R9 290 or GTX 970?

[JumBie]

Any advice on which card I should grab? I can get a good deal on the R9 290 and I heard they are good overclockers. However, something about the 970 seems rather enticing. It has great margins and has a nice heat and power consumption. Any advice on which one to choose would be appreciated.

 

[TemjinGold]

You seem to know what you need to to make that decision. Performance between the 2 is fairly similar. It comes down to, is the nVidia brand and those other things you listed worth the price difference. Only you can answer that.

 

[Mondozei]

A 970 is going to overclock a lot better than a 290. It also has higher performance even unclocked. Are you sure you're not thinking about the 290X?

 

[JumBie]

A 970 is going to overclock a lot better than a 290. It also has higher performance even unclocked. Are you sure you're not thinking about the 290X?

No I was thinking about the R9 290, which can produce better results than a stock 290x when overclocked. Only reason being that I can get it over a 290x for a great price. However, within that range the 970 is the only competition and while a bit pricey it seems like a great card. Just worried that maybe newer games might not take to kindly to the R9 290.

 

[Hitman928]

If money is biggest factor, get the 290, it does fine with new games. If power/heat are biggest factor get the 970.

Just to be sure, is the 290 a reference or custom design?

 

[JumBie]

If money is biggest factor, get the 290, it does fine with new games. If power/heat are biggest factor get the 970.

Just to be sure, is the 290 a reference or custom design?

XFX DD version.

 

[wand3r3r]

290 for sure. 4 GB of usable ram without consequence and they are dirt cheap. 28nm is long in tooth and the 290 is by far the best value.

 

[IEC]

From TPU's recent R9 Fury Strix review:

The Radeon 290/X is still the best bang for your buck.

 

[JumBie]

From TPU's recent R9 Fury Strix review:

The Radeon 290/X is still the best bang for your buck.

Nice chart! Thanks for the info. Seems like all that's left to do now is lay down some cash.

 

[Lyfer]

390 is a better buy IMO unless you are getting the 290 at a really amazing price $220-$240. The MSI 390 is faster than a 290x/970 as well as close to a 390x in performance. The 8gb of ram is icing on the cake for future VRAM heavy games.

 

[IEC]

390 is a better buy IMO unless you are getting the 290 at a really amazing price $220-$240. The MSI 390 is faster than a 290x/970 as well as close to a 390x in performance. The 8gb of ram is icing on the cake for future VRAM heavy games.

Yeah I should have noted that. If you can find a Radeon 290 for <$250 it is a great deal. A 390 still has some positives like better cooling, faster stock performance than a 290X, and the extra VRAM. So as much as I hate the "future proof" term it's marginally better in that regard than a 970 or even a 290.

 

[RussianSensation]

390 is a better buy IMO unless you are getting the 290 at a really amazing price $220-$240. The MSI 390 is faster than a 290x/970 as well as close to a 390x in performance. The 8gb of ram is icing on the cake for future VRAM heavy games.

Good point. At $310, might as well spend $20 extra and get a 390 that beats a 970 stock vs. stock or OC vs. OC.

After-market R9 290 = reference 290X in performance, all for $240, with lifetime warranty

vs.

Cheapest good after-market 970 cards are ~ $310.

I think it's way better to save $70 and just reinvest it towards 14nm/16nm HBM2 GPUs in 2 years.

 

[Silverforce11]

A 970 is going to overclock a lot better than a 290. It also has higher performance even unclocked. Are you sure you're not thinking about the 290X?

R290 can do 1.2Ghz (~25% OC), similar to 970 that can do 1.45Ghz.

R290 is going to out-last 970 just like it outlasted its former competitor, the 780! How the mighty Kepler has fallen, a fate awaiting Maxwell with Pascal's arrival.

Definitely agree with RS, pocket the $ difference, put it in a jar.. and you'll have a 14/16nm GPU for cheaper.

 

[Unoid]

290! also based on AMD VS NVIDIA historical performance improvements, the 290 in another year will be performing better than 970.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The 290 is easily the best deal on the market right now until they are gone. Titan OG (or better longterm) performance for $250! I think the 290 is the perfect card to be sitting on until the node changes. When you look at benchmark charts in a macro view you realize the few fps that separate the 970, aftermarket 290 or even the 390 don't really make a huge difference in playability. Why not get the 290 then, and get some games instead? I mean sure the 390 is a better card, but not worth it better unless you are crossfiring them at 4k I think given the results we have seen.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

The really good 290s aren't cheap anymore. Most of the good 290s are $270 and up. The only one left in the $250 range on better than reference clocks is the Gigabyte Windforce for $243 after rebate from newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125500

That's the 290 I'd get now. PowerColor seems to have just released a new PCS+ card, but it's at the stock 947 MHz so it's not the killer binned one that you could always find for less than $250 a month ago. If you want a 290 get it now and don't screw around, because they have gone way up in price this last month to the point you might as well drop the $330 and get the 390 if you can't jump on that Gigabyte 290 in time before newegg runs out.

