Best Value 4GB video Card...

[Headfoot]

Yeah, its a good chip. Your system is solid for the GPU upgrade.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Yeah, its a good chip. Your system is solid for the GPU upgrade.

I'm just about convinced to try it...

I feel like I'm cheating...LMAO!

 

[maddie]

Could the rest of my PC be bottle necking any where?

From what I have read the i5-2500k is still a good gaming processor...

If you're serious about best value, then look at this. I suggest you read the full review.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/22/powercolor_turboduo_r9_290_4gb_oc_video_card_review

Grand Theft Auto V:
For our apples to apples comparison, we decided to try out the holy grail of graphics settings within the game, Grass Quality set to Ultra. As we found out in our previous articles, this setting is incredibly difficult to enable on a single card machine and end up with a playable result, especially when driving out in the country. The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G outperformed the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC by an 8.1% margin. Neither card felt fully playable at these settings, especially when driving off the road and through the grass and terrain. The MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G provided a nice slideshow that was entirely unplayable. Overclocking the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC increased performance by 10.6%

Dying Light:
The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G bested the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC by a margin of 18.2% while the MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G card might as well have been playing a different game. Overclocking the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC resulted in a 12% performance increase that also allowed it to become playable at these settings.

Far Cry 4:
The PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC and the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G turned in a near identical performance. As expected, the MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G was trounced by a wide margin while being unplayable during the course of our run through. Overclocking the The PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC improved frame rates by 12.1%.

Battlefield 4:
The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G came out at the top of the pile, besting the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC by a margin of 17.4%. The MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G simply did not keep up with the rest of the pack. Overclocking the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC increased performance enough to get within 2.4 frames per second of the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G.

Crysis 3:
At the Very High System Spec level, the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G pulled ahead of the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC by 16.9% and both were playable throughout the runthrough. The MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G was bested by a margin of 25.7% and was also quite unplayable. Overclocking the PowerColor TurboDuo R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC resulted in a 13.6% performance increase.

 

[Headfoot]

If you're serious about best value, then look at this. I suggest you read the full review.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/22/powercolor_turboduo_r9_290_4gb_oc_video_card_review

$60 more for an average of 10% more FPS (23% more $ for 10% more FPS). Still a good value, but not worth it imo when you consider its really a 3.5gb card. Also the MSI 970 is pretty heartily overclocked out of the box and the PowerColor one is hardly overclocked.

Stock vs Stock, or max OC vs max OC. Best out of the box OC vs really small out of the box OC is a stacked comparison from the get go. For example stock vs stock:

Some games are better, some are worse.

 

[exar333]

for nvidia 970 (3.5gb)

overall - 290/390

This Get the best deal, and check the game(s) bundled to see if those are attractive to you...

 

[Anomaly1964]

This Get the best deal, and check the game(s) bundled to see if those are attractive to you...

Have a link for it?

 

[redzo]

OP, please post your gpu budget!

As for your specific need, Arkham Knight, it is wise to wait for a couple of weeks because this PC game is currently a train wreck according to ... everybody. PC performance is bad on both nvidia and amd currently and nobody knows how it will turn out. This is not a good time to make a purchase decision based on this game even if you directly target only nvidia's gpu's.

 

[Anomaly1964]

OP, please post your gpu budget!

As for your specific need, Arkham Knight, it is wise to wait for a couple of weeks because this PC game is currently a train wreck according to ... everybody. PC performance is bad on both nvidia and amd currently and nobody knows how it will turn out. This is not a good time to make a purchase decision based on this game even if you directly target only nvidia's gpu's.

$300 or less...

On my Nvidia 570 I can play at 1920x1080 but everything else is set to LOW or off...

SOME lag but not a ton...

 

[shady28]

290 isn't generally 2x faster than the 960, that's a rare outlier.

Overall it's about 40% faster in average FPS.

Index of 1080p games at Tom's

IS Radeon R9 290 Fan 4GB Uber Mode vs Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 Gaming G1 2GB

20 Index 1080p
Score in Score Go 101.90 76.30

That's about 33% faster @ 1080p.

Meanwhile in power consumption - 290 takes 231W vs 100W :

23 Power Consumption Gaming
Gaming Power Consumption

Score in Watts 231.00 100.00

 

[MrTeal]

If you don't mind dealing with a mail in rebate, it's pretty tough to beat the 290X that's available at Newegg right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[Headfoot]

290 isn't generally 2x faster than the 960, that's a rare outlier.
IS Radeon R9 290 Fan 4GB Uber Mode vs Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 Gaming G1 2GB

What a load of garbage.

You're comparing a highly overclocked 960 vs stock 290.... The boost clock on that 960 is over 1300 dude. Everyone knows the stock 290 cooler is junk and throttles even in "uber" mode. If you're gonna use the Gigabyte Gaming version of the 960 then compare it to the Tri-X 290.

Stock vs stock, or overclocked aftermarket vs overclocked aftermarket. Stop with the apples to oranges crap comparisons. It's straight up dishonest.

 

[werepossum]

Hey, the guy says he wants NVidia. Why keep trying to force a 290 on him?

Because when someone says "I prefer NVidia" or "I prefer AMD", everyone assumes it is less strong a preference than, say, "I prefer not to get genital herpes." I think the GTX970 is as good (and as good a deal) as anything on the market - if he wants to spend that much - but the 960 is manifestly not a good deal. If that's his price point, he needs to look at AMD, period - and he is.

 

[Anomaly1964]

If you don't mind dealing with a mail in rebate, it's pretty tough to beat the 290X that's available at Newegg right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Which card is better and why?

