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Started by numnums | | 7 answers
Should I sell my 290X for a GTX 970?
Hi everyone,
I'm thinking of selling my 290X that I've had for a year now and planning on buying a GTX 970. I bought my 290X when it first came out for 550$, and while I have been pleased with it's performance, I do get irritated at the noise and heat that it produces, nonetheless the huge amount of power it uses, especially at load. Since the GTX 970 came out, reviews and benchmarks had it at times more powerful than the 290X, at a decent price of 350$, not to mention a much more energy efficient and less costly on my monthly bill, where in CA is a bit more expensive than most other states. What do you guys think? Should I sell my R9 and get the 970? If I were to sell it, what would be a good price? Any opinions and input is much appreciated!
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October 12, 2014 10:45:38 AM

1LiquidPC said:
I really don't think the savings would amount to all that much, even in CA. In an unrelated story a co-worker switched all his in house lightbulbs to the led variants from the old incandescent type about a year ago. Even if we'll say they were all 50w bulbs before and maybe 10w LED now, with a least 10 bulbs installed throughout his house. He said it didn't lower his electric bill(live in PA)all that much considering the high initial cost of the bulbs, and thats with a large wattage/power consumption drop overall. So if the 970 draws 100w less than the 290x, it would probably only lower your monthly bill by a small amount at best unless you do a TON of gaming. If the noise and heat irritate you already though, you sound like you made up your mind though :) 


Yeah, people who think the K/WH costs of running most gaming PC's is expensive aren't calculating the actual costs monthly and probably aren't even using their PC's at load 24/7 unless they're mining, even annually the costs don't stack up enough to justify purchasing a GPU just for the amount of electricity that it uses, as opposed to say what type of heat is being generated and what wattage PSU would be required. And yes, I pay for my electricity. Even in Cali, the cost is negligible for the average household, let alone a PC. As far as the OP goes, I don't think they'd be going wrong either way, just depends on how much hassle they want to go through just to get a new 970.
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a b À AMD
a b U Graphics card
October 12, 2014 8:50:15 AM

Ahh you're always welcome , sir.
October 12, 2014 8:47:08 AM

Thanks for all your help guys! I've decided to stick it out with my 290X. I do plan on doing 2K gaming in the future, so it would be best for me to keep my GPU. Thanks again! Tomshardware folks are the best!
a b U Graphics card
October 11, 2014 11:05:14 PM

numnums said:
Hi everyone,
I'm thinking of selling my 290X that I've had for a year now and planning on buying a GTX 970. I bought my 290X when it first came out for 550$, and while I have been pleased with it's performance, I do get irritated at the noise and heat that it produces, nonetheless the huge amount of power it uses, especially at load. Since the GTX 970 came out, reviews and benchmarks had it at times more powerful than the 290X, at a decent price of 350$, not to mention a much more energy efficient and less costly on my monthly bill, where in CA is a bit more expensive than most other states. What do you guys think? Should I sell my R9 and get the 970? If I were to sell it, what would be a good price? Any opinions and input is much appreciated!


The only reason you would possibly want to do that would be for you to have two 970's in an SLi for the same power draw, otherwise its not worth it.

Best solution chosen by numnums

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a c 177 U Graphics card
October 11, 2014 10:52:22 PM

at 1080p the 970 is more powerful for the most part. at higher res like 1440p or higher the 290x takes the lead. If i were you i'd just find a good aftermarket cooler for the 290x. You wouldnt even notice the change on the power bill. lets say the card draws 100w more at its peak load, how many hours a day do you think the gpu is running at its peak load? you might notice if you dont have a job and game for 10 hours a day......
October 11, 2014 9:38:25 PM

I really don't think the savings would amount to all that much, even in CA. In an unrelated story a co-worker switched all his in house lightbulbs to the led variants from the old incandescent type about a year ago. Even if we'll say they were all 50w bulbs before and maybe 10w LED now, with a least 10 bulbs installed throughout his house. He said it didn't lower his electric bill(live in PA)all that much considering the high initial cost of the bulbs, and thats with a large wattage/power consumption drop overall. So if the 970 draws 100w less than the 290x, it would probably only lower your monthly bill by a small amount at best unless you do a TON of gaming. If the noise and heat irritate you already though, you sound like you made up your mind though :) 
a b Î Nvidia
a b À AMD
a b U Graphics card
October 11, 2014 9:28:05 PM

Selling it to get the 970 will be more costly , the performance difference isn't massive or even you won't notice it.

The extra 200W per year will make u pay around 41 Bucks so the savings aren't huge.

I think its a step in the wrong direction especially after the price drop in the R9 290X where now you can get a new one for $400 , so crossfire is a viable option further more selling yours won't generate the amount of money ample to supply for the 970.

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