R9 280X or GTX 770 when pairing with i7 4770K and Maximus Hero VI EDIT: R9 290~400$ or GTX 780~500$

ManicMonkOnMac · Nov 22, 2013

So I got a great deal on micro center for i7 4770K and Maximus Hero VI, combined price: 370$

Now I need to decide which GPU to buy, I understand the following:

R9 290X ~ GTX 780 > R9 280X > GTX 770 > Radeon 7970 (is this order correct?)

My questions are:

1. Are there any issues pairing up R9 series with my CPU and MB?
2. GTX 770 has 2 GB/256 bit and R9 280X has 3GB/384 bits? What are the pro/cons of this besides playing at 1440p?
3. Are R9 290/GTX 780 worth the 200$ price bump over R9 280X/GTX770?
4. Can i expect a good deal on GPU on black friday/cyber monday? The sales guy said the margins on GPU's are already thin, so don't expect much, but obviously he said that so that I would buy it from him at that moment? Is there any trend based on past years?
5. Once i select a chipset, how important it is to select the OEM (sapphire, EVM, asus, HiS) and what is the criteria for choosing one?

It's not that I can't spend 500$, but getting a good deal is really important to me, so I will keep my eyes and ears open on black friday and cyber monday.

The current games I would be playing are:
COD ghosts, BF4, Bioshock infinite, company of heroes 2, batman arkham origins

Any other games that come in these series I am sure I would want to play.

EDIT
Ok, change of heart, I realized that 280X is 2 year old tech, so if i am spending money better to get the latest tech?

My shortlist now is R9 290~400$ or GTX 780~500$

R9 290 is a month old and I am worried if there would be any issue with respect to the life of the card because of it running at 95 degree C.

there are no after market coolers on R9 290 yet, and there are no solid reports of one being there any soon? Do you guys have any info on it?

as far as the benchmarks go i believe 290 is slightly better than 780, by you get 3 games worth 160$ with 780 and 1 game with 290. so effective price for both is ~350$

Another problem I have is no side by side comparison of after market 780's like Asus vs gigabyte vs stock.

Any advise ?

Any and all help is appreciated?

Sakkura · Nov 22, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

It's more like GTX 780 Ti >= R9 290X > R9 290 >= GTX 780 > GTX 770 = R9 280X = HD 7970

As for the questions...

1. No.
2. 3GB on a 384-bit bus is better (the memory clocks are also a factor, but the GTX 770 overall remains behind the 280X despite higher memory clocks). There's not much of a con there, except 3GB would generally cost more and draw slightly more power.
3. Mwell... almost. They're not a horrible waste of money, but if a 280X or GTX 770 is enough, they do offer a little more value still.
4. There should be some room for price cuts. They are already selling the same GPUs for almost half what they cost initially, but that's offset by increasing yields.
5. Usually not that important. It's mainly a question of what cooler you get on the card. Most of the time, the various non-reference coolers are all pretty good, but there are exceptions from time to time. Plus some manufacturers make different versions, with a good cooler on the more expensive model and less impressive cooling for cheaper cards.

ManicMonkOnMac · Nov 22, 2013

Sakkura :

ManicMonkOnMac :

It's more like GTX 780 Ti >= R9 290X > R9 290 >= GTX 780 > GTX 770 = R9 280X = HD 7970

As for the questions...

1. No.
2. 3GB on a 384-bit bus is better (the memory clocks are also a factor, but the GTX 770 overall remains behind the 280X despite higher memory clocks). There's not much of a con there, except 3GB would generally cost more and draw slightly more power.
3. Mwell... almost. They're not a horrible waste of money, but if a 280X or GTX 770 is enough, they do offer a little more value still.
4. There should be some room for price cuts. They are already selling the same GPUs for almost half what they cost initially, but that's offset by increasing yields.
5. Usually not that important. It's mainly a question of what cooler you get on the card. Most of the time, the various non-reference coolers are all pretty good, but there are exceptions from time to time. Plus some manufacturers make different versions, with a good cooler on the more expensive model and less impressive cooling for cheaper cards.

