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Which graphics card to get on a £450 budget?

SheffieldJL

SheffieldJL

SheffieldJL

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Joined
13 Nov 2013
Posts
4
Hi All,

I'm pretty new on here but I have a fair bit of experience in the computing world but I thought I would go ask the experts for their ideas on where to go as my knowledge of current graphics cards is very limited and from my research around I'm getting the idea that they're all pretty similar anyway.

What graphics card or cards would you recommend on a £450 budget. The PSU is 850w so if two cards were to be run in SLI/Crossfire then thats the limit in terms of power.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

SheffieldJL
 
£450 is in interesting figure. You can get an Nvidia GTX 780 for less, but a 780Ti will cost £100 over your budget.

You currently have more choice from AMD - R290 for just over £300, or if you want to spend the lot you can have an R290X or a 7990.

And that's assuming you don't want a multi card set up.

There are loads of posts on here about the relative merits of those cards. It might help if you were to explain what you actually want from the card - your monitor resolution, any particular games?
 
A 290/290x would be nice if you watercool them. Or you could wait for non reference coolers. (but unfortunately waiting sucks, im waiting though :P)

Also these are some nvidia options (these cards as well as the 290's are monsters!)

KFA2 GeForce GTX 780 EX OC £399.95 inc VAT

Inno3D GeForce GTX 780 iChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra £399.95 inc VAT

KFA2 GeForce GTX 780 HOF £419.99 inc VAT

Whether you get a 290/290x or wait for the non reference cooled versions or go for a 780 alternative (out of the ones I linked or any other) You will not be disappointed these GPU's are beasts.

May I know your current specs? including gpu of course as that is the reason for topic here

(personally if I was not waiting for non reference 290's(x) I would have gone for the KFA2 geforce GTX780 HOF version. I love it, it also looks dam good :)
 
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As Nivida dont offer anything worth bothering with at this price point the 7990 would give you the most performance and dominate 780ti with ease
 
@£450 budget there are many choices.

a) Wait for custom cooled R9 290/290X.

b) Go cheap and loud (R9 290) by replacing the cooler with water or a Galid Ice 2

c) Go quiet GTX780 or 7990 (GTX780 especially one of the pre-clocked to 1000mhz+)

Take into consideration that 7990 is pretty much 2 7970s and any game that doesn't support CF will run on a single 7970.


My money went to a GTX780 (PNY XLR8 OC) having £100 less budget than yours, and haven't looked back.

With your budget get the EVGA GTX780 Classified, which is superb.

And all depends the CPU you have. If you have a i7, an Nvidia for the future is absolutely fine without Mantle. If you have an AMD FX, better wait for custom cooler R9 290s or get a 7990 to benefit from Mantle lower CPU needs.
 
RetrogamerX said:
If you like loud train sounds and africa heat then get a 290x. If you like quiet and cool springs then get a 780.
Click to expand...

Another useless comment from another person that doesn't own a 290. I take it you bought your 780 before the 290 came out? Yeah thought so.

For £450 buy a 290 that can flash to a 290x or buy a 7990, I am sure a 780 wouldn't disappoint either but the performance of the 290 for the price makes a 780 look not so good and well a 7990 eats anything nvidia can throw it at for far less its just bringing with it the inherent multi gpu niggles you will at times face.

And trust me you don't get train noise levels or African heat levels, nor will you be disappointed with any card you buy in that budget its just some will give you more for less cost.
 
Some would argue the AMD cards are a little bit more future proof. I know people who stand by the AMD cards simply because they will have a little bit more performance advantage a few years down the line compared to current nVIDIA cards.
the 290x is a pretty killer card if you can manage the heat and noise. As suggested, getting a 290 and then modding it with water cooling is a pretty cool idea.
 
I currently have an i5 not i7 but the upgrade for that is in progress at the minute.

The plan is for gaming Mainly as I have 3 24" Acer monitors. I'm not bothere'd about 3d as my eyes just can't put up with it for long and I end up with a migraine. So basically I'm trying to get an eyefinity or surround setup going.

I meant to mention this earlier but completely forgot. Oops.

From researching around I didn't know whether to go with the 780 before or the 7990 so from what I've seen so far fRom suggestions you all seem to be saying similar things so I must have been somewhere on the right tracks.

Oh and apologies for any typos.... Phones are a pain in the arse to type on when walking.
 
780\290\290X\7990 all of these are in your budget and all will give superb performance. Personally I would choose the 7990, however if dual gpu is not your thing then the 290 flashed to a 290X is probably next best value. With mantle on the horizon I would give Amd some serious consideration, if you fancy Nvidia then the 780 is your card. :)
 
Right you have 3 monitors.
So the single most beastly option would be the 7990. You'd have to consider the fact if you want to put up with loud noise and heat (if you water cool them then you are good to go but with the price of them currently that's out of budget)

Then your option considering the best price to performance would definitely be a 290. As you can get one now or later when non reference coolers come out, then maybe not long after you can crossfire them. This will cost up to £600 or maybe abit more but over time and you'll destroy a 7990.

Again as I said before you may still go for a single 290/290x or one of the 290x's I linked.

780ti is good yes but probably not worth the money imo. You are open to many options so that's an issue as non of the options you choose will be a bad one.

Is there a rush for you to buy one? because I would strongly suggest you take your time. It is a lot of money and this single component you'd be using for a long time.
 
Buying now I would say 780 or 7990 if you don't mind multi gpu, not 780ti as I think 780s will clock quite close to it when both are overclocked.

If you can wait a month 290pro with an aftermarket cooler will be the best VFM
 
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