Which GPU to buy?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
nyxanna

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
283
2
18,815
Right now I have a GTX 460 and it's really annoying. I can't even play The Witcher 2 with it on Ultra. It only gives me around 20 FPS there.

I saw that new AMD cards are coming out. They are based on the old ones but are faster and also cheaper. The 290 is coming later but I found out that it is going to be an expensive high end card and will cost $500+ which is a bit much.

What I need help with is deciding which is most future proof. For how long would a R9 290X actually be fine for games on Ultra?
What I am trying to say is, would it be wiser to simply buy a GPU now with half the cost of a 290X and then in a few years use the other half for a new actual GPU? That way the money would further since buying a cheaper card now could probably play most things easily, right?

How fast will a 290X "get old"? Graphics right now seems to evolve pretty quick and I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of next year there'd be games that it couldn't play at max smoothly anymore.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
D

Directly Inverse

Honorable
Oct 9, 2013
53
0
10,660
Honestly no one knows the answer to the real futureproofing question. But it should last at least 3 years, after that sure you may not be playing on ultra (who knows what a next crysis game will do to a gpu) but you would be able to play most games on med-high after that mark. It depends if you want to justify paying 500+ dollars now for a gpu, or purchase a gpu NOW for lets say 250 that will max out games now and in 2-3 years purchase a new gpu for the same amount to run the games at ultra for the next few years.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
nyxanna

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
283
2
18,815
I'm thinking about buying a Radeon X9 280X which is going to cost me around £300 ($478). I'm not so good with GPU benchmarks. Is this a good deal or is there another GPU better for around the same price? I know that there won't be a Radeon card better for the same price because I read these new cards are based on old ones but better and cheaper. This one is based on the HD 7970 I think.

So should I be buying another or is this one the best for the price?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

Directly Inverse

Honorable
Oct 9, 2013
53
0
10,660


If you;re willing to pay that price then yes, that's a great way to go, Its similar to the 7970 but clocked higher and requires a little less power. But You could think of it that way, purchase a high end gpu that you wont have to for a few years, and build around that. And if you are getting it for that price, i'd go for it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
nyxanna

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
283
2
18,815
I just saw benchmarks and the 7970 seems to perform better in all benchmarks I saw. Don't really know why I would buy a 280X over it at all and the 7970 comes with 3 game codes while the 280X comes with nothing.
I think I'm going to go for the 7970 instead.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
nyxanna

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
283
2
18,815
I still have a few more questions. I just saw that the GTX 680 is doing better in benchmarks and the store I am using sells at a price similar to the 7970. Then I saw that the GTX 770 is better than both but later on I found benchmarks where the 7970 somehow beat the other two cards. I can't tell which is the best card.

Out of these 3 which is the best GPU?
So is this card worse than the second?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-asus-radeon-hd-7970-matrix-platinum-6600mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1050mhz-2048cores-4xdp-2xdl-dvi-plusf
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-pov-tgt-gtx-680-charged-backplate-28nm-pcie-30-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1111mhz-boost-1176mhz
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-770-sc-acx-28nm-pcie-30-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1111mhz-boost-1163mhz-cores-1536-dport-hdmi-d
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
nyxanna

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
283
2
18,815
I still have a few more questions. I just saw that the GTX 680 is doing better in benchmarks and the store I am using sells at a price similar to the 7970. Then I saw that the GTX 770 is better than both but later on I found benchmarks where the 7970 somehow beat the other two cards. I can't tell which is the best card.

Out of these 3 which is the best GPU?
So is this card worse than the second?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-asus-radeon-hd-7970-matrix-platinum-6600mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1050mhz-2048cores-4xdp-2xdl-dvi-plusf
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-pov-tgt-gtx-680-charged-backplate-28nm-pcie-30-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1111mhz-boost-1176mhz
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-770-sc-acx-28nm-pcie-30-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1111mhz-boost-1163mhz-cores-1536-dport-hdmi-d
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
nyxanna

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
283
2
18,815
I guess I'll go with the 7970 afterall. The 770 might be better but the 3 free games that come with the AMD cards just make it a better deal.
Can someone tell me though how easily the 7970 can be overclocked? I read that the 7970 is better for overclocking than the GTX 770.
The difference is small so is there any way to buy a new cooler and overclock it to 770 level or is that a bad idea?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom