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[Nitro portal]

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

[Shd0w2]

What res will you be playing at? Most likely a 780ti 3gb will be fine

[Liam-McShane]

780TI. 3GB should be enough for now. The 780 isn't really powerful enough to take advantage of the larger frame buffer.

[EMENCII]

If you are playing in more than 1440p maybe the 6gb would help, but keep in mind that the 780ti is more powerful (like a really good oc'd 780)

[BiG StroOnZ]

 

780TI. 3GB should be enough for now. The 780 isn't really powerful enough to take advantage of the larger frame buffer.

 

 

Here's benchmarks of a 6GB 780 vs a 3GB 780 @ 1600p ( a little more intensive than 1440p)

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/06/11/asus_strix_gtx_780_oc_6gb_review_exclusive/9

 

 

 

Let's go back and re-visit how the ASUS STRIX GTX 780 OC 6GB compared to a stock-clocked GeForce GTX 780 3GB. In Watch Dogs the new ASUS STRIX GTX 780 OC 6GB offered a better gameplay experience at 1600p and 1080p. Thanks to the added memory we were able to run at "Ultra" textures all the way up to 1600p without issue. This made the game run smoother indoors and especially outdoors as you drive through the city with fast loading of textures. With the standard GTX 780 we had to use the lower setting of "High" textures which were noticeably inferior.

 

Wanted to post these before more people start making posts about how the 6GB of memory is useless and the card can't take advantage of the memory; which is an inaccurate claim... 

[Tacitus]

-snip-

 

Going with these benchmarks the better option would seem to be the 290x.

 

Cheaper, equally good performer

[BiG StroOnZ]

Going with these benchmarks the better option would seem to be the 290x.

 

Cheaper, equally good performer

 

Perhaps, and if price was a main concern or AMD was an option.

 

But the OP is asking about the standard 3GB 780 vs the 6GB 780 in which in this case the 6GB 780 makes a world of difference in today's games do to having the extra available VRAM if ever needed. 

[Tacitus]

Perhaps, and if price was a main concern or AMD was an option.

 

But the OP is asking about the standard 3GB 780 vs the 6GB 780 in which in this case the 6GB 780 makes a world of difference in today's games do to having the extra available VRAM if ever needed. 

 

This is true, but I'm sure you can agree it would be foolish to not consider all available options. Unless there is a specific reason to go Nvidia there is no reason to not at least ponder the benefits of the 290x.

[BiG StroOnZ]

This is true, but I'm sure you can agree it would be foolish to not consider all available options. Unless there is a specific reason to go Nvidia there is no reason to not at least ponder the benefits of the 290x.

 

Yes but considering all available options and actually following through with possible alternatives are two different stories. There was a time when I had the option to purchase an R9 290 or a GTX 780. I was coming from a GTX 670, and before that SLI GTX 460's before that a 7800 GT. So it was a difficult transition for someone like myself to make a switch to a different company considering all the positivity I had from the current company that I was using. The price was temping on the R9 290, but for me the price wasn't tempting enough to make the switch. Especially after doing some research and seeing the issues people had with some of their R9 290's that seem to be somewhat of a standard (artifacts, black screens, driver conflicts, sub par performance, repetitive RMA's). Then when I came across a refurbished GTX 780 for the same price as a Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290 it seemed like a "no brainer" for me. So at the end of the day, when you have to consider all available options you have to ask yourself whether or not you are willing to take risks. Which in many cases in this industry can be difficult for many users, especially on the off chance that something does go wrong and you sit there saying to yourself, "I knew this was going to happen." If you are a risk taker when it comes to purchasing your components then perhaps making a switch to different companies isn't so much of a big deal. But for me personally, I found that a refurbished EVGA GTX 780 was less of a risk than going with a new R9 290. 

[Tacitus]

Yes but considering all available options and actually following through with possible alternatives are two different stories. There was a time when I had the option to purchase an R9 290 or a GTX 780. I was coming from a GTX 670, and before that SLI GTX 460's before that a 7800 GT. So it was a difficult transition for someone like myself to make a switch to a different company considering all the positivity I had from the current company that I was using. The price was temping on the R9 290, but for me the price wasn't tempting enough to make the switch. Especially after doing some research and seeing the issues people had with some of their R9 290's that seem to be somewhat of a standard (artifacts, black screens, driver conflicts, sub par performance, repetitive RMA's). Then when I came across a refurbished GTX 780 for the same price as a Sapphire Tri-X OC R9 290 it seemed like a "no brainer" for me. So at the end of the day, when you have to consider all available options you have to ask yourself whether or not you are willing to take risks. Which in many cases in this industry can be difficult for many users, especially on the off chance that something does go wrong and you sit there saying to yourself, "I knew this was going to happen." If you are a risk taker when it comes to purchasing your components then perhaps making a switch to different companies isn't so much of a big deal. But for me personally, I found that a refurbished EVGA GTX 780 was less of a risk than going with a new R9 290. 

