Non ref R9 290 vs GTX 780ti, New build

[qubit]

Problem is due to the bit coin and lite coin mining craze a non reference 290x at newegg et al is $699 - in 780ti price range.

That will soon pass, because graphics cards are no longer fast enough to make mining viable. It's all asics now.

EDIT: That's only true for Bitcoins, as explained below.

 

[Slizzo]

That will soon pass, because graphics cards are no longer fast enough to make mining viable. It's all asics now.

They're actually still quite popular for LiteCoins, and still perform very well there. (LiteCoin uses a different algorithm, so generally the ASICs that are built for BitCoin do not work with LiteCoin).

 

[Solaris17]

he is right asics will not run the scrypt algorithm so all crypto currencies using it will still rely on GPU farms.

 

[buildzoid]

If you look at HWbot OCing the R9 290(X)s @1150-1250mhz rival GTX 780/Titan/780 Ti @ 1300-1500mhz. But that's just true for benchmarks in games the scaling is worse so AMD cards loose by a couple frames but you can almost buy 2 R9 290s for the price of a 780Ti so I'd go for the R9 290. Also reference PCB AMD cards have better VRM designs than reference PCB Nvidia cards. And yes I am AMD biased but that's the fault of my GTX 590(It overheated at stock clocks) and a friends GTX 670(WTF does +20mhz stand for and why si power limited to 106%?).

 

[alwayssts]

I personally believe (and think most agree) that the performance level you should be looking for in this budget range is going to be smack dab between the stock 290x and 780ti, similar to around 120fps (or vicariously 60fps in many other games which equals similar performance in most cases) in that BF3 benchmark on the earlier page. How you get there is completely up to how you approach a card in general. It's likely going to be achievable on most 290s if you push it to the edge. It will be available on slightly overclocked aib 290x models at 'stock'. It is the performance of a stock 780ti.

Myself, I like saving money and tinkering...I would go for a 290 or 780 vanilla depending on the price. For others, they may like out-of-the-box. In the end overclocked, 780ti is going to be similar to a 290x because of similar limitations (power and memory bandwidth) with over-all clockspeed attainment and bottlenecks being mostly (outside of cards specifically binned and matched for certain clocks on both core and memory either per stock clock or unofficially through their bin spec) luck of the draw. The same is true for 780 and 290.

If you look at HWbot OCing the R9 290(X)s @1150-1250mhz rival GTX 780/Titan/780 Ti @ 1300-1500mhz. But that's just true for benchmarks in games the scaling is worse so AMD cards loose by a couple frames but you can almost buy 2 R9 290s for the price of a 780Ti so I'd go for the R9 290. Also reference PCB AMD cards have better VRM designs than reference PCB Nvidia cards. And yes I am AMD biased but that's the fault of my GTX 590(It overheated at stock clocks) and a friends GTX 670(WTF does +20mhz stand for and why si power limited to 106%?).

Amd's scaling is roughly 96-97% of nvidia's in rasterization gaming scenarios per flops+sfu ops (which is pretty linear as long as there is enough bandwidth and rops), which I have always thought to be the different tmu setup. It would make sense, as with how they each split their units up nvidia goes for overkill in that dept, and amd goes for efficiency, while the ideal number seems to be be pretty close to in the middle, if not slightly lower (more-or-less the inverse of what amd did with their core setup vs compute + special function for nvidia in 280 vs 770, where-as the ideal number is between 1792 and 2048, but closer to 1792 for pure [rasterization, not counting compute add-ons] gaming efficiency...around 1877...or pretty much what 290x is proportionally per rop). It's also something completely non-related to memory bandwidth, as when amd aibs clock their cards to compete, they go above the ideal for memory bandwidth/flop by that differential (around 3-4%). Sorry, for the digression, but it's one of those weird, semi-interesting differences in the archs that you have to consider if you want to compare them down to the last couple percent, just like the bottleneck of memory bandwidth.

 

[joyman]

Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC review. You must be insane to compare 290 to 780Ti. At least 50% more expensive and nowhere 50% performance. Just check your budget and expectations.

 

[sulfur]

170% price for 4fps more? Only mad would buy 780ti - seriously ;p
R9 290 non-ref would be great and... cheap imho.

 

[Vlada011]

