What to buy? 970 sli or 290x CF?

[gdourado]

Hello, how are you?

Looking for a new graphics card still.
What I want is buy one now, and then in the next month or so, buy another.
I was browsing my usual hardware shop for the 970 and saw that the MSI GTX 970 Gaming TwinFrozr V goes for 330 Euros.
If I buy one now and then a second one later, it will come down to 660 for the setup.

But then I saw the R9 290X. The MSI R9 290X Gaming 4G TwinFrozr gos for 270. That is 540 for a Crossfire Setup.

This has me torn...
What would be the best option?
I was reading the review on the 970:http://

The MSI 970 is toe to toe with the reference 290X.
The MSI 290X is probably around 10-15% faster than the reference, so the 290X should be the one that offers more performance.

My gaming resolution is 2560x1440. So high res performance is important.
My PSU is an EVGA 1000G2, so I think I have it covered for either option.

From what I read, a 290X crossfire is toe to toe to a 780 ti SLI in performance, so it should also be a bit faster than a 970 SLI.

What is your opinion?

The other thing is G-Sync.
I don't have a G-Sync monitor, but was thinking about buying one in December, that is when I can get my hands on one here.
Now, AMD does not have G-Sync, but they are supposed to launch FreeSync in November that supposedly does the same thing...

So, with all this, I am torn...
What is your thoughts on this?

Thanks for participating.

Cheers!

 

[KaRLiToS]

What cards do you own right now?

 

[gdourado]

What cards do you own right now?

I currently have a gigabyte 780 ti oc windforce.
I was wanting to upgrade before my card loses too much value and to have access to 4gb of vram for future 4k.
I can sell my ti for 360. That is as much as I can get for it right now.
Só, if I upgrade to vtx3d 290x, I would spend another 180.
To go for 970 g1 sli would cost 260.
Today, someone I know is selling a mint ti like mine, an OC windforce for 310.

What is the better option?
Get the second ti, sli and don't go through the trouble of selling mine?
And then at Christmas get the Acer 4k g-sync? Or another g-sync monitor?

Or should I sell my 780 ti now, and go either for 970 or 290x?

Cheers!

 

[KaRLiToS]

Your card already lost its value because of the release of the GTX 980 and 970. I suggest to wait for 5 months so next gen of cards with 20nm or 16nm to release. The GTX 970 would be a sidegrade for you, same thing with the R9 290x.

In my case, I decided to choose this path and I own the 290x.

If you can't wait, jump on that GTX 780ti rght now.

 

[gdourado]

Just came across this test:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...ce-review.html

At 1440p, 780ti sli is always faster than 970 Sli.
And Nvidia destroys AMD at 1440p...

At 4k, 780ti Sli is also faster than 970 despite having 1gb less vram...
AMD wins some at 4k, looses some...
Are these benchmarks accurate?

The more I read, the more I don't know what to do...

780ti, 970, 290x...
G-sync... Freesync...
1440p... 4k...

Oh my...
Cheers!

 

[KaRLiToS]

The benchmarks are accurate.

Do yourself a favor and don't get Maxwell, never, you already own a very good card. Getting GTX 9xx or R9 290x is just silly.

Get a second 780ti, or get GSync, or just wait 5 months for next node to release and Freesync to release.

 

[gdourado]

I am happy with my card. The only thing is that for example, I just finished the main campaign of Ryse and had to turn off some eye candy for the game to be fluid. The same with metro redux. I am thinking about Sli or crossfire to be able to max all the settings, including AA and have the games fluid.
Also, since things depreciate fast in hardware, I was wondering if it would be best to ditch the past technology now and jump on the new one, before my TI is worth 200 or 150 euros...
I would also like to try 4k.
The acer xb280hk is really affordable here. It has g-sync and if I manage to sell my PVA PB278q, I can get the 4k acer for a really low investment.

