Which graphics card?

[IcyPoo]

My friends are arguing on which graphics card to pick to play next gen games. AMD Radeon r9 290x or Nvidia GeForce 970. I want the card to be current for couple more years. Help on graphics card? If you disagree on both a suggestion maybe?

[MylesHSG]

You can get a R9 290x with 8GB now, might be better in the future if you upgrade to a 4k monitor.

[dragoon20005]

R9 390X which is coming in June will have up to 8GB of VRAM and will be suited for 4K gaming

 

and it pre water cooled

[MylesHSG]

Yes, but a 3 month wait and no idea on pricing. You can get a MSI 290x 8GB for a little over $400 or about £300

[Arwanell]

who said anything about 4k?

 

970 is better, but if you really want 4k, there is r9 290x 8GB but almost at price of 980. so if you're ready to go that far then just get 980

[MylesHSG]

He wants a card that will be good for a few years, 8GB>3.5GB for 4k......

[Arwanell]

4GB (980) is enough for 4k, and 980 beats the shit out of 290x, even the 970 beats it

 

im mentioning the 980 because 290x 8GB is same price as 980

[IcyPoo]

And this guys, Is why it makes it hard for me to understand lol.

[Critizin]

First of all,  He never said anything about 4k..  not everyone wants to game in 4k.. infact most people do not want to. it requires to much GPU power to actually pull off in an inexpensive manner..

maybe you guys should ask the poor guy what he plans on gaming at before blowing suggestions out your ass.


a GTX 970 will still be good gaming at 1080p-1440p for a good couple years. same with the r9 290x, id suggest the r9 290x over the 970 for the little fact that once games start pushing past the 3.5GB VRAM on the 970 ur going to start to experiencing some micro stutter and no gamer wants to deal with that.


Now for my opinion i would say.  Just buy a GTX 980 and call it a day.

[IcyPoo]

First of all,  He never said anything about 4k..  not everyone wants to game in 4k.. infact most people do not want to. it requires to much GPU power to actually pull off in an inexpensive manner..

maybe you guys should ask the poor guy what he plans on gaming at before blowing suggestions out your ass.

a GTX 970 will still be good gaming at 1080p-1440p for a good couple years. same with the r9 290x, id suggest the r9 290x over the 970 for the little fact that once games start pushing past the 3.5GB VRAM on the 970 ur going to start to experiencing some micro stutter and no gamer wants to deal with that.

Now for my opinion i would say.  Just buy a GTX 980 and call it a day.

I don't plan on playing on 4k, Sorry for not mentioning it. is there a Certain GTX 980 you recommend? Can I also get a little more on your opinion haha. Why the gtx 980 over the rest price/longevity wise

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

If you're planning on playing at 1080p. Pick either the 290x or 970, both these cards perform really well in 1080p and it just boils down to your personal preference. 

In 2k resolution the 290x would be a better choice as the vram issue on the 970 might affect certain games. 

[Critizin]

I don't plan on playing on 4k, Sorry for not mentioning it. is there a Certain GTX 980 you recommend? 

 

MSI or G1 Gaming are both great 980's.

i personally have the MSI http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127834&cm_re=MSI_GTX_980-_-14-127-834-_-Product

 

and this things an OC beast.

 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

I don't plan on playing on 4k, Sorry for not mentioning it. is there a Certain GTX 980 you recommend? Can I also get a little more on your opinion haha. Why the gtx 980 over the rest price/longevity wise

 

Although your question is not directed to me. I'll just leave my thoughts, if you'd like to save some money, go with the 970/290x as they offer better price to

performance. You could also wait for the 380x or the 390x/390 if you're planning to get the 980. 

[Critizin]

Although your question is not directed to me. I'll just leave my thoughts, if you'd like to save some money, go with the 970/290x as they offer better price to

performance. You could also wait for the 380x or the 390x/390 if you're planning to get the 980. 

 

Wait 3 months for something that doesn't have a price point yet?

 

First rule of building computers, if your waiting for something better to come out, you will be waiting for ever.. the 390 is going to come out and nvidia will announce the 980ti then everyone will suggest waiting for that...

just buy the best you can right now and upgrade when it becomes to out of date for your liking.

[MylesHSG]

Yeah don't wait for new stuff to be released, unless its like a week away or something. You'll never get round to building the PC you'll always be waiting for the next thing to come out. Build your PC for now not later.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Wait 3 months for something that doesn't have a price point yet?

