Wait for the R9 3xx cards! Or should you?

[TheCaptain53]

So everyone and their mother is telling everyone else to wait for the R9 3xx series to be released and on shelves before buying a new AMD graphics card. However, I've noticed something that may make this approach kind of dumb.

My local store doesn't seem to be replenishing their stock of AMD cards. I assume this is because they're clearing it out before bringing in the new AMD stock. However, it means the cost of AMD cards has gone WAY down.

The price of an R9 290 (MSI) at my local PC hardware store is £220. Pretty cheap considering the MSI GTX 970 at the same place is £280.

In my eyes, there couldn't be a better time to pick up an AMD card.

[Johannes_Lazor]

The price will drop even further for AMD when their next generation releases.

[iludez]

Your right dont wait to buy a rebranded card.Its what happened with the 280x's everyone bought 7970s

[mrswagbhinav]

This gen will probably be pretty cheap but no reason to buy them over last gen so either wait for the R9 Fury or go for the 980ti or 970.

[WaitForMeImOnDialUp]

i was waiting..but its not looking good. after the 16th if performance looks the same i might just get a 970-980ti and call it a day.

[SkilledRebuilds]

If your not buying a Fury, get a 200 series AMD card now for way cheaper

(290 series+4GB Vram you never use+factory using YOUR already limited OC headroom+the Bios being renamed = 390 Series)

[Guest]

It depends, do you want a new flagship GPU at, or around, 500+ bucks? Then you should definitely wait and see what Fury brings to the table. Do you just want a midrange card for a good price? Then pick up a 290 at a good price now and don't look back.

[TheCaptain53]

The price will drop even further for AMD when their next generation releases.

If there's any stock left, then sure. But at this rate, that doesn't look to be the case.

I've got a GTX 970, but I may pick up a 290 just because it's so damn cheap.

[Johannes_Lazor]

If there's any stock left, then sure. But at this rate, that doesn't look to be the case.

I've got a GTX 970, but I may pick up a 290 just because it's so damn cheap.

The 290(Non X) doesnt perform as good as the 970 when it comes to Gaming. But if you are mining Dogecoin or similar it is a whole other story.

[Sauron]

Waiting is never a bad option unless you need something as son as possible. Even if prices are good now because they're trying to finish stocks, it's very likely that when the new cards launch the prices will go even further down for a few weeks until the stocks are completely cleared. And by that time you'll know if the new series was worth waiting for or not.

 

I've got a GTX 970, but I may pick up a 290 just because it's so damn cheap.

 

Not a great idea. It's a very large, power hungry, hot card, which makes a lot of sense in your main system, but not much as a spare. If the goal is to keep a spare gpu in case your main one dies and you're waiting for a replacement, spend much less. It will only loose value over time and become less and less useful as games get more and more graphics intensive.

[SteveGrabowski0]

EDIT, didn't see OP already had a 970

[SteveGrabowski0]

If there's any stock left, then sure. But at this rate, that doesn't look to be the case.

I've got a GTX 970, but I may pick up a 290 just because it's so damn cheap.

 

Why do you want an inferior card just because it's cheaper?

[TheCaptain53]

Why do you want an inferior card just because it's cheaper?

Tempted to buy it for a second rig.

I dunno, I'm an idiot. 

[Agent181]

Tempted to buy it for a second rig.

I dunno, I'm an idiot. 

me too "high five"

[SeriousDad69]

According to this user( http://jayztwocents.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2911&sid=3392194ce3cddcaa4c269dbf328d3cdf) at the jayztwocents forum they got a hold of an R9 390 (not the 390x, just the 390 to be clear) and he said it performed almost as good as a 970(probably will perform a little better with driver tweaks) but was much quieter and much cooler than his EVGA GTX 970 SSC. The 390 he got had a non reference cooler from XFX, and XFX isn't really known for making the best coolers compared to other brands. The recommended power listed on the box is still 750w, but he didn't have the proper equipment for measuring power usage. It has 8GB of vRam so would be better for dual card high resolution set ups than the "4"GB the 970 has. He paid just over $400 for it, but factoring in tax and him getting it from a retail store and not online it's a pretty good deal imo. Should be sold online for no more than $350 maybe a little bit less.

Looks like AMD wants to kill all those retarded space heater jokes.

[alphaproject]

970 still wins and it's cheaper though.... why go AMD at this point unless you take a chance with the Fury. Even then... I'd still go 980 Ti.