AMD R290 or Geforce GTX 780?

[Fastx]

The prices on some of these 290/x cards are seeing some nice price drops recently and I am thinking we might be seeing the $400.00 mark broken soon on some of these AIB 290's.

Today at Newegg.
Tri -X 290 now $449.00
MSI 290 $419.00
PCS 290x $549.00

Review on the PCS 290x oc to 1219 performance.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...5702-powercolor-r9-290x-pcs-4gb-review-8.html

 

[Rvenger]

HIS IceQ X R9 290 for $399.99 Free ship.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161453

 

[MtSeldon]

AMD R290 has more votes on the poll and is the clear winner. Tough i bet most users didnt read the post and just voted for the faster and cheaper card, did't consider the driver quality,stability.

Software maybe compared. Mantle, TrueAudio ,Raptr on one side, physx, Experience, ShadowPlay,Cuda on the other side.

I don't care about mantle much. TrueAudio seems more promising but not much game supporting it. Same for physx , nice to have , but doesn't make much difference in most cases.

Raptr vs Experience , again doesn't matter. Most of us will adjust the settings manually anyway.

Shadowplay is important if you need it. I don't. AMD must have an answer to that tough.

Cuda is the most important feature i guess. For some it's a must.

Most users seem to be happy about the AMD driver quality , so i will go with the Sapphire R290 Vapor-X.

 

[Attic]

AMD R290 has more votes on the poll and is the clear winner. Tough i bet most users didnt read the post and just voted for the faster and cheaper card, did't consider the driver quality,stability.

Software maybe compared. Mantle, TrueAudio ,Raptr on one side, physx, Experience, ShadowPlay,Cuda on the other side.

I don't care about mantle much. TrueAudio seems more promising but not much game supporting it. Same for physx , nice to have , but doesn't make much difference in most cases.

Raptr vs Experience , again doesn't matter. Most of us will adjust the settings manually anyway.

Shadowplay is important if you need it. I don't. AMD must have an answer to that tough.

Cuda is the most important feature i guess. For some it's a must.

Most users seem to be happy about the AMD driver quality , so i will go with the Sapphire R290 Vapor-X.

That's the right one to get. From my perspective I like the 290 over the 780, though I like the 780ti over the 290x. In that group I like the non reference 290 the most if got for not too much over $400. Reminds me somewhat of the nVidia G80 8800 GTS card of it's time. Outstanding performance for a decent drop in price from the top of the line offerings and worth every penny.

 

[mingsoup]

290 Pro's
Multiplatform games [There has to be some benefit in my mind,AMD CPU/GPU tech occupying PS4/Xbone for next 10 years]
Mantle? [Moot]
AMD
Price
4GB
Bang/Buck
Alpha Centauri 2?

Con's
Power
Reference Design [Moot]

 

[MtSeldon]

I actually like the reference design more . It blows the hot air out , without raising the in case temperature . it's a cleaner solution . The problem with reference R290's are that they aren't implemented good enough. Nvidia solutions are said the be better.

Why doesn't AMD put more force behind TrueAudio? it would make a lot more difference than the Mantle.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I actually like the reference design more . It blows the hot air out , without raising the in case temperature . it's a cleaner solution . The problem with reference R290's are that they aren't implemented good enough. Nvidia solutions are said the be better.

Why doesn't AMD put more force behind TrueAudio? it would make a lot more difference than the Mantle.

I don't think you understand what mantle is or does... It's amazing in use. True Audio will see a lot more use. The cards came out in fall 2013. Not many games have been released since then, and you need to remember that games are usually made over a 2 year period. Give it some time for more studio's to adopt TrueAudio.

 

[guskline]

OP, what are the rest of your specs? Especially PSU. If the card was sent back twice, and the company said it was running fine, I would be checking some of my other components to see if they had problems.

As to whether the R9 290 or GTX780 should be your choice, hard for me to give advice since I only own a EVGA GTX780 Classified. I used to own mostly ATI/AMD video cards with certain Nvidia Cards sprinkled in from time to time. That changed when I bought my GTX680. The driver quality was very good and I stayed with Nvidia. I think the R9-290/290X hardware has helped AMD regain some landscape but my exposure to them is only what I read. Since I bought my GTX680 (PNY), I've owned 2 EVGA GTX670 FTWs, a MSI GTX660, EVGA GTX660 and now the EVGA GTX780 Classified. For me the biggest draw is driver stability. I don't know first hand how AMD stacks up.

 

[MtSeldon]

I don't think you understand what mantle is or does... It's amazing in use. True Audio will see a lot more use. The cards came out in fall 2013. Not many games have been released since then, and you need to remember that games are usually made over a 2 year period. Give it some time for more studio's to adopt TrueAudio.

I understand what mantle does quite well. I don't care much for a few reasons.

My R290 was sent to service twice. And at the moment it is at the service. They admit that the card is faulty. But they dont want to replace it or refund. They repaired the card. If they dont refund , a lawsuit is on the way. They don't have the right to repair a "Dead on arrive " card. Asus service has been terrible so far.

