r9 290 or gtx 780

[JosefAtotah]

Which GPU do you think is better, the r9 290 or the gtx 780?

 

[ZetZet]

780 better gpu. 290 is better value.

[Thebman712]

like @ZetZet said

[WunderWuffle]

The GTX 780 uses less power, runs cooler, and is a bit more powerful, while the R9-290 is cheaper... It depends on what you want.

[Rheinwasser]

780. 

[winningsince1337]

The R9 290 will give you more bang for your buck as it performs as well or better than a 780 for a notably lower cost. If you're solely comparing reference cards, the 780 wins hands down as the R9 290 is pretty loud and hot. (I have one and can attest to this). However, aftermarket cards solve this problem. In a nutshell, the 290 will do the same job just as well or better due to the higher onboard GDDR5 buffer (4gb vs the 3gb of the 780). If it were me, I'd still pick an R9 290. But, the 780 is a bit more refined.

 

EDIT: made a mistake on the vram

[WunderWuffle]

The R9 290 will give you more bang for your buck as it performs as well or better than a 780 for a notably lower cost. If you're solely comparing reference cards, the 780 wins hands down as the R9 290 is pretty loud and hot. (I have one and can attest to this). However, aftermarket cards solve this problem. In a nutshell, the 290 will do the same job just as well or better due to the higher onboard GDDR5 buffer (4gb vs the 2gb of the 780). If it were me, I'd still pick an R9 290. But, the 780 is a bit more refined.

Your post is quite accurate, but the only mistake I can see is that the GTX 780 has 3GB of VRAM. I agree with you on pretty much everything else, though if you get a good non reference cooler like the Sapphire Tri-x, it can be relatively quiet.

[SeanAngelo]

780

[winningsince1337]

Your post is quite accurate, but the only mistake I can see is that the GTX 780 has 3GB of VRAM. I agree with you on pretty much everything else, though if you get a good non reference cooler like the Sapphire Tri-x, it can be relatively quiet.

 

Whoops! Thanks for catching that I'll edit the post. If I was on a bigger budget, I'd go for the 780 but, the 290 still gets the job done. In a nutshell OP, if money isn't an issue get a 780. If it is and there's other things that your rig needs, get an aftermarket 290.

[xtelemonx]

r9 290 just cause of the free games, and with the money you save you can buy even more games!

[Sonefiler]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131549

[T6kke]

4GB of VRAM of 290 may come in handy at 2560x1440 in the future since games will keep using higher and higher resolution textures. VRAM can be a huge bottleneck if you hit the limit but you can always turn down the settings to avoid that.

 

On the other side 780 is slightly more powerful so 290 will struggle with other graphical effects but again you can turn some of them down.

 

If you are doing 1920x1080 gaming then 780 will be almost always more powerful.

 

 

You should also look at some other features like

OpenCL vs CUDA

FreeSync vs Gsync(whenever they become relevant)

and whatever else extra feature they have that you might find interesting

[Sonefiler]

4GB of VRAM of 290 may come in handy at 2560x1440 in the future since games will keep using higher and higher resolution textures. VRAM can be a huge bottleneck if you hit the limit but you can always turn down the settings to avoid that.

 

On the other side 780 is slightly more powerful so 290 will struggle with other graphical effects but again you can turn some of them down.

 

If you are doing 1920x1080 gaming then 780 will be almost always more powerful.

 

 

You should also look at some other features like

OpenCL vs CUDA

FreeSync vs Gsync(whenever they become relevant)

and whatever else extra feature they have that you might find interesting

Lol the 290 is more powerful than the 780 in games that arent nvidia titles

[nj4ck]

I don't get all the people saying that the 780 is more powerful... look at the benchmarks, the 290 beats the 780 in almost every single one.

And no, for heavens sake, the r9 290 does not run hot and loud. Who the hell buys reference cards when there's a whole selection of non reference coolers available? I am by no means an AMD fanboy, but this talking down of AMD cards here is getting on my nerves. Stick to the facts. Quit spreading BS.

[T6kke]

Most reviews, including the one that Linus did, showed that 780 was just a little bit better in almost all cases.

 

I personally don't have 780 to make comparison benchmarks in every game that I have. So I have to go with what others have tested. 

[Humbug]

On the other side 780 is slightly more powerful so 290 will struggle with other graphical effects but again you can turn some of them down.

err, no...

 

Most reviews, including the one that Linus did, showed that 780 was just a little bit better in almost all cases.

Linus admitted that his 290 sample was a bad overclocker, while his 780 was a good overclocker. Also on air the reference cards used to hit 95 degrees C and throttle clockspeeds due to the piss poor reference cooler. Linus's review was correct at the time; it's just no longer very relevant for buyers in the market today.

 

Anyway my opinion is that both 780 and 290 non-reference are beast cards, and you will have a fantastic gaming experience with either.

[T6kke]

Linus admitted that his 290 sample was a bad overclocker, while his 780 was a good overclocker. Also on air the reference cards used to hit 95 degrees C and throttle clockspeeds due to the piss poor reference cooler. Linus's review was correct at the time; it's just no longer very relevant for buyers in the market today.

 

Anyway my opinion is that both 780 and 290 non-reference are beast cards, and you will have a fantastic gaming experience with either.

Linus also did did a quick test under water cooling for both 780 and 290 where 780 still beat the 290.

 

And you have to keep in mind that even with non-reference cooler 290 will still run hotter and has less OC headroom. Of course it doesn't matter if your not OC-ing.

 

 

I've maybe left a wrong impression of my opinion but both cards are very good and the difference is minimal. And the feature list that each card has matters more then witch is more powerful.

 

When I bought my 290 it was a no-brainer. Cheapest 780 that I could get was 60€ more expensive then my 290 and I hope that the extra 1GB of VRAM will perform better on my 2560x1440 screen in the long term.

[nj4ck]

Just to give people an idea.

 

So much for "the 780 is more powerful"

 

 

And so much for "they run waaaay hotter than Nvidia"

 

[Sonefiler]

Linus also did did a quick test under water cooling for both 780 and 290 where 780 still beat the 290.

 

And you have to keep in mind that even with non-reference cooler 290 will still run hotter and has less OC headroom. Of course it doesn't matter if your not OC-ing.

 

 

I've maybe left a wrong impression of my opinion but both cards are very good and the difference is minimal. And the feature list that each card has matters more then witch is more powerful.

 

When I bought my 290 it was a no-brainer. Cheapest 780 that I could get was 60€ more expensive then my 290 and I hope that the extra 1GB of VRAM will perform better on my 2560x1440 screen in the long term.

Water cooling doesn't affect whether you won the silicon lottery or not.