harder


e: or is it 'my G card is too noisy, it's just the excuse I need to buy a new card'?

If it is dust.. Easiest way to give a GPU a good clean is, remove it from PC, take it to a Window or outside, and blast it with a hair dryer on max speed .

Amazing the amount of crap that can come out of a GPU, especially if it has been sat in the case for years...

 

[almighty15]

780 without a doubt...... AMD 290 cards are too unpridicable into if you get a good one that works or not.

I have a Windforce 3x OC 780 and it's whisper quiet...

 

[_syn_]

Just as a thought...have you opened up the card to see if it is getting clogged up? It could be making more noise as the fan is having to work harder


e: or is it 'my G card is too noisy, it's just the excuse I need to buy a new card'?

could be both its certainly being tested by bf4 at the minute. i gave the tower a de-dust a few months back. At least im using it as an excuse to replace just the gpu. i could easily (trust me) given in to my temptation to do a complete rebuild

 

[Boomstick777]

780 without a doubt...... AMD 290 cards are too unpridicable into if you get a good one that works or not.

I have a Windforce 3x OC 780 and it's whisper quiet...

 

[_syn_]

i assume that means you would opt for the 290 and you do not consider the giga 780 to be whisper quiet