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Please help buying new GPU today

Grumblefoot

Grumblefoot

Grumblefoot

Associate
Joined
9 Apr 2014
Posts
3
Hi all,

I really need your help with a upgrade dilemma.

I want to upgrade my Gigabyte 7950 OC card.

The main reason is for purchasing a new monitor which I plan to get in June/July. I currently use a 22" Samsung SM-2232BW which runs at 1,680 x 1,050.

This is something I want to upgrade but want a better graphics card first.

I want to order this today but stuck between the AMD R9 290 and the Nvidia GTX 280. These are my choices:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC @ £360 at competitor

or

Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X OC @ £325 at competitor

Is the 780 worth the extra?

Both seem good, although some say they have driver issues with the AMD and black screens. But hen again the R9 290 is newer.

The last sticking point is that it needs to fit in my case which is a Fractal Design Define R4. There is only just under an inch between my current card and HDD caddy. This is a major concern about the Sapphire as it is known for being longer.

I would like to order today.

Hope you can help.

i3770K with 16GB DDR3 RAM.
 
Thanks for your reply.

I was looking at this the Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q. There seems a lot of excitement about this monitor. Or something similar along the lines of AOC or a Dell when they are released?

My current monitor is pretty basic and although works doesn't do games justice. I'd like a gaming monitor with hi-res for HD.

Maybe you could recommended one?

These were the two ards I had in mind. I've been with AMD for my previous 3 cards and nvidia before that.

I don't want to replace my case, so it has to fit :s

I know the Asus ROG isn't out till June/July I would like to have an adequate graphics card.
 
Go for the nvidia.

If you need a new monitor also why not wait till the gsync ones come down in price and get one of those and then get a nvidia card and then enjoy gsync. :)
 
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Considered going crossfire?

2 7950s would be faster than the cards you have mentioned.

Subject to having a suitable mobo, psu and room in your case (plus cooling to cope with 2 cards).
 
Mind if your only gona aim for a 1080p monitor them cards above are overkill. A 670 like i have would be enough for 1080p gameplay in almost any game. Tho saying that you already have a 7950 which is similar to a 670. So again if your only gona move to a 1080p monitor you dont really need to upgrade the card. If your aiming for higher res monitors then yeah it might be worth investing in one of the above. Tho Xfire with another 7950 as said above would also be quite good.
 
Sasahara said:
Considered going crossfire?

2 7950s would be faster than the cards you have mentioned.

Subject to having a suitable mobo, psu and room in your case (plus cooling to cope with 2 cards).
Click to expand...

You do know that monitor he is getting is a G-Sync monitor and that G-Sync is nVidia only?

780 for me and that ichill that was linked earlier looks sweet. :)
 
The card you have is good enough for 1080p (HD)

If you're getting the Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q then you basically have to get an nVidia card as a main selling point & reason for the price of the monitor is gsync which is an nVidia only feature

Personally I'd pick a monitor I wanted then work out what I needed to drive it (different resolutions and refresh rates mean different levels of requirements - as others have said all the cards so far mentioned are overkill for 1080p at 60Hz). If you end up going with the above monitor then probably a 780 is about right.

Also... curses, ninja'd by gregster on the gsync comment! :)
 
If he is 100% sure he is getting a Gsync monitor then theres only really one choice. Otherwise a total waste of money on the monitor with gsync due to their premium.

Personally if i was buying right now and had the cash id wait till 120mhz gsync monitors were out and get one of them, preferably ips if possible. Then if i had the cash id get a 780 if i was gaming at 1440p or above.

Does anyone know if there is new products coming out for monitors with gsync or freesync if amd, and any new gfx cards coming out that the OP might not be aware of that might be better if he waits say a month or so? Just the way tech goes somit drives another price down or somit better comes out and he might not know all the options.
 
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Thanks for all the replies.

My motherboard doesn't support xfire so thats out of the question.

The general consensus is switch to Nvidia which I don't mind.

So to sum up.

I wont see any improvement with mu current monitor till I upgrade it?
I need an Nvidia card for the any GSYNC.
The GTX 280 is a good choice?
And there is nothing wrong with the Gigabyte GTX version?


Lastly, how does the GTX compare on heat, power and performace over the R9 290. Is there nothing in it?
 
The ocuk one has the titan cooler does it not? If the image advertising it is wrong, ask ocuk what you would actually get.

Generally nvidia usually beat amd with power and cooling and noise categories.

Btw you seem to quote the wrong gfx card for nvidia 280 when its 780. Just so u know there are 280s out there tho not to buy new these days i think but still dont get the numbers muddled up. ;)
 
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The Gigabytes are good cards - can't fault mine and the latest driver update has pushed/stabalised the performance up nicely in quite a few titles.
 
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