# R9 290X or Gigabyte gaming GTX 970, 4K or 1440p ??



## shoti02 (Jan 13, 2015)

hello....in my last thread ( cat pissed on the graphic card ) i said that i would not buy a new processor ( phenom 1100 T @ 4,29 GHZ )...but now.....it was a long night much alcohol and i order new things...........

now the following parts will arrive the next days

i7-4790 K
cryorig r1 ultimate
samsung evo 850
seagate barracuda 3tb
tridentx 2400 16 gb
asus maximus hero VII

what about graphic card and monitor ?

gigabyte gamig gtx 970 or radeon 290x

monitor ? qnix qx2710 single dvi or an 4K ??

but will one of the cards handle games in 4 k ??

what ar ur thoughts ?


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## RCoon (Jan 13, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> hello....in my last thread ( cat pissed on the graphic card ) i said that i would not buy a new processor ( phenom 1100 T @ 4,29 GHZ )...but now.....it was a long night much alcohol and i order new things...........
> 
> now the following parts will arrive the next days
> 
> ...



A single 980 can "handle" 4K, but I use the word "handle" loosely. Performance is not the best. You'd need at least two 970's to run 4K at sensible framerates. I'd go for 1440 or 1600p if you want a single GPU with decent framerates.

Pour Example:


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## ne6togadno (Jan 13, 2015)

RCoon said:


> I'd go for 1440 or 1600p *+ gigabyte gaming 970* if you want a single GPU with decent framerates.


+1


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## shoti02 (Jan 13, 2015)

but i saw many reviews where the r9 290x is better in higher resolutuon then 1080p...ok its hot and seems to be louder ( never heard it ) i had no intel or nvidia since the first athlon cpu....


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## RCoon (Jan 13, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> but i saw many reviews where the r9 290x is better in higher resolutuon then 1080p...ok its hot and seems to be louder ( never heard it ) i had no intel or nvidia since the first athlon cpu....



By 3% on 4K (3% of 30 FPS is 0.9FPS)




1600p and below, not so much


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## shoti02 (Jan 13, 2015)

hm...different reviews different meanings......really better the gtx and the qnix ?


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## GhostRyder (Jan 13, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> hello....in my last thread ( cat pissed on the graphic card ) i said that i would not buy a new processor ( phenom 1100 T @ 4,29 GHZ )...but now.....it was a long night much alcohol and i order new things...........
> 
> now the following parts will arrive the next days
> 
> ...


As for now there is really no one card that can handle 4K unless you count a dual GPU card because of the high demands the games need at least for high to ultra in most games with 60 FPS.

At the end it depends on how much you want to invest into your system because if your wanting to do just a single card and run high resolutions and high-Ultra in games without breaking the bank I would recommend just sticking to 1440p on a monitor in the range of 24-27inches for a quality gaming experience.  At that point the choices between the GPU's on the high end will be not much as depending on the games they will be pretty close (Speaking of the ones your looking at of course).  It really to me would just come down to which you can get for a better deal as between the GTX 970 and R9 290X they are pretty close together at this point with the biggest draw on the GTX 970 being the lower power usage over the R9 290X while the R9 290X scales better for higher resolutions should you choose to (I am speaking of starting at 1440p and then going up to 2160p).

Overall because of some inflated prices depending on the country or stores you have available it can come down to which offers the better deal.  More cases that I find the R9 290X can be had for cheaper than an GTX 970 and provide a great experience but that is just from what I have seen.  If the GTX 970 is about the same price or cheaper I would say it might be good to consider both as viable options and decide which one performs the best in the games your playing mostly.  At this point 1440p is demanding but not to bad for most of the high end graphics so I would not fret to much about it.  You can even if you want to save a couple extra bucks get away with a nice overclocked variant of the R9 290 that will be cheaper than both and still provide a great experience.

TLR
Depending on price the GTX 970 or R9 290X are great 1440p cards and will be close in performance.  Go for the one at the better value.
Want to save some money, try grabbing an R9 290 OC variant which will perform within 5% of the 290X and GTX 970 while keeping your costs done.