But 3GB 280 X is only 299$ and 2 GB GTX 770 is 340? Which one should I go with?

R9 280X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161441
GTX 770: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121770&Tpk=GTX%20770

Neverrazor · Nov 22, 2013

The GTX 780 ti is simply the best with no question if u can afford it
also the r9 290x is great also if u can afford it ...and wait for after market cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121779 asus gtx 780 520$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121805 asus 280x matrix 350 $

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121803 asus 280x 310 $

all those cards will allow you play the games u mention in highest setting such mighty power will only show on more than 1 screen

Neverrazor · Nov 22, 2013

here is a compare between 770 and r9 280x

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7406/the-sapphire-r9-280x-toxic-review/3

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/battlefield_4_vga_graphics_performance_benchmark,7.html

get the asus matrix r9 280x or sapphire toxic r9 280x i think they are the best out there but cost a bit more than another 280x

Sakkura · Nov 22, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

The 280X is generally better value.

Embra · Nov 22, 2013

The 280x is cheaper and overall slightly faster in most games. Both card will play 1080p very well, depends on the games.

ManicMonkOnMac · Nov 26, 2013

Sakkura :

Ok, change of heart, I realized that 280X is 2 year old tech, so if i am spending money better to get the latest tech?

My shortlist now is R9 290~400$ or GTX 780~500$

R9 290 is a month old and I am worried if there would be any issue with respect to the life of the card because of it running at 95 degree C.

there are no after market coolers on R9 290 yet, and there are no solid reports of one being there any soon? Do you guys have any info on it?

as far as the benchmarks go i believe 290 is slightly better than 780, by you get 3 games worth 160$ with 780 and 1 game with 290. so effective price for both is ~350$

Another problem I have is no side by side comparison of after market 780's like Asus vs gigabyte vs stock.

Any advise ?

Sakkura · Nov 26, 2013

These cards all use architectures released in late 2011 or early 2012. So while the R9 290 was only released just recently, it still relies on the same old tech as the R9 280X (well, okay, they did add TrueAudio support in the 290).

The R9 290 is generally going to offer a lot of performance for the money, but the stock cooler is bad. I would recommend waiting for version with non-reference coolers to arrive.

Dnx · Nov 26, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

Sakkura :

But 3GB 280 X is only 299$ and 2 GB GTX 770 is 340? Which one should I go with?

R9 280X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161441
GTX 770: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121770&Tpk=GTX%20770

Hi, I think that if you can you should get the r9 290 right now its the best bang for your buck out there.

ManicMonkOnMac · Nov 26, 2013

Dnx :

ManicMonkOnMac :

Sakkura :

But 3GB 280 X is only 299$ and 2 GB GTX 770 is 340? Which one should I go with?

R9 280X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161441
GTX 770: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121770&Tpk=GTX%20770

Hi, I think that if you can you should get the r9 290 right now its the best bang for your buck out there.

Can you please provide a reasoning?

ManicMonkOnMac · Nov 26, 2013

Sakkura :

isn't R9 280x based on 7970 which was based on tahitti, and R9 290 and 290X based on hawaii?

corvetteguy1994 · Nov 26, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

Sakkura :

more or less same gcn architecture.

isn't R9 280x based on 7970 which was based on tahitti, and R9 290 and 290X based on hawaii?

Sakkura · Nov 26, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

Yes... but the point is: Tahiti uses the GCN architecture. Hawaii uses the GCN architecture. Same tech, just different configurations of it.

ManicMonkOnMac · Nov 26, 2013

Sakkura :

is GTX 780 a newer technology than R9 290 then?

corvetteguy1994 · Nov 26, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

Sakkura :

is GTX 780 a newer technology than R9 290 then?

GK110 is quite old actually.

Sakkura · Nov 26, 2013

ManicMonkOnMac :

They're from the same generation of cards, Nvidia just launched their first card with their current architecture a few months later than AMD.

R9 280X or GTX 770 when pairing with i7 4770K and Maximus Hero VI EDIT: R9 290~400$ or GTX 780~500$

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