Approximate $750 budget. New build in progress and I need to decide on a card.

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505bbjason

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Nov 1, 2013
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As the title states, I am building a new pc and have everything decided upon other than a gpu. I had previously picked a 780 lightning, but with the 290x and 780ti dropping, I am re-evaluating. I will do a bit of gaming at 1080p on a single monitor, and want to try and max out the graphics settings if possible. I would rather not wait too long for upgraded versions if I don't have to, as this computer will be used for class as well. School programs include, solidworks, mathcad, matlab, and Autodesk. I know a gaming card isn't optimized for these, but I can't afford a quadro, and I don't want to be forced into non gaming applications only.

Thanks,
Jason
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/201uQ
 
Solution
lmaonade200
seems as though many of your applications like matlab and autodesk can utilize the CUDA cores found in Nvidia cards well, so I'd say go for a 780, the price of it just dropped a ton because of the R9 290x, which is a great thing for your wallet :)

Edit:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-780-ti-review-benchmarks,3663-12.html

you can look at some of the benches here, it seems that the 780 (and the ti) fall behind AMD's flagships in DirectX, OpenCL, and OpenGL applications so you may want to take that into account and just go for a 290 or 290x
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lmaonade200

lmaonade200

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seems as though many of your applications like matlab and autodesk can utilize the CUDA cores found in Nvidia cards well, so I'd say go for a 780, the price of it just dropped a ton because of the R9 290x, which is a great thing for your wallet :)

Edit:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-780-ti-review-benchmarks,3663-12.html

you can look at some of the benches here, it seems that the 780 (and the ti) fall behind AMD's flagships in DirectX, OpenCL, and OpenGL applications so you may want to take that into account and just go for a 290 or 290x
 
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Solution
thismafiaguy

thismafiaguy

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The 780Ti isn't really a good value right now, it's at most 20% faster than the 780, but costs 40% more. I would just get a standard 780 like the ASUS DirectCU II for $519, and maybe add another one if for some reason it can't max games at 1080p. You should spend another $100 on the motherboard and get the Maximus VI Formula though, it's a seriously cool board. The Hero is good, but it's kind of stripped down.

The AMD cards would be good if they didn't run so hot.
 
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5

505bbjason

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Nov 1, 2013
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I should have also mentioned that I would like to try my hand at some mild overclocking as well. Would like to at least have a noticeable increase over reference models. The heat from the AMD cards concerns me in regards to reference overclocking. I need to get everything together sooner rather than later. Which is why I've been looking at the non-reference 780's, including the ASUS mentioned. Seems like there is not a clear cut winner, or at least to someone new to this like me.
 
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thismafiaguy

thismafiaguy

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Generally speaking, the top-tier of the GPU market doesn't seem appealing right now. The AMD cards run too hot and would need good aftermarket coolers to be reasonable, but there won't be any aftermarket 290/290X cards until maybe January. The 780Ti is quite a bit overpriced compared to the rest of the field, and it wouldn't be a good value until the prices drop again.

The Corsair C70 case that you plan on using should have enough GPU cooling capacity to tame an R9 290 without letting it cook the rest of your system. I would get one for this setup as soon as a good aftermarket version is available, and use the money you spare towards a high-end motherboard like the Maximus VI Formula, or to save up for future upgrades.
 
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huilun02

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Dang that's a lot of money to spend on a card. Just burn it on a GTX 780 Ti. So what if it's expensive? It's the best and will teabag a super cheap R9 290X. It's made for people like you anyway.

I'm tired of trying to help bajiillionaires get the best bang for buck or save money. It's like asking I got 50 million dollars what car should I get?
 
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JUICEhunter

JUICEhunter

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Oct 23, 2013
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there is an evga superclocked 770 for only $20 more than a regular 770 which will give you great single card performance and you could get a 2nd at the next price drop... you don't have to spend all your budget if the performance isn't there. New cards are always coming and decreased prices have had a lot of pcgamers with bad timing go crazy (my heart goes out to 780 owners who got their cards@$650 a few weeks ago)
 
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505bbjason

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Nov 1, 2013
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It's made for people like me? What's that supposed to mean? I'm not some "bajillionaire" by the way. I'm just a normal guy in college who set aside some money to build a new computer because I got tired of dealing with the computer labs on campus.

Excuse me for asking for help on something that is new to me. Sure I can afford a 780 ti, but if it would bring little benefit, I would consider it a waste. None of the other members felt the need to be condescending, and kindly offered suggestions. What did I do to you?
 
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505bbjason

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Nov 1, 2013
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Thanks for all the suggestions so far... I've been a little gun shy about SLI since I've read about some programs and games not supporting it. Is this going to be a non-issue in my case?
 
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huilun02

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No I got nothing against you. What I'm against is all the debate about the high end cards in excess of $400.

It's a tug-of-war between AMD and Nvidia, with Nvidia pricing their cards so expensive, while AMD has their R9 290 series which is priced very attractively but no one really wants to buy because the only ones available use the stock cooler and run hot and loud.

Naturally a buyer wants to avoid having to pay Nvidia's overpriced cards, while at the same time avoiding the stock coolers on the R9 290. But when a decision has to be made, either way your gonna get burned.

Which is why I say f*** it and just get the best card you can afford. Why worry so much when you can get the best? (It's not directed specifically at you, but rather the general public)
 
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monsta

monsta

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Don't be shy of SLI (sorry no rhyme intended)
Easy to set up. Very unlikely you will get issues with it if you get identical cards
Grab 2 770's and SLI them it will be a super fast option , it will leave the 780ti for dust
 
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thismafiaguy

thismafiaguy

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SLI will give you the best performance/dollar ratio, if you're going to SLI, always do it with the most powerful cards that you can afford. I say get a single 780 and see how it stacks up against your needs, and if it's not enough, add another when the prices drop again. But 1080p on a single monitor, my friends, isn't the most demanding thing in the world. It's not 2007 anymore, and not every one is crazy about Crysis(which is a damn good game).
 
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