R9 290X 8GB vs GALAX GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent

[mike1282]

Hey guys, i have a fairly simple problem here, im trying to choose a graphics card for my computer, ive narrowed it down to two graphics cards, the MSI Radeon R9 290X Gaming Edition 8G or the GALAX GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent (both £290 approx) but i simply dont know what will be better for me, im only going to be using one (for now hopefully ). Im going to be gaming mostly, but fair bit of internet browsing and netflix, i mostly play games like the TOTAL War series, but i also want to play games like Shadow of mordor, project cars, tomb raider ect. I would love any advice you guys can offer up. Also im dont really care about the whole AMD vs NVIDIA thing, so theres that aswell . Thanks Mike.

[starkyller]

What power supply do you have? what resolution do you use?

[mike1282]

What power supply do you have? what resolution do you use?

its a build from scratch so ill get a different one depending on which card i choose, and 1080, with a possible upgrade to 4k depending on money.

[starkyller]

I would go with the gtx 970 but since you might upgrade to 4k the 8gb of the r9 may be a better option (don't forget that the r9 under load should take around 400w of power alone)

[mike1282]

at the moment i feel 1080 is a more obtainable resolution, and the fact that i could run two 970's off a 650W PSU makes me feel it'll be the best choice, im just not sure when it comes to upgrading to 2x SLi or crossfire for better 4k gaming, with the fact that id need about 100W PSU, i feel over all 970 would be better in the long run.

[starkyller]

i feel over all 970 would be better in the long run.

100% agree

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Actually in the long run,especially looking at user tests on OcUK looks a better GPU longterm since it tends to perform better at higher resolutions like 4K,due to more memory bandwidth and more usable memory.

TBH,if I were the OP I would hold off getting new card for a bit -it looks like the R9 300 series will be out in the next two months which might put some pressure on GTX980 pricing too.