Mantle VS Reliability?

[northwestdakota]

Evening all,

I don't want to start some sort of Green VS Red thread of abuse; I would just like to see a few peoples perspective. I currently have between £300 - 450 to spend on a video card. This is a lot of money for me and I doubt I’ll be upgrading again for a couple of years, so I want to get it right.

My last card was a 7970, it was a great card and I was really pleased with the results. Well, I was pleased until it started causing all sorts of stability issues and I sent it back. To cut a long story short, it took me 4 weeks to find out it was the card and it frustrated me so much I gave up on the card and thought I’d keep my money. So here I am, in need of a card and cash ready to spend.

I waited for the 290 release to see how the card performed and like many people I come to the conclusion that it seems a great card but I should wait for the non ref coolers. So, that was me, mind made up.

Then I start seeing threads about stability problems, one big thread on these forums containing 14 pages. I'm now getting a bit worried, thinking to myself maybe I’d be better off with a 780, it will be cooler, quieter and I hear Nvidia are supposed to be really reliable. BUT, I know if I get a 780 and discover in a few months’ time that the likes of Thief run 20% better on Mantle, I’m going to be a little frustrated. I just want to play next years big games like Dragon age, Thief, The Witcher 3 all on max settings on a resolution of 1920x1200.

What do you guys think? I have no brand loyalty, I just want the best card I can afford and not have to deal with stability problems.

 

[northwestdakota]

I'm happy to wait for the coolers, though it would be nice to know the ETA on those. I see some people say late November, while other people point towards Jan. Would you guys say that Nvidia is that much more reliable than AMD?

As for Mantle, I see it as a nice bonus that will possibly at some point help my card out If I took reliability out of the debate, I think I would be happier with a 290 than a 780.

 

[northwestdakota]

Thanks for all the replies, it seems like no one here really believes that Nvidia is all that much more reliable than AMD.

If that's the case, I guess that makes my mind up for me, ill wait for non ref cooler 290 cards. Sure, i'd like to play Witcher 3 with all the fancy Nvidia exclusive extras, but it seems like ill get more out of most games on a 290 than I will a 780, that's before taking Mantle into account (which I agree, may not actually add anything for a while)

 

[northwestdakota]

Last time I tried crossfire was when I had a couple of 6850's, too much noise and too many stability issues, I never really felt the performance was worth it. I see 290's crossfire in a new way (no bridge), does that increase performance? does it reduce stability problems?

The feedback from this thread has convinced me to go for a non ref 290, if reports about 290 crossfire go well, I may look to get another one in a years time.

 

[northwestdakota]

Yeah, I had thought about that card, it looks great. I thought that i'd probably be better off with newer tech though.