Money for Performance. Is it worth? R9 280X vs R9 290

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lucretio

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May 28, 2013
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Hi!

Sadly my HD 7950 Boost was fried due to a storm! Now I need to buy another card. =(

I've been looking those two AMD models. The R9 280x (probably the Toxic or Vapor-X) and the R9 290 (non ref.).

My old HD 7950 was giving me enough performance for my use (mostly BF4 and some other games sometimes), and knowing that either the 280x or (obviously) the 290 will give me even more performance...what should I buy?

The 280X is an "old" architecture (HD 7970 GHz renewed) and the 290 is a total "new world".

The price difference between those two cards, are worth? Knowing my use and that I'm not planning to play anything with resolutions higher than FullHD for the next 2 years (minimum), is it worth to buy a R9 290 (non. ref)?

Also, there are any nVidia alternative? And the Mantle?

Thanks!
 
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Trimax

Trimax

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Jan 2, 2014
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Most Nvidia cards are expensive so I would go from AMD if you are looking to only use it for games and not Rendering etc.

The R9 290 is better but not by as much as you might think for the almost £100 more it costs.
If I was you I would save a few pennies and get the R9 280x as it can max out everygame and you get high fps aswell no brainer really If you are running the card on a single monitor a R9 290 is overkill. So go for a R9 280x, get the MSI version as it has amazing cooling and looking great!

Here a small comparison:

2gsk5jc.png
 
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lucretio

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May 28, 2013
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Hi Trimax!

I'm more inclined to buy the R9 280X because I think it will give me enough performance for my use, but the prices here in Brazil are not good. The R9 280X (aftermarket) is almost the same price as one R9 290 or GTX 780 (reference or AMP), so I'm considering to wait the prices to be lowered.

I've been also reading about some issues about the R9 280x, mainly the Gigabyte REV.1.


Thanks for your help! :D
 
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RobCrezz

RobCrezz

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Mar 14, 2013
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Nvidia cards are expensive? Have you seen the price rises of the AMD cards recently (due to mining crypto currencies)?

I would look at either the R9 290 or GTX 780 and get whichever is cheaper. Dont get the reference cooled 290 though, make sure you get a 3rd party version.
 
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lucretio

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May 28, 2013
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And the GTX 780 (ref)..is it good? The cooling system is noisy?

The "blower" cooling is not my favorite, but I can give it a try!

Thanks!


 
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huilun02

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Feb 29, 2008
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To me all stock coolers suck. You don't like more OC headroom for free performance?

Nvidia's equivalent to the R9 290 is the GTX 780. It usually costs more.

Back then when AMD had nothing better than the 7970/280x, Nvidia was free to unleash its inner demon and the 780 was a lot more expensive. And then AMD released the R9 290X as a $550 card that could trump the stupid $1000 GTX Titan.

Depending on where you buying from, a R9 290 might still be significantly cheaper than the 780. If you can find a 290 that uses a non reference cooler for the same price as a 780, it's a good buy for me. And not considering Mantle.
 
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lucretio

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May 28, 2013
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Here in Brazil is being pretty tough to find a good card with a reasonable price. Just to give you an idea...

The R9 280X are costing nearly US$ 580,00 and the GTX 780 or R9 290 around US$ 600. Note that I'm doing a poor conversion between BRL and USD, just to you know how bad it is to buy those things here.

So, I'm trying to find (or wait) until those crazy prices go down!...by now, I don't feel comfortable buying any of the options.

The R9 290 with aftermarket coolers are starting to appear here...lets see if I can find a good deal.

Thanks!
 
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toprock

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Jan 20, 2014
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99% of 290 users will leave it as AMD intended though and let powertune go over the top trying to curtail heat and noise ;)

As it stands you have to do a messy afterburner fix to get them running like the review samples :(
 
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Rudingut

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Apr 25, 2014
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Hey,

Go with the 280x toxic you cant tell the difference between the 290 and it with a human eye plus its cheaper and has a better cooling system. Nvidia alternative would be the gtx 770 but no mantle. Mantle is amd only last i knew (and a marketing gimmick). Price is the same as a 290 ( a little higher then the toxic by like 50 bucks although the toxic's price did drop so maybe the others did too). The new world architecture you speak of is worse your memory speed is about 15% slower (the new 280x's have this anyways). But go with the toxic its better overall to the 770 and unnoticeable worse then the 290 and i guess you get mantle for the four games out there (since you play bf4 then hells yeah!). Oh the vapor-x doesnt have the tri-x cooling and isnt as OC'd as the toxic not really worth looking at unless its super cheap or something.






 
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BnG

BnG

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Nov 1, 2013
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The 280x might be worth it, but I'd never buy the 290... it may be cheap, but is purely made for the max performance. Being made in such a way, this results in problems like a very hot card (some people underclock the card because of it)--> no room for OC --> Very loud compared in general and also in comparison to the 280x and Nvidia's 700 cards. It might be cheaper, but these disadvantages would personally make me want to buy a 290...
 
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