 

First rule of building computers, if your waiting for something better to come out, you will be waiting for ever.. the 390 is going to come out and nvidia will announce the 980ti then everyone will suggest waiting for that...

just buy the best you can right now and upgrade when it becomes to out of date for your liking.

 

Of course I don't advice on waiting.

And yes something better will always be coming out. But in all honesty 3 months isn't that long of a wait. 

Unless the 300 series won't be coming out in another year or so, I wouldn't consider waiting for the card.

OP does mention that he intends to hold onto the gpu for a couple of years before upgrading again. 

Waiting is just one of the options I've listed.

[Critizin]

Of course I don't advice on waiting.

And yes something better will always be coming out. But in all honesty 3 months isn't that long of a wait. 

Unless the 300 series won't be coming out in another year or so, I wouldn't consider waiting for the card.

OP does mention that he intends to hold onto the gpu for a couple of years before upgrading again. 

Waiting is just one of the options I've listed.

 

In the Tech world 3 months is a very long wait.

and a 980 he will be able to hold onto for more then just a couple years.

[hitsu1]

The 290x or 970 would be a good solution. You can always add a second card a year later if you find you need more power. If you just want raw power, grab a 295X2 and you'll be fine for a long time.

 

If DX12 does what the rumors say it does and adds the VRAM then you certainly will not have any problems.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

In the Tech world 3 months is a very long wait.

and a 980 he will be able to hold onto for more then just a couple years.

Well... You could argue that but the only cards expected to be the launching are the 300 series. The 980 has really poor price to performance ratio. OP could use the money for a 980 to have a 970 sli which would be even better

[Fate]

4GB (980) is enough for 4k, and 980 beats the shit out of 290x, even the 970 beats it

 

im mentioning the 980 because 290x 8GB is same price as 980

970 doesn't beat the 290x at 4k on average unless (probably) both are heavily overclocked, since the 970 overclocks better.

290x 8GB is useless without quite a few of them in crossfire, but we're getting off topic here since OP doesn't want 4k.

 

 

 

I don't plan on playing on 4k, Sorry for not mentioning it. is there a Certain GTX 980 you recommend? Can I also get a little more on your opinion haha. Why the gtx 980 over the rest price/longevity wise

Don't buy for the future, buy for now. 970/290(x) are great 1080p cards for now and the future. Spending much more on a 980 because you think it'll last you longer will end up costing you more money in the long run. 

[TheSpudtatoe]

The R9 290X has been stated by Linus to be optimised for greater than HD gaming. ie UHD 4K. The base card is 4gb so you really don't need a GPU with 8gb VRAM for 4K, which looks to be the future of gaming and future industry standard. So this should give you some head room if you ever decide on 4K but for 1080p this will be great.

 

Having said that, the 970 and 980 are also capable cards. Either card would be a good choice though the 980 is obviously the better of the two but is seriously overpriced, especially if you're not buying it for 4K. so the 970 would be better for your needs.

 

theres a lot of speculation around the 300 series from AMD with no real official statements from AMD just sites claiming 'leaked' information so you'll have to wait both for credible information and the launch itself. Which isn't a great idea as it'll prolong your purchase...

 

So it depends on your own personal preference really. Do you want to buy the card now or wait to compare the specs of the 300 series. But a 970 and 290x are both good choices for what you want out for your gaming experience.

[TheSpudtatoe]

First of all,  He never said anything about 4k..  not everyone wants to game in 4k.. infact most people do not want to. it requires to much GPU power to actually pull off in an inexpensive manner..

maybe you guys should ask the poor guy what he plans on gaming at before blowing suggestions out your ass.

a GTX 970 will still be good gaming at 1080p-1440p for a good couple years. same with the r9 290x, id suggest the r9 290x over the 970 for the little fact that once games start pushing past the 3.5GB VRAM on the 970 ur going to start to experiencing some micro stutter and no gamer wants to deal with that.

Now for my opinion i would say.  Just buy a GTX 980 and call it a day.

 

He did ask for a few years out of the card and the industry is slowly starting to migrating towards 4k as the new standard so it would be wise to at least consider it when picking the GPU 

[Arwanell]

970 doesn't beat the 290x at 4k on average unless (probably) both are heavily overclocked, since the 970 overclocks better.

290x 8GB is useless without quite a few of them in crossfire, but we're getting off topic here since OP doesn't want 4k.

 

i just said 980 is good enough for 4k, then i was refering to 1080/1440p, and there 980 destroys 290x, and 970 is better in 1080p, an similar in 1440p