But at the same time I am afraid the 3gb of vram might limit 4k with the TI.
Also, if I commit to Nvidia and g-sync now, and by January, AMD comes out with better solutions with Freesync?
The 290x already has 4gb with 512bit bus and is cheaper...
Two 290x cost 520.
Two 970 G1 cost 630.
Another 780ti used is 310...

Decisions...decisions...

Cheers!

 

[alcoholbob]

290X CF is actually dominating 4K if you look at frame latency graphs. Most likely due the the higher bandwidth of XDMA vs SLI bridge.

1440P 970 SLI is the best bet for the price.

 

[nurturedhate]

In your situation I feel the answer is pretty clear. Get the 780ti if the itch to upgrade is strong enough. The 970 and 290x are side grades. Even a 980 is a side grade. The difference between 3gb and 4gb of vram is miniscule at best. If I had gobs of disposable income and wanted to upgrade now it would be the 780ti. Personally, I would wait the next 6 months out for the next round of upgrades.

 

[Eric1987]

I ran all those games you listed at 4k with 30-35 FPS and you can't at 1080p?

 

[KaRLiToS]

I ran all those games you listed at 4k with 30-35 FPS and you can't at 1080p?

Can you help him in some way?

I'm trying to figure how your post can help him make a decision. In fact, I never saw "1080p" mentionned in that thread.

 

[gdourado]

I can ruN them fine at 1440p. Just not with AF at 16x and ssaa at 2x.

 

[raghu78]

OP wait for the next gen R9 390X and GM200 based products. They should be out by late Q1 2015. Depending on which GPU you choose go with a Gsync (Nvidia) or Freesync (AMD) 4k monitor.

 

[gdourado]

This is my current build:

If I add another 780 TI Windforce OC for SLI, will the top card get adequate cooling?

Cheers!

 

[Silverforce11]

Looks like you have plenty of airflow.

You also have a slot for a bottom intake as well. Assuming the rear & top (rad) is outakes, should be OK.

Go with a 2nd 780ti for sure since you already have one.

 

[guskline]

I would buy a second GTX780Ti

 

[KaRLiToS]

This is my current build:

If I add another 780 TI Windforce OC for SLI, will the top card get adequate cooling?

Cheers!

That rig is awsome .

I really like the color theme and it is VERY VERY clean.

It has plenty of airflow like Silverforce11 mentionned and the possibility to add more fans... it is perfect for a 2-way setup.

 

[Freddy1765]

I'm assuming most of the posts in this thread are by multi-GPU users, so I was wondering if anyone could comment on the state on microstutter on SLi systems? I really want to get a 2nd 970 since I game at 1440p (Dell U2713HM), but the threat of non-smooth gameplay has me worried.

 

[Jhatfie]

I'm assuming most of the posts in this thread are by multi-GPU users, so I was wondering if anyone could comment on the state on microstutter on SLi systems? I really want to get a 2nd 970 since I game at 1440p (Dell U2713HM), but the threat of non-smooth gameplay has me worried.

I am just a few days in with my 970's in SLI so I do not have a lot of time with them thus far, but so far they have been smooth running 2560x1600. I ran x-fire several times in the past, last time with 7950's and I never noticed stutter with them either. The only time I had stutter that I could detect was with 6850's.

 

[schmuckley]

Out of those 2,290x x-fire has more performance.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1056?vs=1355

 

[Termie]

This is my current build:

If I add another 780 TI Windforce OC for SLI, will the top card get adequate cooling?

Cheers!

Actually, you may have a problem here. The way your board is set up, the second PCIe x8 slot is just two slots below the PCIe x16 slot, meaning your cards will not have enough airflow.

Now, you could use the 6th slot, but you'll need an extra-long SLI bridge, which is not included with most motherboards, and furthermore, that slot may only work at PCIe x4 (can't tell from the MSI website).

So to be clear, while dual 780 Ti cards would most certainly work in that case, they may not work on your board. I run two 780 Ti cards in a Corsair case similar to yours, but the motherboard layout I have is better for SLI - slot 2 and slot 5 are the PCIe x16/x8 slots.