New Build: I need GPU advice! 760 SLI, 770 SLI, or R9 290?

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pwrntspd

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May 10, 2008
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Hey Guys, im looking for some advice on GPU's. Im currently in the process of upgrading and trying to decide on GPU's. Ive thought about three options and really want your advice.

First of all, im running a single 27" 1440p monitor and i want to be able to run any and all games at 60fps on max settings, at least for a while.

Is it best to get a pair of 760s and upgrade in 2~3 years?
Or
A pair of 770's which might last me another year or so?
Or
An R9 290 now, and another in crossfire in 6 months (i would wait for aftermarket coolers first) which would probably last me 4~5+ years?

Things ive kept in mind:

-4GB keeps me a bit future proofed but a 4Gb 770 costs as much as an R9 290
-Smoother gameplay on Nvidia? Is it true? Not just frame rate but adaptive vsync? (not gsync- no i wont buy a new monitor for that)

-The awesome value that is the R9 290.

Any advise or other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for your time!

-pwrntspd
 
Solution
determinologyz
I would go 2 770s 4GB and push those untill u feel the need to upgrade..2 760s will work as well but you will be upgrading sooner then later. Right now im running dual 760s at 1440p and it gives me pretty good performance and all but i kinda wanna grab 2 maxwell 870s to give me that extra headroom in the future once they release them
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determinologyz

determinologyz

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I would go 2 770s 4GB and push those untill u feel the need to upgrade..2 760s will work as well but you will be upgrading sooner then later. Right now im running dual 760s at 1440p and it gives me pretty good performance and all but i kinda wanna grab 2 maxwell 870s to give me that extra headroom in the future once they release them
 
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llkashll

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Jun 13, 2013
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I'd differentiate between them based on AMD's showing mantle at APU 2013 in the next few days. NVIDIA has G-SYNC (which you dont seeem to be interested in), PHYSX and Shadow Play.

Personally I dont think the r9 290 can be beaten in terms of value. It can basically take a 780 for $100 less and the only disadvantage for now are the horrendous reference coolers. Also on one r9 290 you should be able to get 60 fps in the majority of titles fairly easily.

And while AMD has had problems with microstutter in crossfire, their drivers have improved significantly over the years and their frame pacing has been observed to almost equalise the playing field with NVIDIA despite the fact they're still in early days.
 
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determinologyz

determinologyz

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As for me it doesnt matter how fast of gpu amd has if the drivers/crossfire isnt up to par like they should be its no buy. Sure the R9 series 280/290/290x is a better value but im not fond of their software and that being said as of now i wouldnt recommend them. Crossfire works good "when" it works and ive seen people talk about issues as of late..Havent seen reallly to many issues with sli or even nv drivers for that matter.
 
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llkashll

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Crossfire is a pretty competitive offering right now, not as good as SLI but definitely getting there:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/catalyst-13.8-frame-pacing-crossfire,3595-10.html

Toms also did an observational test with people judging which they preferred better and AMD lost to NVIDIA by only a slight margin (if you omit the metro 2033 test which wasn't functional on AMD's drivers). Considering OP is going to wait 6 months before he CFX's frame pacing will be finalised by then and completely competitive with SLI.
 
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determinologyz

determinologyz

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End of the day i want a good solid card with the best drivers vs a faster gpu with undelivered drivers..For so long amd has been saying they will totally fix frame pacing and crossfire and even tho they working on it as of now i would not recommend them. To me it doesnt matter how amd cards are in value if your drivers/crossfire support isnt top notch i dont want it and so far they have some work to do before i can say someone should get a amd card. People have different opinions im sure im going to get alot of people to disagree but ive seen more people even as of late still see issues in crossfire and frame latency on amd side more so then people has talked about nvidia and sli. Thats my two cents
 
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JUICEhunter

JUICEhunter

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Oct 23, 2013
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If you can't wait for a better cooler on the 290 the 770 super clocked is only a 5-10 frames behind in single card setups and the difference is even less with duel GPUs (2 770 sc vs 2 290). If you prefer nvidias drivers/temps/phys x you will have no regrets. I'm guessing custom 290 will be $$450+ not $400 like reference models. 770 sc is a beast @ $350 well worth the extra $20 over a regular 770, is fast enough if you have to wait for a 2nd also.
 
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