Not another which GPU thread!!!

Evilmethod666 · 16 Sep 2015 at 19:11

I've been going round in circles trying to decide which graphics card to buy to replace my 7970?

My dell monitor is nice but only supports 1080p, I have a i5 3570k CPU and a Bequiet 650w PSU and a £450 budget

ideally I don't want to spend more then I have to but I would like something that will last at least 24months before it gets replaced and allows me to play new releases will all the shiny bits switched on? I have to dial GTA5 right back on my current card

SLI/Crossfire is a option but I would prefer a single card and I have no preference for Nvidia or AMD

Thanks in advance

andybird123 · 16 Sep 2015 at 19:51

The best cards in the sub£450 bracket are the 390 or the 970, the 390X and 980 aren't really worth the extra and the 390 is basically just a rebadged 290, so if you wanted to save more again try to get hold of a 290/X, in fact if you go 2nd hand you could get a pair of 290's or X's for your budget

Or if you stretch your budget a tiny bit and hunt about you can get a 980ti

Jono8 · 16 Sep 2015 at 19:54

£450? Just add an extra £30-£40 and wait for a 980Ti deal (pretty sure one could be had for £480 recently).

Also, if you want something that will last 24 months it is going have to be a Ti or a Fury X

thebennyboy · 16 Sep 2015 at 19:54

andybird123 said:
The best cards in the sub£450 bracket are the 390 or the 970, the 390X and 980 aren't really worth the extra and the 390 is basically just a rebadged 290, so if you wanted to save more again try to get hold of a 290/X, in fact if you go 2nd hand you could get a pair of 290's or X's for your budget

Or if you stretch your budget a tiny bit and hunt about you can get a 980ti

Basically this, a second hand 290(x) is probably the best value for money card right now. Can pick one up for £150.

sneakysnail · 16 Sep 2015 at 19:58

andybird123 said:
The best cards in the sub£450 bracket are the 390 or the 970, the 390X and 980 aren't really worth the extra and the 390 is basically just a rebadged 290, so if you wanted to save more again try to get hold of a 290/X, in fact if you go 2nd hand you could get a pair of 290's or X's for your budget

Or if you stretch your budget a tiny bit and hunt about you can get a 980ti

a bit overkill if he''s staying at 1080 and would need a new PSU to run xfire'd AMD cards.

I do agree though If he's really looking for some future proofing splash the extra cash and go for a 980TI that way if he ever wants can step up to 4k and still get reasonable FPS at slightly lowered settings without the hassle of sli/Xfire and stupidly high power requirements from AMD

mickyflinn · 16 Sep 2015 at 19:59

Mite as well stretch and get a 980ti destroy everyrhing at 1080p, also you will be ready when you upgrade your monitor or multi monitor gaming.

If not then the 390 or 970 as mentioned above.

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 980Ti "Infin8 Black Edition" 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £499.99

thebennyboy · 16 Sep 2015 at 20:03

For 1080p you won't need a 980Ti, you'll be better served by a GTX 970 or R9 390. Use the rest to buy an SSD or something.

Joe! · 16 Sep 2015 at 20:09

GTA is quite CPU bound too, so it's not really a fair example to base your current set up on. (I had an i5-3450 and 7970 a few months ago too - I noticed a huge improvement when I upgraded CPU and GPU, compared to just GPU)

If you want a bargain now and don't plan on pondering past 1080p within those 24 months, grab a 390 now, then in a couple of years when it's down to £100-150 second hand, pick another up (if you need it) as well as a new PSU.

Jono8 · 16 Sep 2015 at 20:45

thebennyboy said:
For 1080p you won't need a 980Ti, you'll be better served by a GTX 970 or R9 390. Use the rest to buy an SSD or something.

Absolute rubbish. Even more so considering he wants it to last him 2 years!

My 980 struggles to get a constant 60fps on the Witcher 3 at 1080p with everything on + hairworks and that game came out a few months ago.

A 980Ti will be struggling to max out some games at 1080p in a years time, let alone two.

Evilmethod666 · 16 Sep 2015 at 20:49

I'm seriously considering a Sapphire Radeon Fury Tri-X 4096MB HBM

Although if I go down the 970 or 390 route what boards would be a good candidates for a Kraken VGA cooling bundle?

Also what about the original GTX Titan?

Zethor · 16 Sep 2015 at 20:50

Jono8 said:
Absolute rubbish. Even more so considering he wants it to last him 2 years!

My 980 struggles to get a constant 60fps on the Witcher 3 at 1080p with everything on + hairworks and that game came out a few months ago.

A 980Ti will be struggling to max out some games at 1080p in a years time, let alone two.

Hairworks is a gimmick that adds bugger all to the visual quality of a game. A 980ti at 1080p is a waste of money.

Jono8 · 16 Sep 2015 at 20:58

Zethor said:
Hairworks is a gimmick that adds bugger all to the visual quality of a game. A 980ti at 1080p is a waste of money.

More rubbish. Hairworks in the Witcher 3 looks absolutely brilliant.

I am glad developers are pushing the hardware we have to make good visuals, whether people think they are gimmicks or not. It's progress.

A 980Ti at 1080p is most certainly not a waste of money.

No other single card will give you 60fps at 1080p, especially not for the next 2 years.

