What Graphics card?

[Pokemoneuro]

Hello there! 

 

I need some help with choosing the right graphics card for my pc! I want a graphics card for gaming.

I want to play games like: Watch Dogs, Titanfall, GTA V (online) and maybe even Assasins Creed Unity...

I already got some advice from people in my own country (tweakers.net, Netherlands) and they say that with my budget of €300,- I have to choose a Gigabyte GV-R929OC-4GD. I have an 500W power supply so it would be ok.. If you see an graphics card that is barely as good as the Gigabyte GV-R929OC-4GD and maybe even cheaper, please say it, my parents don't like seeing me "wasting all my money"...

 

 

My specs are:

 

- Motherboard: Gigabyte H77-D3H
- Processor: Intel Core i5 3570 @ 3400 MHz (max: 3800)
- RAM: 8192 MB DDR3-SDRAM
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 
- Hard Drive 1: Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164 ATA Device (2000GB)
- Hard Drive 2: TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 ATA Device (1000GB)
- DVD-Rom Station: Toshiba-Samsung CDDVDW SH-224BB
- Monitor 1: Iiyama PL2481H - 23 inches
- Monitor 2: Dell Computer DELL 1703FP - 17 inches
- Networkcard: Attansic (Now owned by Atheros) AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet
- OS: Windows 8.1 Pro Professional 6.02.9200 (64-bit) (In some time it will be Windows 10)

[Mohenjo]

r9 290

[ZetZet]

R9 290 is a good choice. Your psu will be fine if it's a decent brand psu.

[PineappleHolidays]

R9 290

[Mohenjo]

heres a link to one 

http://www.amazon.de/Radeon-DirectCU-Grafikkarte-Speicher-DisplayPort/dp/B00HOW1Q46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434652078&sr=8-1&keywords=r9+290

[blueballs]

970 :

[PineappleHolidays]

970 :

For 300€ ?

[Chickenator]

Guys, a google search reveals that GV-R929OC-4GD is a 290.  I honestly would go with the Sapphire 290.  It is a little cheaper (at least in the U.S.), with the fact added that it's made by sapphire, which is to AMD as EVGA is to Nvidia.  Honestly, any R9 290 will do just fine.

[Sam Z Man]

The R9 290 is a perfect match, and the windforce cooler is great you should be able to max out any game at 1080p while still easily achieving 60fps.

[blueballs]

For 300€ ?

from Craigslist

[Chickenator]

For 300€ ?

The Cheapest (decent, non ITX) 970 was 330 USD on amazon, or about 263 Euros.  So a 970 is an option, but the R9 290 is about 280 USD on newegg, or about 240 Euros.

[PineappleHolidays]

The Cheapest (decent, non ITX) 970 was 330 USD on amazon, or about 263 Euros.  So a 970 is an option, but the R9 290 is about 280 USD on newegg, or about 240 Euros.

You can't transfer stuff just like that ...

Look at local prices, ofc if I go and buy in the US it would be cheaper, that's why people in the EU and other complain .

23% tax takes a toll on prices.

[PineappleHolidays]

The Cheapest (decent, non ITX) 970 was 330 USD on amazon, or about 263 Euros.  So a 970 is an option, but the R9 290 is about 280 USD on newegg, or about 240 Euros.

http://www.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp

And I would not get the shoddy cooler ones, the lowest I would go would be the windforce, so 350€

[Pokemoneuro]

I think my search is ended! I choose the R9 290!! I have a prefer for NVIDIA but if it is better and cheaper at the same time with an AMD the choice is made quickly... Now only hope the price isn't going up but is only lowering... Also here in the Netherlands there is 21% of sale taxes but the €300,- price is calculated incl. the sale taxes... BUT WAIT!! I now see that the Gigabyte GV-R929OC-4GD needs 600W of minimum power... and the Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB GDDR5 OC TRI-X, New Edition consumes a maximum of 250W on alternate... And on newegg they say that it needs minimal a power supply of 750W... What is happening!?!?!?

[Prysin]

the power consumption listed on sites are guidelines.

The card itself needs about 300 ish watt, but they say you need atleast 600w, because they have to take into account all the noobs who got no clue what they are doing, and does not know that the entire PC needs power, not just the grphics card.

With your system, id say you could get away with a 500w PSU, 550 to 750w to be safe.

In general, when building a "gaming" computer, you should get between 550w and 850w powersupply. 850w is only needed if you plan on running dual GFX cards in SLI or crossfire (2x R9 290 + rest of system is approximately 780w give or take a little)

in the end, 500w should be enough. But if you can get a good 600w PSU, such as a Corsair CX600M then you would be good to go.

I may have to suggest you get the R9 390 though, while 8GB memory is overkill, it is a few % better then the 290, but it also support a few more features that is nice to have, such as VSR (makes games look sharper) and better Vram efficiency. It is basically a factory OCd 290 with a few extra functions.

I think i saw one on newegg for 325 USD. Which i 970 territory, but it runs faster then the 970 for sure.

[Pokemoneuro]

the power consumption listed on sites are guidelines.

The card itself needs about 300 ish watt, but they say you need atleast 600w, because they have to take into account all the noobs who got no clue what they are doing, and does not know that the entire PC needs power, not just the grphics card.

With your system, id say you could get away with a 500w PSU, 550 to 750w to be safe.

In general, when building a "gaming" computer, you should get between 550w and 850w powersupply. 850w is only needed if you plan on running dual GFX cards in SLI or crossfire (2x R9 290 + rest of system is approximately 780w give or take a little)

in the end, 500w should be enough. But if you can get a good 600w PSU, such as a Corsair CX600M then you would be good to go.

I may have to suggest you get the R9 390 though, while 8GB memory is overkill, it is a few % better then the 290, but it also support a few more features that is nice to have, such as VSR (makes games look sharper) and better Vram efficiency. It is basically a factory OCd 290 with a few extra functions.

I think i saw one on newegg for 325 USD. Which i 970 territory, but it runs faster then the 970 for sure.

 

 

Is my 8GB RAM overkill? And thx for the info. I think I just buy the R9 290. I will leave this open for more sugestions

[Prysin]

If you were referring to system RAM, then 8GB is currently the best amount. 4GB is often too little for a PC, 16GB and up only give you a benefit if you run rendering stuff or a ramdisk.

If you meant graphic card ram, or VRAM for short, then continue reading.

8GB graphic card RAM is total overkill, however what you want is the increased performance in addition to some added features that they enabled with the 390.

The extra 4GB of VRAM is just that, extra.

However the real benefit lies in the increased speed of the GDDR5 memory (they raised it from 5GHz to 6GHz), and the increased factory clock speed. They also did some underlying work regarding data compression, so basically the card will be more optimized.

It seems AMD has also tightened their binning process, which means the silicone of the chip itself should be of higher and more consistent quality.

the 390 is practially the 290, but there is some fine details that set it apart. According to OC3D on youtube, the MSI R9 390 Gaming version is a very good one, with well thought out cooling, and overall a solid card.

[Chickenator]

You can't transfer stuff just like that ...

Look at local prices, ofc if I go and buy in the US it would be cheaper, that's why people in the EU and other complain .

23% tax takes a toll on prices.

Apologize, but I don't know a good way to look at local prices.  I was simply looking at local prices and translating USD price into Euros.  I am aware that it won't be close to accurate.