GTX 770 or R9 280x?

[BigChimp97]

Hi guys

I've been looking around for a while to replace my 560ti and I've come to the conclusion that these two fit in my price range pretty well, I play on a single monitor at 1080p with an 8350, also my motherboard also only supports crossfire and not sli, if this helps at all.
Thanks!!

 

[BigChimp97]

In my case GTX 770 was very expensive and considering it was a 2GB card and i needed it primarily for some applications that uses Open CL, i went ahead with R9 instead. If you can buy GTX 770 then go for it. It also supports shadow play feature where you can easily record games without fps drops which happens in fraps, Dxtory etc.

770 is also a great card, though you won't be able to SLI it because of your limitation. So you would have to decide whether XfireX is a viable option for you in the distant future or you would rather rebuild a new PC instead after sometime in future.

It's a pretty hard decision tbh 🙁

 

[Kratos47]

It was a tough one for me as well bro.

You need to make a list here and decide which one you ultimately want. Like:

1) R9 280x has 1 GB more VRAM, will be useful for you? You can 1080p monitor and in some games it can easily use up 2GB. Question here is, is 1GB really needed? Answer imo is no but it can be handy in some games like skyrim, hitman 5 etc.

2) GTX 770 seems to give 5-10 fps more than R9 280x in some scenarios while R9 can also beat 770 in some games. Overall upper hand is of 770 while in compute related tasks r9 can't be beaten by 770 by a long shot. Gamers don't care for it though.

3) 770 has CUDA and Physx which some games like Mafia 2, Batman (?) etc use. AMD has mantle which BF4 and some future releases are going to use.

4) 770 uses shadowplay with the help of CUDA. While AMD R9 has App acceleration for the same thing but requires a software like Bandicam for game recording.

5) I personally always liked Nvidia's driver support and graphics interface\panel for every other game. AMD's CCC\catalyst is not appealing or helpful imo and i never liked it much, though one can use a free software like Radeon pro to compensate here.

Btw which version of 770 you're looking at here?

 

[BigChimp97]

It was a tough one for me as well bro.

You need to make a list here and decide which one you ultimately want. Like:

1) R9 280x has 1 GB more VRAM, will be useful for you? You can 1080p monitor and in some games it can easily use up 2GB. Question here is, is 1GB really needed? Answer imo is no but it can be handy in some games like skyrim, hitman 5 etc.

2) GTX 770 seems to give 5-10 fps more than R9 280x in some scenarios while R9 can also beat 770 in some games. Overall upper hand is of 770 while in compute related tasks r9 can't be beaten by 770 by a long shot. Gamers don't care for it though.

3) 770 has CUDA and Physx which some games like Mafia 2, Batman (?) etc use. AMD has mantle which BF4 and some future releases are going to use.

4) 770 uses shadowplay with the help of CUDA. While AMD R9 has App acceleration for the same thing but requires a software like Bandicam for game recording.

5) I personally always liked Nvidia's driver support and graphics interface\panel for every other game. AMD's CCC\catalyst is not appealing or helpful imo and i never liked it much, though one can use a free software like Radeon pro to compensate here.

Btw which version of 770 you're looking at here?

MSI Gaming Edition, another upside to AMD though is that I'll be able to add another one later. My main game is Battlefield 4, however I do play Bioshock, (when i upgrade, crysis 3, it wont be a main game), Skyrim, Far Cry 3, Diablo 3, quite a variety although they are the more intensive games that i play, the others dont really matter what gpu i get tbh.

 

[Kratos47]

Okay if i'm seeing scan.co.uk right then Vapor-X is actually expensive:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...gpu-950mhz-boost-1070mhz-2048-streams-dp-dvi-
270 £

While MSI 770 one is cheaper:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...pu-1098mhz-boost-1150mhz-cores-1536-dport-dvi

 

[Kratos47]

Alright lets look for more options here from UK. Scan is not the only one and i helped my friend few months back who was from UK.

Some other deals for you to consider are from
overclockers.co.uk:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3x OC 2048MB GDDR5 + AC4 ~ 260 £ Great stuff.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-115-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750
^Same card 6 pound cheaper at aria.co.uk - non OC version though so not really worth as you should spend 6 bucks more to get a better OCed one imo:
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...+WindForce+3X+++1+FREE+GAME!+?productId=59205


Then MSI r9 280x OC edition:
MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB ~ 240 £
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-225-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1842


On novatech.co.uk
SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 280X OC BF4 Edition 3GB + BF4 ~ 240 £
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...aphicscards/amdr9280xseries/11221-00-25g.html

And bingo! Sapphire Vapor-X R9 280x for 237 £ + free delivery from ebuyer. You save 33 pounds here! Scan was ripping you off bro lol.
http://www.ebuyer.com/579374-sapphi...-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-11221-02-40g

 

[BigChimp97]

Okay if i'm seeing scan.co.uk right then Vapor-X is actually expensive:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...gpu-950mhz-boost-1070mhz-2048-streams-dp-dvi-
270 £

While MSI 770 one is cheaper:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...pu-1098mhz-boost-1150mhz-cores-1536-dport-dvi

280x - http://www.ebuyer.com/579374-sapphire-vapor-x-r9-280x-3gb-gddr5-oc-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-11221-02-40g

 

[BigChimp97]

Alright lets look for more options here from UK. Scan is not the only one and i helped my friend few months back who was from UK.

