Sapphire vapor-x 290 vs Asus 970

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

I bought the sapphire vapor-x 290 about 6 months ago and have began to like the new gtx 900 series. Would it be unwise to drift back to the green side for these power efficient cards?

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

I would wait. There is an issue brewing right now regarding the GTX 970 not being able to address the full 4GB of memory. I'd wait to see if this is resolved or if a revised architecture is released. I mean, they still perform badass, but, there may be some issues with performance due to not being able to address the final .5 GB of memory. If you didn't already have a card I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the 970, regardless of that issue. But since you DO already have a pretty high end card, it might not be the best choice right now.

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-nvidias-gtx-970-slows-down-using-more-than-35gb-vram/

rdc85 · Jan 27, 2015

Considering 3xx is will out in march
If AMD can deliver their promise..

Just wait..

970 have some vram issue,
u may better off with 980 if u wanna change to nvidia..

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

Thanks for the response. I thought that was a fake thing going around, I appreciate the link and was a great deal of information.
When might be the better time to look to upgrade ( only been on pc for 2 years, dont really understand the upgrading cycles)
currently running :
8350 @ a whopping 4.1Ghz
Sapphire Vapor-X 290
enermax ets-40 black twister push/pull
8gb hyper x
crucial m500
1tb seagate
all meshed together on a gigabyte 99fxa ud3 mobo

rdc85 · Jan 27, 2015

still capable rig IMO..

the 970 "flaw" is admitted by nvidia. and most people also consider it fake at first...
but I'm glad some people still pressing this issue even they had been called a liar, or sort of...

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

The 290 is still relevant and still capable of playing current titles at a high level. See what the R9 3xx series brings, perhaps something of interest will be present in this cycle. Otherwise, just save up. I'd run your current card til the wheels fall off or you encounter a title it falls short on, which might not be soon.

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

Actually, for the price of a new GTX 970, I'd highly recommend a cpu and motherboard upgrade instead as it's likely to be CPU intensive games that plague you more than lack of power on your GPU.

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

Besides, the performance of the 970 over the 290 isn't dramatic enough in my opinion to indicate it as worth a 300+ dollar investment.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1068

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

What would you recommend as a cpu/mobo upgrade?

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

One way you could go, and is a good option for those who really don't have a desire to overclock (Which the Haswell Refresh chips don't get a lot of benefit from anyway) is the E3 series Xeons. Same chip as the i7-4790k but without the ability to overclock and with no integrated graphics. It still has normal default Turbo boost features and very strong single core performance. It's a four core chip with hyperthreading like the i7 so it has eight very capable threads which makes it good for both gaming, with it's strong core performance and threaded tasks like editing video or multi-tasking.

Both the i7 and the E3 Xeon crush all the FX chips. Don't feel bad though, I'm currently still running an 8320 myself. I'll be upgrading to a Xeon or i7 soon as well. About the only good reasons I see to go with the i7 over the Xeon is if you NEED the on-chip graphics or want the extra 500mhz base clock of the 4790k, or want to overclock. Your current DDR3 should work fine with the Xeon or any of the i-series chips.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $343.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 13:34 EST-0500

The other option would be going with an i5 or i7. The i7 is of course significantly more expensive, about a hundred bucks more. The i5 has all the core strengths of the bigger brother but has only four really good cores, no hyperthreading. This is really only a better option if you desire to overclock or use dual graphics cards as SLI is not possible on the H97 board above (Or any H97 board) and Crossfire on the H97 is limited to x4 speeds on the second card.

Optionally, you can use a Z97 board with the Xeon above AND have the ability to use dual cards.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $359.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 13:49 EST-0500

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

Will switching from AMD to intel really bring a noticable change to my system? I dont stream, rarely record. I do use it for school assignments on occasion; but mainly it is for gaming.

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

Threaded performance (For streaming, recording, editing and multi-tasking) is the one area where the 8 core FX can compete with the i5 and aside from highly overclocked chips, they suffer in single core and gaming performance.

The gaming performance of the Intel Haswell architecture just crushes AMD chips.

Gaming performance of the i5, i7 and Xeon is similar to each other, so keep that in mind. Using an i7 or Xeon retains the multi-threaded capabilities that set the FX ahead of the i5 but also present the stronger core performance inherent to all the Intel chips.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/5

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

Darkbreeze :

So what would you go with being for what i use my pc for? Would you just go all out and attempt to future proof with the i7? Taxes is around the corner but i am also looking at upgrading to a full tower case and getting another ssd due to my main one having a few dead sectors

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

If you give me a list of required components and also make mention of any you do not want to upgrade, I'll be happy to offer my recommendation as the best options for an overall upgrade.

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

Darkbreeze :

fx 8350
sapphire vapor-x r9 290
evga 750w bronze psu
Shoved in an NZXT phantom 410
looking to grab a 250gb ssd due to my mx500 having dead sectors and a wd black hdd
the case im looking at the phantom 630
cpu and mobo is questionable
Dont need to upgrade ram at the moment either

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

Budget for required components?

darkdayz23 · Jan 27, 2015

Darkbreeze :

500-700 USD

Darkbreeze · Jan 27, 2015

Keep in mind that the Xeon has 4 physical cores and an additional 4 hyperthreads, like the i7, but is the same price or cheaper than the i5-4690k, which only has four cores period. If it was my money, I'd do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1226 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $660.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-27 18:25 EST-0500

Performance is higher in ALL tasks than with the i5, even gaming.:

(German website. The only benchmark showing Xeons that I can find. Scroll down to the benchmarks)

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/CPU-Hardware-154106/Tests/Xeon-E3-1230-v3-Test-1099616/

Sapphire vapor-x 290 vs Asus 970

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