Help with selecting graphics card

[bmoviequeen]

Hi guys, I'd like to borrow some of your wisdom for a moment.

Currently building my first PC. I have selected and bought all my components except for the graphics card as I am unsure of which to use.

I have had a bad experience with a Radeon R9 280x and I have read and seen so many terrible things about not just this card but the R9 series in general. So it's kinda put me off using it.

I would like some advice on selecting a new card which will be used for gaming.
I have a budget of £200 - £300.

Current components:

PSU: Corsair AX860 850W
Mobo: Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK
CPU: Devil's Canyon Core i7 4790K
RAM: 16GB Gskill Ripjaws 1600mhz

Thank you in advance for your help

Thinking about this one:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

 

[FuturamaPhill]

I recently built a PC for a friend and used the MSI NVIDIA GTX 970 Gaming Twin Frozr, i'd recommend this card as it has a hefty punch for a lower price tag.

 

[Robert Cook]

with that kind of CPU, I would say get an R9 290X, or as you do not seem to like the R9 series, you could get a 970, but that would noticeably weaker than a 290X. What things are making you so worried about getting a R9 card? I have never had a driver problem, and for the current price, they cannot be beat.

 

[FuturamaPhill]

with that kind of CPU, I would say get an R9 290X, or as you do not seem to like the R9 series, you could get a 970, but that would noticeably weaker than a 290X. What things are making you so worried about getting a R9 card? I have never had a driver problem, and for the current price, they cannot be beat.

Both cards are pretty similar, other than the 3.5GB memory issue (which isnt a huge issue). They're both well priced depending on where you get them from. It doesn't really make a difference what CPU you use but you normally find AMD cards go well with AMD CPUs and Nvidia goes well with Intel (again not really something that should sway your opinion).

=2697&cmp[]=2954]http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2697&cmp[]=2954

Both of these cards would be great additions to your build.

 

[SherbetAddict]

The 970 will absolutely rek the 290 as long as you game on 1080p and ont exeed 3.5gb on your gddr5. Otherwise you card will experience some "problems". Only get the 290x if you plan to game on 2.5k or want the extra .5gb Vram. Personaly is say get teh Galax EXOC black. Its cheap and OCs reasonably well.

 

[Robert Cook]

970 does not "rek" the R9290X, it might perform better in the witcher but that is it. to futuramaphil, intel CPUs and AMD graphics go together like peas in a pod or America and apple pie, you get the point.

 

[SherbetAddict]

970 does not "rek" the R9290X, it might perform better in the witcher but that is it. to futuramaphil, intel CPUs and AMD graphics go together like peas in a pod or America and apple pie, you get the point.

i was talking about the non-x one...
the better memory bandwidth on the 290 will a make it perform better on higher resolutons by thats about it...

 

[FuturamaPhill]

970 does not "rek" the R9290X, it might perform better in the witcher but that is it. to futuramaphil, intel CPUs and AMD graphics go together like peas in a pod or America and apple pie, you get the point.

I've often heard that Intel and Nvidia go well together but like is said before it really doesn't matter. The performance difference between the two cards is minuscule, basically go for which one you either prefer more or can get a better deal on.

 

[Robert Cook]

290 is still better than the 970 not by as much as the 290X, but it is not much worse than the 290X.

 

[gerr]

DON'T DO ANYTHING FOR A COUPLE WEEKS!!! AMD is about to release a new set of cards within a week or two, and that will likley cause some price adjustments shortly after that on existing cards.

 

[Robert Cook]

^ it may, or they will disappear like the beloved MSI lightning R9 290X...

 

[FuturamaPhill]

290 is still better than the 970 not by as much as the 290X, but it is not much worse than the 290X.

290 consumes more power and is an older card, Its not better than the 970. 290x and 970 are very similar performance wise.

=2954&cmp[]=2719]http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2954&cmp[]=2719

 

[Robert Cook]

I disagree, have you used a R9 290? it is certainly not inferior.

 

[FuturamaPhill]

I disagree, have you used a R9 290? it is certainly not inferior.

I must admit I have not used the R9 290, But its hardware specs show it is inferior to the 970. Its still a great card especially for 1080p gaming but I personally would rather go for 970 with its extra kick and I'm thinking of going with an SLI Configuration which should future proof for quite some time.

 

[bmoviequeen]

Thank you for your insight and your opinions. It has made this decision alot easier. Being such a big investment for me, I really wanted to get this right.

I have decided to go with the GTX 970. I will admit, my experience with the r9 has influenced my decision to a certain degree but I appreciate your feedback nonetheless.

So thank you everyone for taking the time to lend a hand.


ScreamQueen