r9 280 upgrading to GTX 970

[akount]

Is it worth upgrading?

I'm using a MSI Gaming 280 at the moment. I was thinking of upgrading to a GTX 970. Does it matter which version it is? Would it be a huge upgrade to what I already have? I currently play Far cry 4, ACU, all latest games, and eventually The Witcher 3.

Also would I need a new PSU. I'm using SuperFlower Amazon 450W "80 Plus Bronze" at the moment.

My wife is also thinking of upgrading her 650ti 2gb to a 970, would it be worth it for her to upgrade, and is her PSU ok? She's using a OcUK Crusade 550W Dual-Rail High Efficiency '80 Plus'.

We can't go over £260, which one is the best for that price (GTX 970)?

Thanks.

 

[Uncle Petey]

Yes, it would be a very nice upgrade for both of you.
Her PSU is pretty crap tbh. These cards won't be very demanding of it, so you should be alright though I'd get rid of it at the first opportunity.

Your PSU should be ok unless you want to overclock.

What are the rest your/her components?

 

[akount]

My components;

i5-4690K 3.50GHz(4.20GHz) (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150
8GB RAM
MX100 Crucial SSD 156GB/256GB WD HDD
Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 Intel Z97

My wife's components;

i5-3470 3.20GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155
8GB RAM
MX100 Crucial 512GB SSD/300GB WD HDD
MSI H61M-P31-W8 Intel H61 (Socket 1155)

Other than a GTX 970, is there anything that performs better for the price? Or are they currently the best for value/performance?

 

[Uncle Petey]

Now there's an argument I don't want to get involved in...
Considering the psu situation might be slightly questionable with an alternative lower priced card from the other side and the games you've listed will run better on Nvidia, I'd say that 970's are what you want

 

[akount]

Ok so 970 it will be. Which version is recommended? There's a few to choose from. Palit, GALAX, Zotac, inno3d. Is there a big difference between those and the MSI version?

 

[Uncle Petey]

No idea tbh.
Someone else will have to advise you there

 

[CeePeeBee]

All I'll wade in here with is I've had Asus, Gigabyte and MSI cards in the past and wouldn't stray from those. Sapphire are usually okay too.

 

[Cooper]

In terms of raw performance gain numbers, this will give you an idea..

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1332?vs=1355

Looks to be a minimum 40-50% increase, so a big jump.

As to which version, OCUK seem to be very chummy with GALAX, so that might help if you have any issues and need to do a return under warranty.

 

[~>Dg<~]

it is close to double performance. so yes big jump.

 

[akount]

Ok thanks guys. We decided to go with x2 MSI GTX 970. Should be here tomorrow

 

[Nines11]

Ok thanks guys. We decided to go with x2 MSI GTX 970. Should be here tomorrow

Let us know if they have coilwhine or not, i hope they dont, its a real pain!

I dunno what the wifes PSU is but a OCUK brand PSU doesnt sound very good, if it whines on that PSU, try the Superflower to see if it fixes it, id really like to see if it does, fingers crossed all smooth though!