MSI LIGHTNING 290X VS GTX 970 OR Wait for R3xxx GPUs

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ajdorland

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Oct 1, 2014
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I am so torn right now.. I know it seems stupid to drop $400 on a 290X but the lightning just really draws me in. I am not into any of the 970's that have been released thus far, I dont find any of them attractive. On paper/spec sheet wise sure, but I dont game on high res (Yet) so either gpu is overkill... I like the common 1500MHz overclocks people are getting on the 970s though!

Then I look at the 290X and feel warm inside 😛

I'll be ordering next week unless I decided to wait for pirate islands.
 
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http://wccftech.com/amd-20nm-r9-390x-feautres-20nm-hbm-9x-faster-than-gddr5/

This was released 4 weeks ago, and it has me wanting to wait.. But such is easier said than done when the pricing for these new chips are unknown..
 
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1) I can't recommend any R9-290X cards based on heat, reliability, features (GTX970/980 have new features like MFAA, 4K, H.265 decoding, DFR etc).

2) The GTX970 beats the R9-290X easily:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/25.html

We can overclock even further than this but the base model difference is almost 8% so we're looking at over 10% on overclocked models with likely closer to 20% when you use MFAA for anti-aliasing.

Probably higher as I know some of the GTX970's got 15% more real-world performance when overclocked above the factory overclock and the FANS were still reasonably quiet unlike any of the overclocked R9-290X cards.

3) GTX970 is cheaper ($350 for MSI Gaming 4G)

This is my recommended card. Out of stock, but there's a reason for that.

4) GTX970 can disable fans below 60degC so it's silent at times (certain models only right now.)

5) R9-290X takes up THREE SLOTS which may be an issue for some people especially if they want to Crossfire. Speaking of which AMD doesn't appear to ever be supporting DX9 in Crossfire properly.

Summary:
The GTX970 whips the R9-290X's ass especially one at $400. Other than aesthetics the card wins in pretty much every way.

Are you actually going to see the bottom of the Lightning anyway?
 
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http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Middle-earth-Shadow-Mordor-Performance-Testing/Shadow-Mordor-2560x1440?page=1#comments
Not all benchmarks have 970's whooping up on 290X's.. SOM being a new game is shown here getting beat out consistently by the 290X..

I think many of these new games are utilizing its wider mem bus. Also the Lightning addition is known to run at 30/40c idle and below 70c load. They spent a lot of time designing its cooling solution. Much like Sapphires VAPOR X. Most 290X are hot pigs, but not all.

I have a super tower case and will never run crossfire/sli so I have no issues with the size of the 290X cooler taking up x3 slots. Notably the Lightning is nearly always silent in operation even when overclocked..

The benefits I see favoring the GTX970 are more along the lines of efficiency. But I think its going to get held back by that memory bus within the next year or so at high res. More and more games are soaking up 3GB+ VRAM, and the speed there may out weigh the higher clock speed of the GTX 970.
 
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And yes the strix is nice looking but if I go 970 it wont be that card, I do not like its limited power. I will go G1 Gaming by Gigabyte if heading down that path. Cherry picked gpus, and a good cooling solution, with more power available for higher OCs when bios open up further.
 
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My problem is simply that, they would all work great 😛

Notably I use an xeon, and can not use more than x16 in this rig. So SLI/Crossfire is not in my foreseeable future.
 
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My recommendations in order:

1) MSI Gaming 4G
2) Gigabyte G1
3) Asus Strix
4) EVGA ACX 2.0

They all have pros and cons. Some don't have backplates. Some don't currently allow fans to shut off (MSI, Asus yes. EVGA with vBIOS update. Gigabyte and others unsure but if so likely need a firmware update).

The Gigabyte also runs slightly LOUDER than need be and is longer. If they change the fan profile and also allow it to turn off which I think is likely then it has the potential to be my #1 choice.

