GTX 780 (vs AMD 290x): Did I goof?

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Is the GTX 780 ($500) worth it versus the 290x ($550)?

  • Yes.

  • No.

  • Other.


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Teizo

Golden Member
Oct 28, 2010
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So it appears the value for performance crowd is endorsing by 41 votes (so far) to spend more money on a card that runs hotter, uses more power, and runs 3x louder for maybe 5% more performance at stock at best.

My how times have changed from the days of the GTX 480.
 

Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
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spin it however you want (my eyes or not) - every graph clearly show sli is on top.

There was no spin. The question was whether your eyes could differentiate the difference between the two cards. It was a rhetorical question considering that the largest variance was 10ms and it is physically impossible to differentiate such small time intervals. But you probably already knew hence why you dodged the question.

My how times have changed from the days of the GTX 480.
Interesting that you would bring up the 480, did you already forget that power consumption is related to temperatures?
powervstemp.gif
 
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amenx

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2004
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So it appears the value for performance crowd is endorsing by 41 votes (so far) to spend more money on a card that runs hotter, uses more power, and runs 3x louder for maybe 5% more performance at stock at best.

My how times have changed from the days of the GTX 480.
I think there are more AMD owners than Nvidia owners here at present. Many reaped the massive price cuts of the 7000 series. So expect the bias-of-what-you-own factor to be reflected in the results. As such any polls here (or anywhere) concerning AMD vs Nvidia topics are useless.
 

Teizo

Golden Member
Oct 28, 2010
1,271
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No. I haven't forgotten. The 480 was a joke. It deserved all the slack it got. The advantage it had though is that it was the clear performance winner.

AMD put out an ad mocking the 480 I seem to remember, and AMD 'fans' mocked it even harder.

It is ok now though, of course, to have a card that runs hot, is loud, and uses more power for a few more fps on average according to these same AMD people.

I was just complimenting them on their ability to flip flop so easily.

I think there are more AMD owners than Nvidia owners here at present. Many reaped the massive price cuts of the 7000 series. So expect the bias-of-what-you-own factor to be reflected in the results. As such any polls here (or anywhere) concerning AMD vs Nvidia topics are useless.

Oh, I know. But it obvious in the lack of objectivity in some of the people who voted. It is to be expected though. Not sure what the OP was really expecting. Or, maybe he was.
 
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Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
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I think there are more AMD owners than Nvidia owners here at present. Many reaped the massive price cuts of the 7000 series. So expect the bias-of-what-you-own factor to be reflected in the results. As such any polls here (or anywhere) concerning AMD vs Nvidia topics are useless.

You mean like Teizo's continued quarrels about the noise and power consumption of the reference 290X? It truly is a prime example of confirmation bias, I agree ;)

I was just complimenting them on their ability to flip flop so easily.
Don't worry, I am an equal opportunity critic :)
 
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Teizo

Golden Member
Oct 28, 2010
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You mean like Teizo's continued quarrels about the noise and power consumption of the reference 290X? It truly is a prime example of confirmation bias, I agree ;)

Well, you must have made this post before reading my reply to yours...or somehow didn't comprehend the fact that I didn't think the 480 was worth it....just like the 290X is now...except AMD folk think it is when before the disadvantages of the 480 were not worth it.

Not sure I understand how you are not following me here.
 

Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
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Well, you must have made this post before reading my reply to yours.

Indeed o_O Statement still stands:whiste:

There are distinct differences: the reference cooler is worthless. The card is actually quite and does outperform a reference 780 when in quite mode and is still a worthy buy at 10% the premium since it performs roughly 10% better than the 780. I have said before in this thread that factor OC 780s coming in at $500-525 do pose a better value over the reference 290X. However, I have also said that this is not a good time to purchase a GPU in the $500 range as the holiday season should bring about better pricing and non-reference designs of both the 290 and 290X. Comparing apples to applies is much better than comparing apples to oranges :)
 
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Teizo

Golden Member
Oct 28, 2010
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Indeed o_O Statement still stands:whiste:

You mean I am biased against loud, space heater gpu's that heat up your case unnecessarily? Or, just because I run Nvidia SLI I am obviously just hating on AMD because it is AMD?

Oh well, you are entitled to think whatever you wish. Still doesn't defend the AMD legion for switching stances all of a sudden.
 
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Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
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You mean I am biased against loud, space heater gpu's that heat up your case unnecessarily? Or, just because I run Nvidia SLI I am obviously just hating on AMD because it is AMD?

Oh well, you are entitled to think whatever you wish. Still doesn't defend the AMD legion for switching stances all of a sudden.

You continue to compare apples to oranges. Are you forgetting that the 290X is only 4DB louder than the reference 780 and that the reference 780 sits above 80 degrees under load with a better reference cooler?