 

 

Of course and I can understand you were not tempted by the 290 since you had for years had an enjoyable experience with nvidia, and knew yourself that could continue. With that said, I believe the vast majority with 290s have a good experience, hence they are highly rated and recommended by many. Those with the big problems tend to be something of a vocal minority, and can be found among those owning almost any product.

 

Now, I personally am having the debate you have had in my head. I can get a brand new 290 for £280 from a shop, brand new on Ebay for £220-240, or a brand new 780 for £340 (all options are the cheapest available which I regard as satisfactory, the cheapest 780 is MSI Twin Frozr, and the PCS+/Tri-X 290s are always competing for best price). I lean toward the 290 myself, for I have heard AMD have gotten their act together with drivers, crossfire and generally perform better at higher resolutions (I'm getting AOC's 1440p 21:9 monitor as soon as it launches). With that said, I probably want to crossfire, and Nvidia still seem to have better frametimes, but looking at graphs does little when I've never experienced either. There is little context for the figures, really.

 

At the end of the day, £60 is enough to let me get an i5 4670k + aftermarket cooler instead of an i5 4440 +stock cooler, which would help in CPU bound games like Skyrim, and when I likely buy a second, the saving of £120 across two cards suddenly seems more significant.

 

Sorry for this convoluted post, I have rambled on somewhat

 

Glad you're enjoying your 780, it's a great card to be sure

[Tacitus]

However, @[user=Nitro Portal] I would point out those benchmarks are inconsistent in the settings they use. They are not always directly comparable. Be careful for things like that.

 

EDIT: can someone remind me how to link a person, it would appear I've forgotten

[flibberdipper]

780Ti all the way.

[JDS]

Perhaps, and if price was a main concern or AMD was an option.

But the OP is asking about the standard 3GB 780 vs the 6GB 780 in which in this case the 6GB 780 makes a world of difference in today's games do to having the extra available VRAM if ever needed.

I love you. You didn't shove the R9 290x down the OP's throat. You actually answered his question, without creating a flame-war between AMD and Nvidia. You deserve a crown.

[I/O]

 

 

 

 

Here's benchmarks of a 6GB 780 vs a 3GB 780 @ 1600p ( a little more intensive than 1440p)

 

 

Wanted to post these before more people start making posts about how the 6GB of memory is useless and the card can't take advantage of the memory; which is an inaccurate claim... 

 

That performance gain was because of an OC not because of Vram. Even still the bench marks you posted were skewed in such a way but not limited to using TresFX Hair on the R9 290 and turning off TressFX Hair for the nvidia cards, not showing Vram count in game etc .

[I/O]

If you are a risk taker when it comes to purchasing your components then perhaps making a switch to different companies isn't so much of a big deal. But for me personally, I found that a refurbished EVGA GTX 780 was less of a risk than going with a new R9 290. 

lol there's allot more happy people with 290 cards than unhappy . Sorry for you luck but if you never step outside your own bubble then you will never reap the rewards. I to was once all nvidia because all my friends and "the whole internet" it would seem seemed to be largely pro nvidia biased so I thought nvidia was "the best" and "the way games were meant to be played" LOL until I actual tried an ATi card and I was blown away my friends were wrong and I now had better graphics than them at a cheaper price point. I don't think you can legitimize your personal opinion about the Radeon R9 290 but I urge you to try.

[Judist]

From a development standpoint I believe 3gb will be plenty for the foreseeable future. 4-6gb is nice but games will remain optimized for 2-3gb cards.

 

Personally I'd only insist on 4gb+ with resolutions exceeding 1440p (imo a Ti can drive 1440p easily enough).

[BiG StroOnZ]

 

Of course and I can understand you were not tempted by the 290 since you had for years had an enjoyable experience with nvidia, and knew yourself that could continue. With that said, I believe the vast majority with 290s have a good experience, hence they are highly rated and recommended by many. Those with the big problems tend to be something of a vocal minority, and can be found among those owning almost any product.

 

Now, I personally am having the debate you have had in my head. I can get a brand new 290 for £280 from a shop, brand new on Ebay for £220-240, or a brand new 780 for £340 (all options are the cheapest available which I regard as satisfactory, the cheapest 780 is MSI Twin Frozr, and the PCS+/Tri-X 290s are always competing for best price). I lean toward the 290 myself, for I have heard AMD have gotten their act together with drivers, crossfire and generally perform better at higher resolutions (I'm getting AOC's 1440p 21:9 monitor as soon as it launches). With that said, I probably want to crossfire, and Nvidia still seem to have better frametimes, but looking at graphs does little when I've never experienced either. There is little context for the figures, really.

