R9 290 worth the price compared to 280x?

[Jens123]

Hello,

I've been waiting for a month now for a 280x card i ordered. I'm getting sick of waiting and i'm looking at other options.

The sapphire 290 tri-x looks like a nice card. But i'm wondering if its worth the €100 it will put me over my budget.

So, is the performance boost i get with a r9 290 tri-x (and the overclock headroom, with 280x there is only very little headroom left) worth the (substantial) difference in price? Will it still allow me to play games at highest settings in about 3 years?

Or am i better off buying a 280x now and upgrading to a similar priced (€275) GPU in 3 years? Will a 275€ card give me better performance that an overclocked r9 290 a few years?

The gtx 780 has been on top for quite a while now, and the gtx 770 and r9 280x are rebrands of top of the line from 2 years ago, so is investing a little more now a wise choise? Especially considering that 2x275=550€, compared 380 for a sapphire tri-x now.

 

[Quakemz]

One thing I think you might not be seeing is that 1080p might not be the standard anymore after a year or 2. It's hard to say. Personally I would go for the 290. You can give it a healthy OC to compete with the 780 or even the 290x. It will crush everything at 1080p and laugh at you. It will also perform quite well in 1440p. You can always crossfire in the future as well if you need to.

 

[huilun02]

I don't know what cards will be available in 3 years time or how demanding games will be by then.

All I know is the 280X is still a very good card capable of Ultra or maxing current games, and that it pays to have good spending habits like not going over budget.

If you are playing at 1440p, Eyefinity, or using a 120/144Hz monitor then it makes more sense to get a 290 now. You can always Crossfire with another 280X if you want to.

If you get problems 3 years later then deal with it 3 years later?

 

[Jens123]

@huilun: ofcourse its not possible to know what future tech will bring, but those buying a 7970 when it first came out a few years ago can still max everything to date. And i wouldn't be doing myself any harm by spending a little more, but i'm looking for the best value/futureproofing.

I could use crossfire later, but then i need a better psu, costing me more money in the long run than just spending €100 more now. I want to postpone buying a new GPU for at least 3 years, i'm kind of doubtfull that a 280x (by then already 5y old technology) will be up to that task if i still want decent fps.

 

[huilun02]

If you want to cut down on total spending and have only one card, then yes I think the 290 is what you want as long as its not ridiculously overpriced.

 

[need some help here]

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290-vs-Radeon-R9-280X
simply see and decide

 

[huilun02]

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290-vs-Radeon-R9-280X
simply see and decide

Please don't use gpuboss, their over-simplified comparison of graphics cards can be very misleading. Game benchmarks show much more accurate (actual) comparison of GPU performance.

 

[need some help here]

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290-vs-Radeon-R9-280X
simply see and decide

Please don't use gpuboss, their over-simplified comparison of graphics cards can be very misleading. Game benchmarks show much more accurate (actual) comparison of GPU performance.

umm they also display benchmarks??

 

[huilun02]

The only useful benchmark they showed was Bioshock Infinite. I don't recall 3dmark being a nice game to play.

 

[jb6684]

We'll there are fanboys for either camp. There are games that simply play a bit better on one vs the other. But one thing is certain, they both have their pricing tied to their performance....

If you work out the math from say a GTX 760 to and OC'd GTX 760, the few extra FPS cost more... Up that to a GTX 770 where performance is about 25% greater, and, you'll find just about the same percentage increase in price.

So, bottom line, the more you pay the more FPS your going to get......

NOTE: this whole coin mining thing has thrown a wrench in pricing for the AMD cards lately, so, things are out of balance a bit due to that demand & subsequent shortage (AMD 280X vs GTX770 used to favor AMD in price, now favor NVidia. Shame too as I paid $310 a couple months back for a Sapphire Vapor-X 280X, now if you can get one they are over $400....damn "coiners' ".....

 

[Quakemz]

@huilun: ofcourse its not possible to know what future tech will bring, but those buying a 7970 when it first came out a few years ago can still max everything to date. And i wouldn't be doing myself any harm by spending a little more, but i'm looking for the best value/futureproofing.

I could use crossfire later, but then i need a better psu, costing me more money in the long run than just spending €100 more now. I want to postpone buying a new GPU for at least 3 years, i'm kind of doubtfull that a 280x (by then already 5y old technology) will be up to that task if i still want decent fps.

Get the 290, it is worth it. I have a 7970 right now, and while it is nice for 1080p 60Hz gaming, that's about it's limit right now. Like I said earlier, there is no telling if 1080p will still be the standard resolution in the coming year. Games will also likely get harder on a GPU as they get more beautiful to play. The 290 competes with 780 and 290x after a decent overclock. And it will easily last you 3 years. I would absolutely go for the 290 if you're trying to futureproof. I would only ever get the 280x if you CAN'T afford the 290. Also, you might want to consider a 780. If I'm not mistaken, they are about the same price as a 290 here in the states. And it would be a better option overall if they were the same price where you are.