Asus GTX 780 or wait non-ref cooler R9 290's?

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sweenytodd

sweenytodd

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Aug 13, 2013
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I have the following specifications:

Intel i5 4670k (with Corsair H80i)
Asus Maximus VI Hero
GSkill Trident X 2400MHz @ 1.65v CL10
WD 1TB Black
XFX PRO 750W XXX Edition 80+ Silver.

I'm willing to spend ~$550 CAD. Which one will give me more value and performance for next gen gaming? custom GTX 780 or R9 290?
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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i would recommend the 780 with a non reference cooler as a video has been released revealing that it wasnt the thermal limit that was limiting the performance of the card. The 290 is GREAT for bitcoin mining, and so the prices of it have gone WAY up, making the 780 a better deal atm. The 780 also comes with 3 games.
 
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Omegaclawe

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Apparently, Non-Reference R9 290's are supposed to be on the market now, or close to it. I'm seeing reviews pop up for them, in any case.

If you can get one for retail price, it would be great choice, however, given the inflated prices due to their bitcoin mining demand, the 780 might be a better choice, being significantly cheaper, and rather close in performance.
 
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sweenytodd

sweenytodd

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The thing is an MSI R9 290 Twin Frozr is on pre-order at NCIX at $575 ETA by the of January but the price is subject to change. Meanwhile the Asus GTX 780 DirectCUII is on $539 w/ free 3 games. The only thing that sets me back is the 290 is superior than the 780.
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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What you don't realise is that the benchmarks from the 290 and 290x vary HEAVILY from reviewer to reviewer. When the cards first came out many reviews were downright lies. the big thing was that these cards performed better at 4k resolution than the 780 and "titan" (overpriced card if you are a gamer). The 290 and 290x really just kinda trade blows with the 780 at 1080p and 1440p, and if you are an overclocker, you will go further with the asus direct cuii than any non reference 290 or 290x...plus 3 free games. Given the current higher price tag on the radeon cards, the 780 card is basically a no brainer
 
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gamerkila57

gamerkila57

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From experience the 290 is the faster card. I have both and from my test it shows the the 290 clock for clock being 150MHz faster than the 780. I would wait until non-reference cards launch and hopefully prices return to were they originally was making the 290 $399 in the US and the GTX 780 $499.




 
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Brantyn Gerik

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Yes, original prices, the 290 was a better deal. Now, you show me screenshotted benchmarks of games like metro last light and a few other games that have in game benchmarks, then your 290 being faster will be valid. All the testing i have ever seen from known non-biased reviewers says otherwise to the performance of the 290...You already discredited your claim by trying to use clock speed on two different cards as a measure of performance which is in almost no cases, ESPECIALLY when comparing two different companies products, a good measure of performance.

Otherwise just go to OC3D and look up their 290 and 290x reviews (they are sponsored by AMD and i would sure hope they could be trusted as a non-biased reviewer). Since bitcoin mining is JUST taking off, it is not likely we will see a price drop in these cards anytime soon. And if it keeps up the way it does, AMD is going to need to design cards more oriented to gaming rather than mining if they want to keep their prices down and performance high. We shall see what the next series of cards from both companies comes out with
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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For the most part, at stock speeds, the two cards trade blows in games. When overclocking both cards, the 780 pulls ahead due to just plain better overclockability. The 290 has been put under water against a 780 under water (video i linked earlier) and the 780 still comes out on top. Please go watch this video, then read my description. The 290 is more expensive than the 780 right now, and the prices on the 280x, 290, and 290x will not come down until something either changes about bitcoin mining, or enough people do it so that the difficulty becomes too high and the hardware cost no longer yields a profit
 
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redeemer

redeemer

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Again Linus has a bad card there are bad 780's out there as well that do not overclock well, Linus's 290 does not represent every 290 out there infact its not uncommon to hit 1200mhz on the reference R9
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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Yes, linus' r9 is in fact a bad one, but various other video reviewers have had similar results, TTL from oc3d had similar results, Elric from techoftomorrow also had the same thing. I trust these three reviewers quite a lot, especially TTL, he is an amd fanboy at heart and you can see it on his face and hear it in his voice the disappointment towards these new amd products lately
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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The 290 is not likely to drop in price until at least the middle of next year depending on the way bitcoin goes. They may even go up in price if it really takes off even more.
The 290 and 780 on average over all games at 1080p are pretty much tied, and in a blind test you would probably not know which one you were using (unless you were fairly adapt at telling when physx is being used)

At higher resolutions, yes, the 290 does start to pull ahead, but not by much, and the higher resolution monitors are still relatively expensive ($300 for a 27 inch 1440p from companies that use lg or samsung panels, but just strip it down to barebones and often come with stuck or dead pixels, though they are nice, they are just lower quality components)
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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Driver support for single cards from both companies is fine and i wouldn't let that be your deciding factor. but i wouldn't let that 780 for 430 slide, as even with a reference cooler, the 780 runs fairly cool and quiet.

It is up to you, and if you haven't decided by now then i'm personally done here. From all the information i have read, they are so damn close in performance that it comes down to heat, noise and price. A non reference 290 negates the heat and noise issue, and so it only becomes an issue of price. Good day sir
 
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