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## shoti02 (Jan 13, 2015)

Price in Germany is the same...Gigabyte gaming g1 gtx 970 or sapphire vapor r 290x


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## shoti02 (Jan 13, 2015)

no other opinions ?


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## GhostRyder (Jan 14, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> Price in Germany is the same...Gigabyte gaming g1 gtx 970 or sapphire vapor r 290x


Well VaporX variant is a top of the line R9 290X so might be a better choice if you do not mind the little higher power in my book.  But the G1 gaming 970 is also a very awesome card for the money and performs right with it with lower usage so it maybe a better option for you.


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## zo0lykas (Jan 14, 2015)

GhostRyder said:


> Well VaporX variant is a top of the line R9 290X so might be a better choice if you do not mind the little higher power in my book.  But the G1 gaming 970 is also a very awesome card for the money and performs right with it with lower usage so it maybe a better option for you.



iam still on sapphire doesn't matter witch model you take or 280x or 290x, depence on your pocket size and power limits.
that triple fan cooling system with FAT pipes make your card awesome


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## ne6togadno (Jan 14, 2015)

GV-R929XOC-4GD
is also very good card


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## GhostRyder (Jan 14, 2015)

zo0lykas said:


> iam still on sapphire doesn't matter witch model you take or 280x or 290x, depence on your pocket size and power limits.
> that triple fan cooling system with FAT pipes make your card awesome


VaporX is a higher binned chip on top of a custom PCB with more power phases which in turn is for better overclocking and stability hence why its a "Top end" R9 290X.


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## shoti02 (Jan 14, 2015)

my psu is a corsair gs 700, my tower is an coolermaster hafx.... i am really confused i wanna have the most frames but the gtx is newer and i have no idea about the noise from the both cards....arghhhh!

oh..i saw it ist not the vapor it is the normal tri-x oc...the vapor costs about 24 bucks more then the gtx....but that is not much


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## ne6togadno (Jan 15, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> my psu is a corsair gs 700, my tower is an coolermaster hafx.... i am really confused i wanna have the most frames but the gtx is newer and i have no idea about the noise from the both cards....arghhhh!
> 
> oh..i saw it ist not the vapor it is the normal tri-x oc...the vapor costs about 24 bucks more then the gtx....but that is not much


gigabyte gtx 970 gaming


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## arbiter (Jan 15, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> but i saw many reviews where the r9 290x is better in higher resolutuon then 1080p...ok its hot and seems to be louder ( never heard it ) i had no intel or nvidia since the first athlon cpu....



goin from 1080 to 1440p doesn't really change it much both pretty even. Its the jump to 4k that extra bus on 290x benefits from but even then you would want to go CF/SLI setup to keep fps to a good level without having to turn a ton of graphic options down.


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## THE_EGG (Jan 15, 2015)

I'd probably go for the 970 seeing that it performs at about the same level as a 290x. Due to the 970 using much less power than a 290x, less heat is produced than a 290x which means the cooler doesn't have to work as hard as well which means it should be a quieter experience. I'd go for the Gigabyte G1 Gaming or Asus STRIX or MSI Gaming (if you can step up to the MSI Gaming Gold I'd recommend that too). GTX 970s also, on the most part, overclock like absolute beasts as well.

As far as monitors go, if you know you can afford another gtx 970 in the future then I'd suggest going with a 4k screen (perhaps aim for one that has an IPS panel as well for nicer colours). If not, then 1 970 can handle 1440p with decent settings quite nicely.


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## erocker (Jan 15, 2015)

Buy whatever you can get cheapest. At 4k resolution, you're most likely going to want to upgrade sooner rather than later.


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## shoti02 (Jan 15, 2015)

ok guys then i think i go with the "newer" gtx maybe the performance will get better when nvidi releases new drivers...hope i wonj´r be disappointed.......
it´s still a hard decision....my had says yes, no, yes, no........


