R9 290 Vapor-X vs GTX 970 WF ~ Build 1 or 2

[EzTec]

Hey everyone so there are two builds that I am pulling my hair out trying to see if it's worth dishing out the extra bucks on or not.... I really wanted to stay around the $900.00 range so this is that build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.85 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Vapor-X Video Card ($301.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($76.18 @ Newegg)
Total: $921.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 13:50 EST-0500

Then some people were mentioning that the GTX 970 Windforce is a better card than the R9 290... so that's what lead to this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($359.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.49 @ Newegg)
Total: $1008.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 13:51 EST-0500

Which build do you think is better?

I also saw this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAahjdwfbRw from Jay's 2 cents on youtube basically talking about the GTX 970, and in some of his benchmarks in the video shows comparisons with a R9 290 card, and their not much different so I have yet to discover the 970 to be the better card.

Would love to hear some feedback, thanks guys

 

[Brunostako]

From those two options, i would take the one with the GTX 970. It's the fastest.

Actually, the PSUs should be switched. The biggest with the R9 290 and the smallest with the GTX 970.

 

[Andrew_T]

For that price I wouldnt be very interested in the 290 at this point in time. The 970 price is just meh as well.

I myself am looking for a GPU upgrade and its my opinion that waiting a few more months until the release of the AMD 300 series release will help me snag a good price. Whether you have the patience for it is up to you.

 

[EzTec]

Thing is i dont have anything right now, this isn't a upgrade build, this is a 1st build, i have laptops in my room, 3 to be exact but no main workstation / gaming rig...

definitely feel it's time to get it going.

 

[Brunostako]

Can i suggest this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($339.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $892.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-06 16:59 EST-0500

 

[Andrew_T]

Impatient it is 😛. I think you'll be happier for longer with the 970, long as you don't get buyer's remorse over the added cost.