Need help deciding on GPU

[Demiqas]

Alright, I first want to make some stuff clear.

So I had a SAPPHIRE R9 270x 2GB for some time. After ~ 3 months of usage it suddenly displayed a lot of flickering, z-fighting and horrible anti-aliasing in practically all games. I have no idea what went wrong but even if I switched drivers which worked in the past, there was no saving it.

I have confirmed that it is a GPU problem, because there is no flickering when using my built in HD 4600 graphics chip.

So now I'm going to buy a new GPU. I live in the Netherlands and my budget is about 220-230 euro's.

I have 3 choices: 280x, 280 or GTX 960

Now I already have a dislike towards AMD, and I heard the 280x has a ton of artifact problems, and it costs about 256 euro's here to get a decent one. MSI sells for 230 but I heard that card has even more artifact problems, and I'm not quite a masochist. So I'm not sure if the 280x is for me.

The 280 is already a bit cheaper (200 euro's) but I'm not sure how good it is.

The GTX 960 seems to be about as good or even better than the 280 in some games and costs about 210 euro's. I get a free copy of witcher 3 aswell which I guess I could sell for ~ 25-30 euro's, which would techincally bring its price down even more.

Now I don't aim for playing the latest games on highest settings, if I would then I would've saved up for something like a GTX 970 atleast. So please no "just get a 290/970". What is important for me is screen quality with especially no darn flickering/aliasing problems like my 270x suddenly displayed.

Which one would be best for me based on this info?

 

[raghu78]

If your Sapphire R9 270X is in warranty get a replacement from Sapphire. If its not in warranty I suggest you hold on for a month and check out what the R9 3xx series brings. The launch is June 18 - June 24th. btw I advise you not to get influenced by the internet rumours of rebranded products. Wait for actual product reviews. :thumbsup:

 

[Demiqas]

If your Sapphire R9 270X is in warranty get a replacement from Sapphire. If its not in warranty I suggest you hold on for a month and check out what the R9 3xx series brings. The launch is June 18 - June 24th. btw I advise you not to get influenced by the internet rumours of rebranded products. Wait for actual product reviews. :thumbsup:

Unfortunately I had no more warranty on it so I just got rid of it. I'm not really sure if I can wait one more month in all honesty, as I said I'm not quite a hardcore gamer so I'm not too interested in the top notch stuff

 

[happy medium]

The GTX 960 seems to be about as good or even better than the 280 in some games and costs about 210 euro's. I get a free copy of witcher 3 aswell which I guess I could sell for ~ 25-30 euro's, which would techincally bring its price down even more.

Now I don't aim for playing the latest games on highest settings

I would go this route.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Demiqas]

Alright thank you, I guess I'll go for it then.

 

[R0H1T]

Unfortunately I had no more warranty on it so I just got rid of it. I'm not really sure if I can wait one more month in all honesty, as I said I'm not quite a hardcore gamer so I'm not too interested in the top notch stuff

You're still better off waiting since you can save even more $ in a month's time, not to mention a full tonga could compete in this price bracket & still be way better (maybe with HBM?) than the current 960.

 

[bryanW1995]

You're still better off waiting since you can save even more $ in a month's time, not to mention a full tonga could compete in this price bracket & still be way better (maybe with HBM?) than the current 960.

Huh? How is he better off waiting for something that hasn't even been announced yet? The man can't game now...

@OP, sounds like you have a bad taste in your mouth about AMD, I'd go with the 960 if I were you.

 

[Headfoot]

Now I already have a dislike towards AMD, and I heard the 280x has a ton of artifact problems

You heard wrong. This is complete bunk.

I'd still just wait for next month. An entire new stack of cards is coming out and prices on both sides will change in addition to there being a lot of new cards.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I vote the GTX 960 in this case.

 

[bryanW1995]

You heard wrong. This is complete bunk.

I'd still just wait for next month. An entire new stack of cards is coming out and prices on both sides will change in addition to there being a lot of new cards.

Again, the guy can't game until he buys something. And, really, how much is the needle going to move on performance between now and the (minimum) 4+ weeks that he would have to wait? I'm a bit out of touch with the current market, but from doing a bit of reading here today it appears that nobody has any info on actual performance of the next gen amd cards (or even what they're going to be called apparently...).

I still love my 7970, but we've all seen this current dance before. It's looking like 8800 gtx vs 2900 xt all over again. I'd absolutely buy the 9600 in the situation presented by the OP, anybody arguing against that should examine whether he is really unbiased in this situation.

How bad is it that I couldn't even remember the name of the AMD card haha.

 

[Batmeat]

Again, the guy can't game until he buys something.

Um no. He said his integrated gpu works, and he never said what games he is playing. IE if he is playing Minecraft an igpu is fine.

My advice save your money for 1 month then buy.

 

[Headfoot]

Um no. He said his integrated gpu works, and he never said what games he is playing. IE if he is playing Minecraft an igpu is fine.

My advice save your money for 1 month then buy.

Exactly. iGPU coast for a month. It spring anyways, go outside

No one knows exactly whats going to shake out in a month. But I'd feel pretty foolish knowing something new was coming out, buying anyways, then having the product I just bought either drop in price or become obsolete just a month later...

 

[raghu78]

Exactly. iGPU coast for a month. It spring anyways, go outside

No one knows exactly whats going to shake out in a month. But I'd feel pretty foolish knowing something new was coming out, buying anyways, then having the product I just bought either drop in price or become obsolete just a month later...

exactly. even if you want a Nvidia card it makes sense to wait for the R9 3xx series launch. There is likely to be price cuts on GTX 980 and you could grab it for much lesser. :thumbsup:

 

[iiiankiii]

You heard wrong. This is complete bunk.

I'd still just wait for next month. An entire new stack of cards is coming out and prices on both sides will change in addition to there being a lot of new cards.

Considering most of the "new" cards from AMD in his price range are rebrands, it doesn't hurt at all to buy now. It'll be the same tech. However, if you're looking for mid to high range cards, it would matter.

I would consider the GTX 960 because of the game bundles. If those games don't matter to you, I would take a 280x over a GTX 960 all day.

 

[Silverforce11]

For your price range, nothing matches R290.

Not 960 and not 280X. Waste of money for those weak GPUs.

 

[Demiqas]

I went for the GTX 960 yesterday, got to try it today. I mainly went for it right now because I need a GPU now as I'm on my holidays and weather over here is like mid-winter, so yeah. I managed to OC it to 1550 and it gives me great performance on all the games I need it to play. There is no flickering or bad anti-aliasing and the image quality has gone up drastically compared to what I got with my R9 270x. Another sweet thing is that the fans are near silent and the temperature stays amazingly low. Very happy with this purchase, not sure if I'll ever go back to AMD.