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Started by hotter-than-Vishera | | 14 answers
Sapphire R9 290X vs. ASUS ROG Poseidon GTX 780
In one corner, we have the Blue team, with Sapphire's R9 290X Vapor-X graphics card, packing in a $620 punch! And in the other corner, we have the Red team, Asus' ROG Poseidon GTX 780, weighing in at $600! (These are regular prices from Newegg.com)

Time Frame: I'll be buying one of those two within a month. Two weeks is more likely.
Budget range: These cards are almost the same. Bang-for-buck is negligible. I'd have to save somewhere between $75-100 for money to become a factor.
Processor and PSU: I plan on getting a Devil's Canyon (4790K) and my PSU will be an 850 watt, undecided between EVGA SuperNOVA 850 or Cooler Master V850 (that's another story).
Other Hardware: Motherboard will be Asus Maximus VII HERO. Will I get anything special for the GPU and mobo both being in the ASUS ROG series? RAM will be G.Skill Trident X DDR3-2133 CL-9.
Preferred Sites: I will go to any site for the best price, but again, price will not determine my choice today as they seem to be pretty close. I will go to Newegg, NCIX, MicroCenter, TigerDirect, Fry's Electronics, or the manufacturer itself. I live in North Texas. The nearest Fry's to my residence is in Dallas.
Parts preferences: Leaning slightly towards the Poseidon, because its color scheme will match my RAM and motherboard and it will build my ROG setup even higher (in addition to the motherboard, I will have a "Front Base"). But right now performance is all that matters.
Overclocking: Concerned about longevity so that's a maybe. Crossfire/SLI: Again, that's a maybe, as I've read running multiple cards will bring diminishing returns. If I had to upgrade my performance, I'd rather just save for an R9 295X2 than Crossfire/SLI.
Monitor resolution: will probably be 1080p. If I feel prodigious, I might take the next step up, which is 1200p? Or is it 1440p? But most likely starting resolution will be 1080p.

Additional comments: I will be building this setup over three phases; phase one is initial build, which is when I plan to have acquired all core components. During the first two phases (3-6 months) this system will be air cooled. Then in the third phase, if I decide to execute it, watercooling will be implemented. This tilts my opinion further towards the Poseidon because it supports both options, although I don't have much faith in its aircooling abilities like I do the Vapor-X. Then again, if I watercool, I'll have to void the Vapor-X's warranty by taking off the cooler and messing around with getting a waterblock.
Games I will be playing: Frostbite 3 Games, Unreal Engine games, CryEngine 3 Games. Notably, Armored Warfare by Obsidian, XCOM by Firaxis, and Star Wars Battlefront by DICE. I also am a very heavy player of Team Fortress 2 and other Valve games, but I'm sure either card would slay the Source Engine. Some games will have Mantle, others may not. I will get GTA5 for PC one way or another, but I don't know anything about what kind of game engine it uses and chances are it's the only Rockstar product I'll ever get.
Please include Mantle, DirectX 12, and other long-term factors in your decisions. I will be keeping this setup for a few years.
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a b Ĉ ASUS
a c 85 U Graphics card
July 9, 2014 12:07:25 PM

its simply is faster. its comparable to a gtx 780ti but cheaper

July 9, 2014 11:15:46 AM

Shadowblade2652 said:
iceclock said:
that doesnt even make sense. custom loops is the only real way here.



I wasn't referring to the poseidon card - if you get that, replacing the cooler is pretty much the most useless thing to do. For the 290x, you could see about mounting a water cooling bracket on it.


Yeah, I've already planned out my cooling loop. I'm not 100% sure about the waterblock though, I saw one by EK which said it should fit all R9 290-series cards. Thing is I'm pretty sure the Sapphire version has different PCB's. But since it has better aircooling I'd have more time to find a waterblock.

So what exactly makes the R9 290X run faster than the GTX 780? I don't really plan on overclocking these cards, I'm looking for out-of-the-box performance. I might overclock them, but you know, overclocking is as Linus Sebastian puts it "a crap shoot", no telling if I get a good OC-er with either card, right? So out-of-the-box, you're sure that the Vapor-X will outperform the Poseidon?
a b U Graphics card
July 9, 2014 10:03:42 AM

iceclock said:
that doesnt even make sense. custom loops is the only real way here.



I wasn't referring to the poseidon card - if you get that, replacing the cooler is pretty much the most useless thing to do. For the 290x, you could see about mounting a water cooling bracket on it.
a b Ĉ ASUS
a c 85 U Graphics card
July 9, 2014 10:00:19 AM

that doesnt even make sense. custom loops is the only real way here.

a b U Graphics card
July 9, 2014 9:54:27 AM

BUT - there is a way. There are brackets (I believe the Kraken series by NZXT works) that allow you to put CPU coolers like the corsair h55 and other circular coolers on the gpu. But for the built in water cooling on the ROG card, you need custom tubing as the tubing in a closed loop AIO will be secured so you cannot remove it and replace it.
a b Ĉ ASUS
a c 85 U Graphics card
July 9, 2014 9:50:45 AM

well than the 290x would be fastest in ur bracket than

no u cant mount a h100i or seidon 240mm u need a custom watercooling system for that.

July 9, 2014 9:48:11 AM

Shadowblade2652 said:
At the moment it doesn't look like mantle gives that much of a performance increase. I think the 780 will be a better option as it's water cooled and will keep temperature and noise relatively cool if you want (you can get a decent corsair water cooler for around $60, so it's not much more expensive than the 290x)


My watercooling solution will involve a custom closed loop. Can you even mount an H100i (or a Seidon 240M, for that matter) to a GPU?
July 9, 2014 9:46:24 AM

Shadowblade2652 said:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-car...

Let's all go home now :) 

I viewed that, but remember, that review was strictly bang-for-buck. I'm not looking for bang-for-buck, but for all-out absolute performance for the games I listed in the OP. At first when my budget was more limited I was considering the Vapor-X version of the 290, but I am upgrading to the 290X now due to a better budget.
a b Ĉ ASUS
a c 85 U Graphics card
July 9, 2014 9:42:08 AM

nope.avi 290x for the win 290 has alot of cooling issues mate.

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