Need Advice on Power Consumption on GTX 970 vs R9 290x

[ShadoWing]

Hi,

Looking to buy one or the other as they have similar performance. I know that the GTX 970 runs cooler and quieter, but if my power supply can handle it then I wouldn't mind going for an r9 290x if it's that much cheaper.

Don't overclock, but if can adjust a little here and there I will, and only casually game on low powered games, but will look to play a little higher end stuff once I get this card, and possibly a 4k monitor in the future (1+ year)

Currently running:
Corsair 620 Watt HX Modular supply 80 PLUS Certified
i5-4570 Haswell with Coolermaster hsf
12gb Ram
AsRock H97M Pro4 Motherboard
1x 256 SSD Drive
2x 2tb hard disks
use of 8 USB ports

All running in an Antec P180 Mini (a little bit cramped and the ventilation isn't the best in the world)

Will I be okay with 1 r9 290x or should I spring for the GTX 970?

Your help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Gloomy]

Your PSU is fine, it can handle the R9 290X.

 

[96Firebird]

Your PSU should be fine for either card. As for cooling, of course the card that consumes less power will dissipate less heat in your case. I'm not familiar with that case, though. With the smaller cases, make sure there is enough room for longer cards.

 

[tweakboy]

Yes 80 certified is soo stable as gloosms it. So your set their for you too. Good PSUs are 100 dollars and up and up......... good luck on your decision. gb

 

[RussianSensation]

Your PSU is fine. Maybe save a couple bucks and get a $260 XFX R9 290. It's a quiet card and has lifetime warranty. The performance is very close to a 970/290X.

 

[lehtv]

I'm a little bit worried about the P180 Mini, is it really enough to keep a 250-300W card from overheating itself or other components? Your 5770 is a 100W card...

If you're planning for a 4K monitor and you want to be gaming on it, I would definitely consider a G-Sync monitor which would require an NVIDIA card. 4K is really tough to run smoothly with just a single graphics card (at least for now), unless you have G-Sync.

I would probably get an EVGA 970 SC blower version ($330 AR). That circumvents the whole heat issue entirely, at the cost of a bit of noise and reduced overclockability. I own this card myself and I'm not bothered by the noise in my Define R4; it's not perfect but it's fine.

 

[Spanners]

That case seems to get pretty good reviews in regards to cooling. The PSU will be fine. Definitely consider a R9 290 and save that money for a future upgrade when you go 4K. Any of those three would be a good choice.

"Maximum video card size: 13"/330mm"

 

[garagisti]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131548
290x pcs+, which is considered to be one of the better cards. 320 - 20 instant discount - 30 gift card... brings it closer to price of 290 being recommended, and 290x does better than 970 at higher resolution. 980 is slightly better, but a lot expensive and not a great value.

 

[arredondo]

Your PSU is fine. Maybe save a couple bucks and get a $260 XFX R9 290. It's a quiet card and has lifetime warranty. The performance is very close to a 970/290X.

General question: will current video cards like the one you mention be compatible with DX 12 when it becomes available?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm a little bit worried about the P180 Mini, is it really enough to keep a 250-300W card from overheating itself or other components? Your 5770 is a 100W card...

If you're planning for a 4K monitor and you want to be gaming on it, I would definitely consider a G-Sync monitor which would require an NVIDIA card. 4K is really tough to run smoothly with just a single graphics card (at least for now), unless you have G-Sync.

I would probably get an EVGA 970 SC blower version ($330 AR). That circumvents the whole heat issue entirely, at the cost of a bit of noise and reduced overclockability. I own this card myself and I'm not bothered by the noise in my Define R4; it's not perfect but it's fine.

When it comes to 4K monitors and that level of resolution, I could only guess. But I've determined I can SLI two 970's and overclock them with an overclocked SB 2700K and a (good) 650W (Seasonic) PSU will handle the worst case scenario that should never happen. I can't see how it would happen with 4K resolution, since the 970s are limited to 110% over full power consumption after adjusting the slider, and only a BIOS mod would allow you to push them further.

[I keep slapping myself on the back about the 650W Seasonic handling these cards, like another member we know may often ramble on about his exceptional overclocked Sandy Bridge system.]

At full throttle Kombustor load, the master SLI card may reach or slightly exceed 70C. I understand some folks are partial to the blower (barrel-fan) models, but these 970s don't seem to have much of a thermal problem. That is -- dual-fan cards like the MSI Gaming or the ASUS Strix.

I wouldn't know about the 290 cards. For the 970s, they're supposed to draw 145W apiece at stock settings as a maximum. My measurements and estimates suggest that they will draw almost 190W over-clocked. If you really push the clock, maybe ~200W each. But Kombustor stress conditions are never likely to occur.

 

[garagisti]

General question: will current video cards like the one you mention be compatible with DX 12 when it becomes available?

DX12 has not been specified yet. The current cards they will have some features, but no card can be said to be fully compliant. Though some here keep repeating that 970 and 980 are, but the fact is that they are not fully compliant. Nvidia hasn't supported any standard in full starting from dx10 when I first started reading about it.

