What Video Card should I buy? (New Build)

[gary.hall82]

I'm just in the process of building a new PC that I will use everyday for work as well as getting into PC gaming after using consoles for years.

My build will have the following specification...

ASUS Z97 P Motherboard

EVGA SuperNova GS 650W PSU

Intel Core i5 4690K CPU (Devils Canyon)

8 GB DDR3.1600 MHz HyperX Savage RAM (1 x 8 GB)

120 GB Samsung EVO850 SSD + WD Black 1TB HDD

What Video Card should I buy to get 1080p graphics at 60fs that will last around 2 or more years for around £150 to £180 ($229 - $275).

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Gary

[OAcesync]

380 4GB or 280X

[Rolling Potatoe]

r9 290 if you can get it for that much, or a 280x

[evilarceus]

GTX 960 or R9 380 (I believe I saw a 380 for £180 somewhere)

Not sure if 960 will last for the next 2 years though. Haven't seen any benchmarks AT ALL lol

[ANewFace]

Used 290 if you can

[Opeth747]

290x.

Well, I was going to link a refurbished 290x for $260, but I guess you can only get it if you're in the states.

290.

[MDPS]

I'd try for a 960 4GB if you can afford it, and if not try for a 2GB model. Also, about your RAM. Its never a good idea to use one stick. Get 2 sticks of 4GB for the channels. If its too much try a lower speed. Anything above or at 1333MHz should be fine.

[Nicholas15]

I'd try for a 960 4GB if you can afford it, and if not try for a 2GB model. Also, about your RAM. Its never a good idea to use one stick. Get 2 sticks of 4GB for the channels. If its too much try a lower speed. Anything above or at 1333MHz should be fine.

^ this

[Elfuego]

^ this

 

Single vs Dual channel makes no difference in games.

[stealth80]

You could prob pick up a used 970 gtx or 290x for that

[gary.hall82]

@MDPS I bought the 1 x 8 GB stick as I plan to upgrade to another 8 GB stick giving me 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz in Dual Channel. Thanks for all the recommendations so far, I was looking at the 960 2 GB SSC and 4GB versions tonight, but wanted a more experienced opinion

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-evga-gtx-960-ssc-acx-20plus-pcie-30-(x16)-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1279mhz-boost-1342mhz-cores-1024-3x-?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CNKGwLzz1scCFUOZGwodATIOwQ

[stealth80]

@MDPS I bought the 1 x 8 GB stick as I plan to upgrade to another 8 GB stick giving me 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz in Dual Channel. Thanks for all the recommendations so far, I was looking at the 960 2 GB SSC and 4GB versions tonight, but wanted a more experienced opinion

 

Try and net a used 970/290x, they maybe used but they will age better

[,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,]

I'd try for a 960 4GB if you can afford it, and if not try for a 2GB model. Also, about your RAM. Its never a good idea to use one stick. Get 2 sticks of 4GB for the channels. If its too much try a lower speed. Anything above or at 1333MHz should be fine.

 

When the 960 was released at launch I would have said "No point in extra vRAM because the card can't handle higher textures anyway", but with new games the extra vRAM is helpful. I know my 2GB of vRAM was being maxed out in BO2.

[Morgan MLGman]

If you need a new card then this is the best you can go with that budget:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr9280x3gbd5t2dheoc

However I'd recommend looking for a used, but better one.

[TheConverter]

Msi R9 390

[gary.hall82]

Think I may hold out for a bit and save for a graphics card in the £250 to £300 price range. I'd much rather have a card that's gonna last than cheap out now and have to upgrade later.

I like the look of this one

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-evga-gtx-970-superclocked-acx-20-pcie-30-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1165mhz-boost-1317mhz-cores-1664-dp-h?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=COv-35_21scCFQgUGwodgNUPmg

And it'd only be another £70 ish to spend ?

[stealth80]

I have that card it is good (especially on water)

 

However ....

 

the AMD 390 can be had for around the same price, it trades blows with 970 and beats it in some titles, has 8GB Vram and if early signs are anything like what we can expect, AMD has the advantage for DX12.

 

Downside, needs a better PSU and consumes more power

 

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-sapphire-radeon-r9-390-nitro-oc-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6000mhz-gddr5-1010mhz-gpu-2560-streams-dp-hdm

[TheConverter]

Think I may hold out for a bit and save for a graphics card in the £250 to £300 price range. I'd much rather have a card that's gonna last than cheap out now and have to upgrade later.

I like the look of this one

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-evga-gtx-970-superclocked-acx-20-pcie-30-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1165mhz-boost-1317mhz-cores-1664-dp-h?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=COv-35_21scCFQgUGwodgNUPmg

And it'd only be another £70 ish to spend ?

 

GTX 970 is trash and old.