A 390 already struggles to get 60fps at 1080p

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/23.html - NB Hairworks OFF

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/16.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/14.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/18.html

The guy is asking for advice and help. At least try to be realistic. Did you even read the OP - "allows me to play new releases will all the shiny bits switched on" - A 980Ti is mots certainly not a waste of money at 1080p if that is what he wants.

nashathedog · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:03

I'd get the fastest card you can. You're going to max the card regardless of how quick it is and only having a 1080p screen, Plus you have the option of dsr/vsr. I run my games at 1440 on a 1080p monitor, Some at 4k even and it uses all the performance and wants more so if you can't wait on your 7970 till next years die shrink either get a 390/970 and sell it next year for a faster die shrunk card or if you just want to buy now and be done get the fastest card you can afford, Fastest to slowest would be 980ti, Fury X, Fury, 980, 390x, 390, 970. That's in my opinion but I'm sure other will disagree, plus its at stock clocks, With overclocking it's probably more likely to have the 980 above the Fury at least for now.

Jono8 · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:04

Evilmethod666 said:
I'm seriously considering a Sapphire Radeon Fury Tri-X 4096MB HBM

Although if I go down the 970 or 390 route what boards would be a good candidates for a Kraken VGA cooling bundle?

Also what about the original GTX Titan?

Seriously, if your budget is £450 just spend a bit more and get a 980Ti. It is the fastest thing you can buy at the moment (apart from the Titan X but that is silly money).

I wouldn't even entertain a cut down Fiji card when you can get a 980Ti for only £60 more. 980Ti's have been on sale for £480 recently so I would just wait for a deal on one. A 980Ti is beastly at 1080p and should future proof you for a decent amount of time.

Joe! · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:08

I'm willing to bet I could make a 980Ti shrivel at 1080p, but that's not necessarily realisitic either.

OP also said he "doesn't want to spend more than he has to"; which bodes towards the 390. The 390 will hold its ground at 1080p, maybe not at absolute max settings but nor will a 980Ti. As said by previous posters, you could put another 390 in for his £450 budget in the future, when its needed, and you'll still have good performance. - And it saves you £200 in the short term.

Unless I am being silly that review doesn't say what settings its running at either, just says that AA "is applied" - To what extent?

Jono8 · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:10

Joe! said:
I'm willing to bet I could make a 980Ti shrivel at 1080p, but that's not necessarily realisitic either.

OP also said he "doesn't want to spend more than he has to"; which bodes towards the 390. The 390 will hold its ground at 1080p, maybe not at absolute max settings but nor will a 980Ti. As said by previous posters, you could put another 390 in for his £450 budget in the future, when its needed, and you'll still have good performance. - And it saves you £200 in the short term.

Unless I am being silly that review doesn't say what settings its running at either, just says that AA "is applied" - To what extent?

He has a budget of £450, he wants to play at 1080p with everything turned on and he wants it to last him 2 years and you suggest a 390. Brilliant.

Wouldn't a 980Ti with an overclock be close to the performance of two 390's anyway, and without the potential pitfalls of a multi GPU solution as well?

thebennyboy · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:11

Jono8 said:
More rubbish. Hairworks in the Witcher 3 looks absolutely brilliant.

I am glad developers are pushing the hardware we have to make good visuals, whether people think they are gimmicks or not. It's progress.

A 980Ti at 1080p is most certainly not a waste of money.

No other single card will give you 60fps at 1080p, especially not for the next 2 years.

A 390 already struggles to get 60fps at 1080p

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/23.html - NB Hairworks OFF

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/16.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/14.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/18.html

The guy is asking for advice and help. At least try to be realistic. Did you even read the OP - "allows me to play new releases will all the shiny bits switched on" - A 980Ti is mots certainly not a waste of money at 1080p if that is what he wants.

lol, another blatant fanboy on the ignore list. Oh and my 290 will max out TW3 without LameWorks just fine whilst maintaining 50 - 60 FPS, so you're the one talking out of your arse.

OP: A 970 or 390 will serve you best until the next die shrink, no point in getting a 980Ti.

Jono8 · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:15

thebennyboy said:
lol, another blatant fanboy on the ignore list. Oh and my 290 will max out TW3 without LameWorks just fine whilst maintaining 50 - 60 FPS, so you're the one talking out of your arse.

OP: A 970 or 390 will serve you best until the next die shrink, no point in getting a 980Ti.

Ay?

Devrij · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:17

If you want it to last 24 months with all settings maxed a 980ti is a good shout. It will be overkill at 1080p on 90% of the games you play, but that remaining percentage will make it worthwhile. It just about does the witcher at 1440p for me, so it should cope very well at 1080p and keep you going for a while.

The alternative is a second hand 290 for a LOT less money, which will provide a nice boost over your 7970 and keep you going well on nearly all titles at your resolution until the die shrink next year which will bring some good stuff (hopefully!).

If you want value for money, the second option is best. If you want to invest now and then put your wallet away for a couple of years, go big on the 980ti. I've owned both cards and liked them both a lot. Single card drivers are great on AMD, as I'm sure you well know. There are a lot of things I like about nvidia such as shadowplay though that add a bit more. Hair works and other game works stuff is nice, but I wouldn't make a purchase based on it. Especially since hair works works just fine on AMD cards!

I wouldn't bother with a 390 as you are just buying a new 290 at a higher price. If you are gonna go cheap, go second hand.

thebennyboy · 16 Sep 2015 at 21:18

He could even buy a second 390 for less than a 980Ti, Crossfire R9 390's would walk all over a 980Ti. More VRAM to boot aswell.