 

[arredondo]

Thanks.

Not to hijack the thread, but if I chose to get the XFX Radeon R9 290 mentioned above, as well as Fractal Design Define R4, Black Pearl Silent case on sale for $90 (since my Antec 300 is too small for the new card), would that be a decent way to extend the life of my current rig for only $350? I figure getting in on the 380/390 series will likely require a whole new rig to avoid major CPU bottlenecks and/or PSU issues.

My stats are in the sig... is this a good idea in order to postpone building a whole new 1080P rig for at least two years?

 

[raghu78]

Thanks.

Not to hijack the thread, but if I chose to get the XFX Radeon R9 290 mentioned above, as well as Fractal Design Define R4, Black Pearl Silent case on sale for $90 (since my Antec 300 is too small for the new card), would that be a decent way to extend the life of my current rig for only $350? I figure getting in on the 380/390 series will likely require a whole new rig to avoid major CPU bottlenecks and/or PSU issues.

My stats are in the sig... is this a good idea in order to postpone building a whole new 1080P rig for at least two years?

The XFX R9 290 DD does not have good VRM cooling. Do not cut corners. go for the best cooling solution. Vapor-X and Tri-X are the best R9 290 / R9 290X coolers. core temps , VRM temps, fan noise are all the best compared to the rest.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202080

https://translate.google.com/transl...radeon-r9-290-290x-roundup-test/3/&edit-text=

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-290x,3728-8.html

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

"At 41.1dB the 290 Tri-X OC beats a number of Tahiti based cards, including our 7970GE and Sapphire’s own 280X Toxic, and it even edges out Asus’s impressive 280X DirectCU II. This not only makes Sapphire’s 290 the quietest high-end card we have, but it also means we’re seeing Sapphire dissipate an estimated 250W of heat while only generating a very, very limited amount of noise while doing so. Or to put this another way, Sapphire’s 290 is 16dB quieter than the reference 290, nullifying our earlier noise concerns and then-some."

 

[boozzer]

Antec P180 Mini this is actually a solid case. and you have a psu with enough juice for any card really. so, go for the one with best bang for buck. 290. or spend 60$ for a 290x. I personally consider 970 trash

 

[Shmee]

I also would avoid the 970, in light of the recent issues.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I also would avoid the 970, in light of the recent issues.

I'm not going to take a stand one way or the other. I've got two of 'em, and I like them. If it was about misrepresenting the amount of RAM, it could prove troublesome in some court case.

You do get what you pay for, but you may not get exactly what you THOUGHT you were paying for -- as pertains to the 500MB RAM allocation.

They overclock well and they run cool. that's all I can say in the matter.

 

[arredondo]

The XFX R9 290 DD does not have good VRM cooling. Do not cut corners. go for the best cooling solution. Vapor-X and Tri-X are the best R9 290 / R9 290X coolers. core temps , VRM temps, fan noise are all the best compared to the rest.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202080

Out of stock.
EDIT: I ended up buying the case while it's on sale. I can wait for a good 290 deal going forward and not rush the decision.

 

[Valantar]

Thanks.

Not to hijack the thread, but if I chose to get the XFX Radeon R9 290 mentioned above, as well as Fractal Design Define R4, Black Pearl Silent case on sale for $90 (since my Antec 300 is too small for the new card), would that be a decent way to extend the life of my current rig for only $350? I figure getting in on the 380/390 series will likely require a whole new rig to avoid major CPU bottlenecks and/or PSU issues.

My stats are in the sig... is this a good idea in order to postpone building a whole new 1080P rig for at least two years?

Considering that I'm yet to see any CPU bottlenecks on my nearly six-year-old Core2Quad Q9450 with a Radeon 6950, I'd think you're plenty safe sticking with your current CPU/mobo/RAM for at least a couple of years still - unless you're a huge RTS player. With DX12 coming CPU bottlenecks should be even rarer. And for gaming on 1080p, your current rig with a new GPU should last you far more than two years unless you absolutely insist on maxing out every setting in every game. Also, the Define R4 is a brilliant case, I'm very happy with mine.

 

[ShadoWing]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies, everyone. I ended up buying that Powercolor PCS+ r9 290x on sale from Newegg for $270 after rebate. Although now that I've received it, I'm having problems getting it to output to my monitor (onboard video still works, though). Hopefully I haven't gotten a DOA one (although it does power on)

 

[metalliax]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies, everyone. I ended up buying that Powercolor PCS+ r9 290x on sale from Newegg for $270 after rebate. Although now that I've received it, I'm having problems getting it to output to my monitor (onboard video still works, though). Hopefully I haven't gotten a DOA one (although it does power on)

When I first received my 290x, I too, didn't get it to show video. I believe there was a BIOS setting that my computer didn't jive with. Anyhow, I simply cleared the CMOS with the switch on my motherboard, and then my computer booted fine with the 290x. Maybe give it a shot?

 

[xthetenth]

Cleared up in another thread. He did some of everything and it worked.