trying to choose graphic card for my new QHD monitor

[BanBengShin]

Hello guys!
I heard the news that GTA 5 is coming in pc version this fall. And I also heard that it's packed up with the AMD Mantle, so I think I'll mostly likely to go for AMD.
My previous system was
AMD Phenom II X4 980 Deneb O.C to 4.1GHz
PC3-12800 8GB RAM
GTX 550Ti 1GB
an 1600*900 20" monitor

so in order to get ready for gaming, I'll buy a QHD 27" monitor for around $280. I certainly doubt that 550Ti will work fine even after changing the monitor, so I'm planning to buy a new graphics card.( or expand ram if any money left) It's the best to go to the GTX 780Ti, but it cost me $649 of horror. zz

Here are my questions.

1. I have several choices since my budget limit is around $300.

a. go for the R9 280x used for bitcoin and lightcoin mining. It will be around $200 for a used card. Leftover money would be used to buy another pair of 4x2 rams. But somehow worried about the stability of card cuz it's been exhausted for a couple of months. lol

b. go with an R9 280, non x. This may be clearing out the worries 'bout the stability.(Msi Twin Frozr 4 Gaming) This may cost me $270 in my region. No ram upgrades for this option.

c. May seem somehow ridiculous, but go for a GTX 760. this costs almost the same or less than case b. Also, the RAM stays at 8GB.

d. I have a lot of 120mm fans in my case. So I think it will cover up the noise of the R9 290 Reference cooler. So buy used 290( not bitcoin miners) for around $280~310.

2. What do you think about the GTA 5? Wouldn't it be extremely Nvidia-only game? If not, would it perform much better that GTA 4 running on Radeon pc?

 

[BustaRhymes]

r9 290 is def gonna be the best bet for 1440p. r9 280x would prob be cutting it close and I doubt GTX 760 would be powerful enough for 1440p.

I would try hard to get a non reference model for the better cooling (less throttle issues) if you can.

8GB should be enough RAM for a while.

Make sure your PSU can handle your new card as it will be quite a bit more power hungry then 550ti.

 

[BanBengShin]

r9 290 is def gonna be the best bet for 1440p. r9 280x would prob be cutting it close and I doubt GTX 760 would be powerful enough for 1440p.

I would try hard to get a non reference model for the better cooling (less throttle issues) if you can.

8GB should be enough RAM for a while.

Make sure your PSU can handle your new card as it will be quite a bit more power hungry then 550ti.

thanks for your help!

 

[danco5074]

r9 290 is def gonna be the best bet for 1440p. r9 280x would prob be cutting it close and I doubt GTX 760 would be powerful enough for 1440p.

I would try hard to get a non reference model for the better cooling (less throttle issues) if you can.

8GB should be enough RAM for a while.

Make sure your PSU can handle your new card as it will be quite a bit more power hungry then 550ti.

thanks for your help!

780ti is a waste of money at any resolution. It is so minor of increase of the 780 for such a huge price. the r9 290 is easily capable matching and sometimes outperforming the 780 (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1036), and is more than $100 cheaper. Also, it has 4GB VRAM which may come in handy at higher resolutions. There is no such thing as a Nvidia centric game, All GPUs that are capable of handling resources will handle do exactly that.