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## GhostRyder (Jan 15, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> my psu is a corsair gs 700, my tower is an coolermaster hafx.... i am really confused i wanna have the most frames but the gtx is newer and i have no idea about the noise from the both cards....arghhhh!
> 
> oh..i saw it ist not the vapor it is the normal tri-x oc...the vapor costs about 24 bucks more then the gtx....but that is not much



Its like I and others stated before as buying which of the two is cheapest but seeing as how they are both the same its really going to come down to the variant you purchase and the resolution you run at.  As far as noise goes they are not going to be much different honestly though the GTX 970 produces less heat overall the Tri-X has a very beefy cooler that is pretty quiet as well.

The Gaming G1 might be a better choice for you in the end so I would say since they are priced the same why not go for that since its not a VaporX 290X.  TriX is still great but I was mostly thinking it was going to be the best option based on the choice overall.  Both cards will perform close to eachother so again if it comes to time your about to make the purchase and one is cheaper than the other, get the cheaper.


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## bpgt64 (Jan 15, 2015)

@GhostRyder stated it perfectly.   You can't really go wrong with either card.  I honestly am partial to Nvidia's offering just because of the reduced heat,  Geforce Experience, and ShadowPlay.  Though AMD has software out there aiming to do the exact same thing.


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## shoti02 (Jan 15, 2015)

ok...hope the Gigabyte will fire up my today ordered qnix q 2710 single dvi....damn they are expensive this year


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## shoti02 (Jan 15, 2015)

..next question..if one gtx is not fast enough for me, do u think the corsair gs 700 cann handle two of it  ? i think not...


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## bpgt64 (Jan 15, 2015)

PSU calculator would tell you, it would be close.


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## shoti02 (Jan 15, 2015)

http://www.seasonicusa.com/M12II-Bronze-650-750-850.htm

what about the 850 w Version ?


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## shoti02 (Jan 17, 2015)

update:

i can get a brand new xfx r 295x2 8GB for abeut 800 bucks ( 685 euros )....that is 25 cheaper then 2 gtx 970 with only 4 gigs !! what should i do...i am afraid of the new games and i will play in 1440 P

 gtx 970 with 4 gigs in sli...is it enough for the future ??


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## arbiter (Jan 17, 2015)

shoti02 said:


> update:
> 
> i can get a brand new xfx r 295x2 8GB for abeut 800 bucks ( 685 euros )....that is 25 cheaper then 2 gtx 970 with only 4 gigs !! what should i do...i am afraid of the new games and i will play in 1440 P
> 
> gtx 970 with 4 gigs in sli...is it enough for the future ??



Um that 8gb isn't 8gb per gpu. its 4gb per gpu. Don't let that 8gb confuse you. The 295x2 is a 2 GPU card, pretty much a pair of 290x's on 1 card, each get 4gb ram so 8gb total, so pretty much same as 2x 970's.

Question is do you have space in your case to mount the water rad for that 295x2? Also if you concerned about power, its gonna be ~600watts (295x2) vs ~300watts (970's in SLI). Each of the 2 options has their pro's and con's so.


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## shoti02 (Jan 17, 2015)

space is enough...its an coolermaster HAFX ( full tower )...PSU i think i go with the coolermaster V 850. the seasonic M12 evo edition is my favourite but the cables arer to short to hide them behind the mainboard...the evga supernova g2 has only sleeved cables (( ( want ribbon ) and the xfx xtr 850 is not availible at this moment


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## bpgt64 (Jan 17, 2015)

The r9 295x2 has special requiremen's for the powersupply.  Something like a minimum or 100 amps across all rails or something....so just make sure the psu you get is approved.

That being said it's a  beast of a card...I use a pair of gtx 980 and my wife uses a 295x2.  Power wise I think the 295x2 might get a little better fps in some games but it generates heat like a space heater at 4k.