 

[Midwayman]

There is also the fact that dx12 is looking like it will be kinder to the GCN cards, and they'll benefit more for low level optimization done for the consoles.

 

[werepossum]

The really good 290s aren't cheap anymore. Most of the good 290s are $270 and up. The only one left in the $250 range on better than reference clocks is the Gigabyte Windforce for $243 after rebate from newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125500

That's the 290 I'd get now. PowerColor seems to have just released a new PCS+ card, but it's at the stock 947 MHz so it's not the killer binned one that you could always find for less than $250 a month ago. If you want a 290 get it now and don't screw around, because they have gone way up in price this last month to the point you might as well drop the $330 and get the 390 if you can't jump on that Gigabyte 290 in time before newegg runs out.

It's worth pointing out that the Gigabyte card has 76 reviews and is mustering only three eggs.

 

[RussianSensation]

It's worth pointing out that the Gigabyte card has 76 reviews and is mustering only three eggs.

XFX R9 290 980mhz Black Edition with Lifetime Warranty for $240 + $2 shipping after MIR and 10% off, coupon is valid until July 23.

After-market 290 ~ reference 290X.

XFX R9 290 black edition is one of the quietest videocards ever made, from either camp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si_eX9FlBQQ

Both the 970 and 290 will become outdated at the same time anyway but $70-80 savings can be put towards the next upgrade. 4GB of real GDDR5 at full speed + DX12 is likely to benefit AMD more.

 

[werepossum]

XFX R9 290 980mhz Black Edition with Lifetime Warranty for $240 + $2 shipping after MIR and 10% off, coupon is valid until July 23.

After-market 290 ~ reference 290X.

XFX R9 290 black edition is one of the quietest videocards ever made, from either camp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si_eX9FlBQQ

Both the 970 and 290 will become outdated at the same time anyway but $70-80 savings can be put towards the next upgrade. 4GB of real GDDR5 at full speed + DX12 is likely to benefit AMD more.

I was pretty excited about this as I had not noticed that the $269.99 price was not including the 10% discount. So I loaded up a Youtube review so that I could listen to it as I worked. The second review I loaded immediately locked up my computer, requiring a full power-off cold reboot. I had eight drawings open. So now I'm going through drawings repairing them and seeing what I've lost. Not sure if this is a sign or not, but it's worth pointing out that two out of three defective video cards I've gotten in exactly thirty years of building computers have been XFX. I received two bad GTX275 cards in a row. XFX's support is slow slow slow and I had to jump through tons of hoops, but they stuck with me, which is good because, having not had a defective video card since maybe 1987 or 1988, had they told me the cards tested fine I would have believed it was merely something unique to my system that caused them to fail CounterStrike's self-test. Eventually XFX accepted both cards back, tested them, and replaced them, but I had to pay shipping back twice and was without a modern card (I was still on an XFX1950GT) for months. After the second defective 275 they suggested an AMD instead (which I had been about to demand, but it was their suggestion) and sent me an HD4690 IIRC, which was a decent but not exceptional card. When I rebuilt my box I bought a Sapphire HD6950 which has been a much, much better card than any of my recent cards; it has lasted me almost four years, making me think back to my 9800 Pro and TNT/TNT2 cards.

A slightly overclocked R9 290 for $240 after rebate is a hell of a deal. Now I'm not at all sure if I can go another hundred to get the faster 390. Wish I had a better handle on where Fallout 4's graphic texture mods are likely to top out in a year or two.

 

[guskline]

Selling one of my Sapphire Tri-X OC (1000 core/1300memory) R9 290s for $210 + shipping. It's in the For sale section.

 

[soccerballtux]

It's worth pointing out that the Gigabyte card has 76 reviews and is mustering only three eggs.

saw that too and was confused

 

[Headfoot]

Selling one of my Sapphire Tri-X OC (1000 core/1300memory) R9 290s for $210 + shipping. It's in the For sale section.

I'd do that for sure OP. Guskline is a regular here and stand up guy by all accounts