 

[realibrad]

I understand what mantle does quite well. I don't care much for a few reasons.

My R290 was sent to service twice. And at the moment it is at the service. They admit that the card is faulty. But they dont want to replace it or refund. They repaired the card. If they dont refund , a lawsuit is on the way. They don't have the right to repair a "Dead on arrive " card.

They actually do have the "right" in many states to attempt repair before replacing. Before you go too far, you might want to check your local and state laws. That way you dont spend time and money on something you will lose in the end.

I'm guessing its past the return window so try and hang in there for repairs.

 

[MtSeldon]

I know the legal rights in my country. They don't have the right to repair a "Dead on arrive " card. It is not past the return windows ,they are just trying to avoid a refund.

 

[Gloomy]

What's the problem? As long as the card works.

Or do you think it will be "tainted" or something? They're probably just replacing a cap.

 

[MtSeldon]

I bought the card 4 months ago. Since then its been problematic, with BSOD's, black screens. The card is obviously faulty, service accepts it, and its dead on arrive.First time i sent it to service was in 30 days of purchase which gives me the right to ask for a refund. I don't want the card anymore . but despite the laws, they insist on repairing it. This is the problem ???

I'm just going to buy one of those newer r290's which seems that the black screen problem is no longer an issue.

 

[wand3r3r]

I understand what mantle does quite well. I don't care much for a few reasons.

My R290 was sent to service twice. And at the moment it is at the service. They admit that the card is faulty. But they dont want to replace it or refund. They repaired the card. If they dont refund , a lawsuit is on the way. They don't have the right to repair a "Dead on arrive " card. Asus service has been terrible so far.

I've had nothing but trouble and even direct lies from them, I will avoid them and recommend everyone else does too. There are a number of complaints on the various forums, more then any other brand that I've seen.

 

[blastingcap]

I have only had good experiences with ASUS RMAs, though they did screw up on their Sandy Bridge WS mobos which did not support low-end CPUs w/ ECC even though there was no reason why they couldn't--even Intel's own spec sheet says certain Pentiums and i3's support ECC.

 

[ZimZum]

I've had nothing but trouble and even direct lies from them, I will avoid them and recommend everyone else does too. There are a number of complaints on the various forums, more then any other brand that I've seen.

Surprised to hear that about Asus.

 

[wand3r3r]

Surprised to hear that about Asus.

I'm speaking about Asus GPU RMAs.

I haven't dealt with their other component RMAs and haven't heard as much negative about them.

 

[Mondozei]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290/5

GTX 780 doesn't come close.

 

[Vesku]

I've had nothing but trouble and even direct lies from them, I will avoid them and recommend everyone else does too. There are a number of complaints on the various forums, more then any other brand that I've seen.

Haven't had to deal with Asus support in years but I still recall it being terrible. IIRC they no longer had any of a particular part, I'd guess that means it was a common point of failure, for my in warranty notebook and rather than replace it they just stopped communicating entirely. Eerily similar to them wanting to repair your card rather than honor your legally protected request for a refund or new replacement.

They did "win" that one because pursuing small claims for a $50-100 part was too much of a hassle for me to pursue but I haven't bought an Asus product since. I see similar experiences like mine and yours posted on a regular basis so it doesn't seem like they have changed much in their warranty department.

 

[loccothan]

I think Is a hardware problem for sure (100% unlucky You Are) and its nothing you can do, cuz AMD or nV both can be faulty. Just ask them to give you NEW GPU and it will be OK.

I have XFX DD Ghz and its OK, but first one i get was faulty and Shop give me New One and that One is 100% OK i can OC it too
The drivers i like CATatyst and the New Betas and WHQL are 100% Solid Stable builds. I like AMD and i have nV too ;-)

So its your call

 

[Captante]

Personal preference is Nvidia at the moment hardware-wise.

As for drivers once installed stability is pretty close, however in my experience the driver upgrade process is a bit easier with Nvidia.

 

[loccothan]

Personal preference is Nvidia at the moment hardware-wise.

As for drivers once installed stability is pretty close, however in my experience the driver upgrade process is a bit easier with Nvidia.

In CATalyst i pick Custom in upg. and click on opt. i need ;-) simple as a pie but always u can pick Express and then restart
So both nV and ATI have simple Upg. for me

And R290 is OK really

 

[blastingcap]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290/5

GTX 780 doesn't come close.

Depends on resolution

For stock vs stock cards,

At 2560x1600 the 290 is maybe 5% faster than GTX 780
At 5760x1080 the 290 is 10.4% faster

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_295_X2/24.html

 

[MtSeldon]

With the new prices, there is also another question for R290 buyers.

Custom cooling R290's and reference cooler R290X are about the same price now . Which one would you prefer?

 

[Tmf]

With the new prices, there is also another question for R290 buyers.

Custom cooling R290's and reference cooler R290X are about the same price now . Which one would you prefer?

Custom 290 assuming you're going to keep it on air. You will probably see better performance on the 290 with the increased overclocking and cooling headroom. The reference cards are a throttle fest.