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Which one of these GPUs?

ttaskmaster

ttaskmaster

ttaskmaster

Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2013
Posts
12,635
Heya,

I'm just waiting on an insurance cheque before I go shopping.
I'm after something that will handle forthcoming games like Elite and Star Citizen in 1080p without having to mess around overclocking, flashing BIOSes, etc.
I'm running an OC'd 6350 at 4.5 on an MSI 970A-G46 with 8GB Crucial Ballistix, and a 650W OCZ ZT 80+ Bronze.

I've had the following cards recommended to me and wondered which would be the best bang-for-buck... or if there's any others you think I should consider?
I'd love to know reasons behind any opinions, as I'm still learning about this stuff!


YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £559.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £455.99
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning LE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £399.95
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC Rev2.0 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N780OC-3GD) £399.95
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £259.99
Total : £2,085.47 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Gregster said:
I hate to say it but that 6350 will be a bottleneck with any of those GPU's you have chosen.
Click to expand...
I can afford to be choosier over my CPU upgrade than I can afford to drop a bomb on GPUs, so that's not too much of a concern right now. I expect the Mobo will be a problem at some stage too, but currently my HD6950 is what's mainly holding me back.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Aside from a lower core clock and corresponding price, what would be the advantages of that over the Gigabyte one, do you think?
Click to expand...

Not a lot, but the Gigabyte is definitely preferable. Very good overclockers.

As Greg has pointed out though, your current CPU will be holding the card back some.

Side question, is KFA based in the UK?
 
Gregster said:
I hate to say it but that 6350 will be a bottleneck with any of those GPU's you have chosen.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with Gregster, I would swap the 6350 for a 8520/50. As long as you motherboard can take that and buy a lesser GPU. I was also suprised to see a 280 on the list but no 290's :confused:
 
w00dy85 said:
As long as you motherboard can take that and buy a lesser GPU. I was also suprised to see a 280 on the list but no 290's :confused:
Click to expand...

Many angry user reports strongly suggest that Mobo can't really handle anything above 95w, which the 6350 already is.
I was rather hoping I wouldn't have to get yet another new Mobo and processor (and with all this extra draw, I expect that'll mean another, larger PSU too?) as I've only just gotten this lot installed.
If I can get much better than current performance just with a decent GPU, that may be enough for my needs.
I OC'd the 6350 just because I could. Beyond that, the extent of my high performance ambition so far is to score into the 1000 mark with maxed DX11 settings on Heaven 4.0. :D


These cards were simply the ones recommended by a good friend that I trust. He has used a number of different high-end cards himself (including all these), so I'm weighing my options.
The 280X was one of the low-budget options being considered, as the 290s don't seem to offer that much more for the extra price... and I keep reading about them overheating too much!
 
If you want to stick with that CPU, go for the 280X. It will be less bottlenecked and will save you a few quid but if you have any notion of upgrading the CPU, then maybe look to a 780 or 290 (custom PCB/cooled).

Elite is something I am looking forward to and was a big chunk of my childhood on the C64.

As for Star Citizen, it will be using Mantle, so will help with your CPU :)
 
I may upgrade in time, but having only just bought a load of stuff to upgrade from the Q6600 (literally, less than a month ago), I'd prefer to get this one as good as can be.

I don't really *need* to top the benchmark tables or anything, so if a 280X will handle everything I throw at it, all the better!
If I need benchmarking software in order to see the differences in performance, then it's probably not something I need...

Custom PCB??!!

My entire experience of Elite is red and blue lines with the occasional yellow & blue, accompanied by half an hour of screeching and then restarting my computer.
I could NEVER get it to load, so it'll be nice to finally play this one!!
 
Im looking forward to elite as well :)

I agree with the other guys, considering the rest of the spec a lot of the GPUs you linked seem to overkill.

Id go for the 280x and save some money and start an upgrade fund for the rest of the system.

If you want to spend a bit more, knowing that its not working to its full potential but will be ok once you've upgraded a bit more push the boat out and get a ati 290 or NVidia 780.
 
Practically no difference in these games below - GTX 780 Ti vs. Radeon R9 290 vs. R9 290X @ 1080p.

Just one review, check as many as you can then decide >> http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-ti-review


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Last edited:
OK, insurance cheque finally here, deposited and waiting clearance...
However, I'm still as lost over these things as ever before!!

I'm thinking a 780 Lightning would do well enough.
The cheaper(ish) 290Xs seem to either be faster or have more memory, but I'm still concerned about any that might run too loud/hot for my setup.
 
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