What to choose between an AMD and NVIDIA video card ?

Arion Denis

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Jul 17, 2014
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The prices between this two video cards are almost the same but they are totaly different (the specs)

The thing is I'm making a new pc with this specs:
Case - ZALMAN Z11 (allready bought)
Motherboard - Asus GRYPHON Z87, Socket 1150 (allready bought)
Powersource - RAIDMAX 1200W THUNDER PRO RX-1200AE
RAM - 2x Kit Dual Channel Corsair 8GB (total of 16gb for start and in time will put up to 32gb)
Procesor - Intel® CoreTM i7-4790, 3.6GHz, Haswell, 8MB, Socket 1150
Processor liquid cooling - Corsair CWCH80 OR Corsair Hydro Series H80i High Performance OR Zalman LQ315 (If it is posible advice which should i get it a good/high performance or if you got other suggestions please tell me at a fare price ofc)
SSD - Flash SSD Kingston V300 2.5", 120GB, SATA 3

This is the build i'm making, now going on the topic what video card should i choose for this kind of pc, i'm more of a nvidia user but the 384bit is to expensive so i want to know which is better: (BTW, I WANT TO PUT 2 VIDEO CARDS IN THE FUTURE)

VC SAPPHIRE AMD RADEON R9 280X - ?

OR

Gainward NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 OC PHANTOM II, 4096MB, GDDR5, 256bit

Just which one would be the best and would you guys recomend me to go crossfire on amd or sli on nvidia ? I mention again the nvidia card has only 256 bit but 4gb and the sapphire has only 3gb but 384 bit, what to choose ? I'm very very confused and don't want to do a bad call on it, please help.

P.S. : Will be using this pc for web-design stuff (photoshop,illustrator,3ds max) but for gaming aswell so i would like big performances.

Thank you anticipated.
 
Solution
Yes. Make sure that your power supply has sufficient power on the 12V rail(s). Certain high-end graphics cards require a certain amount of amps on one 12V rail, and then another amount on another 12V rail.

Honestly, I would suggest getting something in the 7900 series. I have an R9 270X, and I feel like I would've been happier getting a 7950 (it's somewhere between a 270X and a 280X in terms of performance). Basically, you'll get better performance for your dollar (or save money) by getting a 7900-series card. If you'll be playing games that support Mantle, you might want to go for the R9 280X.

caqde

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Well considering from what I know the 280X is about as fast as a GTX770 and that the 280X in Crossfire is comparable to two GTX770's in crossfire I would say go with the AMD Radeon R9 280X if you are after performance especially if those two are the same price.
 

Scampi

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May 26, 2014
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RE: the graphics cards.

The R9 280X (aka 7970 Ghz edition) is more on par with the GTX 770 (aka GTX 680 heavy overclocked).

So the R9 280X is the best performing of the two

perfrel.gif


Not sure on the performance status of crossfire V's SLI. But If your only gaming at 1080p the single 280X will be plenty to max out the majority of games with smooth gameplay, even the GTX 760 can.

I'd change the PSU to a more reliable brand e.g Seasonic, XFX, Corsair, EVGA or Antec. 850W is enough, but you can go 1000W if you wish. Quality over quantity.







 

Arion Denis

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If I can get other R9 280x cards at same price as a sapphire would it be worth it ? I mean better as material quality for example i've found msi 280x (MSI AMD Radeon R9 280X OC Twin Frozr GAMING, 3072MB, GDDR5, 384bit, HDMI, 2x DVI, Display Port, Military Class 4) or asus 280x (Asus AMD Radeon R9 280X OC DirectCU II, 3072MB, GDDR5, 384bit, HDMI, 2x DVI, Display Port, CoolTech Fan) at kinda SAME PRICE, which would you suggest me between the 384bit from AMD, Sapphire , Msi or Asus ?





Would the powersource be enough for 2 video cards in crossfire / sli ?
 

cyrofault

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Jul 5, 2014
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Yes. Make sure that your power supply has sufficient power on the 12V rail(s). Certain high-end graphics cards require a certain amount of amps on one 12V rail, and then another amount on another 12V rail.

Honestly, I would suggest getting something in the 7900 series. I have an R9 270X, and I feel like I would've been happier getting a 7950 (it's somewhere between a 270X and a 280X in terms of performance). Basically, you'll get better performance for your dollar (or save money) by getting a 7900-series card. If you'll be playing games that support Mantle, you might want to go for the R9 280X.
 
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Ty Kennington

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Sep 16, 2014
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keep in mind that you should plan to buy all your parts for a crossfire/ SLI build and only get one GPU. It is alot more cost effective to buy more expensive components that can run 2 GPUs than to buy cheap ones that only handle one GPU and have to upgrade later