Cherry picking data to fit your narrative is what I mean by conservation bias :'(
 

el etro

Golden Member
Jul 21, 2013
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This, is actually hilarious. 12 months ago, people accused H of being on nvidias payroll...

This makes to me remember overclocked 7950Boost beating Golden 660Ti(~1340 Mhz) and Golden GTX 670(1300 Mhz) on the HardOcp test. was XFX card(The worst custom card by far at that time) for AMD vs Galaxy(660Ti) and DCU(670) for the Greens. Never laughed so much because a tech site review.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/08/23/galaxy_gtx_660_ti_gc_oc_vs_670_hd_7950/1#.UnbYExCmYVk
 
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blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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While I don't think the 290X reference cooler is as bad as some characterize - and I don't think youtubes are proper representations of it - AMD does deserve to be chastised for releasing the product with it. I mean, come on. Why are there pages of discussion over the noise? Precisely because AMD didn't want to bother with creating a high quality reference shroud. Passing the buck to AIB makers.

They should know better than this - the Titan shroud is exceptional, so if they're going to raise the bar performance wise they should do the same across the board. If they were trying to go all out, they should have. Instead, we have a product that performs amazingly well .. and you know the rest of the story. I just don't get it, I don't get what the thought process at AMD was. When the 780 was 650$? It was easy to overlook. It's a bit more difficult now.
 

Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
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While I don't think the 290X reference cooler is as bad as some characterize -

It servers it purpose but is a awful choice for a flagship product. Sticking a $10 cooler on a $550 GPU is asking for ridicule. They deserve nothing less. Nevertheless, that discussion should not take away from the merits of the 290X. The GPU itself does perform. Although a price brake in the near future may be necessary. :whiste:
 

OCNewbie

Diamond Member
Jul 18, 2000
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I just got a ridiculously good deal on an EVGA GTX 780 SC and I'm still using a Core2 Quad Q9550. I am way overdue for a CPU/Mobo/RAM upgrade. I wouldn't have bought the card if it wasn't so cheap ($335 and then another 5% off through Discover cash back).
 

Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
586
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chimaxi83

Diamond Member
May 18, 2003
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I just got a ridiculously good deal on an EVGA GTX 780 SC and I'm still using a Core2 Quad Q9550. I am way overdue for a CPU/Mobo/RAM upgrade. I wouldn't have bought the card if it wasn't so cheap ($335 and then another 5% off through Discover cash back).

That is a disgustingly good price. Grats :thumbsup:
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,224
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So it appears the value for performance crowd is endorsing by 41 votes (so far) to spend more money on a card that runs hotter, uses more power, and runs 3x louder for maybe 5% more performance at stock at best.

My how times have changed from the days of the GTX 480.



This forum is not representative of real world opinion...

The October Steam survey is up, and Nvidia holds a 51% to 33% advantage.

The fact that half of this forum (or this forum's sock-puppet accounts) would recommend 290x over a 780 for a standard resolution just shows that AMD viral marketing is strong, or there is a strong bias.

Warning issued for inflammatory language.
-- stahlhart
 
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OCNewbie

Diamond Member
Jul 18, 2000
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Erm, 335$? Fill me on where this occurred ;) Amazon price mistake?

Basically (more details below)

Yes, Amazon had the EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Superclocked for $360 but the product was never in stock and only available for back-order. Needless to say, most orders are being canceled. I am thinking he is mistaking the 770 price drop with the 780 since I haven't seen a lower price yet... :whiste:


EDIT: Seems it was the above Amazon deal with an Amazon account credit.

I heard about the deal on slickdeals and just happened to access the site within ~15 minutes of the post. I placed my order without issue like 5 days ago. I checked my order this morning and my order had been canceled, yet I received no cancellation e-mail or anything indicating it was canceled. However, I did notice a $25 credit was applied to my account yesterday, again, without any explanation why. I called Amazon this morning and talked to an awesome CSR. I was on the phone for a while, a little over 30 minutes, and he was able to talk to a supervisor and get them to give me the same price on an ever-so-slightly different GTX 780 SC. So, total cost was $334.99 and then Discover is offering 5% cash back on all online purchases, so grand total should be $318.24. This is by far the most I've ever spent on a video card, but with this price I felt I couldn't pass it up. I am pondering trying to sell it though, and using the money I make on a card in the $200 range. I only play at 1080p, and I haven't even been gaming that much lately, so this will be overkill for my needs. Oh yeah, Amazon rocks!

