MSI R9 280x 3GB vs MSI GTX 970 4GB

[milanzulu]

Need help, please!
I am upgrading my GPU and I have a problem choosing between these two. Main concern is performance/cost, because in my country the R9 costs around 253.26 € and the GTX around 380.71 €.
So, my question - is the GTX that much better than the R9 in performance or should I say, am I going to notice a big improvement for 130 € more?
P.S. Upgrading because I would like to play more demanting games like ACC Unity, Ryse, COD:AW etc in 1080p.
Thanks in advance!

 

[iamlegend]

Wait a bit longer for the AMD 300 series.

 

[KoopaCreeper]

The 970 is faster and more efficient, but not enough to justify a 130 euro premium over the 280X. If you play at 1080p, you should be able to max out 99% of games with playable frame rates with a 280X. Source: I have one.

 

[Candy_Flip]

As gamer with the MSI GTX 970 in SLI (Ive used it both in and out of SLI mode) I can speak for the GTX's performance and it is quite the powerhorse. Although with that being said it did take me longer to save up for it over some of AMD's products.
In your situation however I second both of the comments above me, if price/power is your point of leverage the 280x is a solid performer at 1080p and can absolutely handle the work load of those games at that resolution. That being said, unless you are in a rush to get a new card, it would be worth it to wait until the 300 series comes out. Because that will do 2 things for you, drop the price of the 200 series slightly and give you a new option to consider for a slightly higher price point.

I will admit bias toward the GTX, but that is only because I enjoy playing at 2K. So as "worth it" as the GTX is, in your situation it might be overkill for what you want and need! Either go with the 280x if you need or cant wait for the 300 series or obviously wait for the 300 series and really have the power to knock out those games at 1080p!

Hope this helps!

 

[milanzulu]

So basically, you are all saying that either I wait for the R9 300 series that release in Q2(a rumor I read on the web) or go with the 280x because it isn't a big jump in performance for a 130 euro more?
I just wonder if waiting for the 300 is going to pay off, because I heard that AMD is going to pinpoint the 380x between GTX 970 and 980 performance speaking, and thus the price will also be in between? What do you guys think?
I also want to thank you all for the replies, they are helping me in my decision!

 

[KoopaCreeper]

So basically, you are all saying that either I wait for the R9 300 series that release in Q2(a rumor I read on the web) or go with the 280x because it isn't a big jump in performance for a 130 euro more?
I just wonder if waiting for the 300 is going to pay off, because I heard that AMD is going to pinpoint the 380x between GTX 970 and 980 and thus the price will also be in between? What do you guys think?
I also want to thank you all for the replies, they are helping me in my decision!

If you're looking to upgrade now and you only play at 1080p (and will continue to do so), the 280X is the best buy, especially with your prices. If you can wait, see how the R9 300 series competes with the GTX 900 series.

 

[milanzulu]

One more question: can you guys recommend a near performance (better and worse) substitute for a 280x? Just to check the prices in my country before the hammer drops
Btw. @KoopaCreeper can you please tell me which CPU cooler do you use for your oc'd 4690k?

 

[11sphere92]

The jump is big on 1080p as far as i know. I own GTX 970 now and R9 280x Before.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/10

The R9 280x benchmark scored like around 3,2k

 

[KoopaCreeper]

One more question: can you guys recommend a near performance (better and worse) substitute for a 280x? Just to check the prices in my country before the hammer drops
Btw. @KoopaCreeper can you please tell me which CPU cooler do you use for your oc'd 4690k?

The Enermax ETS-T40-TB. It's essentially a Hyper 212 EVO with a better stock fan, usually at the same price point. Works as well as a mid-range cooling tower should.

 

[milanzulu]

Sorry for the late reply! Finally I went with 280x that was on sale and with the extra cash I took a new PC case

The Enermax ETS-T40-TB. It's essentially a Hyper 212 EVO with a better stock fan, usually at the same price point. Works as well as a mid-range cooling tower should.

Can you tell me what are your idle/load temps?
Thanks guys for helping me choose right!

