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Which GPU?

PowerPie5000

PowerPie5000

PowerPie5000

Associate
Joined
7 Sep 2012
Posts
956
Location
Lancashire, England
I had to RMA my PowerColor R9 290 PCS+ as the fans wouldn't budge above 30% (started overheating) and it was always underperforming... OcUK don't have any left in stock and don't know when they'll have any :(. They've offered a refund, but should I go for a different brand R9 290 or just get a GTX 780? Or do I wait for the new GTX 970 and hope it's around £300?

Am I right in thinking the R9 290 and GTX 780 (non-Ti) are similar when it comes to performance?
 
I would wait since the new cards are out soon.

Yes, the 780 and 290 are at the same tier of performance, with the 290 being very slightly faster (maximum frame rate) overall.

If you can't wait for whatever reason, I would just get another 290. The powercolor pcs cards usually have a good rep.
 
Sapphire Tri-X seem to have a good rep and are apparently epic temp wise. Only down sides in my pernickety eyes are the lesser 2 year warranty cover and the lack of a backplate.

I personally have an MSI 290 Gaming - got it over the Sapphire since it was a price I couldn't ignore and have been happy with it. It's quiet, runs quite cool, looks good (with backplate! :)) and has a 3 year warranty.
 
Ok i decided to take the Nvidia route this time. I chose the KFA2 GTX 780 with the reference blower type cooler. I won't be overclocking it and i prefer all the hot air to be blown out the back of the case instead of being dumped in the case or blasted directly on to the motherboard!. I already know reference/stock Nvidia coolers are still pretty good and KFA2 cards are usually clocked higher than they advertise ;).

I guess i just got tired having to RMA nearly every AMD based card i've bought in the last few years (for myself, my partner and my brother)... The replacements have been ok but not what i'd call perfect. Our older KFA2 GTX 660Ti has been flawless since it was bought about 2 years ago, hopefully the same will apply to the KFA2 GTX 780 :).
 
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PowerPie5000 said:
Ok i decided to take the Nvidia route this time. I chose the KFA2 GTX 780 with the reference blower type cooler. I won't be overclocking it and i prefer all the hot air to be blown out the back of the case instead of being dumped in the case or blasted directly on to the motherboard!. I already know reference/stock Nvidia coolers are still pretty good and KFA2 cards are usually clocked higher than they advertise ;).

I guess i just got tired having to RMA nearly every AMD based card i've had in the last few years... The replacements have been ok but not what i'd call perfect. Our older KFA2 GTX 660Ti has been flawless since it was bought about 2 years ago, hopefully the same will apply to the KFA2 GTX 780 :).
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The older reference cooler are still good, but will say the new nvidia ref titan cooler is much better imo
 
PowerPie5000 said:
I already know reference/stock Nvidia coolers are still pretty good and KFA2 cards are usually clocked higher than they advertise ;)
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Just as I expected, the KFA2 GTX 780 runs faster than advertised at 1006MHz out the box... It's advertised as 863MHz with a 900MHz boost. The cooler is quite effective too as the card hits 76c under load with a 55% fan speed. My PowerColor R9 290 would have been quite noisy with anything over 50%, but this card is actually pretty quiet :).
 
Well the Maxwell cards came out sooner than i expected... And cheaper than i expected too! Is it worth sending back the GTX 780 under DSR and getting a 970 instead? Problem is i've already used the code for the free Borderlands game that came with the GTX 780 :rolleyes:.

The KFA2 GTX 780 is still a good card but it now seems overpriced compared to the 970... And i bet the prices drop very soon for the 700 series too!
 
Ayahuasca said:
Yes you should have listened to advice in the first reply and waited anyway.
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I would have waited if i knew they were being released a few days later... I wasn't expecting them for a while lol.

EDIT: I'll just keep the GTX 780 for now. It's not like i ever keep a GPU for longer than a year in my main PC anyway, and i usually end up with a whole new build every 2 years or so. I'll wait a year for the 20nm cards and get a 4k monitor at the same time... The GTX 780 will be fine for another year :).
 
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Aaaaaaargh!

Ok it's bugging me too much now! Especially now after seeing the GTX 970/980 results using the new drivers! I've sent a webnote to OcUK to see if I can return my newly bought (and now instantly obsolete) GTX 780 that I purchased 3 days ago. Everything about the GTX 970 is better including the price!

I only have one problem though... I used the free Borderlands code the day I got the card. This is before I knew about the GTX 970/980 being released the very next day! Not sure what happens about that?
 
PowerPie5000 said:
Aaaaaaargh!

Ok it's bugging me too much now! Especially now after seeing the GTX 970/980 results using the new drivers! I've sent a webnote to OcUK to see if I can return my newly bought (and now instantly obsolete) GTX 780 that I purchased 3 days ago. Everything about the GTX 970 is better including the price!

I only have one problem though... I used the free Borderlands code the day I got the card. This is before I knew about the GTX 970/980 being released the very next day! Not sure what happens about that?
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Fairly certain that invalidates any DSR, but I stand to be corrected.

If you sold someone some Haribo and they tried to return it after scoffing some, you'd probably tell 'em to bog off! :p

But with OCUK's improved customer service, who knows?
 
Kelt said:
Fairly certain that invalidates any DSR, but I stand to be corrected.

If you sold someone some Haribo and they tried to return it after scoffing some, you'd probably tell 'em to bog off! :p

But with OCUK's improved customer service, who knows?
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I suppose it's not a big deal if they say no. I'd probably just buy a 970 anyway and stick the 780 in our other PC (give the R9 280X the boot :D). Is it OcUK or NVidia giving away the free game? I'd still be buying another nvidia GPU anyway :).
 
Kelt said:
Good news, they didn't mind about the used code then?
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I mentioned it to them and they said nothing about it. I'm buying another NVidia product from them anyway so I suppose it doesn't matter too much. Hopefully it's just nvidia doing the promotion so OcUK don't lose out on anything. Just need to decide what GTX 970 to get now, and take in to consideration the cooler type as I might end up buying two :)
 
I'm flip flopping all over the place... Another change of mind after I just bought a second GTX 780 at a very cheap price :D. It's enough to make me forget about returning my GTX 780 for a 970. It's another reference card that's identical to my KFA2 card, except this one is from MSI. Perfect for SLI :). I'll wait until next year and see what the Maxwell refresh cards will be like (possibly 20nm?). AMD may come up with something in the meantime too.

I'm sure my 750W SuperFlower PSU will be able to cope (hopefully) :cool:.
 
With sli 780's I'm seeing a power draw of 650w Ono at the wall when gaming, that was with my spec in sig at stock.
 
setter said:
With sli 780's I'm seeing a power draw of 650w Ono at the wall when gaming, that was with my spec in sig at stock.
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I think it should be safe then as I have everything running stock. My GTX 780 cards boost at around 1GHz so they're not the fastest or most power hungry :).

i7 4790k
Asrock Z97 Extreme4
8GB Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 1600
2 x reference GTX 780 (KFA2 & MSI)
750W SuperFlower Leadex Gold
 
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