Graphics Card Selection Problems for College

[Mastergrief NPR]

I have been pondering what GPU(s) I need for my next build. The pc will be a micro atx for portability as I will be taking it to college. I college I will be majoring in physics so I would like to have a GPU that can run simulations, not necessarily graphical, and play games. Some of my major options are 2 780 ti superclocked ($350 apiece at newegg), 2 970 ($350 apiece at newegg), 2 r9 290x ($350 apiece at newegg), a titan black ($1,100 at newegg), or a titan x (about $1,100 from my searches). Power consumption is not an object for me as I will be at college and home not to mention living in the South (dirt cheap power). Also I will be pairing whatever GPU(s) with a i7 4790k as to not bottleneck it. Also feel free to recommend any other GPU I might have overlooked.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

MicroATX with twin 290s is asking a lot ... those buggers produce quite a bit of heat.

The 4790k (Has CUDA for scientific / engineering apps) and and two 970s is a great "last me 4 years rig".... two 970s are $320 (MSI) each on newegg .... and if you sell of one (or two) of the Witcher gaming coupons, should easily get $50 each.

There are only 5 boards on newegg that do 2 GFX cards w/ Z97

My 1st choice would be the MSI Z97M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130773

My 2nd choice would be the Asus Gryphon
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132133

Newegg lists the Gryphon's max RAM speed at 1866 which I thot must be a mistake or new BIOS fixed that but Asus site lists the same limitation..... with faster RAM available at same price, that's a knock against the Gryphon if it holds true still. MSI limit is 3300.

Other differences include:

MSI has Realtek ALC1150 / Asus has inferior ALC892
MSI has Killer Network Gamer LAN / Asus has Intel |218V
MSI has 6 USB 3 / Asus has 4
MSI has M.2 support / Asus doesn't
MSI is $22 cheaper

I'll come back w/ a full build

MicroATX Build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($136.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Redline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($141.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1695.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-20 19:36 EDT-0400

One option if interested is you could upgrade to the Swiftceh 220-X or H240-X liquid cooler. Unlike CLC's this is a liquid cooler that I can recommend for dorm usage as it's about 1/6th as loud as a H100i

http://www.swiftech.com/H240-X.aspx
http://www.swiftech.com/H220-X.aspx

With the ability to have 5 x 140mm and 1 x 200mm fans, you should easily be able to keep the 970s cool... especially the MSI ones. Still, I would consider the Enthoo Luxe w/ the MSI Gaming 5 as an alternate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130770

4790k and plenty of fast RAM for the simulations
Fast SSD + Fast SSHD to bring SSD like benefits (59% faster than HD) to what is not stored on the SSD
10.0 performance / 9.5 build quality rating from jonnyguru on PSU
CUDA capable GFX for simulations and low noise for "dorm room" usage (fans shut off at light loads) .

 

[geofelt]

With your apparent budget, I would suggest the Titan X if you can find one.
Perhaps the rumored GTX980ti will be available in time and that would be better.
sli has it's issues, not the least of which is cooling and inconsistent response.
A great single card is generally better.

FWIW, look at the Silverstone TJ-08E and PS-07 cases for good cooling compact M-ATX towers.

If any of your apps can use CUDA cores, Nvidia would be better. Or, possibly some apps can use amd cards natively.

 

[Mastergrief NPR]

Thank you so far for your input. Which of the aforementioned graphics cards combinations would provide me with the best performance in simulations if the difference would be noticeable at all?

 

[Mastergrief NPR]

How would a couple of 7990s work for this? I found them on newegg for about $350 apiece. Also, I have seen several comparisons of AMD and Nvidia cards, and in general, the AMD cards seem to perform better in compute applications. Is this correct and am I understanding this correctly?