 

At the end of the day, £60 is enough to let me get an i5 4670k + aftermarket cooler instead of an i5 4440 +stock cooler, which would help in CPU bound games like Skyrim, and when I likely buy a second, the saving of £120 across two cards suddenly seems more significant.

 

Sorry for this convoluted post, I have rambled on somewhat 

 

Glad you're enjoying your 780, it's a great card to be sure 

 

There are definitely plenty of people who have great experiences with the 290 there is no doubt about that. I just didn't want to become a part of the minority myself 

 

For your circumstance the 290 is definitely the better option since it's the difference between you going with a locked i5 and an unlocked i5. Because IMO being able to overclock is a superb benefit to have with computers. You never know when a game will come out that might be CPU bound and will benefit from a higher clock speed.

 

Hope you have a good experience with your R9 290. 

 

 

I love you. You didn't shove the R9 290x down the OP's throat. You actually answered his question, without creating a flame-war between AMD and Nvidia. You deserve a crown.

 

 

I try to be as unbiased as possible when posting. Thank you 

 

That performance gain was because of an OC not because of Vram. Even still the bench marks you posted were skewed in such a way but not limited to using TresFX Hair on the R9 290 and turning off TressFX Hair for the nvidia cards, not showing Vram count in game etc .

 

It's a factory OC: 

 

 

Not much of a difference in clock speed compared to the standard GTX 780 as you can see. 

 

Also if you read the conclusion you would understand that it was the additional memory which assisted in having better performance and allowing them to crank up the settings while providing more framerates. The benchmarks aren't skewed they are running them at the "Highest Playable Settings." Which will differ from card to card. That's the point of the benchmark; "X card is only capable of delivering this experience while Y card is able to deliver this experience. Y card is better because you can have higher settings while still providing more framerates." 

 

 

lol there's allot more happy people with 290 cards than unhappy . Sorry for you luck but if you never step outside your own bubble then you will never reap the rewards. I to was once all nvidia because all my friends and "the whole internet" it would seem seemed to be largely pro nvidia biased so I thought nvidia was "the best" and "the way games were meant to be played" LOL until I actual tried an ATi card and I was blown away my friends were wrong and I now had better graphics than them at a cheaper price point. I don't think you can legitimize your personal opinion about the Radeon R9 290 but I urge you to try.

 

What's your rig consist of?

[I/O]

It's a factory OC: 

 

Not much of a difference in clock speed compared to the standard GTX 780 as you can see. 

 

Also if you read the conclusion you would understand that it was the additional memory which assisted in having better performance and allowing them to crank up the settings while providing more framerates. The benchmarks aren't skewed they are running them at the "Highest Playable Settings." Which will differ from card to card. That's the point of the benchmark; "X card is only capable of delivering this experience while Y card is able to deliver this experience. Y card is better because you can have higher settings while still providing more framerates." 

"Let's set the record straight on that. The memory capacity a graphics card ships with has no impact on that product's performance, so long as the settings you're using to game with don't consume all of it." TH http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-myths,3694-5.html

[Luke]

780TI. 3GB should be enough for now. The 780 isn't really powerful enough to take advantage of the larger frame buffer.

 

People really need to stop saying this.

[BiG StroOnZ]

"Let's set the record straight on that. The memory capacity a graphics card ships with has no impact on that product's performance, so long as the settings you're using to game with don't consume all of it." TH http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-myths,3694-5.html

 

Pay attention to the the last part. That's what having more VRAM addresses and that's what this benchmark has proven. At least read everything you post before you post it. 

[I/O]

Pay attention to the the last part. That's what having more VRAM addresses and that's what this benchmark has proven. At least read everything you post before you post it. 

Vram will absolutely never make a GPU faster.Will a 6GB 780 version let the card stretch it's leg out in certain scenarios sure it will but it will not make the GPU core or memory subsystem faster.

[BiG StroOnZ]

Vram will absolutely never make a GPU faster.Will a 6GB 780 version let the card stretch it's leg out in certain scenarios sure it will but it will not make the GPU core or memory subsystem faster.

 

Who said it made it faster? 

[Sky Daddy]

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6457/asus-geforce-gtx-780-6gb-strix-oc-video-card-review/index16.html

 

get a 780ti or 290x

[I/O]

Who said it made it faster? 

You did and i just corrected you.

[BiG StroOnZ]

You did and i just corrected you.

 

Where did I say it made it faster? Now you're just making stuff up. You didn't correct anyone.