Some other deals for you to consider are from
overclockers.co.uk:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3x OC 2048MB GDDR5 + AC4 ~ 260 £ Great stuff.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-115-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750
^Same card 6 pound cheaper at aria.co.uk - non OC version though so not really worth as you should spend 6 bucks more to get a better OCed one imo:
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...+WindForce+3X+++1+FREE+GAME!+?productId=59205


Then MSI r9 280x OC edition:
MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition OC 3072MB ~ 240 £
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-225-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1842


On novatech.co.uk
SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 280X OC BF4 Edition 3GB + BF4 ~ 240 £
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...aphicscards/amdr9280xseries/11221-00-25g.html

And bingo! Sapphire Vapor-X R9 280x for 237 £ + free delivery from ebuyer. You save 33 pounds here! Scan was ripping you off bro lol.
http://www.ebuyer.com/579374-sapphi...-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-11221-02-40g

The reason I didn't list ebuyer before was because they were out of stock, I got an email from them today saying they had them back Instock and it was where I was getting the £237 price tag from lol 😛 so you think I should get the 280x?

 

[Kratos47]

I think you should go for Vapor-X for that price 237 £. Otherwise get the GV-N770OC-2GD one for 260 £. If you're futuristic then 3GB VRAM + CrossfireX possibility should favour Vapor-X more which is actually cheaper.

 

[BigChimp97]

I think you should go for Vapor-X for that price 237 £. Otherwise get the GV-N770OC-2GD one for 260 £. If you're futuristic then 3GB VRAM + CrossfireX possibility should favour Vapor-X more which is actually cheaper.

Would my OCZ 750w be ok for two of those cards? And do you think that the 280x be the right card for the games that I play?

 

[Kratos47]

I think you should go for Vapor-X for that price 237 £. Otherwise get the GV-N770OC-2GD one for 260 £. If you're futuristic then 3GB VRAM + CrossfireX possibility should favour Vapor-X more which is actually cheaper.

Would my OCZ 750w be ok for two of those cards? And do you think that the 280x be the right card for the games that I play?

Yes and yes. As i recently said that i bought R9 just today but before this i had 2 HD 5870s in XfireX config. My PSU is 750W corsair tx model and it used to run those cards at full load.

So Xfiring 2 R9 280s shouldn't be a big deal for it.

 

[BigChimp97]

I think you should go for Vapor-X for that price 237 £. Otherwise get the GV-N770OC-2GD one for 260 £. If you're futuristic then 3GB VRAM + CrossfireX possibility should favour Vapor-X more which is actually cheaper.

Would my OCZ 750w be ok for two of those cards? And do you think that the 280x be the right card for the games that I play?

Yes and yes. As i recently said that i bought R9 just today but before this i had 2 HD 5870s in XfireX config. My PSU is 750W corsair tx model and it used to run those cards at full load.

So Xfiring 2 R9 280s shouldn't be a big deal for it.

Ok thanks for the help, btw is there a big improvement in performance compared to your old setup?

 

[BigChimp97]

I think you should go for Vapor-X for that price 237 £. Otherwise get the GV-N770OC-2GD one for 260 £. If you're futuristic then 3GB VRAM + CrossfireX possibility should favour Vapor-X more which is actually cheaper.

Would my OCZ 750w be ok for two of those cards? And do you think that the 280x be the right card for the games that I play?

Yes and yes. As i recently said that i bought R9 just today but before this i had 2 HD 5870s in XfireX config. My PSU is 750W corsair tx model and it used to run those cards at full load.

So Xfiring 2 R9 280s shouldn't be a big deal for it.

Also would the 280x be a worthwhile upgrade from my 560ti?

 

[Kratos47]

I think you should go for Vapor-X for that price 237 £. Otherwise get the GV-N770OC-2GD one for 260 £. If you're futuristic then 3GB VRAM + CrossfireX possibility should favour Vapor-X more which is actually cheaper.

Would my OCZ 750w be ok for two of those cards? And do you think that the 280x be the right card for the games that I play?

Yes and yes. As i recently said that i bought R9 just today but before this i had 2 HD 5870s in XfireX config. My PSU is 750W corsair tx model and it used to run those cards at full load.

So Xfiring 2 R9 280s shouldn't be a big deal for it.

Ok thanks for the help, btw is there a big improvement in performance compared to your old setup?

I only ordered it today so i can't say much unless i receive it, install and try it out first.

Though 5870 is nothing in comparison if the benchmarks are telling the truth.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1062?vs=1041

 

[Kratos47]

Also would the 280x be a worthwhile upgrade from my 560ti?

oh yes:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
R9 280x = 5,119
560 Ti = 3,538

Test info:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_test_info.html

 

[BigChimp97]

Also would the 280x be a worthwhile upgrade from my 560ti?

oh yes:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
R9 280x = 5,119
560 Ti = 3,538

Test info:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_test_info.html

Ok thanks for the info

 

[ERIC J]

I think overall the 770 has proven itself to be the better card. if you are gaming at 1080 and use a single monitor the 770 is a great choice.

