Given your situation and budget I wouldn't factor this in....I just realised, my mobo is not SLI compatible, only crossfire. Should this be an incentive for me to go with an AMD card? Is it a waste of money to even SLI/Crossfire in the first place?
Given your situation and budget I wouldn't factor this in....
You have to be carefull on this forum, there are people here who will do anything to sell you a AMD card.
I am going to list the cards in terms of actual performance.
The best card to buy around $300 is a used after-market R9 290 (1st pick) (many of them on Kijiji). The next best card is a used GTX780 (2nd pick). Below $280, only HD7970 / 7970Ghz editions make sense as everything else is overpriced in the used market in Canada. More on that later.
If we are discussing strictly new, the next best card under $300 is an R9 280X (3rd pick).
NCIX
Newegg
The next best card is the R9 380 4GB (4th pick). Can be easily found for <$300.
The next best card (5th on our list) is the GTX960 4GB.
seems pretty simple to me. You want something power efficient, and low cost. The GTX 960 is your only option. With $230 to play without, that's all you can offer. A GTX 970 or R9 390 is out of the question.
The R9 380 is a little stronger than the GTX 960 but consumes 70 watts more.
Bottomline, with your budget and restriction, the GTX 960 is your best option because that's all you can afford.
Bold statement but not all runs hot, mine runs well below the supposed max temperature target of 94 degrees and that's in a room that gets quite hot in the summer. Your statements are that of a fanboy. What happened to the statement "their is no such thing as overkill"?
So where does the heat go? Just because the cooler cools the card doesn't mean the card doesn't give off 250 watts of heat. I have a 500 watt space heater in my basement,I sure dont want even half of that blowing in the spring summer or fall.
A 500W PSU can handle a 380 4GB just fine. It is the fastest card within his budget based on new prices in Canada. There is no need to settle on a 960.
RS suggests looking at the used market at other cards, so that's a different factor as well worthy of discussion. That's where the PSU comes into the equation, because a 290 on a 500W can be worrisome. But there's no worry with a 380.
So where does the heat go? Just because the cooler cools the card doesn't mean the card doesn't give off 250 watts of heat. I have a 500 watt space heater in my basement,I sure dont want even half of that blowing in the spring summer or fall.
R9 290 if you can find one in your budget or GTX 970 if you can find one in budget but I dont think youll be able to.
I suggest you actually do the math on how much more power usage a video card makes in total kwH in a month and compare it to your actual monthly usage. The bottom line is its almost entirely immaterial because its a small power user used far less frequently than other significantly higher power using appliances. You can save the difference between a 290 and a 970 for 2 hours every day by using your drying machine 1-2 less time a month (depending on what kind of drying machine ofc). If you have more than one refrigerator or freezer you'd be vastly better served by consolidating your food items and turning one off. Putting that 3M plastic sealer over your windows is going to save way more energy than trying to micromanage a handful of watts on a video card.
Like I get at in my sig, it's literally 100% pointless to worry about video card power consumption if you are using ANY incandescent bulbs for lighting. Switch to CFL or LED and save vastly more power for vastly less $. 60w incandescent = ~15-20w CFL and ~5w LED and both have longer lifespans per bulb too. If you want the most power efficient gaming, its easiest to buy a console.
It's legit to worry about video card consumption once you've eliminated the big ticket items, but otherwise its penny wise and pound foolish.
I'm looking for a small family car, nothing special, just to take the kids to school and maybe visit grandma now and again, Honda or Chevy?
happy medium: GTX970, way better than a Honda
My teeth are a bit crooked, anyone know a good dentist?
happy medium: 2GB 960 can do that
My country has suffered a massive genocide, we need food, medicine and doctors.
happy medium: Get a 980ti, the only choice really. DO NOT BUY AMD OR SEEK INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE, BUY AN NVIDIA GRAPHICS CARD.
I'm looking for a good card to pair with a Freesync monitor. Recommendations? :awe:
I just got a r9 390 for $260.
Honestly if you're purchasin in your price range currently the "bragging" rights you have are almost nonexistent.Yes, you're right. There are no 290's or 970's that come anywhere near my price range. Also, I really appreciate the power saving tips! I will look into switching out my incandescent bulbs for CFL or LED, and I've ruled out console gaming a very long time ago due to undesired frame rates at undesired resolutions, pure bragging rights, and a couple other small, yet significant things. Do you have any suggestions for cards that are indeed in my price range?
I just got a r9 390 for $260.
Sorry, but that's $340.40 Cad, which is the currency I'm using, considering I'm in Canada! Notice how I started off with sorry and am now about to end in a thank you (typical stereotypical Canadian ethic), but thanks for the suggestion anyways!
Honestly if you're purchasin in your price range currently the "bragging" rights you have are almost nonexistent.
In previous gens sure, but with us being stuck on 28nm so long and with horrible ports, you're not getting much more than consoles in terms of graphics. Imo, it's the 290/970+ when it matters and when gpus finally see a node shrink then yes it'll blow consoles away.
Otherwise, I have no idea why so many pc gamers come in thinking they are "superior" to console gamers while rocking "low end" pc gear.
I shouldn't laugh at this, but I did.