1440p gaming gpu, r9 290 or gtx 780

[briany8s]

I recently put together a new gaming build around early December but have been waiting to purchase a gpu. Since the R9 290 came out, I was holding off on purchasing a gpu until aftermarket coolers came out. Given that most still aren't out and the huge increase in prices of amd cards because of mining, I have come extremely close to just going with an evga 780 classified several times since it is supposed to be a great overclocker. However, should I try and hold out until maxwell since it may just be a couple months away or go with the 290 or 780? I will be upgrading from an msi 560 ti 1 gb.

Here is the rest of my build:

CPU: 4770k oc to 4.5 ghz
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 x 2
HEATSINK/FAN: Noctua gh-d14
CASE: Corsair 600 grpahite series
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
SSD: Intel 240 gb
MONITOR: X-Star 27" 1440p

Thanks for your consideration.

 

[Rocketninja16]

If it was me, I wouldn't have the patience to wait that long! But if you do, I'd wait.

I was going to wait as well, but bit the bullet last month and picked up a 780ti, and I am oh so satisified.

As far as AMD goes, I'm no hater, but I have never ever had good luck with their cards. Either the hardware doesn't keep up, or the drivers don't keep up.

Just my own experience though, lots of others love their cards.

 

[Dasex]

If i was you i would go with the 780 from EVGA. It has a top notch warranty, customer service and it is also one of the best card on the market.
With some minor OC with GPU boost 2.0 and GraphiX you can achieve the TITAN performances.
Also i prefer the Intel/Nvidia over Intel/AMD combo.
Hope this helps!

 

[briany8s]

If it was me, I wouldn't have the patience to wait that long! But if you do, I'd wait.

I was going to wait as well, but bit the bullet last month and picked up a 780ti, and I am oh so satisified.

As far as AMD goes, I'm no hater, but I have never ever had good luck with their cards. Either the hardware doesn't keep up, or the drivers don't keep up.

Just my own experience though, lots of others love their cards.

I have been considering the 780 ti as well. I just would feel bad spending that much but then I can just as easily justify it as only another $150 or so. Thats why an r9 290 non reference at $450 or so looked so appealing to me.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Pricing on the 290 is stupid at the minute, the two are identical in performance so at the 290's original pricing it was a pretty good pick. Now that they are the same price if you go with the 290 all you get is a card that will blow your eardrums unless you get an aftermarket cooled one and doesn't support multi GPU configurations that well. Theres no real reason to go with the 290 unless you want it for Mining or BF4 (Mantle).

 

[Rocketninja16]

If it was me, I wouldn't have the patience to wait that long! But if you do, I'd wait.

I was going to wait as well, but bit the bullet last month and picked up a 780ti, and I am oh so satisified.

As far as AMD goes, I'm no hater, but I have never ever had good luck with their cards. Either the hardware doesn't keep up, or the drivers don't keep up.

Just my own experience though, lots of others love their cards.

I have been considering the 780 ti as well. I just would feel bad spending that much but then I can just as easily justify it as only another $150 or so. Thats why an r9 290 non reference at $450 or so looked so appealing to me.

I have an Asus ti, base clock of 926mhz, I've got it oc'd to 1126 when playing games and I didn't try at all, it could likely go higher but I just haven't seen any reason to do it.

I know the 770 overclocks well as well. As far as higher res, the R9's would do a bit better b/c they have more RAM, but at 1440p I don't really think you'll notice the difference.

The other thing is the R series cards get so damn hot they almost never reach their top speed, and that's without overclocking. I can't remember if it was Tom's hardware, hardware canucks or overclock.net that those benches came from but I read it not too long ago.

Bottom line is, unless you're going with an aftermarket cooler, I wouldn't touch the AMD cards with a 10 foot pole. If you are, then it might be worth the savings as the colder card might be able to keep up all the time, and maybe even OC.

As mentioned before for me, it's a personal preference to use NVIDIA based on personal experiences, and I'll pay more for NVIDIA any day, but again, that's personal preference.

There's a few guys in my clan that won't touch NVIDIA with a 10 foot pole so, it's all subjective 😛

 

[redeemer]

I recently put together a new gaming build around early December but have been waiting to purchase a gpu. Since the R9 290 came out, I was holding off on purchasing a gpu until aftermarket coolers came out. Given that most still aren't out and the huge increase in prices of amd cards because of mining, I have come extremely close to just going with an evga 780 classified several times since it is supposed to be a great overclocker. However, should I try and hold out until maxwell since it may just be a couple months away or go with the 290 or 780? I will be upgrading from an msi 560 ti 1 gb.

Here is the rest of my build:

CPU: 4770k oc to 4.5 ghz
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 x 2
HEATSINK/FAN: Noctua gh-d14
CASE: Corsair 600 grpahite series
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
SSD: Intel 240 gb
MONITOR: X-Star 27" 1440p

Thanks for your consideration.

A couple months? you will be waiting a long time for Maxwell!

 

[Djentleman]

Pricing on the 290 is stupid at the minute, the two are identical in performance so at the 290's original pricing it was a pretty good pick. Now that they are the same price if you go with the 290 all you get is a card that will blow your eardrums unless you get an aftermarket cooled one and doesn't support multi GPU configurations that well. Theres no real reason to go with the 290 unless you want it for Mining or BF4 (Mantle).

Good points.

 

[GreedyMuffin]

Hi,Sorry to hijack but theres some smart knowing people here :Å Im 14 and have saved for about 2 years for a new gfx adn i do Oc both Cpu and Gpu and littlebit Ram, But 290(x) or 780 Classified?