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## shoti02 (Jan 17, 2015)

4k i think is not better then 1440p because the panels are not so good like the corean qstar and so on...they ar most tn panels.....or am i wrong ? i thought to play in 4k with an affordable monitor but then i switched to 1440 p corean


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## bpgt64 (Jan 17, 2015)

There are some IPS panels making there way to market.  I am using a TN panel, and I Don't mind it at all.  If you have a microcenter or somewhere where you can see them in person before hand I would check them out and make the call for yourself.    I play alot of RPG's so I went with 4k 60fps.  If shooters and competitive games are your thing a 1440p 120hz monitor makes more sense.


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## shoti02 (Jan 17, 2015)

i play both..i love rpg ( best favourite ever BARDS TALE on commodore c64 ) but i  love shooter too


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## The N (Jan 18, 2015)

970 and 980 meant for high Resolution gaming i:e above 1080p. 970 SLI will be a great choice. AMD GPU consumes so much power, then heating problem,  greater Noise, then GPU compatibility in CASE. that would be a great Mess. NVIDIA place the best solution to all these problems the HIGH END MAXWELLs. simply go for 970 SLI or if possible with budget 980 SLI.   970 SLI maxwells worth you pay in every subject.


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## shoti02 (Jan 18, 2015)

ok then i think i willgo for nvida...it´s hard for me since i was an fighter for amd and Radeon...it´s my first Intel/nvidia rig for about 15-20 years ...

ok.....i´am old.....a knew it...

most of u doesn´t know the dos commands......


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## The N (Jan 18, 2015)

you won't regret it at all. as many other didn't. its a pure next generation revolution by NVIDIA.  AMD totally drowned atm by 970/980 power.


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## shoti02 (Jan 18, 2015)

ok..then by by amd....my 4790 K should arrive on monday


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## AphexDreamer (Jan 18, 2015)

So just to chime in if it isn't too late. I had gotten an Asus 4K TN display and it was tough to use. Windows 8.1 font and window sizes were all to small to see on the 28 inch screen. Plenty of screen space but it just wasn't practical.

Then the games were lagging, capped out at 30FPS even though I was using DP 1.2 and it was still hard to read font/UI. Colors were great, for watching a 4K content it would be great I'd imagine if there were any 4K content.
Needless to say I returned it later the same day. After about 3-4 hours of use. Perhaps it was simply a matter of adjustment/lack of GPU but even on lower resolution it was choppy. So there really was no reason to keep it. IMO the 4K tech is just still too soon to adopt even with the affordable prices.

So I'm trying the Asus PB278Q 1440p AHVA 27 inch panel and all games I have tried so far have been fantastic. Look great, smooth, great to work with and play. I'd highly recommend it over the Asus 4K display. Second day and I'm thinking about keeping it. It has 1 stuck pixel that I can't seem to unstuck but you can only see it on black and if you look for it.

Would have chimed in sooner but I just did all this over the weekend. Let us know how your experience is with 4K!


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## gamble (Jan 21, 2015)

I go back and forth between camps, even sometimes do side-grades to play with the newest cards.  I had a 290x on water and it ran great, when OC'ed it got up to 62c, which is not bad but my 970 only gets up to 70c @ 1.4ghz OC with fan curve of 55% for the max.  Basically, I by-passed getting a waterblock for it and just have the cpu on the loop.  

Below is my observed "peak watts" on various cards Ive owned, not average just looking at my kilawatt meter during tests:

CPU @ 4.7ghz 

Gtx 970:  1400/7300mhz @ 1.2v

3dMark13:  combined scene  326w (130w less than Titan, 177w less than 290x @ 1.25v)

3dMark11:   1st scene 320w  (171w less than Titan, 188w less than 290x @ 1.25v)



===

Clock:  4.7ghz



Titan 1215mhz 3500mhz @ 1.250v

3dMark13:   combined scene  456w

3dMark11:  1st scene 491w



290x 1215mhz 5400mhz @ 1.3v (+200)

3dMark13:   combined scene  539w

3dMark11:  1st scene 529w



290x 1215mhz 5400mhz @ 1.250v (+150)

