Im in the same situation with almost the same hardware (3770K + ASUS DC II HD7950) but 1080p 120Hz monitor.
I was looking for a custom 290 but now im looking at the MSI R9 390 Gaming. It is faster than 290X and GTX970, it has 8GB ram, lower power consumption with a custom Large PCB and very quiet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7874&cm_re=msi_r9_390\-_-14-127-874-_-Product
3570K with HD7970 here. Also not sure what to get at this point.
Have two 1920x1200 displays, usually only use one when gaming. May get a third at some point and try triple monitor.
Only play a few games though they include FPS or other things that need some good GPU horsepower.
Was waiting for Fury X but that turned out to be a bit of a letdown. 980Ti seems like overkill and since the Fury X didn't debut at $550, I don't really have interest in stepping up to $650, but I do want some good future-proofing in whatever I do buy.
Planning to replace CPU & Mobo with Skylake or whatever Intel drops this fall, but open to getting the GPU sooner.
3570K with HD7970 here. Also not sure what to get at this point.
Have two 1920x1200 displays, usually only use one when gaming. May get a third at some point and try triple monitor.
Only play a few games though they include FPS or other things that need some good GPU horsepower.
Was waiting for Fury X but that turned out to be a bit of a letdown. 980Ti seems like overkill and since the Fury X didn't debut at $550, I don't really have interest in stepping up to $650, but I do want some good future-proofing in whatever I do buy.
Planning to replace CPU & Mobo with Skylake or whatever Intel drops this fall, but open to getting the GPU sooner.
The Sapphire Nitro 390 is the same price, though I'm not sure which is better.
I would go for the MSI,
1: Bigger(Taller) custom PCB, better for thermals and power consumption
2: Dual Larger fans vs 3x smaller
3: Back Plate
4: 3 years guaranty vs 2
edit: Also MSI has 3x pre-sets for those that dont manually OC,
(OC 1100MHz/6100MHz, Gaming(Default) at 1080MHz/6000MHz and Silent mode 1050MHz/6000MHz)
290 it is thanks folks
My only concern with the MSI is that, like my MSI 7950, the VRMs are going to run hot. I was looking around for some reviews of 290, 290x, 390, or 390x with the Twin Frozr and Tri-X coolers, and it looks like the VRM temperatures are closer to 100C with the Twin Frozr and closer to 75C with the Tri-X. Think that is something to be concerned about? Looks like the core also runs about 10C cooler under load on the Tri-X cards.
MSI 390X VRM temperatures: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,4178-11.html
Sapphire 290X VRM temperatures: http://www.legitreviews.com/asus-r9...re-r9-290x-tri-x-video-card-reviews_132158/11
I realize that isn't a perfect comparison since they aren't both 390s, but it was the closest thing I could find.