I like Asus but I hate the OWL design. Not that I'd see it in my case but it keeps looking at me... I think fan shutoff was 67degC but not certain. Note that's higher than the MSI card. Not sure what's the ideal temp.. maybe they'll allow us to choose in software.

Other than aesthetic choices I can't think of a good reason to recommend any card other than the MSI GAMING 4G at this point.

Other:
Just FYI, but at very high resolutions (for which you'd want SLI) the GTX970 falls behind the GTX980 even more so it was over 25% behind with comparable cards in some cases at 4K or higher. It's not a memory bandwidth issue exactly but has to do with the difference in processing modules. I don't have the exact specs. Probably not an issue for most people.
 
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I do agree, I wish AMD would drop a release date sooner rather than later. I am getting impatient with my GTX 650 in a otherwise very nice build lol... Its OC'd to 1171 GPU Core, and 6000Mhz ram but it just isnt cutting it anymore. Being also as I'd like to grab a couple nice new monitors in the near future.
 
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HEAT:
For some people this is a huge problem as any extra heat in my small room is a big issue. The MSI Lightning dumps about 100Watts more than the GTX970 under load.

That is a LOT of friggin heat.

If you care, it's 272 Watts on the MSI Lightning and 171 Watts on the EVGA GTX970 SC (average power consumption):
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_290X_Lightning/22.html
and
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/23.html

I'm also get bothered by NOISE, even in idle so I'm looking forward to essentially a silent PC. The ONLY component on my computer I currently hear is the graphics card. All my other fans are PWM optimized for low-noise but I can't hear them (Noctua air cooler).
 
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Yeah I hear you there, but the version of 290X I was refering to pretty much solves the heat issue. Under overclocks a dozen sources report it to stay at or below 65c. That is fine with me. I also keep my house at 22c year round, so I may have slightly better temps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoaUik5KDY0

There are loads of videos regarding them as the absolute best 290x ever made, followed by the vapor-x by sapphire.
 
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Let me just say that I started out with 1 970...really worth the money. MSI,Asus and Gigabyte really make them well. They all look good...cooling is good...they all have the backplates. Performance for the mid 300 range is awesome.
 
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Actually, based on the link you provided the GTX 970 only handily beats the R9 290x at 1080p or lower. Thats a stock R9 290x reference which could be clocked as low as 800mhz due to heat. An R9 290x LIGHTNING is clocked at 1080mhz and can go much further. At that speed it already pummels the GTX 970 STRIX, matching a GTX 780 Ti or surpassing it, which is similar to a GTX 980. If he plans to go above 1080p the R9 290x LIGHTNING is absolutely the better choice unless power draw is a huge concern. Dont be a fanboy. Do the research.

 
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I went with the 290x lightning, and it has served me very well. I do believe the 970s are great cards as well. But now I am moving into a titan X, thanks for all the help ladies and gents.
 
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Welcome to the club :)
 
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Well AVIC side by side with my buddys rig I was pulling off better frame rates as an average, and got higher bench marks with both of us being overclocked, than that of his 970. I do agree that at higher res the 290x is a strong card, and both are overkill for 1080p. Both are sweet cards at a great price, he did make it seem to entirely favor the 290x, but I think it does, other than if you like the NVidia suite more, and its low TDP. Which is a very big plus!

Now I will say other than the MSI lightning 290x, and the 8gb Sapphire version I believe that the newer more efficient 970 is easily superior, its sad only a couple 290x models are capable of proper heat management, mine never throttles and I am running 1195mhz Core/1563Mhz Mem. Stable in Valley/Catzilla/Kombuster.
 
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I am pumped for this new setup to get here, I always build my own rigs but I was too tempted by the new alienware laptop and amplifier combo. I've got a UHD screened 15" alienware on route, with the amplifier and GTX TITAN X within... Ill leave the amp at home on my desk during the work week, and the laptop goes with luggage whilst im gone!



 
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