3dMark13:   combined scene  503w

3dMark11:  1st scene 508w


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## vega22 (Jan 21, 2015)

going off the experience my mates have had with sli 970s i would say dont.

nvidia really seems to have screwed the pooch with them and the 3 guys i know who went that route all have given up and either returned 1 or both in favour of single 970 or 980 set ups.

too many driver issues :/


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## xfia (Jan 21, 2015)

decent frame rates is completely conceptual per person. when i put together something for someone that is opening up a bank account with hard earned money and throwing down thousands it better be hitting max settings with awesome frame rates at the resolution they want.  60hz 1440p is lame for gamers..  144hz 1440p is what two high end gpu's can drive for years to come with no upgrades and who wants to spend all that money without complete peace of mind in every game.


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## newconroer (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm a broken record on this subject, but my experience with 4k was 'worth it' only a screen 40" or greater.
On anything smaller (like the popular 28" 4k monitors), then you can barely see/enjoy the pixel density. That makes it not worth the performance hit you take moving from 1440/1600p up to 2160p (4k).

Any combination of R9 290/290x Crossfire or GTX 970/980/Titan SLI will do it, but it's not a guaranteed 60fps.

I'd highly suggest a return that and go for a quality 1440p/1600p IPS monitor. Furthermore you could source a 1440p IPS 120hz monitor, which would take about the same performance requirement at 120fps as a 4k monitor at 60fps.


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## shoti02 (Jan 29, 2015)

you mean the qnix isn´t a good monitor ????
but now i have another problem..the GTX 970 VRAM problem.....the both gtx 970 are still not installed and i still can get a XFX R295X2 for less money ( 20 € cheaper )...which is the better solution for 1440P gaming ? my psu seems to big enough its an evga supernova G2 1000 Watt..
what ar ur thoughts


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## xfia (Jan 29, 2015)

295x2 is a 1440p god


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## shoti02 (Jan 29, 2015)

buts its an older gpu architecture...or??


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## rooivalk (Jan 29, 2015)

970 SLI outperforms 295X2 but not by wide margin. Use whatever you like.

Personally I avoid Radeon 29x due to high temp (easier to GPU throttling) and high power consumption.


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## 64K (Jan 29, 2015)

If you are thinking about 4K then the R9 295X2 would be better overall



Spoiler: W1zzard's Bench


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## shoti02 (Jan 29, 2015)

i really had thoughts about 4k but nearly all people said that the samsung 1440P panels from corea are much better. better colors and best for gaming

the 295X2 has no heat problem, its watercooled. under full load 63 °


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## xfia (Jan 29, 2015)

yup the gcn architecture is time tested and works great  

295x2 is liquid cooled and only starts to get high temps at 4k but it is still very manageable with decent case cooling

people just say dumb crap about amd gpu's that are not true and it appears to still be true even willing to recommend a gimped nvidia gpu when its very likely to show its flaw over 1080p with sli.


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## THE_EGG (Jan 29, 2015)

Another benefit of the 295X2 is that if you ever choose to go to an ITX build, you will be able to without compromising on GPU power (though you'll need a roomy ITX case to fit in the rad and tubing). There are some reasonably priced IPS 4K monitors coming out now so you should be able to find one in the near future that will take advantage of the 295X2.

I personally would choose the 295X2 despite being more of an Nvidia person.


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## RejZoR (Jan 30, 2015)

To be honest, neither. R9-290X is a bit old and GTX 970 is crippled. Seeing how R9-380X is approaching quickly, I'd say wait for that and see if it'll be worth it. If it turns out to be crap or too expensive, then I'd go for R9-290X or shell out some more and take GTX 980. I'd just avoid GTX 970...

EDIT:
Another option would be a GTX 975 without the fucked up memory segments. If NVIDIA decides to make one...


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## shoti02 (Jan 30, 2015)

i had written to AMD...XFX will give me a 10% lower Price on their Cards if i refund the 970 ´s


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## lukart (Feb 5, 2015)

Would this be valid for other AMD AIBs? 
How did you contact them?


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