GTX 780 vs R9 290x for $200 both

pomps74 · Apr 1, 2015

So my friend has an R9 290x TRI-X and a GTX 780 Windforce graphics card. I offered him 200 for either, and he agreed. My question is which one to get? My pc specs are below:
i5 2500k @4.9 Ghz
AsRock Z77 OC Formula motherboard
8GB ram
Seasonic 80+ Gold 600w power supply

I will game at a 1440p 60hz monitor. Which gets me the most FPS?

damric · Apr 1, 2015

Both great cards for $200. I would lean slightly more to the 290X since it has more VRAM and bandwidth, but really you can't go wrong here.

rhysiam · Apr 1, 2015

290X is a good deal faster than a 780: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1036?vs=1059

Plus that Tri-X is a solid cooler. 780 is more efficient, but your PSU is up to the job, so go with the AMD option IMHO.

thor220 · Apr 1, 2015

I'm also putting in for the 290x for reasons already stated. It's also a newer card that supports free-sync, which will be nice.

ArchitSahu · Apr 1, 2015

Easily, go for the 290x. Extremely good and very value for the money if you are only getting it at 200 bucks!

Have fun with it!

envy14tpe · Apr 2, 2015

I like the 290x but do you think 600W will be enough for that power hungry GPU and considering the 2500k is massively overclocked?

damric · Apr 2, 2015

How old is the PSU?

pomps74 · Apr 2, 2015

damric :

9 months-ish

damric · Apr 2, 2015

Should be fine. Keep the i5 OC'd but lay off the GPU OC.

rhysiam · Apr 2, 2015

From a bit of googling, it looks like a heavy OC on a 2500k adds 70, maybe 100W to power draw:
- http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/zardon/power-consumption-fx-8150-v-i5-2500k-v-i7-2600k/
- http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/03/intel-sandy-bridge-review/11

Stress tests don't seem to be able to pull more than 250W at the wall from an OC'd 2500k. Add 300W for the PSU and you may well be pulling a little over 500W from the 600W PSU. That is starting to cut it fine, but that's under stress tests on a good PSU. Normal gaming situations should be a good deal less.

I'd be comfortable with that myself, but I agree it's on the upper limit.

OP, if you're concerned about power drawy, you'd still get better gaming performance dropping your OC a little until you can lower the voltage a bit, and running the 290X. CPU @ 4.5 with an 290X will still net you higher FPS for the vast majority of games than a 780 with your CPU @ 4.9. As I say, I'd leave it as-is personally, particularly with your top quality PSU, but I agree it's on the higher end.

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