-Christian

 

[TriBeard]

If you can find a 290 for less than or the same price as the 780, I would go with it over the 780 for the memory bus and memory size (4GB in the r9 vs 3GB in the 780). It does start to make a difference in some games at 1440p, and especially at 4k. The performance will be a little better on the 290 too, especially with an aftermarket cooler, or if you have a quiet case and/or can tolerate a little extra fan noise. I have mine in a fractal design define r4 xl r2 case and don't really find the noise to be an issue.

 

[trog69]

If i was you i would go with the 780 from EVGA. It has a top notch warranty, customer service and it is also one of the best card on the market.
With some minor OC with GPU boost 2.0 and GraphiX you can achieve the TITAN performances.
Also i prefer the Intel/Nvidia over Intel/AMD combo.
Hope this helps!

Seconded. Just installed a stock 780 w/ACX cooler, and it is a huge boost from my 680 4gb FTW card @1440p. Skyrim is butter smooth, and at ultra it gets about 130fps. Idles at 26c and hasn't gone over 65c in any game. Can be OCed to beat a ti or Titan.

 

[WonkeyDoo2]

Right now the best card for the money is to go with a GTX 780. Everyone is right here about EVGA and the ACX cooler but I'd further specify that the EVGA GTX 780 Classified w/ ACX http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E8PAAUS is the best performing GTX 780 on the market.

The Classified has a great custom PCB, VRM cooling, and the best customer support/service in the market.

 

[ZippyPinhead]

I recently put together a new gaming build around early December but have been waiting to purchase a gpu. Since the R9 290 came out, I was holding off on purchasing a gpu until aftermarket coolers came out. Given that most still aren't out and the huge increase in prices of amd cards because of mining, I have come extremely close to just going with an evga 780 classified several times since it is supposed to be a great overclocker. However, should I try and hold out until maxwell since it may just be a couple months away or go with the 290 or 780? I will be upgrading from an msi 560 ti 1 gb.

Here is the rest of my build:

CPU: 4770k oc to 4.5 ghz
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 x 2
HEATSINK/FAN: Noctua gh-d14
CASE: Corsair 600 grpahite series
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
SSD: Intel 240 gb
MONITOR: X-Star 27" 1440p

Thanks for your consideration.

The GTX 780 is a no brainer over the 290.......or ANY 2nd rate AMD product for that matter. Its not just about raw fps, but all the other things that Nvidia brings to the table as well. You got some quality items.....don't fudge it up by installing a junk product. 😉 Drivers, support, warranty, hardware/software quality, all superior with Nvidia.

 

[WonkeyDoo2]

I recently put together a new gaming build around early December but have been waiting to purchase a gpu. Since the R9 290 came out, I was holding off on purchasing a gpu until aftermarket coolers came out. Given that most still aren't out and the huge increase in prices of amd cards because of mining, I have come extremely close to just going with an evga 780 classified several times since it is supposed to be a great overclocker. However, should I try and hold out until maxwell since it may just be a couple months away or go with the 290 or 780? I will be upgrading from an msi 560 ti 1 gb.

Here is the rest of my build:

CPU: 4770k oc to 4.5 ghz
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 x 2
HEATSINK/FAN: Noctua gh-d14
CASE: Corsair 600 grpahite series
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
SSD: Intel 240 gb
MONITOR: X-Star 27" 1440p

Thanks for your consideration.

The GTX 780 is a no brainer over the 290.......or ANY 2nd rate AMD product for that matter. Its not just about raw fps, but all the other things that Nvidia brings to the table as well. You got some quality items.....don't fudge it up by installing a junk product. 😉 Drivers, support, warranty, hardware/software quality, all superior with Nvidia.

No need for fanboyism. AMD makes some great products when they are priced correctly in the market. Right now their prices are inflated so the R9 290 is a poor choice against the GTX 780. If the R9 290 was at it's original $399 price then it would be the obvious choice.

 

[ZippyPinhead]

I recently put together a new gaming build around early December but have been waiting to purchase a gpu. Since the R9 290 came out, I was holding off on purchasing a gpu until aftermarket coolers came out. Given that most still aren't out and the huge increase in prices of amd cards because of mining, I have come extremely close to just going with an evga 780 classified several times since it is supposed to be a great overclocker. However, should I try and hold out until maxwell since it may just be a couple months away or go with the 290 or 780? I will be upgrading from an msi 560 ti 1 gb.

Here is the rest of my build:

CPU: 4770k oc to 4.5 ghz
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 x 2
HEATSINK/FAN: Noctua gh-d14
CASE: Corsair 600 grpahite series
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
SSD: Intel 240 gb
MONITOR: X-Star 27" 1440p

Thanks for your consideration.

The GTX 780 is a no brainer over the 290.......or ANY 2nd rate AMD product for that matter. Its not just about raw fps, but all the other things that Nvidia brings to the table as well. You got some quality items.....don't fudge it up by installing a junk product. 😉 Drivers, support, warranty, hardware/software quality, all superior with Nvidia.

No need for fanboyism. AMD makes some great products when they are priced correctly in the market. Right now their prices are inflated so the R9 290 is a poor choice against the GTX 780. If the R9 290 was at it's original $399 price then it would be the obvious choice.

AMD is garbage in my book, regardless of the price or its benchmark performance. WHats not mentioned is the hardware is inferior and so is the driver support. There is a reason why stuff like AMD is priced the way it is.