I agree price of GTX780Ti should drop for about 50$.
After everything what NVIDIA done this year, customers deserve that.
Now they want to escape in Maxwell to make bigger distance than AMD and leave customers to overprice their performance.
Such greed is unseen in worse companies. First of all they should immediately make competition with unlocked GK110 chips on custom PCB.
And to continue with Maxwell on time. Like this they leave bunch of people who payed 700-720$ with locked cards, without games and now when they saw how and Ti is not something more than R9-290X they want to escape and sell stories with Maxwell. You will see that will be huge fight between R9-290X non reference models as MSI Lightening and NVIDIAs humiliation with +37 Voltage Core. I mean without custom BIOS on both. Afterburner VS Afterburner.
And I want all reviews fairly stories and humiliation of NVIDIA CEO if they deserve. No saving and sparing, nobody, they have enough hypnotized 15 old kids who curse AMD and wish probably to die all family of people employed in AMD. If AMD overpass with OC GTX780Ti I would like to see on all sites information about that. Because NVIDIA want to sell us craps. They will launch now Maxwell and overprice for few months AMD will launch same and better much cheaper, you saw sometimes and even 400$ cheaper for same performance and NVIDIA want every year to do that. Every year they will sell us their overprice locked crippled chips and dosing us performance. They are enemy of overclocking out of box. Every model less voltage possibility out of box. Without 0.150mV for me is as nothing. example 1000-1150 as Fermi or 1162-1300V as many Radeons in past years... now 0.037V. What is that??? That is not enough for 50MHz sometimes. 10-20 phases on graphic cards and 0.037 card have more phases than high end motherboard for Intel Extreme.

 

[consequential]

Hi all,

I'm also debating between custom 290x and 780Ti. All I want to do is run latest gen games and the next year or 2 on triple 27" monitors (60hz/1080p each).

Should I be worried about the 1GB of vram difference between the two (especially for the next year or two)?

Thanks!

 

[Vlada011]

For gaming NVIDIA always before Radeon after series ATI 5800 Cypress.
But GTX780Ti is expensive than R9-290X...
For example XFX R9-290X OC Dual Fan cost about 580-590e and GTX780Ti Classified cost 699e. GTX780Ti is clear gaming winner and about 15% stronger than Radeon but drivers are better and gaming is smoother too and card colder than Radeon, more space for OC too.

 

[phanbuey]

the ti is overpriced and the 290 is great value for performance. The new AMD drivers are buttery smooth too, so even though i LOVE my 780, I would vote for the 290 here hands down.

 

[consequential]

But guys, do I need to specifically care about the 1GB in VRAM difference? If the Ti was 4GB for the same price I think it'd be a no brainer for me but that is causing me to over think it.

Also, with the latest gen consoles using AMD, isn't it worth considering AMD for PC just for that reason alone? In addition perhaps mantle consideration?

 

[phanbuey]

But guys, do I need to specifically care about the 1GB in VRAM difference? If the Ti was 4GB for the same price I think it'd be a no brainer for me but that is causing me to over think it.

Also, with the latest gen consoles using AMD, isn't it worth considering AMD for PC just for that reason alone? In addition perhaps mantle consideration?

I would care more about mantle than about the 1gb of ram. That has shown not to matter much at all. Even if 1 game uses mantle successfully i think it would make a bigger playability dent then the extra ram. The Ti doesn't have enough performance advantage to warrant the price.

Can't help you with the consoles question - good consideration though.

If you have the cash to do it, get both cards - try them, and take/send back the one you don't like. You may pay $15 in restocking but at least it will give you piece of mind with your choice.

 

[buildzoid]

The 780 Ti(Stock PCB+non ref cooler) VS R9 290X(Stock PCB+non ref cooler) run down
780 Ti 11% faster at 1080p
780 Ti 8% faster at 1600P
780 Ti has 1GB less RAM
780 Ti pulls as much power as an R9 290X but has a worse VRM. 780 Ti VRM is definetly less than 300A rated whereas the R9 290X is 350A rated and uses IR MOSFETS and drivers
780 Ti has locked voltage control
780 Ti cost 27% more than the R9 290X
780 Ti has a boost algorithm that I can't stand
The cooler depends on the manufacturer but you can get sub 80C R9 290Xs and sub 80C GTX 780 Tis no problem
The drivers are equally good on both sides but I prefer AMD drivers since they hog less RAM and the CCC UI is better.

 

[Steevo]

Comparign a 290 to a Ti? Of course the Ti will have more performance, but it costs much more, and for the price liquid cooling and much better overclocks can be had from the 290, which will have some new features such as Mantle.

 

[phanbuey]

The 780 Ti(Stock PCB+non ref cooler) VS R9 290X(Stock PCB+non ref cooler) run down
780 Ti 11% faster at 1080p
780 Ti 8% faster at 1600P
780 Ti has 1GB less RAM
780 Ti pulls as much power as an R9 290X but has a worse VRM. 780 Ti VRM is definetly less than 300A rated whereas the R9 290X is 350A rated and uses IR MOSFETS and drivers
780 Ti has locked voltage control
780 Ti cost 27% more than the R9 290X
780 Ti has a boost algorithm that I can't stand
The cooler depends on the manufacturer but you can get sub 80C R9 290Xs and sub 80C GTX 780 Tis no problem
The drivers are equally good on both sides but I prefer AMD drivers since they hog less RAM and the CCC UI is better.

you can get rid of the boost algorithm really easily.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I think a lot of you guys are forgetting that 290s have had their price inflated due to Bitcoin mining demand. Most 290s(non ref) are up near $600 now, when before at launch they were $399 and 290x were $449.

Id just get the 780Ti at that point. They overclock like mad too.

