New Graphics Card for 2560x1440 gaming

[GrantWoodUK]

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a good graphics card for 2560x1440 res gaming?

I'm currently running a Sapphire Vapor-x 7970GHz but one of the fans has stopped spinning and I am probably just going to replace.

I've been looking and I like both the MSI Twin Frozr GTX 970 or the Sapphire Vapor-X 290x, but I just don't know which, or whether to wait for the next AMD series maybe?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Excalabur50]

Since they aren't that far away i would wait and see what AMD's new lineup is like and then make up my mind from there

 

[NeverBackDown]

I'd wait personally but if you were to buy one now between the two you selected the 290x is the better card

 

[GrantWoodUK]

The only reason I'm even considering one sooner rather than later is purely the fact that my current graphics card is being RMA'd and personally I'd like to have one in my system to atleast keep up and running.

I know the cards I mentioned were ones I was considering, but if there are any other recommendations between 970 and 290x I'd be much appreciated.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Any 970 will do, keep in mind the 3.5GB vram issue.. if that puts you off or you plan on 4k or whatever.

For the 290x, the only ones worth getting are the MSI Lightning(best card bar none), Sapphire Tri/Vapor-X, XFX DD, and the Powercolor PCS+. You can easily get a 290x for the price of a 970, and the 970 is slower. Easy choice if you ask me, then again consider powerconsumption. To me its a pointless argument as it hardly makes a difference and the heat is a non factor with the previous mentioned cards. So really comes down to price/performance and the 290x beats it there.

 

[GrantWoodUK]

Thank you for your response,

I've actually gone ahead and ordered myself the Vapor-x 290x was it at a reasonable price and the 14 day money back guarantee was too tempting to just not even consider it.

I don't believe I will be disappointed with the card seeing as my last model has been my heart and soul over the past 2 years.

If all else fails and I don't like it, then the 970 will be a definite alternative!

Regards,

Grant

 

[NeverBackDown]

You are welcome! Very solid choice. Just remember with that card it uses a custom PCB so if you every decide to watercool the card just remember to look for a custom block

 

[AlienALX]

The 290 is quicker at 1440p than the 970 due to the hobbled memory bus on the 970 and derped VRAM layout.

So you definitely made the right choice there

 

[NeverBackDown]

The 290 is quicker at 1440p than the 970 due to the hobbled memory bus on the 970 and derped VRAM layout.

So you definitely made the right choice there

You mean the 290x.

And no you won't notice the memory issue at 1440p unless you're running insane AA levels, which would make any card slow anyways.

 

[magicc8ball]

With these new cards having the new HBM memory they should (fingers crossed) be flat out amazing. Did you ever think about buying another Sapphire Vapor-x 7970GHz off of ebay or something and just xfire them when the other gets fixed? They run about 189 on ebay. This would get you by till then and then maybe more then expected.

Or what processor are you running? maybe use its onchip graphics just for a couple of months?

 

[AlienALX]

You mean the 290x.

And no you won't notice the memory issue at 1440p unless you're running insane AA levels, which would make any card slow anyways.

No I meant the 290.

Custom PC did a group GPU test last month and the 290 was faster in everything at 1440p.

This is why I never, ever, believe initial reviews. Products, especially Nvidia GPUs, are made to look at lot better than they are. Few months later you find out the truth.

I've not looked at Tom's review of the 290 or the 970 and 980 so I'm not including him in that.

Most people right now are claiming that their Titan X is faster than my SLI Titan Black. I don't believe it for a second.

The 970 is a flimsy watered down lump of mid range silicon. What were the reviewers all saying at launch? "This card is just as good as the 980" and due to that it sold in bucket loads. Here we are few months later and now we have the truth. Of course it's not as good as the 980 it's derped to heck.

 

[NeverBackDown]

No I meant the 290.

Custom PC did a group GPU test last month and the 290 was faster in everything at 1440p.

OP is talking about the 290x. Not 290. It's already known a 290x is faster than a 970 so there's nothing to debate there