Which video card? The R9 280X 3GB or The GTX960 2GB. With my own build

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bicycle_repair_man
AMD and Nvidia GPUs have completely different architectures, so comparing bus width, ROPs and other technical aspects is flawed. The best way to compare GPUs is to check gaming benchmarks from reputable sites. Sites like GPUBoss simply compare bare numbers, which, as I stated, is flawed.

The R9 290 is different to the rest of the R series because it uses different architecture. The rest of the R series is simply a rehashed HD series, with the R9 280X essentially being an HD 7970. The 290 is overkill for 1920x1080 resolution; you simply don't need the extra power and extra heat it outputs.

I would recommend that you stick with the GTX 960 and the XFX PSU, both of which are very good parts. If you want to game beyond 1920x1080/1200...
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Brian J

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Mar 12, 2015
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Thanks, i kinda expected that because the R9 is more expensive but you know, price is not always quality. Do you have any more tips for the rest of the build? :)
 
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Brian J

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Mar 12, 2015
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Awesome! Do you know any other fans that are good and under $7?
 
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Matt Dobe

Matt Dobe

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I recommend an i5 4th gen processor, a H97 motherboard (ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI), 8GB of DDR3 1600 RAM, 120/250GB SDD, 1/2TB HDD, a GOOD 500-600W PSU (XFX/Seasonic/Antec/EVGA b2). Don't skimp on the power supply if you want your system to last. :)
 
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Justin Piencikowski

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Jan 25, 2014
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id go with the 280x the extra gig of vram does help in some games, but the 960 is no joke, my wifes rig has a gigabyte windforce 280x and it plays bf4 on ultra @1080p and even farcry 4 at very high and still gets decent playable fps.. was also looking on cragslist and found a few r9 290's for about the same price. used fwiw
 
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Brian J

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Mar 12, 2015
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Thanks for all the help!
I've looked for i5's but they are not better at $150

A better motherboard is possible but is it needed?

And thing that don't get is the RAM isn't it, the higher, the better? And if not isn't 1886 better? And 2x4 or 1x8?

About a ssd, in my previous build i had a ssd of 60gb isn't that enough for windows only? And this HDD is okay right?

And i will get an other power supply :)
 
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Brian J

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Mar 12, 2015
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Cool, are the 290's really better and do they need even more power or do they even heat more? Altough can you send me a link of them because i can't find the for the same price
 
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Brian J

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Mar 12, 2015
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Thanks, so when you play games like minecraft, the GTX960 wins and when you play games like Farcry the R9 280X wins? And also that GPU has a better clock speed but does it have the same memory bus and stuff like that too? After all, wich cooling system do you recommend, it needs to be cheap though :p
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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Jan 10, 2014
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AMD and Nvidia GPUs have completely different architectures, so comparing bus width, ROPs and other technical aspects is flawed. The best way to compare GPUs is to check gaming benchmarks from reputable sites. Sites like GPUBoss simply compare bare numbers, which, as I stated, is flawed.

The R9 290 is different to the rest of the R series because it uses different architecture. The rest of the R series is simply a rehashed HD series, with the R9 280X essentially being an HD 7970. The 290 is overkill for 1920x1080 resolution; you simply don't need the extra power and extra heat it outputs.

I would recommend that you stick with the GTX 960 and the XFX PSU, both of which are very good parts. If you want to game beyond 1920x1080/1200 resolution, then look at the R9 290 and a beefier PSU.
 
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Brian J

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Mar 12, 2015
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Thanks you're awesome. But i still have one more question: I want to stick with $750 so that means we can add something :) What do you recommend me now, i tried to add something myself but i think you are smarter then me. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9bg7gs

Also as Matt Dobe told me to change the RAM to a 8b 1600 DDR3, isn't 2400 better? Or 1886? And 2x2gb or 1x8B or does that just not matter. Can you please help me with the final touches in my build? :)
 
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Xtrem Ovrclakr

Xtrem Ovrclakr

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Mar 12, 2015
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No, it matters. For gaming 8GB RAM is recommended. So, instead of getting a single channel module RAM, get a dual channel kit. It helps to increase much performance. So get two sticks of 4GB. Get a dual channel kit from corsair or Gskill. Pick a 1600 mhz cas 9 RAM and you can overclock it to 1866 mhz or 2133 mhz. We almost don't feel any difference after 1600mhz. Actually RAM doesn't matter in gaming in larger extent. If you add a good RAM having higher clock speeds, you will have only 2-5 Fps difference in games. Grab a dual channel kit having 1600mhz cas 9, will work great. Glad to see your question get solved. I hope this will solve your memory question.
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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If I remember correctly, the FX-8350 supports 1866Mhz RAM and the 4690K supports 1600Mhz RAM out-of-the-box. The gaming difference between these two speeds will be minimal or non-existant, so I'd stick with 1600Mhz. You should always install RAM in pairs so you can utilise dual-channel memory and preferably buy DIMMs that have heatsinks. I use Corsair Vengeance RAM that has Sonic The Hedgehog-style fins.

If you're willing to spend another $50 or so, then the only thing missing from your build is an SSD. If your budget is strictly limited to $750 then I would replace the H55 cooler with an H100i.
 
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