You can also get a non reference 780 non ti for probably less then both, clock it to the sky, and beat both 290/290x and 780Tis

 

[Paladone]

if you care about the extra cost, go with the 290x, otherwise get the 780Ti; it will outperform the 290x in most things and they overclock very well.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

170% price for 4fps more? Only mad would buy 780ti - seriously ;p
R9 290 non-ref would be great and... cheap imho.

LOL no. Non reference 290 non x cards are up near $600. Where is that 170% price?

About a month ago you could have gotten a GTX780Ti from Newegg for $629.

 

[Vlada011]

GTX780Ti Classified OC much better than Radeon. If I saw good R9-290X DCII on stock clock you will hit 85C in Crysis 3 and similar games.
Elpida memory bed for mining, hotter than on NVIDIA, card push more than usually for competition with NVIDIA Titan, weaker than Titan.
GTX780Ti Classified cost 699e and definitely worth 100e more than any Radeon R9-290X...
I don't even need to talk how look NVIDIA vs AMD when performance is same, NVIDIA give much better experience and almost as few percent better card...
GTX780Ti worth 100e vs R9-290X.... But if you compare best Ti model with worse R9-290X model and cheapest than should describe and downclock of Radeon because higher temps and gaming on crazy 95C. R9-290X is completely copy of GTX480 if we talk about heat... Nothing more nothing less.
Imagine Radeon R9-290X non reference with Elpida memory vs 15% stronger GTX780Ti Classy with dual 90mm fans 14+3 phaase and 1020-1085 base clock depend of BIOS and Hynix Memory on 1900-2000MHz.... That's two world and I would give 100e more to enjoy next 2 years in real thing.
Mantle don't interest me at all before I saw 30 excellent games with Mantle, same PhysX.
PhysX was never reason because I go with NVIDIA, only little little plus.
I can imagine temp of Radeon R9-290X fabric OC as some GTX780Ti models...That can increase temps 10C more and without that Radeon is not nice with temps and Ti have space for more overclocking. Radeon R9-290X no some cards with real huge fabric clock, because no space at all.

 

[tokyoduong]

Considering most PC AAA titles in the future will be optimized for AMD cards, I would go with AMD cards. Just like back then when NVIDIA had the TWIWMTBP campaign getting AAA titles to optimize for their cards. I was buying NVIDIA cards back then. This is about your pocket and benefits. I only see one winner in the next 3 years and it's AMD.

 

[Vlada011]

I would rather leave PC gaming then pay AMD card. I still have tics of their kicking in games.
You can't imagine after one week when someone who used on Radeon cross on NVIDIA, everything became natural, more realistic, smoother, without freezing on 0.1sec...
Radeon interesting me same as Maxwell and Titan Black Edition, not at all.
Their Mantle and marketing how to better sell weak processor and strong graphic to finally work as Intel and NVIDIA in 3 games. Until Mantel see 10th game I my NVIDIA Volta will be weak.
Today I finally go in bank to open account and use card for my Pal Pay account.
They will need me for X99 and other shooping...
Next week it will work I hope.

 

[qubit]

Considering most PC AAA titles in the future will be optimized for AMD cards, I would go with AMD cards. Just like back then when NVIDIA had the TWIWMTBP campaign getting AAA titles to optimize for their cards. I was buying NVIDIA cards back then. This is about your pocket and benefits. I only see one winner in the next 3 years and it's AMD.

What makes you think "most" games will be optimized for AMD? NVIDIA isn't giving up on its developer relations, so if anything, they should be more equal, not all dominated by AMD.

 

[Vlada011]

Radeon is for miners... and that's end of story. Until our mine because available...
And more than half miners play games on NVIDIA near 10-20 Radeons and options for multi CF... That's fact.
Radeon have lot of help of reviews to stay competitive, special last series where give performance of GTX780 in almost intolerable noise and heat.
Non reference models are better but with little overclocking only and they became hot as NVIDIA GK110 reference, only little overclocking. And NVIDIA reference is bad option to because no matter on chip on 80-85C clock go down...And Accelero is so expensive that you can buy such overclocked models with such PCB for same price that's incredible.

 

[Deleted member 138597]

Limbo, if you're stil reading your post and well informed about the market, then you should know that R9 290/290X's price has gone up. Now if you'd ask, I will recommend to go for either Gigabyte GTX 780 Ti or, Gigabyte R9 290X Windforce 3X OC/SAPPHIRE Tri-X OC R9 290X. At about 10% OC, you'll get more performance on AMD than stock Nvidia GTX 780 Ti. And of course, AMD GPUs are great for Litecoin mining. You can check that detailed on Tom's Hardware. Anyway, if you're patient enough, wait for the AMD's dual GPU Vesuvias, the succesor of Radeon 7990 (which still better than GTX 780 Ti) and GTX 790 to come after the middle of this year.

If you can afford, you can go for 290X CFX x2, but I wouldn't suggest you that since it generates much heat and noise.