photonboy said:
VRAM amount:
2GB is currently all you need up to the level of the GTX770 at 1920x1080 or 2560x1440.
Future proofing?
It's very difficult to say at what point you'll need more than 2GB. BF4 can use more than 2GB but you'd need a more powerful GPU to process that level which is why a GTX780 has 3GB.
3GB vs 4GB:
Since we're barely maxing 2GB, going beyond 3GB is going to take a while.
R9-290:
I can't comment really until new cards are released such as an Asus DC2U cooler.
GTX770 2GB:
The Asus DC2U, or MSI TF cards are really great for about $330.
Games:
770/780 cards come with three great games: Batman Arkham Origins, SC Blacklist, AC4
NVidia featurs:
- Shadowplay (stream/save up to 1080p @60Hz. works great and little/no frame rate drop)
- PhysX
- G-Sync (newer monitors in 2014. amazing tech to reduce lag/tearing/stutter)
4GB 770?
Almost the cost of the 290 so hard to recommend.
R9 290?
Very interesting card, again need future reviews.
Summary:
My advice really boils down to THREE different price points, which depends on the upcoming cards. You will also want to look at the NVIDIA GAME DEAL and see how long that lasts. $150 for three games on a $330 770 is amazing.
I love the Asus or MSI 770 2GB cards. Plays over 90% of the games at full quality 60FPS. The 4GB versions won't benefit for quite a while so at almost $400 I'd wait and see how the 290 does. It has 3GB of VRAM which is more than adequate. As said, even more than 2GB might not be used for a while at 770 level so 3GB is plenty.
At $500, the EVGA 780 3GB 967MHz base is a really great card.
You really need to think about some of the NVidia features, especially G-Sync which is coming to future monitors and is the ONLY WAY to fix lag/tearing/stutter at the same time.
I'd still recommend WAITING if the R9 290 is on your list, but again note the NVidia game expiration dates for redeeming.
From the opinions I've gotten in the past, it seems like banking on a 2GB card wouldn't be a wise idea if I wanted to use my card for like the next 3 years. At the same time, when you say that pushing over 3gb is going to take a while, how long is a while? Like over 3 years? In that case it'd obviously be logical to just get a new GPU 3 years from now and go for a 3gb card now.
And my main hesitation with the 290 is just whether or not the difference between it and the 770/280x is worth it. As you said, the 4gb 770 would be the same price as a 290 (which is also 4gb), so going with that a 4gb 770 probably wouldn't make sense.
As far as the Nvidia features go; I can't really see myself recording much, I haven't encountered a large number of games using Physx, and I'd have to get new monitors for the G-sync thing.
I figure that it also might be wise to wait for a bit to see if AMD extends the Never Settle deal to the R9 series. I can't seem to find any date that the Nvidia game deal is set to end by, their site just says they can cancel it at any time. So I don't know if you have an opinion on that.