Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 OC vs GTX 970 (best variant)

[Geraltbro]

Sapphire 290 vs GTX 970?

>Price
>Performance
>Which one will last longer
>1080p/1440p gaming preferably 60fps

Most forums etc pick the 290 (due to the Sapphire beating it in most benchmarks despite being cheaper with more VRAM) but I see a lot of people praising the 970 causing me to freak the ♥♥♥♥ out

I just want a solid gaming PC for a good price, this is my first and I don't want to ♥♥♥♥ up lol.

Help a noob out, thanks in advance

[👽H€L¡XX®]

http://www.hwcompare.com/18035/geforce-gtx-970-vs-radeon-r9-290x/

Use this -compare it for yourself......

[Geraltbro]

I'm asking for opinions. Those benchmarks are based on stock variations (the 290 stock has a terrible cooler).

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Why Sapphire? They have pretty much the shortest warranty terms out of the AMD GPU brands.

I'd look at XFX, MSI, Gigabyte
Gigabyte has a good Tri-Fan 290X

[👽H€L¡XX®]

Originally posted by soufdawg:

I'm asking for opinions. Those benchmarks are based on stock variations (the 290 stock has a terrible cooler).

OK-I am an avid AMD/ATI Radeon user-that said -my rig (at the moment) has a R9-280X OC MSI card-NON reference.An R9 290x OC MSI is also NON reference.One problem-they run hotter.Period.Even with better cooling.The GTX 970 out -performs the 290X in one area-resolution-if you are going to use a 1080p monitor-get the AMD/ATI.If not -get the Nvidia.


edit-I just got the R9-295X2 -I am staying with AMD/ATI......

[_I_]

the vram on the 970 is not that big of an issue unless running 4k
yes the .5g part is slower, but when its needed its time for a better gpu anyway

the 290x would be better for crossfire 4k

what power supply do you have?
gtx970 is 140w
r9 290x is 250w
with a weaker power supply, gtx970 is still good at 1440p and alot less wattage/heat

[Geraltbro]

Originally posted by CRG<<H3L!XX>>:

Originally posted by soufdawg:

I'm asking for opinions. Those benchmarks are based on stock variations (the 290 stock has a terrible cooler).

An R9 290x OC MSI is also NON reference.One problem-they run hotter.Period.Even with better cooling.

But they don't

Originally posted by Bad-Motha:

Why Sapphire? They have pretty much the shortest warranty terms out of the AMD GPU brands.

I'd look at XFX, MSI, Gigabyte
Gigabyte has a good Tri-Fan 290X

The Sapphire is meant to be the best after market 290. I'm also getting the 290, not the 290x version

[_I_]

the evga has a better cooler than the sapphire (look at idle temps)
but its oc makes it run hotter

reference (blower) will push hot air directly out of the case, will be better if the case has poor airflow

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Yea the reference coolers might look ugly, but they are made that way for a reason. Dual and Triple fan coolers look nice and yes they can cool while being quiet, but they will also blow 95% of it's heat out the sides and then it's just circulated around within your case without properly airflow with case fans and such.

[Geraltbro]

Originally posted by _I_:

the evga has a better cooler than the sapphire (look at idle temps)
but its oc makes it run hotter

reference (blower) will push hot air directly out of the case, will be better if the case has poor airflow

Yea, idle temps show the 290x as cooler?

Also, i've recently struck gold with a £220 290x (Sapphire) and £180 290 Sapphire.

Is the 290x worth the price increase and should I still consider the 970?

[_I_]

what powr supply do you have? (brand/model)

and how is the rest of the build?
cpu/mobo/case ect..

[Geraltbro]

....

[_I_]

looks good

but you can get a cheaper board for the non k
b85 with 4 dimm slots and usb 3.0 header will be fine for the 4460
or get the 4690k for around £40 more

[Geraltbro]

Originally posted by _I_:

looks good

but you can get a cheaper board for the non k
b85 with 4 dimm slots and usb 3.0 header will be fine for the 4460
or get the 4690k for around £40 more

Cheers bro