The one in quote or the one below...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

 

[soccerballtux]

Which card is better and why?

The one in quote or the one below...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

the 290x has 10% more shaders and 5% higher clock so like 15% faster

 

[RaulF]

Which card is better and why?

The one in quote or the one below...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Skimlinks

They are both similar. Be aware that Asus has 3 years warranty vs 2 for the competitor.

If you go 290 i think you need a minimum of 500 for power supply.

 

[shady28]

What a load of garbage.

You're comparing a highly overclocked 960 vs stock 290.... The boost clock on that 960 is over 1300 dude. Everyone knows the stock 290 cooler is junk and throttles even in "uber" mode. If you're gonna use the Gigabyte Gaming version of the 960 then compare it to the Tri-X 290.

Stock vs stock, or overclocked aftermarket vs overclocked aftermarket. Stop with the apples to oranges crap comparisons. It's straight up dishonest.

R9 290 is indisputably the best value 4GB card. And yes, it's twice as fast (sometimes more sometimes less depending on the game)

What you just posted is a total load of garbage given what stated before - which is demonstratively false (the R9 290 is generally far from being twice as fast as the 960).

First of all, I compared an HIS R9 290 in Uber Mode to a Gigabyte G1 960 4GB. What I *said in my post* was the R9 290 was ~40% faster.

But just to entertain, this is the 1080p index for the *fastest* R9 290 they have vs the G1 GTX 960 :

Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 Windforce OC 4GB
vs
GTX 960 Windforce OC 2GB (BIOS F1)

Index 1080p

Score in Score Go 111.79 79.70

Guess what jack? 111.79 / 79.7 = 1.41 or 141%

The only thing deceptive was this post you made :

R9 290 is indisputably the best value 4GB card. And yes, it's twice as fast (sometimes more sometimes less depending on the game)

 

[TemjinGold]

OP, I just bought this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

Either this or that $270 290x would be the best values at the moment. However, if you want Arkham Knight and you didn't buy the game yet, this may be a better deal and there's no rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125706&cm_re=gtx_970-_-14-125-706-_-Product

 

[RaulF]

What you just posted is a total load of garbage given what stated before - which is demonstratively false (the R9 290 is generally far from being twice as fast as the 960).

First of all, I compared an HIS R9 290 in Uber Mode to a Gigabyte G1 960 4GB. What I *said in my post* was the R9 290 was ~40% faster.

But just to entertain, this is the 1080p index for the *fastest* R9 290 they have vs the G1 GTX 960 :

Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 Windforce OC 4GB
vs
GTX 960 Windforce OC 2GB (BIOS F1)

Index 1080p

Score in Score Go 111.79 79.70

Guess what jack? 111.79 / 79.7 = 1.41 or 141%

The only thing deceptive was this post you made :

Wow.

:|

 

[IEC]

Best value 4GB card? Aftermarket Radeon 290/X.

Radeon 290 is the best bang for the buck for high end performance.

Sure you can make an argument for 970 having a moderate edge on power efficiency and performing (slightly) better in some nVidia favored titles, but with its 3.5GB* VRAM it's going to hit the VRAM wall sooner than a 290.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Twice as fast, really?

Not twice as fast, but almost as good as 960 SLI at 1080p over a wide span of games.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_960_SLI/23.html

At 1440p it's better than SLI 960.

Driver issues happen with Nvidia too. For instance, the last two Nvidia drivers before the current one (I haven't tried it yet, it was released yesterday) constantly crash in Chrome on my 970.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Honestly though, if Arkham Knight is what you want to play, buy a PS4. They outsourced the PC port to a small company of 12 people and the game runs horribly. And it looks better on PS4 than on PC right now. This game is shaping up to the 2015 version of Assassins Creed Unity for PC gamers.

 

[omek]

The OP's head must be spinning, lol.

You asked for the best value with 4GB's, it's the R9 290. End of story as long as your PSU is up to the task. If you can find a 290x below your set price, that is also worth it.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Not twice as fast, but almost as good as 960 SLI at 1080p over a wide span of games.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_960_SLI/23.html

At 1440p it's better than SLI 960.

Driver issues happen with Nvidia too. For instance, the last two Nvidia drivers before the current one (I haven't tried it yet, it was released yesterday) constantly crash in Chrome on my 970.

What does SLI have to do with the comparison of single cards? I dont recall the op being interested at all in SLI. By the very chart you posted, the 290 relative index is 96 while the 960 is 66, making the 290 45% faster, not twice like some posters were trying to claim. I am not claiming the 960 is a good value unless for some reason you are very concerned with power consumption, but lets make valid comparisons at least.

 

[Leyawiin]

Arkham Knight...

I prefer Nvidia...thanks!

Being is a Gameworks title with PhysX that's understandable. A GTX 970 is the cheapest tool in the shed for what you want. Its an Nvidia favored title with a rather important Nvidia specific feature. Yeah, an R9 290 is cheaper, but if that's the game you're buying for it might be worth another $50.

 

[crisium]

Even he doesn't always drink Dos Equis.

The cheapest 290s always impress me with their price. Usually AR, but still, nothing competes. It's barely more than a 380, 960, or any Kepler you can still find yet beats them all handsomely. I almost suggested the 380 4GB as a superior alternative to the 960, but the 290 just destroys it cleanly.

http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BF41.jpg

The biggest advantage of the 970 is power consumption, so I suppose it may be cheaper than the 290 if you game very often and keep the card for 4+ years.