Yet another graphics card question

[mckinnej]

Hi Everyone,

I recently built a (mostly) new system. Here are the basics.

MB: Asus M5A99FX PRO
CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black 4GHz
PSU: 650W 80 Plus Bronze (Rosewill?)
RAM: 16GB DDR3

I didn't upgrade the graphics at the time due to budget, but now it's time to make that upgrade. I'm torn between the 760, 770, and the 280X. I've read numerous posts here on the pros and cons of each of the cards and here are the basics as I understand them.

280X: Drivers - so-so, performance - excellent,. power hungry. 650W may not be enough.
770: Great card, but expensive. Is it really worth $100 more than a 760?
760: Good card. Good bang for the buck. Bare minimum to play current games.

I would probably go for the 280X, but I worried about not having a big enough PSU. I've read of some quality issues as well. I'd like to get a 770, but I've never paid over $300 for a graphics card before and I'm having a hard time prying open my wallet that far. I can afford it, but I don't want to spend that much if I don't have to. I'm comfortable with the price of a 760, but if it's the minimum now, that would mean I'd be buying another card in a year or so, so in the long run it might be more expensive.

So there's my quandary. Oh yeah, I run dual 1920x1200 monitors and I play a wide variety of games from heavily modded Skyrim, the "X" series of space games, modded Fallout 3/NV, Civ5, and the usual FPS junk like CoD & BF games. I've read here that Skyrim eats a lot of VRAM and since I play it a lot, I'd probably need 4GB if I went with the 770 or 760.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Many thanks in advance!

 

[swifty_morgan]

in all seriousness which of those cards has 3 or 4gigs of vram??

 

[i7Baby]

The 280x and 770 will run off a good brand 600W psu. The 760 - 500W See http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html to get a good one.

The 770 is a bit better performer than the 280x - http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-280X-vs-GeForce-GTX-770

2gb model gpus are ok for 1080p. Get 4gb if you want 1440p or multiple gaming monitors.

Skyrim - http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=625&game=The%20Elder%20Scrolls%20V doesn't ask for much. Plug your cpu etc and find out which card is better.

 

[mckinnej]

in all seriousness which of those cards has 3 or 4gigs of vram??

The 760 and 770 both come in 2 and 4 GB models. I have only seen the 280X with 3GB. There might be another (bigger) version of it, but I haven't seen it.

 

[swifty_morgan]

these guys like to fight it but 2gigs in watchdogs doesn't cut it. the game has fixes but it still doesn't change anything as far as vram.

depending on the game they fight it out............. 280x or 770.

the ps.. one of those hive ones? should be okay I guess. ............. if in doubt the 670..??

buying cards really sucks. expensive ones last 2-3years before you usually have to start making concessions....or sooner in new games that make it tough. ........ i don't buy those..... mainly because I'm an addict. gotta have a new card all the time. buy medium high and run it for what it's worth and buy another in a year or 2..... for gaming. I do pretty good with 2gig cards but there's always an exception. last year it was modded skyrim........... need to keep the textures on the card so you don't get hitching as it off loads...... this year now it watch dogs.