That is a disgustingly good price. Grats :thumbsup:

Thanks! :D
 
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Slomo4shO

Senior member
Nov 17, 2008
586
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I heard about the deal on slickdeals and just happened to access the site within 20-30 minutes of the post. I placed my order without issue like 5 days ago. I checked my order this morning and my order had been canceled, yet I received no cancellation e-mail or anything indicating it was canceled. However, I did notice a $25 credit was applied to my account yesterday, again, without any explanation why. I called Amazon this morning and talked to an awesome CSR. I was on the phone for a while, a little over 30 minutes, and he was able to talk to a supervisor and get them to give me the same price on an ever-so-slightly different GTX 780 SC. So, total cost was $334.99 and then Discover is offering 5% cash back on all online purchases, so grand total should be $318.24. This is by far the most I've ever spent on a video card, but with this price I felt I couldn't pass it up. I am pondering trying to sell it though, and using the money I make on a card in the $200 range. I only play at 1080p, and I haven't even been gaming that much lately, so this will be overkill for my needs. Oh yeah, Amazon rocks!

I figured it out :) I am just surprised that Amazon price matched after the fact. I had initially declined to place the order since I was aware it was going to be canceled and Amazon hadn't provided any cancellation credits on their recent price mistakes. Its always the one you skip o_O

Great buy!:thumbsup: If you find a great buy during Black Friday and feel that you don't need the extra performance then go ahead and sell it. I am sure you can make a small profit :) Also, did you get the games? Amazon hasn't been offering the gaming bundle with their cards thus far.
 
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el etro

Golden Member
Jul 21, 2013
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Sounds more like obvious spin to me. (other than I agree the cooler's pretty weak, but that's an opinion)

Obviously AMD has done their calculations on lifetimes etc. and I'll take their word over a "random" forum poster. The 480 was apparently in the same ballpark with temperatures.

I await your opinion on the 780 ti which is rumored to use even more power than the 290x.

Agreed. GTX 480 have one of the lowest failure rate ever.

Interestingly, the graphs reflect the conclusions of the reviewers, the real question is how accurate are your eyes?

I'm still think all of this frametimes problem is not the great monster as some tech sites pointed. I'm not saying that's not a real problem.
 

OCNewbie

Diamond Member
Jul 18, 2000
7,596
24
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Great buy!:thumbsup: If you find a great buy during Black Friday and feel that you don't need the extra performance then go ahead and sell it. I am sure you can make a small profit :) Also, did you get the games? Amazon hasn't been offering the gaming bundle with their cards thus far.

I may try to sell the card before Black Friday as I'm thinking I might be able to get more for it before then. I'm a little uneasy meeting some random person through craiglist and accepting $500 cash though (I think I'm hoping to get around that much for it). I'd rather not deal with ebay and paypal fees.

I haven't got the games yet, but I haven't gotten the card either. I'm supposed to receive an e-mail within 7-10 days of the card shipping. It hasn't shipped yet. I think it'll ship tomorrow, and projected delivery is Tuesday (they upgraded my shipping to one-day for free as well).
 

Will Robinson

Golden Member
Dec 19, 2009
1,408
0
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This forum is not representative of real world opinion...

The October Steam survey is up, and Nvidia holds a 51% to 33% advantage.

The fact that half of this forum (or this forum's sock-puppet accounts) would recommend 290x over a 780 for a standard resolution just shows that AMD viral marketing is strong, or there is a strong bias.
Well it could be...you know..because its a faster card, has 25% more VRAM,a new audio processing engine that far outstrips anything on the 780 and
is doing it all on release drivers....;)
Even the hallowed "smoother but slower" mantra we heard around here is gone with the frame pacing improvements inherent in R9.
So I guess now its just ..um..slower.(hint) That's why NV just had to slash the price so badly to keep up.:)
 
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3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
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I may try to sell the card before Black Friday as I'm thinking I might be able to get more for it before then. I'm a little uneasy meeting some random person through craiglist and accepting $500 cash though (I think I'm hoping to get around that much for it). I'd rather not deal with ebay and paypal fees.

I haven't got the games yet, but I haven't gotten the card either. I'm supposed to receive an e-mail within 7-10 days of the card shipping. It hasn't shipped yet. I think it'll ship tomorrow, and projected delivery is Tuesday (they upgraded my shipping to one-day for free as well).

Why not just hang onto it? You aren't going to get any improved gameplay at that price elsewhere. You got a 780 for ~the same price as a 770/280X. Don't be greedy, be happy. ;)
 

rgallant

Golden Member
Apr 14, 2007
1,361
11
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This forum is not representative of real world opinion...

The October Steam survey is up, and Nvidia holds a 51% to 33% advantage.

The fact that half of this forum (or this forum's sock-puppet accounts) would recommend 290x over a 780 for a standard resolution just shows that AMD viral marketing is strong, or there is a strong bias.
or number 3
rads in basement. and don't care about coolers or power draw ,same noise from both - nothing

edit should add I sort of agree with you
in a week or so I'll pick up maybe 2 x 780
unless 1 x 780 T1 blows me away but not likely.won't buy 2 as I feel the vram will hit a wall before fps do. [@1440]
 
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