GTX 780 but which one? or stretch to a GTX 780ti? Or maybe a R9 290X?

[Fr33k1e]

Hi people,

I'm currently looking at getting a new GFX card but undecided, I have been looking at them all but the one's that stands out are the Gigabyte GTX 780 GHz Edition and the Zotac GTX 780 AMP! I know clock for clock there isn't much difference or is it worth put the extra £155 towards getting the Gigabyte GTX 780ti GHz Edition?

My system is as follows:

Core i7 950
Asus Sabertooth X58
Kingston HyperX 12GB 1600
Corsair AX750

My current Palit GTX 570 Sonic has lasted me 4 year but is starting to struggle with a lot of games (obviously) so I'm looking at replacing it with something that will last about the same length of time and no I don't have plans for a 4K Monitor upgrade...yet!

Or...

Go with a R9 290X?

Thanks for your help

[MrRockliffe]

I'd wait for a little bit, save up and completely upgrade your system. It's not slow by any means, but it will start to show it's age with newer games.

As far as GPU goes, the 780 would be my first choice, simply because it still offers great performance and it's quieter and cooler than the AMD competition. However, if you want mantle and tru audio, AMD would be the one to go for.

That's what I'd do personally.

[aidanjt]

Honestly if you're in 780 budget territory at all, you may as well chip in the bit extra for the Ti.

[Fr33k1e]

@ MrRockliffe - Tru audio and Mantle aren't something that bother me at the moment.

I have looked at upgrading the whole system but would really like to wait for the new line of Intel CPU's to come out before doing that.

[jamesaxlwhite]

No way I'm going to suggest you to buy Nvidia's reference card because it's stock-like but the jetstream one is a good option.

Here's the reference card: youtu.be/deNz-y2pENY

[mikeo01]

That's a lot of cash to play with. Firstly what's your current resolution?

For 1080P I'd honestly only recommend an R9 280X as the maximum. It even holds up well at 1440P. However here's some choices:

PowerColor R9 280X
MSI R9 290
R9 290X

The reference AMD coolers are pretty darn good, but an aftermarket cooler would be nicer.

Firstly can you overclock your I7-950? It may well hold you back to be honest. It's a great processor but I'd up it a bit

[Ttaskmaster]

Don't all the 290s run notably hotter and/or louder than the 780s?

I'm also in the same market and have been reckoning the MSI 780 Lightning is possibly the best bang for buck overall...?

I'd considered a Ti, but £100 extra for something like a 5-10% increase that I likely wouldn't even notice sounds a little OTT, especially as whatever card I get will be held back by my utterly awful low-end mobo and CPU.

[kalniel]

Don't all the 290s run notably hotter and/or louder than the 780s?

They appear to be designed to run a bit hotter yes, though the OP didn't mention any unusual thermal constraints in his list of requirements.

[ajones]

Don't all the 290s run notably hotter and/or louder than the 780s?

They are designed to run hotter, so that's not a reason to select nVidia over AMD.
The reference AMD cards do have naff coolers, but if you go for a AMD non-reference cooler, there's no reason to select nVidia over AMD.

Performance wise though.... I was thinking that AMD had the sweet spot, but the 780 prices seem to have tumbled whilst I wasn't looking! I think there's "a reasonable concensus" that in terms of performance, it goes 780Ti > 290X > 780 > 290. Price wise, looking at TodayOnly (and note that the average includes overclocked cards, the nvidia watercooled card) we have averages of £533 - £421 - £390 - £332. It was if someone in marketing was involved.....

I'm looking at cards now, and am thinking either 290(non-X) or 780(non-Ti) look like the best bang for buck.

[kompukare]

Don't all the 290s run notably hotter and/or louder than the 780s?

They shouldn't though. That is, the wattages are fairly similar so with comparable cooler (MSI Gaming, Asus DU II etc.) they should perform similarly. According to TPU (who measure what the GPU on its own draws rather than the whole system), the figures are:
GTX 780 vs R9-290 = 222W vs 245W (+23W)
GTX 780 Ti vs R9-290X = 269W vs 271W (+2W)

So they *should* run fairly similarly. Although I read that at least one vendor used the exact same cooler for their 290s as for their 780s and (since GK110 has a bigger die), their design didn't make optimum contact.

But the point remains: a card from either vendor which pulls 270W is going to behave fairly similarly as they are both constrained by physics.

Intel of course aren't as they use Area51 alien technology; well according to some internet forums anyhow

[Ttaskmaster]

Well, there's a 280X for £250 that runs 100MHz faster than the 780 Windforce, with more stream processors and only 8MHz slower memory...

290s seem to have more stream processors and more (albeit slower) memory, with a slightly higher core clock (when boosted).
Not really sure how all that affects my system anyway, but if that runs hotter/louder then that's extra effort needed for the case fans.

Then I hear that the 780 Lightning can overclock to near Titan performance with relative ease and low impact on the cooling... and it has pritty pritty lights!!

But then, given how some people (not here) have almost made death threats over the idea that I'd *dare* put such a lovely card on such a throttled mobo/CPU combo, I guess I could Crossfire/SLI in a second card when they become cheap enough and I've upgraded.

[scaryjim]

... (since GK110 has a bigger die) ...

This is kind of the point - the Hawaii GPU is a smaller piece of silicon but has the same amount of heat generated within it, so it reaches a higher temperature.

With an 8 thread CPU and 12GB of RAM I wouldn't consider changing your base system until it actually dies - that's going to monster future games as they'll be better threaded with lower dependencies on single-threaded performance (have a read around on the DX12 unveiling to get a fuller picture). Both AMD and NVidia will support DX12 on their current hardware, so frankly any choice of 780/Ti and 290/X will see you right - it's really just what you fancy after that. With the direction DX12 is taking I don't think Mantle is going to be that important long term, however I wouldn't dismiss TrueAudio so readily; there's a lot of mileage in having a high-quality positional audio processor available for gaming. It's not a killer feature by any means, but it's a distinguishing one (like Cuda for nvidia).

Otherwise, as others have said, the cards are currently priced to reflect their relative performance. There's not a huge amount in it.

[Wolmack]

Go for the 780!

[Ttaskmaster]

I just scored 1594 in Heaven 4 with a 780 Lightning in my severely nerfed rig...

780 For The Win!!!

[Judge888]

I really dont think the 780ti is worth the extra for your needs, at most you are talking 10 fps more, reality probably half that with a higher temp and more power draw. The 780 or 290 would be perfect if you are at 1440p however if you are at 1080 still then a 280x is more than sufficient. There is little point buying better when it is not needed and by the time it is there will be better cheaper cards available (not to mention i doubt 1080 is going anywhere fast so a 280x will hold its price reletively well compared to the very top tier cards)