 

[KoopaCreeper]

Sorry for the late reply! Finally I went with 280x that was on sale and with the extra cash I took a new PC case

The Enermax ETS-T40-TB. It's essentially a Hyper 212 EVO with a better stock fan, usually at the same price point. Works as well as a mid-range cooling tower should.

Can you tell me what are your idle/load temps?
Thanks guys for helping me choose right!

At 4.5GHz and 1.2 volts, 25-28 degrees Celsius at idle, 45-55 degrees while gaming, mid 60's while stress testing or rendering videos. Hits 70 degrees occasionally if my room is hot, but the fan is set to go to full speed when this happens.

What CPU do you have?

 

[milanzulu]

milanzulu said:
Sorry for the late reply! Finally I went with 280x that was on sale and with the extra cash I took a new PC case

Quote:
The Enermax ETS-T40-TB. It's essentially a Hyper 212 EVO with a better stock fan, usually at the same price point. Works as well as a mid-range cooling tower should.

Can you tell me what are your idle/load temps?
Thanks guys for helping me choose right!


At 4.5GHz and 1.2 volts, 25-28 degrees Celsius at idle, 45-55 degrees while gaming, mid 60's while stress testing or rendering videos. Hits 70 degrees occasionally if my room is hot, but the fan is set to go to full speed when this happens.

What CPU do you have?

I have a 4690k, that's why I'm asking
You scored a 4.5 GHz without touching the voltage? I thought that if I want a stable oc I'd have to bump the voltage to match the speed... And another thing - do you have one fan on the CPU cooler?

 

[KoopaCreeper]

milanzulu said:
Sorry for the late reply! Finally I went with 280x that was on sale and with the extra cash I took a new PC case

Quote:
The Enermax ETS-T40-TB. It's essentially a Hyper 212 EVO with a better stock fan, usually at the same price point. Works as well as a mid-range cooling tower should.

Can you tell me what are your idle/load temps?
Thanks guys for helping me choose right!


At 4.5GHz and 1.2 volts, 25-28 degrees Celsius at idle, 45-55 degrees while gaming, mid 60's while stress testing or rendering videos. Hits 70 degrees occasionally if my room is hot, but the fan is set to go to full speed when this happens.

What CPU do you have?

I have a 4690k, that's why I'm asking
You scored a 4.5 GHz without touching the voltage? I thought that if I want a stable oc I'd have to bump the voltage to match the speed... And another thing - do you have one fan on the CPU cooler?

Hmm- I thought it was 1.1V stock. Maybe it varies chip to chip. Either way, Intel is super cautious with their stock voltages- I've seen people clock their Devil's Canyon chips at 4 GHz at slightly lower than stock settings (1.05V) for an ultra-quiet PC. I only have the one fan that came with the heatsink.

 

[milanzulu]

Hmm- I thought it was 1.1V stock. Maybe it varies chip to chip. Either way, Intel is super cautious with their stock voltages- I've seen people clock their Devil's Canyon chips at 4 GHz at slightly lower than stock settings (1.05V) for an ultra-quiet PC. I only have the one fan that came with the heatsink.

I know it varies, but still I‘m impressed! If my memory is good, I think my Msi Gaming 5 mobo oc‘d 4 GHz with 1.200 v in Oc Genie. Is that ok? I‘ve read on the net that the maximum voltage is around 1.30-1.35v so I have to ask, do you second this? Or is it a small performance over high temps?

 

[KoopaCreeper]

Hmm- I thought it was 1.1V stock. Maybe it varies chip to chip. Either way, Intel is super cautious with their stock voltages- I've seen people clock their Devil's Canyon chips at 4 GHz at slightly lower than stock settings (1.05V) for an ultra-quiet PC. I only have the one fan that came with the heatsink.

I know it varies, but still I‘m impressed! If my memory is good, I think my Msi Gaming 5 mobo oc‘d 4 GHz with 1.200 v in Oc Genie. Is that ok? I‘ve read on the net that the maximum voltage is around 1.30-1.35v so I have to ask, do you second this? Or is it a small performance over high temps?

