Choose a card for me

freeman4555 · Nov 26, 2015

Black friday is tomorrow! I chose out most of my system but have no time to research a card.
This is where you fellas come into play.

What's the big cheese these days, the best bang for my buck? I heard gtx 970 + 980 are decent. Should I be considering anything from ATI ? Please name me three cards that should be on my list.

haswell i5 4690
h97 asrock pro4
1600 8gb ram

Calculagator · Nov 26, 2015

Best "bang for buck" cards are the GTX 970, AMD R9 290 and R9 390. The GTX 980 is a good card, but doesn't perform that much better than the 970 (or 290/390). You should be able to pick up something pretty good for $200-250

jerdle · Nov 26, 2015

The R9 290 is murdering the competition @ $200
&
The R9 390 is a better choice than the 970 at the $275-ish area.

Kryptkeeper · Nov 26, 2015

Although I tend to lean towards Nvidia, if you can't find a cheap 980 then you may want to consider a 390x or a 390/970 whatever prices you find more suiting.

freeman4555 · Nov 26, 2015

Ok thanks! More responses are welcome.

So the r290 lines up with the 970. And the r390 is equal to a 980? Can someone stack these 4 cards in descending order of goodness? Like I said, I know nothing about these current gen cards, I haven't looked at a single chart. I'm going in blind.

I forgot to add, if I want a little futureproofing, if I want it to run games solid for the next 3 years... that R 390 , R290 and 970 are still good choices, right ?

Calculagator · Nov 26, 2015

The 290 and 390 are basically the same card. The 390 has more VRAM, but it won't be used in most situations. I would rank them 970, 390, 290, but they all have very similar performance. The 970 uses up to 100w less. I also usually prefer Nvidia's drivers for ease of configuration and just working.

Calculagator · Nov 26, 2015

It's very difficult to predict the future. If those cards don't hold up, it will be because technology has taken giant leaps forward. If that's the case, you are better off saving money now and investing in the new tech later than spending more now.

jerdle · Nov 26, 2015

freeman4555 :

no.
the r9 390 lines up with the 970
the r9 390x lines up with the 980

I would not recommend a 970 for a long-term solution. In fact, looking at past evidence, I wouldn't be surprised if by the time these cards are retired, the r9 290 (non x) performed as well as a 970.

Basically, the 970 is an OK card *now*, but will almost certainly get worse in comparison to its AMD equivalent as time goes on.
The 980 is a good choice for a long term hold, but it's overpriced.

Kryptkeeper · Nov 26, 2015

pick the cheapest card you can get by on until you need to sell it when Pascal comes out

jerdle · Nov 26, 2015

"pick the cheapest card you can get by on until you need to sell it when Arctic Islands comes out"

*Fixed it for you

freeman4555 · Nov 26, 2015

jerdle :

Well tom labeled you as a graphic card expert so I guess I should trust your opinion.
If you needed a new card for the next 3 years but don't want to stretch your wallet too far, what card would you get?

It seems like you don't like the 970, so neither do I

jerdle · Nov 27, 2015

label just comes from having a certain number of best answers

THe 970 isn't a *bad* card, it's just not something you should buy if you will be holding onto your card for years.

Grab an R9 390

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131672
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202164

sapphire's a bit better, but also costs a bit more. (would be my choice at that range)

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