Need GPU recommendations

[raine]

I recently built a desktop, but the GPU is starting to have issues so I am looking for a better replacement. I want to try and keep the GPU budget somewhere between $250-$400, although if there is an unbeatable card a little over budget then feel free to recommend it. I was looking at this card, but unfortunately Newegg.com doesn't ship to Canada.

 

My current build is this. Please ignore the red text saying potential incompatability issues, it is talking about the wireless card which it is incorrect about.

 

A company with good customer service, a decent warranty and easy RMAs is preferred.

[TheSLSAMG]

You wouldn't want the card you linked anyways, the stock cooler on the R9 290/X is toasty.

 

I'd jump on Reddit's r/hardwareswap and see if they have any GTX 970s or R9 290Xes. It will bottleneck in some titles a little bit, but you will still have a significantly better gaming experience.

[xnoobftw]

http://www.amazon.ca/Sapphire-11227-00-40G-Version-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B00HJOXUKC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428628956&sr=8-1&keywords=r9+290x

Unbeatable

406CAD r9 290x tri-x

[ekuhlmann23]

I would say go for the GTX 970. It is a great performer and a great bang for the buck. If you want the best bang for the buck you can go for the R9 290 which is a bit slower and older that the 970 buy you can save $75 - $100. The final option is to wait for the new AMD cards which should come out soon. Still, I would say go for the 970 if you do not mind paying extra.

[raine]

You wouldn't want the card you linked anyways, the stock cooler on the R9 290/X is toasty.

 

I'd jump on Reddit's r/hardwareswap and see if they have any GTX 970s or R9 290Xes. It will bottleneck in some titles a little bit, but you will still have a significantly better gaming experience.

 

I would prefer to stay away from used GPUs as you have no way of knowing what kind of an environment it was run in.

 

I would say go for the GTX 970. It is a great performer and a great bang for the buck. If you want the best bang for the buck you can go for the R9 290 which is a bit slower and older that the 970 buy you can save $75 - $100. The final option is to wait for the new AMD cards which should come out soon. Still, I would say go for the 970 if you do not mind paying extra.

 

Won't the memory bus on the GTX 970 be a bottleneck when compared to the R9 290?

[TheSLSAMG]

I would prefer to stay away from used GPUs as you have no way of knowing what kind of an environment it was run in.

 

 

Won't the memory bus on the GTX 970 be a bottleneck when compared to the R9 290?

The GTX 970 as a card still performs better than the R9 290 in most if not all situations, maybe with 4K being the exception where the memory bus and segmented memory subsystem (the whole 3.5GB thing in a nutshell, the card has 4GB VRAM but the last 0.5GB is as slow as DDR3) keep it behind.

[xnoobftw]

I would prefer to stay away from used GPUs as you have no way of knowing what kind of an environment it was run in.

 

 

Won't the memory bus on the GTX 970 be a bottleneck when compared to the R9 290?

I've linked a r9 290x up top which outperforms the 970

[raine]

I'll order this one. Amazon has pretty good customer support for the first month ... after that I'll have to trust EVGA's reputation. I had a look at other sites and also compared prices with amazon.com ... with currency conversion accounted for this was about $30 cheaper than the one on amazon.com