7970 or 290x

[GrassyUK]

I can get a Asus HD 7970 Matrix Platinum 3072MB for £222 with free shipping.

I know once the 7970s are sold they are gone for good so is it worth grabbing one of these cards now whilst cheap?

Also because this card is triple slot i can only have one because of my mobo size and my psu is only 650w.

So ultimately will a i5 2500k @4.3ghz and a 7970 oc'd last me a couple more years or should i spend more on the new 290x or nvidia counterpart?


I have a 6870 currently. I also currently run a 1680x1050 monitor however i plan to go to 1920x1080 and don't plan to go any higher.

Thanks

 

[AverageNinja]

If you can afford it, the 290x is the way to go imo, though the 7970 is a brilliant piece of hardware which should last you for at least 2 more years, probably more!
Also, since you're not planning on going higher than 1080p, I think the 7970 will be sufficient

 

[GrassyUK]

yea it's hard decision cause i know these 7970s are gonna sell out fast and i expect the 290x to be around £550

 

[Kaapstad]

Your choices

Matrix Platinum for £222

R9 290X (about 30% more performance) for around £550

It all depends how much that extra 30% is worth to you.

 

[NeverBackDown]

You could get a R9 290 and save more money and still be on par with a titan? Would be a smart move and in the future Xfire'ing that will a much more futureproof set up.

 

[theDTP]

I honestly can't put the 2 cards in to comparison, I know you say the 7970 is a triple slot but to compare those cards I'd have to use 2*7970s to 1*290x. As long as you don't want to go higher than 1920x1080 then the 7970 will be sufficient, it will not max out all games but it will do a very good job with most, especially with a little overclocking.

 

[GrassyUK]

Does anyone think the extra money for the 290x is worth it?

 

[theDTP]

Does anyone think the extra money for the 290x is worth it?

Personally if I had the money, I'd either buy 2*7970 or a 290x, probably 2*7970s if I am honest but if I couldn't fit 2*7970s then I'd get a 290x. A single 7970 isn't in the same category as a 290x. A 7970 is a high end GPU but the 290x is a top end GPU like the Titan, they are completely different. It all comes down to what you need, if you want 95% of things to run ultra quality, 60FPS in 1080p I'd get 2*7970 or a 290x as a single 7970 overclocked will not put out a constant 60FPS.

For the price of a 290x you could get 2 lower profile 7970's or even 2*280x (if they are the same price as 7970)

 

[NeverBackDown]

A 290x gets my vote if i had the money, but if i had money and still wanted to save some i would go for a 290. Single card over 2 is always my preference.

 

[Excalabur50]

The 290 or 290x just for the fact you won't need a new card for awhile if you grab one of those

 

[addbot]

The 290 or 290x just for the fact you won't need a new card for awhile if you grab one of those

this is my plan

 

[d3rrial]

And thanks to AMD delaying the launch of the card, you can even wait a while longer for it..

 

[addbot]

And thanks to AMD delaying the launch of the card, you can even wait a while longer for it..

How can something be delayed when they haven't announced a launch date yet

 

[WeLikeLead]

Does anyone think the extra money for the 290x is worth it?

Hi all,

First it depends on a few things.

1) Budget. Is it a question of one 7970 now and then another in CrossfireX later, or is it two 7970's from day one?

2) As was previously mentioned, how much is the performance gain of a R9 290X worth to you? Do you need to try an convince yourself that its worth it? Or do you know that it is easily justified?

3) Most but not all games support SLI or CrossfireX so it will depend on the games, additionally even the games that do support it may not allow the cards to scale to the point where two 7970's are better than a single R9 290X (again as time progresses that will be less and less of an issue)

4) I seem to remember you stating that the triple slot design of the Asus HD 7970 M-P would cause issues due to Mobo space? If so perhaps you should look at the equivalent offerings from Sapphire as they are a dual slot design (plus they have a HDMI port) Further more could you fit two cards in CrossfireX if they are dual slot cards?



Thanks,

 

[Redskins47]

I really want to purchase a 290x, is the NDA lifted tomorrow?