R9 290 Equivalent in Nvidia Cards?

[JMCross]

Hey, I'm doing a little GPU shopping this year, and I had my eyes set on the R9 290. But then I realized I couldn't use "Shadowplay" with a AMD card, so I'm trying to find the Nvidia Card that goes about right with the R9 290.

 

[Guest]

well the r9 290 is a great deal right now. for a few more dollars than current gtx 770 prices you get a very good boost in performance. there isnt really a card right now from nvidia that directly compares with the r9 290 where it sits. you could maybe argue the gtx 780 is a good comparison, but theyre getting harder to find now that theyre being phased out. and i dont think they dropped much below the $300 price point. the gtx 960 could be interesting when it comes out, but for now its either a gtx 760 (meh) for $200-$250, the gtx 770 (not worth it) for like $250ish - $275ish or the gtx 970 (*boner!!!*) for $330 - $400

 

[gyking94]

GTX 780

 

[Derza10]

Seeing how the 780 is the same price as the 970, The 780 isn't really a good option... That leaves you with either paying $350 for a 970 (best option imo) or getting the GTX 770 for around $250. The GTX 970 will be about 40% faster and has twice the vram as the GTX 770 making them pretty much the same performance per dollar but the 970 also has 2gb more of vram making it the clear winner if you can fit it into your budget.

 

[smeezekitty]

Get the 970. It has the same performance as the 290X

A very nice price/performance ratio for NVidia

 

[photonboy]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/25.html

MFAA once released can boost the frame rate even higher, though we haven't seen it tested outside of NVidia's "up to 30%" improvement in frame rate so we have to hold off on that. If it gets 15% or so with no issues that would be great.

In fact, with MFAA and a little overclocking these cards easily beat a GTX780Ti. Additionally the fans on certain models like the one above can turn off when not needed. It also beats the R9-290X on average though some games at 4K+ resolutions can push the cards together for performance. Still, the R9-290X just doesn't make sense period since the price is about the same (starts at $330) but the GTX970 beats it, not counting MFAA, runs quieter, and has several new features as well.

3GB or more is definitely starting to become an issue for VRAM.

Since SHADOWPLAY was discussed, it's pretty much hands down the best card. There are a few models but I recommend THIS ONE:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42974kr

 

[photonboy]

Update:
The R9-290 is cheaper (as low as $250) and has free games so it makes sense to a lot of people. However, since we're discussing NVidia solely it's hard to recommend anything below the GTX970 due to the large performance compared to a GTX770 difference and significant changes. As well as the 4GB of memory which will be needed.

If the GTX960 was out that might be more comparable. I have no problems recommending something like the Gigabyte R9-290 for $250 which has three free games for others crossing this thread.

 

[smeezekitty]

I have a feeling MFAA is going to be another gimmick that doesn't gain anything.

Update:
The R9-290 is cheaper and has free games so it makes sense to a lot of people. However, we're discussing NVidia solely it's hard to recommend anything below the GTX970 due to the large performance difference and significant changes. As well as the 4GB of memory which will be needed.

3GB is enough for now but games are starting to use more. I stand by the suggestion of the GTX970
since the OP wants to use shadow play and it is comparable to the 290X. The GTX770 is a downgrade
from a 290

 

[photonboy]

I have a feeling MFAA is going to be another gimmick that doesn't gain anything.

Update:
The R9-290 is cheaper and has free games so it makes sense to a lot of people. However, we're discussing NVidia solely it's hard to recommend anything below the GTX970 due to the large performance difference and significant changes. As well as the 4GB of memory which will be needed.

3GB is enough for now but games are starting to use more. I stand by the suggestion of the GTX970
since the OP wants to use shadow play and it is comparable to the 290X. The GTX770 is a downgrade
from a 290

Well, that's exactly what I'm saying so you don't appear to have read my two comments very well.

 

[photonboy]

MFAA works great. It just arrived in a driver so we can start getting feedback from users:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2849306/nvidias-new-jaggy-killing-mfaa-technology-hits-geforce-gtx-980-gtx-970.html

NVidia appears to be unlocking support currently on an individual game basis. It's new technology so that makes sense. Currently at least 21 games supported.

Far Cry 3 for example got a 25% boost in frame rate from 48FPS to 60FPS. Hitman Absolution got a 30% boost. Crysis 3 about 23%. AC Unity roughly 20% (though it's new and has issues to work out so that may change).