 

[Kratos47]

And looks like R9 280x owners are screwed by AMD where they have said:

"Mantle performance for the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000/HD 8000 Series GPUs and AMD Radeon™ R9 280X and R9 270X GPUs will be optimized for BattleField 4™ in future AMD Catalyst™ releases. These products will see limited gains in BattleField 4™ and AMD is currently investigating optimizations for them."
http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx

So one won't see 45% performance increase as advertised. They say it's only possible for R9 290+ cards.

So now my recommendation would be to purchase :
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3x OC 2048MB GDDR5 + AC4 ~ 260 £

 

[BigChimp97]

And looks like R9 280x owners are screwed by AMD where they have said:

"Mantle performance for the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000/HD 8000 Series GPUs and AMD Radeon™ R9 280X and R9 270X GPUs will be optimized for BattleField 4™ in future AMD Catalyst™ releases. These products will see limited gains in BattleField 4™ and AMD is currently investigating optimizations for them."
http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx

So one won't see 45% performance increase as advertised. They say it's only possible for R9 290+ cards.

So now my recommendation would be to purchase :
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3x OC 2048MB GDDR5 + AC4 ~ 260 £

Mantles turned out to only help those who can afford the very high end cards over the low end users, 770 may be the way for me then, the only thing that's pulling me back to the 280x is the thought of crossfire, but I guess I could get a new motherboard in the future anyway

 

[Kratos47]

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

 

[Rams Anirudh]

If you think too much like this they might release next versions of GPU 😛 so decide quick n get, you have got all info in the thread with more responses.

 

[Rams Anirudh]

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

Well, you cannot say Mantle will not give benefit.. Just look the latest update on the AMD catalyst Drivers you will know how influential is for the supported games.

 

[JOHNN93]

there are even 4gb versions of this card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600451260%20600007787&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

 

[BigChimp97]

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

Would the gigabyte 770 fit inside my Antec 300? And if I feel that I really need to add another 770 then I could always get a new motherboard, if I see fit

 

[Kratos47]

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

Well, you cannot say Mantle will not give benefit.. Just look the latest update on the AMD catalyst Drivers you will know how influential is for the supported games.

Yeah i'm disappointed to read that R9 280x will have "limited gains" unlike higher versions. So most likely the performance increase when they will release stable driver 14.2\3 will not be 45% as advertised on these cards. They're selling this card with Mantle plastered all over it and if someone read what is mantle, then he sees only "45% improvement hurr durr" which isn't the case now.

False advertising from AMD imo...

there are even 4gb versions of this card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600451260%20600007787&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

Yeah if he can afford the 4GB version then that's the best choice here. I would've gone with GTX 770 myself but it's very expensive in India.

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

Would the gigabyte 770 fit inside my Antec 300? And if I feel that I really need to add another 770 then I could always get a new motherboard, if I see fit

Yes it would fit. It will be close but it will fit perfectly without a hitch. Antec 300 can easily have G.Cards upto 12.5 inches. And you have 11.5 G.card here. 1 inch to spare.

Source:
Antec 302 - somewhat same: http://www.legitreviews.com/antec-three-hundred-two-midtower-case-review_1875
GTX 770 Windforce: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b2324/gigabyte-gtx-770-windforce-3x.html

 

[BigChimp97]

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

Well, you cannot say Mantle will not give benefit.. Just look the latest update on the AMD catalyst Drivers you will know how influential is for the supported games.

Yeah i'm disappointed to read that R9 280x will have "limited gains" unlike higher versions. So most likely the performance increase when they will release stable driver 14.2\3 will not be 45% as advertised on these cards. They're selling this card with Mantle plastered all over it and if someone read what is mantle, then he sees only "45% improvement hurr durr" which isn't the case now.

False advertising from AMD imo...

there are even 4gb versions of this card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600451260%20600007787&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

Yeah if he can afford the 4GB version then that's the best choice here. I would've gone with GTX 770 myself but it's very expensive in India.

Yeah just go with 770 bro - gigabyte one. It's a great card, has a free game and has more features and generally gives 4-8 fps more in games. Mantle probably won't give any benefit to R9 280x users from the looks of it, maybe 4-5 fps which is just not what they were advertising.

Would the gigabyte 770 fit inside my Antec 300? And if I feel that I really need to add another 770 then I could always get a new motherboard, if I see fit

Yes it would fit. It will be close but it will fit perfectly without a hitch. Antec 300 can easily have G.Cards upto 12.5 inches. And you have 11.5 G.card here. 1 inch to spare.

Source:
Antec 302 - somewhat same: http://www.legitreviews.com/antec-three-hundred-two-midtower-case-review_1875
GTX 770 Windforce: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b2324/gigabyte-gtx-770-windforce-3x.html

I can't afford the OC version of the windforce, so should I get the normal Windforce or the MSI gaming edition? As they are the same price.