290 vs 780 Classified

Nged72

Member
Jan 25, 2011
131
0
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Which one is actually "overall" better?

Debating on the 780 Classified because it's already there and at a solid price. The darn 290 is too high due to the stupid mining.

Is it worth waiting for the 290 to drop in price + mantle or is the price/performance of the 780 Classified better?

(Or wait for Maxwell :D)

Specs:
i5-2500k @ 4.4
Corsair TX650w
MSi 560Ti Hawk
2x 7200RPM HDD (500GB)
1x SSD (256GB)
5 Case Fans
16GB Ram
ASUS 22in @ 1920x1080 (I know at this Res I could get a 770 and be fine :/ but "future proofing" and maybe a new monitor after college)

Playing BF4, Rust, and will be playing Dark Souls 2 and MAYBE Titanfall (eh)
 
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chimaxi83

Diamond Member
May 18, 2003
5,649
61
101
Overall, the 780 Classy is much better. This is considering price. If you were able to pick up an aftermarket 290 at ~$400, it'd be a different story. Unfortunately that's not the case, and probably won't be for a while.

As for waiting for a price drop + Mantle, why waste the time on that? Nobody knows what Mantle might bring. I guess you can factor that into your decision if some of the suspected Mantle games are games you're looking forward to. If it's just BF4, the 780 Classy would be my choice.

Also, you didn't list your CPU... because this all changes if you're running a Celeron or something :biggrin:
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,331
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overall better in what, $/perf or perf period, if the later, no contest, 780 classy.
 

Nged72

Member
Jan 25, 2011
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71
Overall, the 780 Classy is much better. This is considering price. If you were able to pick up an aftermarket 290 at ~$400, it'd be a different story. Unfortunately that's not the case, and probably won't be for a while.

As for waiting for a price drop + Mantle, why waste the time on that? Nobody knows what Mantle might bring. I guess you can factor that into your decision if some of the suspected Mantle games are games you're looking forward to. If it's just BF4, the 780 Classy would be my choice.

Also, you didn't list your CPU... because this all changes if you're running a Celeron or something :biggrin:

Oh yea my bad.

i5-2500k on air @ 4.4

(added to main post thanks)
 

Nged72

Member
Jan 25, 2011
131
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I would love to get a card now, but I can wait a month or so to see if the mining prices drop; also to see when maxwell is coming out?

Just sucks because I wanted to get a new card a month before the R9 280x came out. Then I heard about the 290 and waited, followed by waiting for the aftermarket...now for prices to drop lol
 

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
476
126
I just bought a EVGA GTX780 Classified for rig 2 below. It replaced 2 GTX660s in SLI and outperforms them. For the price an OUTSTANDING card.
 

WhoBeDaPlaya

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2000
7,414
401
126
Probably just get the 780. Hell, it's what I did after I tossed all my remaining 7xxx and 5830s to miners :)
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
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Rec 2.0 i believe means its the B1 chip, better thermals and clocking, but not in the same league as a classified board.
 

Nged72

Member
Jan 25, 2011
131
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Might have to get the 780 Classified....and then if the new cards come out within 3 months I could do the Step Up Program -.-

GAH I HATE GPU SHOPPING...whenever I choose to buy one the next ones come out in a few months. I wish there was a guaranteed date for Maxwell and Mantle

Or maybe just a 770 for now
 
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Pandamonia

Senior member
Jun 13, 2013
433
49
91
Get the 780 GTX Lightning LE or Lightning

Its cheaper than the Classy and performs just as well. Both my cards can do 1350 boost on stock volts. Gaming stable. 65c temps
 

Nged72

Member
Jan 25, 2011
131
0
71
Get the 780 GTX Lightning LE or Lightning

Its cheaper than the Classy and performs just as well. Both my cards can do 1350 boost on stock volts. Gaming stable. 65c temps

Actually the Classified is $10 cheaper after a $20 rebate on Newegg :D
 

Attic

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2010
4,282
2
76
Did the same thing pretty much. Went from 2x 280x to a 780 Ti and can't be happier.

I'd like to hear more about this. Any specific issues taken with the 280x in xFire? 780Ti just easier and fast enough?, easier and crazy fast?

I'm thinking a 280x2 would be faster, but the 780ti just seems like a smoother solution (not specific to games or anything, just in general a smoother experience).
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
I'd like to hear more about this. Any specific issues taken with the 280x in xFire? 780Ti just easier and fast enough?, easier and crazy fast?

I'm thinking a 280x2 would be faster, but the 780ti just seems like a smoother solution (not specific to games or anything, just in general a smoother experience).

I've had both AMD and Nvidia cards over the last 6 generations or so. From my experience, the Nvidia cards/drivers have just been a little smoother. That being said, I had a decent experience with CF, but a single card solution is just easier to deal with. The EVGA ACX cards are also very quiet, almost not audible in my setup.

As far as speed, I went with a Superclocked version and with boost, the card typically runs around 1150+ MHz in games which is a good jump over base clocks. At that speed, it's pretty close to what a 280X CF setup will get you.

I always have been a supporter of AMD and their value/performance ratio, but Nvidia has hit it out of the park with the 780 Ti IMO.