GPU Recommendation

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rcoops72

Member
May 24, 2012
72
7
71
Hello I am helping my friend build a gaming PC, but not a high end one.

Below are his parts...what GPU do you reccomeend so he can do some nice gaming for 2-3 years without worring about upgrades? He does not want to spend more than $359.99 on a GPU

ASUS Z97-A
i5-4690K
Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
OS Win 8.1
Power Supply will be EVGA SuperNova 750

Thank you in Advance.

Robert
 
wand3r3r

wand3r3r

Diamond Member
May 16, 2008
3,180
0
0
The R9 290 is just about at the 970 levels but was on sale for as little as $199 the other day (maybe still is?). It's $250 often too.

The 970 is more efficient but with a 50% price premium it's not worth the premium since it beats the 290 by such of a small margin.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
raghu78 said:
yeah. agree with the previous post. R9 290 + SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202080
Click to expand...

This! No SSD in a modern build is a big fail. If he already has an SSD, then MSI Gaming 970/Gigabyte Windforce G1. Personally I can't justify paying $100 more for a 970. I'd rather get a 290 for now as a stop-gap and upgrade again in 1-1.5 years and use that $100 towards a faster 16-20nm GPU that will be 50% faster than a 970/290. I don't see the point of spending $100 more for 10% more performance given that GPUs increase in speed at a rate of about 35% per year when annualized over the last 4 years.
http://www.computerbase.de/2013-12/grafikkarten-2013-vergleich/10/
 
cytoSiN

cytoSiN

Platinum Member
Jul 11, 2002
2,262
7
81
RussianSensation said:
This! No SSD in a modern build is a big fail. If he already has an SSD, then MSI Gaming 970/Gigabyte Windforce G1. Personally I can't justify paying $100 more for a 970. I'd rather get a 290 for now as a stop-gap and upgrade again in 1-1.5 years and use that $100 towards a faster 16-20nm GPU that will be 50% faster than a 970/290. I don't see the point of spending $100 more for 10% more performance given that GPUs increase in speed at a rate of about 35% per year when annualized over the last 4 years.
http://www.computerbase.de/2013-12/grafikkarten-2013-vergleich/10/
Click to expand...

I tend to agree. You can get two 290s (either the Sapphire or the Asus DCII) right now for $500. I was about to pull the trigger on the Asust STRIX 970 (or two), but that's a $200 premium (if buying two) for 10% gain. My only concern is the increased power draw from the 290 vs the 970.
 
xthetenth

xthetenth

Golden Member
Oct 14, 2014
1,800
529
106
How much time do you spend gaming? How much are kWh in your area? Are you like me in a small room that's prone to heating up from computer use?

If the answer to none of these makes you recoil from the 290, it's probably the right card these days. It's kind of a steal.
 
B

boozzer

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2012
1,549
18
81
you guys do know that under full load, the power difference between 290 n 970 is about 50 watt? if you even just slightly oc 970 = almost no difference?

please do your research, don't take my words for it.
 
Sulaco

Sulaco

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
3,825
46
91
rcoops72 said:
Thank you for everyone's responses and Advice. We are going with this card:

Not the cheapest but we saved money on some other great NewEgg Combo deals:

Thoughts if anyone has one of these and how they like it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121899
Click to expand...

That's the card I have.

Been using it for the last couple of weeks and it has been wonderful. Rest of my system is in my sig, and its annihilated every game I've thrown at it in modest 2560x1440 resolution.

It also has been very quiet and my temps have been very good, although I haven't tried any overclocking or anything.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
The $199 R9 290 with the extra money going to an SSD would have a better route .

Heh, remember earlier this year during the mining bubble when a 290X was almost a thousand dollars?
 
cytoSiN

cytoSiN

Platinum Member
Jul 11, 2002
2,262
7
81
rcoops72 said:
Thank you for everyone's responses and Advice. We are going with this card:

Not the cheapest but we saved money on some other great NewEgg Combo deals:

Thoughts if anyone has one of these and how they like it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121899
Click to expand...

Sulaco said:
That's the card I have.

Been using it for the last couple of weeks and it has been wonderful. Rest of my system is in my sig, and its annihilated every game I've thrown at it in modest 2560x1440 resolution.

It also has been very quiet and my temps have been very good, although I haven't tried any overclocking or anything.
Click to expand...

After much research that's what I went with too. Hoping to SLI them in the future, but for now you can't go wrong.
 
