r9-290X vs 7970 Ghz edition

[desertowl]

hello to everyone

 

i have a question for you guys. in my local hardware shop they are selling some 7970 Ghz edition 230€ each and the cheapest r9-290X they have is priced at 449€.

my question is should i go for the 290x or maybe a dual 7970? what are the benefits over one another (without power consumption etc.)?

 

thanks everyone!

[ZetZet]

r9 290 non x? 

[91wow]

dual 7970's will be much faster than a single 290/290x but may cost more in the long run due to high power consumption. 

[fringie]

7970 = slightly worse 280x (tiny tiny tiny bit). So that being said the 290x will use more energy, produce more heat and be more powerful.

 

I'd personally recommend the 290 over both (it seems the price matters to you (which it should)). The price/performance on the 290 is pretty good and it's not too much less powerful than the 290x despite the 290x costing around 40% more.

[antoainb]

The dual 7970's will perform better but they will be louder and use more power. I'd go for a single more powerfull card but if you really just care about performance the 7970's will be better.

[desertowl]

technologywise i won't be missing too much, except true audio maybe?

[H4X3R]

Get a R9 290 (if not then 290x). The performance difference between the 290 and 290x is minimal.

There are VERY many drawbacks to crossfire such as heat, power consumption, micro stuttering, etc.

1 High end card is nearly ALWAYS a better choice than 2 lower end cards.

[Jumper118]

7970 = slightly worse 280x (tiny tiny tiny bit). So that being said the 290x will use more energy, produce more heat and be more powerful.

 

I'd personally recommend the 290 over both (it seems the price matters to you (which it should)). The price/performance on the 290 is pretty good and it's not too much less powerful than the 290x despite the 290x costing around 40% more.

the 7970's are generally better. they have a much lower defect rate.

[XtremeTechGaming]

 2 7970 perform better, but r9 290x is better in the long run

[deafboy]

290x, IMO, is not worth the premium.  And honestly just not worth having unless you take care of the cooling.

 

7970CF is a very potent setup still.  I see no real reason to say otherwise

[nosirrah123]

290x, IMO, is not worth the premium.  And honestly just not worth having unless you take care of the cooling.

 

7970CF is a very potent setup still.  I see no real reason to say otherwise

microstutter, heat, and power consumption

 

(BTW don't buy 290x, 290 is almost exactly the same and much cheaper)

[deafboy]

microstutter, heat, and power consumption

 

(BTW don't buy 290x, 290 is almost exactly the same and much cheaper)

 

He said to ignore power consumption so I did.  And heat isn't nearly as bad compared to the 290x.

 

But agree with the 290.

[Sonefiler]

Get the 290. If it's not reference get the Arctic Accelero Extreme 3

[Humbug]

i have a question for you guys. in my local hardware shop they are selling some 7970 Ghz edition 230€ each and the cheapest r9-290X they have is priced at 449€.

my question is should i go for the 290x or maybe a dual 7970? what are the benefits over one another (without power consumption etc.)?

The benefits are that that R9 290 series is a newer, more tweaked Hawai architecture. It's generally about 25 to 30% faster. Has more muscle when it comes to high resolution gaming or even 1080p with extreme high quality anti-aliasing settings. The 7970Ghz is also good at it's price point. If you put two of them in cross-fire it will be faster than a 290x but also more troublesome and you need a high end PSU. Generally the 290x is not worth the extra money over the 290, so check if they have that available.

 

The only thing you have to be careful about is to avoid the reference cooler. Below is what the reference cooler looks like. If it looks like this do not buy it, it will run hot and loud. All the other partner designed coolers perform well...

[Evostatic343]

290x

[xAcid9]

Just get a R9-290 and crossfire it later. 

AMD XDMA crossfire interface in GCN1.1(290/290x) perform and scale much better compare to the previous one in GCN 1.0(280x/7970/280/7950/7870/270x/etc)

[deafboy]

The benefits are that that R9 290 series is a newer, more tweaked Hawai architecture. It's generally about 25 to 30% faster. Has more muscle when it comes to high resolution gaming or even 1080p with extreme high quality anti-aliasing settings. The 7970Ghz is also good at it's price point. If you put two of them in cross-fire it will be faster than a 290x but also more troublesome and you need a high end PSU. Generally the 290x is not worth the extra money over the 290, so check if they have that available.

 

The only thing you have to be careful about is to avoid the reference cooler. Below is what the reference cooler looks like. If it looks like this do not buy it unless you plan on water cooling it otherwise it will run hot and loud. 

 

-snip-

 

 

FTFY