gtx 780 or R9 290

Permafrost

Permafrost

Compo Whore
this is really starting to do my head in!

I can't choose between the two, and to make thing worse i can't even choose what model of each card!

the two things I'm looking for are reference PCB and a backplate

I've got £400 and I don't mind buying 2nd hand.

so what card would you get and why?
 
Loool i've been having this conversation with my buddy all week. First he bought my GTX780 SC reference off me for £320 which unfortunately developed capacitor whine since leaving my rig so it got returned. Then he went and bought an R9 290 Windforce 3x OC for £369. Got it home to find out it idled at 46*C and under load stayed at 94*C with the fans on 100% so erm he took that back. Today we went out together and he bought a GTX780 Lightning (£419) and I bought a Classified (£440) and he is extremely happy with that. But we've literally discussed every single available 290 and 780 and tried out most of them and i'm gonna have to say the Lightning is the best of the four by far. He was pretty frustrated at times too.

JR
 
how much did the card cost you guys? the thing that really p***es me off is that AMD didn't start off with 3rd party coolers and now no one is giving them a 2nd shot it's would be really good to see how the R9 290 (non X) does now...
 
Are you planning on water cooling the cards? i assume that is why you want a reference pcb, if so how long until you will water cool the card?

as far as i am aware the sapphire tri-x has a reference PCB but sadly no backplate.

I don't know which 780s use reference pcbs apart from the fully reference designs.
 
Watsyerproblem said:
Are you planning on water cooling the cards? i assume that is why you want a reference pcb, if so how long until you will water cool the card?

as far as i am aware the sapphire tri-x has a reference PCB but sadly no backplate.

I don't know which 780s use reference pcbs apart from the fully reference designs.
Click to expand...

you see i've been looking at sapphire card but can't find one in stock.
 
I don't Know said:
the only problem i have with OCUK P&P is almost £10..

also need's to be ref pcb.
Click to expand...

My bad, I thought the MSI one was a ref PCB, turns out it's a slightly different layout and different capacitors.

To be fair though, all the 780s and 290s perform just as good as each other performance wise. Some may be slightly cooler or quieter than others, but they all have the same performance.

It seems the only non ref cooled 290 with a ref PCB is the Tri-X so far though. The Asus and Gigabyte are custom PCB.

I've not really looked into the different 780s as far as which models have reference PCBs, but any card with a ref PCB will be the same as others with a ref PCB, the only difference being the cooler.

The main things to take into account would be warranty, price, features and whether to go AMD or Nvidia. The only other thing would be to go with the card that has the best performing or most quiet cooler on it.
 
I don't Know said:
you see i've been looking at sapphire card but can't find one in stock.
Click to expand...

had a quick check and can't find one either :(. If you are water cooling it and doing so soon a fully reference 290 might not be a bad idea, provided it will not be long until you watercool it.

also found a 290 gigabyte custom card for preorder on scan for £335, not what you are looking for (non reference pcb) but looks like a bargain.

Either that or buy a reference 780.
 
I don't Know said:
i've heard a lot of horror stories about the gigabyte cards not just here but on other sites.
Click to expand...

was unaware many people had their card yet, haven't seen any reviews or anything yet.

Heard they had manufacturing issued which delayed their release a bit.

but that is all off topic, can you confirm whether or not you are watercooling the card? my advice is kinda operating on that assumption.

Just remembered that EK are making a waterblock for the DCUII 290. Well it's for the DCUII 290X but i'm pretty sure the 290/x are exactly the same PCB wise.

http://www.ekwb.com/news/438/19/
Click to expand...

Interesting, shame none of these card can be found anywhere.

If you want an upgrade soon, there is no reason not to go for a GTX 780 reference card, performance is roughly similar at the minute.
 
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Watsyerproblem said:
was unaware many people had their card yet, haven't seen any reviews or anything yet.

Heard they had manufacturing issued which delayed their release a bit.

but that is all off topic, can you confirm whether or not you are watercooling the card? my advice is kinda operating on that assumption.
Click to expand...

i just googled gigabyte "radeon r9 290 windforce issues" and got this

http://www.overclock.net/t/1455495/...290x-immediately-citing-problem-with-fan-sink

I went to EK's site and this popped up

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist?gpu_gpus=1285
 
I don't Know said:
i just googled gigabyte "radeon r9 290 windforce issues" and got this

http://www.overclock.net/t/1455495/...290x-immediately-citing-problem-with-fan-sink

I went to EK's site and this popped up

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist?gpu_gpus=1285
Click to expand...

None of those faulty cards from Gigabyte made it to market mate, it was stopped long before it could become an issue for us consumers.

as i said previously manufacturing issues.

as for the MSI card it it is compatible, go for it. I'll give a quick check now to see if the pcb is actually reference
 
Watsyerproblem said:
None of those faulty cards from Gigabyte made it to market mate, it was stopped long before it could become an issue for us consumers.

as i said previously manufacturing issues.

as for the MSI card it it is compatible, go for it. I'll give a quick check now to see if the pcb is actually reference
Click to expand...

cool thanks dude :)

read JR23's post he got one of them 95° cards
 
Gigabyte said that non of their cards were effected but there are loads of people with probs with them on the OCUK forums and others. Gigabyte have had to release a new BIOs to fix some of the problems people were getting.

I think Gigabyte rushed their cards out, they were available at OCUK on the 22nd or 23rd of Dec, at least 100 people had them delivered before Christmas day anyway.
 
I don't Know said:
cool thanks dude :)

read JR23's post he got one of them 95° cards
Click to expand...

oh, missed that, lets hope there are not too many more of those bad gigabyte cards out on the market.

amd-radeon-r9-290_pcb.jpg


here is a picture of the reference 290 PCB, the msi looks more or less identical (from what i have seen) but have not been able to find any confirmation.

'EDIT'

Here is a MSI Twin frozr pcb

MSI-Radeon-R9-290-GAMING-3.jpg
 
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