GTX 970, R9 290X or wait?

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Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
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Hey guys and gals,

I'm torn wether I should upgrade my GTX 670 OCed with waterblock to a GTX 970 or R9 290X. Both are just a notch over 300€ here in Germany and I would watercool them, so I expect a nice overclock on both of them. I'm playing on 2560x1440 and could certainly use more oomph whilst playing Titanfall. Other then that I'm mostly a strategy guy.

The GTX 970 is appealing, because it's new and I like some of the features and the idea of having a G-Sync Monitor down the road. On the other hand I bought into Physix and 3DVision with the GTX 670 and have been highly disappointed with those proprietary technologies, so I'm a little weary of G-Sync.

The R9 290X seems interesting because I expect good overclocks from it watercooled and I like the better Crossfire support. Also Civilization: Beyond Earth will support Mantle, which is a game I'm really looking for. On the other hand it is an old card by now and I'm not sure when we can expect a new AMD card?

So should I wait until AMD shows their new card or can I pick either card now with their fantastic prices?
 
ShintaiDK

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
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I dont think you will see any new AMD card until a good way into the next year. GCN1.2 was their latest response and released around the same time as Maxwell v2. And quite underwhelming compared.

So if you need a new card, you can just as well buy it now.

GTX970 also supports newer DX features, VGXI etc, better video decoding, full 4K video etc.
 
F

Flapdrol1337

Golden Member
May 21, 2014
1,677
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If you're going to watercool anyway, maybe look at secondhand reference 290's, they go for less than 200 euro's.

I do think the 970 is a better card, the 290X is good at very high resolutions and compute, but not so good at tessellation, which was upgraded recently with the 285. Kepler was weak at compute, but that was fixed with maxwell, they're good at everything except dp compute, but I don't think games need scientific accuracy.
 
G

Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
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Thanks for the responses! From the French website it looks like they are comparing OCed 290X to a factory OCed 970: Can I expect higher overclocks on both of them with a waterblock?
 
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raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
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Galatian said:
Thanks for the responses! From the French website it looks like they are comparing OCed 290X to a factory OCed 970: Can I expect higher overclocks on both of them with a waterblock?
Click to expand...

Hawaii (R9 290X) with voltage overclocking requires watercooling to hit 1300 mhz. watercooling definitely benefits hawaii significantly.
 
monkeydelmagico

monkeydelmagico

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2011
3,961
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If you can get your hands on gtx970 at, or below, msrp I'd say go for that. They are sold out in the U.S. Reviews and tests show them to be good value, performance, efficiency.

Seen some R9 290's going for under $300. The 290x also had a recent price cut. Gtx 780's are hitting low $3xx.- The Ti's still seem a bit pricey to me.
 
guskline

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
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I have 2 Sapphire Tri-X 290s watercooled with EK blocks in my rig below. Very fast and the waterblocks address one of the biggest problems of the 290s - heat when overclocked. I bought both of mine used for under $300 each here in the US.

You asked about whether Watercooling will allow higher overclocking? Probably but I didn't test the max OC without the water block.

For 24/7 use I run my 290s in CF at 1075core/1400 memory via MSI afterburner but I've run 1100/1485 without a glitch. I'm somewhat conservative on overclocking gpus.

I have 2 GTX670 FTWs in SLI in my 3770k rig. They also run well but the 290s are brutes.

The GTX970 appears to be an outstanding card. It would be a great upgrade from the GTX670.

Good luck, and thank you for the German company Warercool.de. My MO-RA3-420 Pro is outstanding.
 
G

Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
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I...don't know what happened...but I just bought two Sapphire Tri-X R9 290X OC for 550€ on eBay. It was still. Complete impulse...
 
el etro

el etro

Golden Member
Jul 21, 2013
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I would chose a GTX970 today, but if you want to play the next CiV AMD is the better choice.


Galatian said:
The GTX 970 is appealing, because it's new and I like some of the features and the idea of having a G-Sync Monitor down the road. On the other hand I bought into Physix and 3DVision with the GTX 670 and have been highly disappointed with those proprietary technologies, so I'm a little weary of G-Sync.
Click to expand...


A personal opinion: Don't buy a graphic card by manufacturer exclusive features, buy a graphic card based in the bang for the buck, driver support and the games you want to play. This way you will always do better deals.
 
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guskline

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
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Galatian said:
One 480 Monsta Radiator and one 480 Slim Radiator both in Push/Pull
Click to expand...

You have tons of rad capacity. I used the EK Rev 2 Copper water blocks and they work VERY well. Connected them with the EK bridge (3 slot version due to the spacing on my Asus Sabertooth X79 mb). I have my cpu and gpus in the same loop using a XSPC RX 360 rad internally and and the MO RA3-420 Pro externally. I have 2 D5 pumps in series. Temps on the video cards hardly budge above 40C.
 
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Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
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I was reading that the Aquacomputer blocks are very good and they are very cheap right now
 
K

Kallogan

Senior member
Aug 2, 2010
340
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get a used reference R9 290 if for watercooling. Used ones are cheap as hell now. miners sales :)

No point getting a R9 290x over a 290 really.

Edit : oops you did buy already. Didn't see :)
 
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Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
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71
Well I'm in Germany and the Miners craze never really caught over. We had the R9 290(X) available almost all the time at MSRP.

EDIT: When can we expect first Freesync monitors? I was playing with the idea of getting a 4K screen for my birthday/Christmas but perhaps I should wait for a Freesync Monitor?
 
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raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,475
136
Galatian said:
Well I'm in Germany and the Miners craze never really caught over. We had the R9 290(X) available almost all the time at MSRP.

EDIT: When can we expect first Freesync monitors? I was playing with the idea of getting a 4K screen for my birthday/Christmas but perhaps I should wait for a Freesync Monitor?
Click to expand...

Freesync monitors are expected to be available in Q1 2015

http://hexus.net/tech/news/displays/74897-amd-freesync-monitors-available-q1-2015/

http://www.sweclockers.com/artikel/...ngsfrekvenser-med-project-freesync/2#pagehead

Get a FreeSync enabled 4k monitor in Q1 2015. There is no added cost for a Freesync enabled monitor and the smoothness and lack of tearing is well worth the wait. :thumbsup:
 
KaRLiToS

KaRLiToS

Golden Member
Jul 30, 2010
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raghu78 said:
Hawaii (R9 290X) with voltage overclocking requires watercooling to hit 1300 mhz. watercooling definitely benefits hawaii significantly.
Click to expand...

Also need a good quality PSU, 30A per 12v rail on a PSU is not enough for a 1300mhz R9 290.

30A *12v = 360watts

360watts is not enough for 1300mhz.

Galatian said:
I...don't know what happened...but I just bought two Sapphire Tri-X R9 290X OC for 550€ on eBay. It was still. Complete impulse...
Click to expand...

It is so easy to press "Buy" button on the net compared to paying in a store.

Feel so good though
 
fleshconsumed

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,486
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Galatian said:
Well I'm in Germany and the Miners craze never really caught over. We had the R9 290(X) available almost all the time at MSRP.
Click to expand...

I would still take some caution and lubricate the fans before you put those in. Hot running cards tend to burn up oil in the axial fans like that so if they have been used for mining it's possible the fans may need some lubricating. You do not want the fans to run dry, they start rattling and eventually you will ruin the bearings.
 
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