M

MeldarthX

Golden Member
May 8, 2010
1,026
0
76
not really seeing 290 for 199, *dollars it is over here in the UK for 199 pounds* but 229 after rebate Tri-X 290 with 3 games at tigerdirect.......

so still stands 230 290 +ssd over the 970......much better option.....
 
Leyawiin

Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
52
91
MeldarthX said:
not really seeing 290 for 199, *dollars it is over here in the UK for 199 pounds* but 229 after rebate Tri-X 290 with 3 games at tigerdirect.......

so still stands 230 290 +ssd over the 970......much better option.....
Click to expand...

Its been out of stock at TD almost since it was posted with that price and promo.
 
tweakboy

tweakboy

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2010
9,517
2
81
www.hammiestudios.com
Bateluer said:
The $199 R9 290 with the extra money going to an SSD would have a better route .

Heh, remember earlier this year during the mining bubble when a 290X was almost a thousand dollars?
Click to expand...


WOW no kidding. What a bang for the buck. PLus it will play nice with your i5 as long as its quad core. gl
 
bryanW1995

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
rcoops72 said:
Thank you for everyone's responses and Advice. We are going with this card:

Not the cheapest but we saved money on some other great NewEgg Combo deals:

Thoughts if anyone has one of these and how they like it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121899
Click to expand...

I love how 5 different people said "buy a 290 + get an ssd" yet the OP went in a different direction.

Why did you even solicit opinions if you had already made up your mind?
 
ronbo613

ronbo613

Golden Member
Jan 9, 2010
1,237
45
91
I love how 5 different people said "buy a 290 + get an ssd" yet the OP went in a different direction.

Why did you even solicit opinions if you had already made up your mind?
Click to expand...
He might already have an SSD.

He prefers nVidia to AMD and didn't see enough to change his mind.

He may have considered the "buy a 290 + get an ssd" advice but decided on something else. Maybe he got some advice/opinions from a source other than these forums.
 
bryanW1995

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
rcoops72 said:
Hello I am helping my friend build a gaming PC, but not a high end one.

Below are his parts...what GPU do you reccomeend so he can do some nice gaming for 2-3 years without worring about upgrades? He does not want to spend more than $359.99 on a GPU

ASUS Z97-A
i5-4690K
Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
OS Win 8.1
Power Supply will be EVGA SuperNova 750

Thank you in Advance.

Robert
Click to expand...

ronbo613 said:
He might already have an SSD.

He prefers nVidia to AMD and didn't see enough to change his mind.

He may have considered the "buy a 290 + get an ssd" advice but decided on something else. Maybe he got some advice/opinions from a source other than these forums.
Click to expand...

Where in this does the OP say anything about a particular card preference? He didn't say "I already had an ssd" or mention ssd at all in his OP, so that theory seems highly unlikely, too. It seems clear that he had a preference for NV, or his friend did, though he should have just mentioned that in the OP so that we could have given him some advice on which NV card to buy.

cytoSiN said:
He also said he took advantage of Newegg combo deals, and there are several posts in this thread about power consumption that may also have had an effect.
Click to expand...

True, that could be the most likely reason of them all. I almost bought a 770 when I got my 7970 b/c I'm so sensitive to noise, but the deal was just too good to pass up on the AMD card back then. I guess the deal-hunter in me was somehow offended by the OP's blatant disregard for savings haha.
 
Last edited:
cytoSiN

cytoSiN

Platinum Member
Jul 11, 2002
2,262
7
81
bryanW1995 said:
I love how 5 different people said "buy a 290 + get an ssd" yet the OP went in a different direction.

Why did you even solicit opinions if you had already made up your mind?
Click to expand...

ronbo613 said:
He might already have an SSD.

He prefers nVidia to AMD and didn't see enough to change his mind.

He may have considered the "buy a 290 + get an ssd" advice but decided on something else. Maybe he got some advice/opinions from a source other than these forums.
Click to expand...

He also said he took advantage of Newegg combo deals, and there are several posts in this thread about power consumption that may also have had an effect.
 
SteveGrabowski

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
8,790
7,419
136
mojothehut said:
Up to 359? You can sneak an nvidia 970 for $330-ish

But this is an amazing deal on a solid card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-842-_-Product

Also I believe 290x can be found for less than $359.99

First and foremost, if you can find an Nvidia 970 for below that budget cap, DO IT. Amazing card for the money.
Click to expand...

The ASUS Direct CU is a horrible 290. One of its heat pipes doesn't even contact the core.
 
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