Buy a second 290 or sell and buy 2 970s

[rawngg]

So after reading some reviews on how well the 970 is doing at 1440p I wanted to know if it's worth me selling my current 290 Vapor-X and buying a 970 and saving for a second 970?

I will be spending $320 on the GPU and another $170 on a new PSU if I go the 290 xfire route which would put me at about $500 spent. With the new Nvidia architecture using such low power, would I be able to keep my current ThermalTake XT 675w PSU? I could always sell my PSU but I'd rather not if I don't have to.

The 675w would also have to power my OC'd 8350, h80i, ssd and 2 hdds, and 2x4gb 1866 ram.

Is it true that SLI can play games in Windowed mode without issues? This is something that I'd really like to keep when moving from single to multiple gpus since I've seen people saying it doesn't work for Nvidia or AMD.

 

[TheAterix]

im basically going through the same decision at the moment, anyone on this site will basically say 'if you have the money, get 2 970s as sli is better supported' but personally i think im going to just get another 290, and personally, if heat and a bit of noise isnt a big issue for you, save yourself some $$ and get the extra 290!

 

[rawngg]

Bump. I'm really close to making the transition back to Nvidia. Can someone address my concerns in my first post?

 

[TheAterix]

what resolution are you on?

 

[rawngg]

1440P

 

[maxalge]

Bump. I'm really close to making the transition back to Nvidia. Can someone address my concerns in my first post?

The 970 is better than a 290x, and about 5% slower than a gtx 780 ti.

It also has higher overclocking potential, while running cooler and using less power.

Yes sli/cf does NOT work in windowed mode, you must be fullscreen.


For your specific system you would probably need a 850w high quality psu to run sli + oc components.


As an aside, I would not recommend you going sli. Especially with the level of gpu's we are talking about.

 

[frag06]

1440P

The 970 will be faster, it will consume much less power, produce much less heat, and run quieter.

One 290 is already hot, putting them in Crossfire is going to be even hotter.

A 675W is cutting it close. I recommend a 750W or 850W. Newegg has the EVGA SuperNova G2 750W on sale at the moment.

 

[rawngg]

Thanks for the recommendation of the PSU, loving the price on that thing. 750 should be more than enough to power 2 cards and my 8350 @ 4.5GHz(I may bump it up to 4.7/4.8GHz in the future)?

After seeing temps with 290 xfire I don't think I want to touch that lol. Full load it can reach 90c+!!! Not to mention my top card will literally be sitting on top of the backplate of the card below so there goes fresh air into the top card.

The reason I want to SLI/Xfire is I want a constant 60+ fps

Things that make me want to go back to Nvidia is that I can OC my monitor with their program and also downsampling is much easier.

THinking of going with the Asus 970 Strix because I like the look and it has a nice backplate on it, The EVGA ACX 2.0 is looking pretty good also and I love EVGA. The G1 is very ugly and the MSI one is meh. I wish Sapphire was doing Nvidia because they make the sexiest looking cards with the R9290 Vapor-X edition.

 

[frag06]

Thanks for the recommendation of the PSU, loving the price on that thing. 750 should be more than enough to power 2 cards and my 8350 @ 4.5GHz(I may bump it up to 4.7/4.8GHz in the future)?

After seeing temps with 290 xfire I don't think I want to touch that lol. Full load it can reach 90c+!!! Not to mention my top card will literally be sitting on top of the backplate of the card below so there goes fresh air into the top card.

The reason I want to SLI/Xfire is I want a constant 60+ fps

Things that make me want to go back to Nvidia is that I can OC my monitor with their program and also downsampling is much easier.

THinking of going with the Asus 970 Strix because I like the look and it has a nice backplate on it. The G1 is very ugly and the MSI one is meh. I wish Sapphire was doing Nvidia because they make the sexiest looking cards with the R9290 Vapor-X edition.

I'd say 850W with that OC. The 8350 is pretty power hungry. The SuperNova G2 850W is about $45 more after MIR, but it's still a good deal.

The STRIX is a good card, but it has a low BIOS power limit, which limits overclocking potential on the stock BIOS. Plus, I'm not a big fan of that lone eight pin. Still, it is one of the best 970's.

 

[rawngg]

I've never OC'd a GPU so I have no clue what I'm doing there. I don't think I'll be doing any OC'ing because I don't want to screw something up. I'm guessing since I plan on using the Stock Boost that the Strix is perfect for what I want then with the single 8-pin connector?

Thanks for all the replies and insight guys, I truly appreciate it and don't know where I'd be without this site and the people who are on it.

 

[frag06]

I've never OC'd a GPU so I have no clue what I'm doing there. I don't think I'll be doing any OC'ing because I don't want to screw something up. I'm guessing since I plan on using the Stock Boost that the Strix is perfect for what I want then with the single 8-pin connector?

Thanks for all the replies and insight guys, I truly appreciate it and don't know where I'd be without this site and the people who are on it.

Yes, the STRIX is a great card, whether you OC or not. One will be nice at 1440p and should give you 60 FPS or more in many games.

 

[TheAterix]

I've never OC'd a GPU so I have no clue what I'm doing there. I don't think I'll be doing any OC'ing because I don't want to screw something up. I'm guessing since I plan on using the Stock Boost that the Strix is perfect for what I want then with the single 8-pin connector?

Thanks for all the replies and insight guys, I truly appreciate it and don't know where I'd be without this site and the people who are on it.

90 degrees isnt even that hot, DO YOU EVEN HEAT BRO!?!
But yeah, if i could, i would 1000% get 2 970's if i could get the price i paid for my 290 back

 

[rawngg]

Oh boy do I feel your pain on that lol... I spent over $400 for my Vapor-X like 3 weeks ago and bam price cuts and new stuff lmao

I'm just glad I'll be able to get something to cover at least 90% of the costs for my second 970