Radeon R9 280x Windforce or DirectCU ii ?

[KermitTheFrog]

Just a quick question on if there should be any real difference between the two especially since there is a price difference and when comparing the two the windforce comes out better, so would it really matter in getting the one that costs more or less?

 

[Arcturus314]

It is really your choice, the Windforce one will keep your GPU running cooler. Personally I would go for the Windforce.

 

[Iron124]

I believe the Windforce has a better cooling solution, which means more overclocking room and an overall better longevity of the card.

 

[photonboy]

ASUS.

You can read the links, but Techpowerup gave the Asus version a 9.0/10 and the EDITOR's CHOICE whereas the Gigabyte version 8.3/10. In particular the Gigabyte card was "very noisy during gaming" which would be my dealbreaker right there.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/R9_280X_Direct_Cu_II_TOP/31.html
and
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/R9_280X_OC/31.html

*Make sure you are comparing prices and reviews for the correct card. The ASUS above is the overclocked or "TOP" version whereas there's a cheaper one with lower performance that I wouldn't bother with.

Also, you can adjust the fan profile likely if you desire to make fan noise slightly less which is really it's only issue.

The only other card I'd bother investigating is the Sapphire Tri-X OC version though I have a feeling it's going to scale in price in order of Gigabyte, Asus, Sapphire (the specific cards I mentioned): http://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-r9-280x-vapor-x-tri-x-oc-3gb-graphics-card-review/20/

I don't recommend the Gigabyte. I'd probably the Sapphire Tri-X OC version if price wasn't an issue, otherwise I recommend the Asus if cheaper.

 

[KermitTheFrog]

Thank you for your input! Taking this into consideration and some more research will help me with my final decision.