780 or 290x watercooled?

Rithista

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Sep 4, 2014
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Hello, I am currently in the dilema of purchasing my next graphics card. the one I purchase will be put under watercooling soon but need it to function ok under air for the time being. Im stuck between the Reference 290x as I can get it new for about £300 or the gainward 780 for around the same price. Or I have a friend who would give me his reference 290x for £250 used. I can also get a 290x waterblock fairly easily and cheaply.


Im very stuck on what to do and need some recommendations. I play some games with physX and some without, running an i7 3820. Thanks for your help!
 
The 290X is the hotter card and would benefit more from water-cooling than the 780 would, though its then a question of which just performs better.
My understanding is that at 1080p there isnt much difference between the two, but as you ramp the resolution the AMD pulls ahead as they tend to do.

Considering you can get the 290X cheaper, I would go for that if you dont particularly care for Nvidia features like ShadowPlay. Just a note, there is a new Never Settle bundle on right now.



citation needed