 

Try to save some money on other parts and get this: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9390gaming8g

[SteveGrabowski0]

I would ditch the tiny SSD so you could up your GPU budget 60 pounds to get an R9 290 instead of an R9 380. Here is a very good 290.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I0K670E/?tag=pcp0f-21

 

Going so small on SSD doesn't make sense in the days of 60 GB game installs, and the R9 290 will actually get you 60 fps at ultra in most games. Instead of buying a crappy SSD and a midrange GPU, buy the good GPU now and then later on add a 500 GB 850 EVO so that you can actually have some games on it.

[stealth80]

GTX 970 is trash and old.

 

Try to save some money on other parts and get this: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9390gaming8g

 

Lol don't over sell it, it is marginally better in some games, albeit as I said I do think it is the better option at this time

 

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/

[Opeth747]

Don't get the 960, every other card mentioned outperforms it.

[TheConverter]

Lol don't over sell it, it is marginally better in some games, albeit as I said I do think it is the better option at this time

 

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/R9_390_PCS_Plus/

 

Well come back to me in 2 or 3 years when 16GB or 32GB will be the standard and let's see if the 970 is still holding up with 3.5GB

 

[SteveGrabowski0]

Think I may hold out for a bit and save for a graphics card in the £250 to £300 price range. I'd much rather have a card that's gonna last than cheap out now and have to upgrade later.

I like the look of this one

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-evga-gtx-970-superclocked-acx-20-pcie-30-7010mhz-gddr5-gpu-1165mhz-boost-1317mhz-cores-1664-dp-h?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=COv-35_21scCFQgUGwodgNUPmg

And it'd only be another £70 ish to spend ?

 

I have that exact card, and it's awesome for 1080p gaming. I can play everything but Witcher 3 at 60 fps locked at ultra. Witcher 3 I have on a mix of high and ultra with hairworks off. Eg., the ultra settings I have on are HBAO+ instead of SSAO since it makes the lighting look better, ultra water, ultra detail level, and the main setting I have turned down to high is shadows (they seem to cost me a few frames). I stay at 60 fps most of the time, but it's not locked like it is in almost everything else I have played on it.

 

But the card has some downsides too. For one, it's generally a lousy overclocker. I can get +51 on the core and I run it +100 on the memory since it makes a real difference in Witcher 3's performance (I measured a 4 fps difference from a steady 53 fps to a steady 57 fps testing in a storm), but it's not too stable with that +100 on the memory. In general that specific 970 isn't regarded as a good overclocker because of its 4+2 phase power delivery. I do think this one would be worth the extra 15 pounds since it has better power delivery and I hear many people on the EVGA forums getting this one to 1500 MHz.

 

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/NVIDIA+GeForce/GeForce+GTX+970/EVGA+NVIDIA+GTX+970+SSC+rev2.00+ACX+2.0+4GB+Graphics+Card+%2B+FREE+MGS+-+THE+PHANTOM+PAIN+GAME%21+?productId=62794&source=pcpartpicker

 

By contrast my 970 SC (the 2974-KR model you linked) I can only get a 1367 MHz boost clock (the +51 MHz above the factory overclock I mentioned earlier), which boosts to 1418 MHz ingame thanks to GPU Boost 2.0.

[stealth80]

Well come back to me in 2 or 3 years when 16GB or 32GB will be the standard and let's see if the 970 is still holding up with 3.5GB

 

 

when 16gb and 32gb are the standard, the 8gb on the 390 will be no use either? your statement

[stealth80]

I have that exact card, and it's awesome for 1080p gaming. I can play everything but Witcher 3 at 60 fps locked at ultra. Witcher 3 I have on a mix of high and ultra with hairworks off. Eg., the ultra settings I have on are HBAO+ instead of SSAO since it makes the lighting look better, ultra water, ultra detail level, and the main setting I have turned down to high is shadows (they seem to cost me a few frames). I stay at 60 fps most of the time, but it's not locked like it is in almost everything else I have played on it.

 

But the card has some downsides too. For one, it's generally a lousy overclocker. I can get +51 on the core and I run it +100 on the memory since it makes a real difference in Witcher 3's performance (I measured a 4 fps difference from a steady 53 fps to a steady 57 fps testing in a storm), but it's not too stable with that +100 on the memory. In general that specific 970 isn't regarded as a good overclocker because of its 4+2 phase power delivery. I do think this one would be worth the extra 15 pounds since it has better power delivery and I hear many people on the EVGA forums getting this one to 1500 MHz.

 

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/NVIDIA+GeForce/GeForce+GTX+970/EVGA+NVIDIA+GTX+970+SSC+rev2.00+ACX+2.0+4GB+Graphics+Card+%2B+FREE+MGS+-+THE+PHANTOM+PAIN+GAME%21+?productId=62794&source=pcpartpicker

 

I have it on water and managed 1268 on the core yesterday, however I got good clocks on the memory. However the coil whine, omg the coil whine ...