Which GPU is better? Need advice.

[Chromist]

Hello, I have owned a 7970 Ghz edition card for about 3 years now and I have had no problems with it. Although recently, a R9 290 was posted to my local craigslist for $150. My question is which card will I get the most out of? I am running a non oc'ed i5 with 16gb of ddr3 ram.
Here are the two cards:

My current card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The card for sale: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Any advice/tips/opinions are useful to me. Thanks!

 

[Maarsch]

Well, both of those links sent me to the Newegg main page, but I can compare stock 290 vs 7970

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html
According to that they are 1 level apart, which generally means not a fantastic increase.
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-AMD-Radeon-HD-7970-GHz-Edition
Shows a bit more of a difference though.
Then add the fact it is from craigslist which means it could be anywhere from pristine to dodgy-as-fuck.

For $150 you'd run a fair risk for some (34% fps increase in bioshock infinite apparently) improvement.

It depends on your personal opinion whether the money is worth the risk.
Do you need the 34% fps increase? Do you trust your local craigslist? Are you picking it up personally or will UPS have a chance to bang it up some more?

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Unless your monitor has a resolution of 2560x1440 with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz, you're unlikely to see much of an improvement.

 

[Chromist]

Unless your monitor has a resolution of 2560x1440 with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz, you're unlikely to see much of an improvement.

I'm currently running 2 1920x1080 displays at 60hz.

Sorry about broken links, here are the two cards:

Current: http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/product_index.aspx?pid=1679&lid=1

Card for sale: http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/amd-radeon-r9-series/amd-radeon-r9-290-core-edition-r9-290a-enfc

Hope that helps, thanks for the info so far.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

In that case I'd say that the R9 290 is a worthwhile upgrade, primarily due to the extra 1GB of VRAM. That's assuming you'll be gaming across both monitors and not just one.

 

[Chromist]

In that case I'd say that the R9 290 is a worthwhile upgrade, primarily due to the extra 1GB of VRAM. That's assuming you'll be gaming across both monitors and not just one.

Generally I do just run the game on one monitor, with netflix/music/guide on the opposing one. Still for 150 I will most likely go for it assuming the card is in good shape. Thanks again advice is great guys.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

No worries, you could stick with your HD 7970 but a 290 will offer better longevity.