That should be fine, but the manual MSI Overclock Genie will use very conservative settings: i.e. a voltage that is guranteed to be stable, but quite high for the clock speed. If you want to test your luck, go into the manual overclock settings and take the multiplier up to 40x, 41x, 42x, etc. (make sure you test for stability) and use these recommended voltages from Anandtech. I'd say a reasonable cap for the 4690K (middle of page) would be 4,5GHz because there's an exponential increase in temperature after that.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/2
As I said before, my i5 is at 4.5GHz at 1.2V, so yours would be using the same amount of power but running 500MHz slower.

 

[milanzulu]

That should be fine, but the manual MSI Overclock Genie will use very conservative settings: i.e. a voltage that is guranteed to be stable, but quite high for the clock speed. If you want to test your luck, go into the manual overclock settings and take the multiplier up to 40x, 41x, 42x, etc. (make sure you test for stability) and use these recommended voltages from Anandtech. I'd say a reasonable cap for the 4690K (middle of page) would be 4,5GHz because there's an exponential increase in temperature after that.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review...
As I said before, my i5 is at 4.5GHz at 1.2V, so yours would be using the same amount of power but running 500MHz slower.

Ok, I sorted that out and thanks for the info but now I have a different kind of problem! I bought the MSI R9 280X and from the beginning it flickers on 2D same as in 3D but not all the time. So do you know how can I fix this or do I RMA it? Currently using the latest AMD drivers on Win7 x64. And sorry if I am boring you to death!

 

[brendan Miron]

Hi, if your wondering about the flickering, I own the same card as you and it is a amd problem from what I have read, also I will be upgrading to a gtx 970 because the nvidia company pays game companies for optimization in games, also it does perform 10-15% better In some games, last of all AMD has disappointed me with not releasing a driver in over 3 months and counting, while my friend who owns a gtx 750ti says drivers get updated every two weeks or so, I'm just sad that I can't play advanced warfare with out fps drops, with my cpu and gpu load maxing out at 35% so yeah...

 

[KoopaCreeper]

That should be fine, but the manual MSI Overclock Genie will use very conservative settings: i.e. a voltage that is guranteed to be stable, but quite high for the clock speed. If you want to test your luck, go into the manual overclock settings and take the multiplier up to 40x, 41x, 42x, etc. (make sure you test for stability) and use these recommended voltages from Anandtech. I'd say a reasonable cap for the 4690K (middle of page) would be 4,5GHz because there's an exponential increase in temperature after that.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review...
As I said before, my i5 is at 4.5GHz at 1.2V, so yours would be using the same amount of power but running 500MHz slower.

Ok, I sorted that out and thanks for the info but now I have a different kind of problem! I bought the MSI R9 280X and from the beginning it flickers on 2D same as in 3D but not all the time. So do you know how can I fix this or do I RMA it? Currently using the latest AMD drivers on Win7 x64. And sorry if I am boring you to death!

I would RMA it. Probably a defective display output controller.

 

[milanzulu]

That should be fine, but the manual MSI Overclock Genie will use very conservative settings: i.e. a voltage that is guranteed to be stable, but quite high for the clock speed. If you want to test your luck, go into the manual overclock settings and take the multiplier up to 40x, 41x, 42x, etc. (make sure you test for stability) and use these recommended voltages from Anandtech. I'd say a reasonable cap for the 4690K (middle of page) would be 4,5GHz because there's an exponential increase in temperature after that.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review...
As I said before, my i5 is at 4.5GHz at 1.2V, so yours would be using the same amount of power but running 500MHz slower.

Ok, I sorted that out and thanks for the info but now I have a different kind of problem! I bought the MSI R9 280X and from the beginning it flickers on 2D same as in 3D but not all the time. So do you know how can I fix this or do I RMA it? Currently using the latest AMD drivers on Win7 x64. And sorry if I am boring you to death!

I would RMA it. Probably a defective display output controller.

I RMA - ed it and the customer service said that nothing is wrong with the GPU, that it passed their benchmark test without failing and that I should test my whole build. They also said that my PSU could cause these kind of problems because we ruled out the RAM. My opinion is they are trying to sell me crap because I have a brand new 600w PSU and couldn't find anywhere on the web a corelation with those two... Am I wrong about this?