7970 or R9 280x

[stefanels]

Hello all. I have a question regarding 3 videocards... i have a friend ho want's to change his GPU with a better one... He currently have a MSI 7870 HAWK and he have to choose between this 3 cards...
1. MSI 7970 Lightning
2. ASUS ROG 7970 Matrix Platinum
3. ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II Top

The price range of these cards are quite similar... Thanks in advance and i wait for your opinions...

 

[ne6togadno]

280x sapphir tri-x or tri-x toxic

 

[stefanels]

Just between this 3... thanks

 

[Naito]

I'd probably go the ASUS ROG 7970 Matrix Platinum, if price and space are no obstacles. Comes with higher factory clock, larger cooler, and a highly over-engineered custom PCB which can take much more power.

 

[Ja.KooLit]

Basically, 280x and 7970 is same architecture.

Supposedly, 7970 lighting is best for overclocking.

Ask your friend to get R9 290 instead.

The Tri-x 290 is the best or the vapor x 290.

But between the three, I would get the lightning for overclocking, hence get the 280x.

Nah, better 290. Really.

 

[mstenholm]

I'd probably go the ASUS ROG 7970 Matrix Platinum, if price and space are no obstacles. Comes with higher factory clock, larger cooler, and a highly over-engineered custom PCB which can take much more power.

+1 and I got the ASUS R9 280X DirectCU II Top which is a poor OC'er.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Does friend actually overclock?

 

[buildzoid]

The ROG has the best cooler and if you OC has some really awesome features

 

[vega22]

lightning is better for extreme clocking, rog will be better day to day card for average user.

 

[ne6togadno]

Just between this 3... thanks

ok lets try again
if you have to chose between those 3 get sapphir 280x tri-x or tri-x toxic

 

[buildzoid]

ok lets try again
if you have to chose between those 3 get sapphir 280x tri-x or tri-x toxic

Those might not be available wherever he lives. Sapphire cards are sold out here for very long stretches of time.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Voted MSI Lightning.

Its a pretty sweet card for overclocking and aesthetics.

 

[stefanels]

my friend doesn't OC at all... his PC has an PhenomII X4 965, 8Gb ddr3, corsair TX650 psu and gaming at FullHD on a 27" monitor... i am to vote for the Matrix Platinum

 

[ne6togadno]

Those might not be available wherever he lives. Sapphire cards are sold out here for very long stretches of time.

did you checked the link?
things that are sold out are resupplied in few days max 1 week
got my 290x from this store. delivered whitin 3 working days and i live just south of where op comes from.
if he need card delivered to spain i bet he will get it even faster.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

The 7970 and 280x have very similar bases. They've got the same architecture, and are functionally in the same performance band due to being one generation apart.

Assuming you're not overclocking to the moon, the 280x is where you want to go. It has all the newer features, and will be supported longer than the 7970. If compute power and OCing is where you want to go, then the 7970 is a better choice.


All told though, another two weeks might mean a bit of difference here. Nvidea is supposed to announce the new 9xx series GPUs this month, and that will likely mean a price drop on the AMD offerings to compensate for their relative power/performance decrease. If you were to put a 290x up against the 7970 the winner would be the former without question.

 

[buildzoid]

did you checked the link?
things that are sold out are resupplied in few days max 1 week
got my 290x from this store. delivered whitin 3 working days and i live just south of where op comes from.
if he need card delivered to spain i bet he will get it even faster.

It's for a friend so it may not be in his friends location.

 

[ne6togadno]

It's for a friend so it may not be in his friends location.

soo you live and work in cz but you are born in... lets say france (just for example), you have a friend that is so close to you that you would agree to ask in forums on behalf of him.
where did you met this friend? will you agree to ask in forums on behalf of someone that lives on thousands km away and you know him only from inet or you'd rather do you for someone you know from rl
look at @lilhasselhoffer's post. he gave the best adivce so far.

All told though, another two weeks might mean a bit of difference here. Nvidea is supposed to announce the new 9xx series GPUs this month, and that will likely mean a price drop on the AMD offerings to compensate for their relative power/performance decrease. If you were to put a 290x up against the 7970 the winner would be the former without question.

@stefanels
can you psl quote prices of cards in your list so we can orient about budget (or just available budget). there could be better possibilites at prices close to your budget that worth waiting to save some more $.
also i agree with @lilhasselhoffer that atm best you could do is to wait 2-3 weeks before you purchase. you will get better deals for sure.

 

[stefanels]

Both of the 7970 is 220 USD (170 Euro) and the R9 280X is 205 USD (160 Euro)...

 

[ne6togadno]

Both of the 7970 is 220 USD (170 Euro) and the R9 280X is 205 USD (160 Euro)...

kick ass prices.
matrix would be the least evil

 

[INSTG8R]

The 7970 and 280x have very similar bases. They've got the same architecture, and are functionally in the same performance band due to being one generation apart.

Assuming you're not overclocking to the moon, the 280x is where you want to go. It has all the newer features, and will be supported longer than the 7970. If compute power and OCing is where you want to go, then the 7970 is a better choice.


All told though, another two weeks might mean a bit of difference here. Nvidea is supposed to announce the new 9xx series GPUs this month, and that will likely mean a price drop on the AMD offerings to compensate for their relative power/performance decrease. If you were to put a 290x up against the 7970 the winner would be the former without question.

They are the same chip there is no difference, other than some are higher clocked and have they have Tru-Audio

 

[The Mac]

why not a 285?

newer tech...

 

[The N]

MSI 7970 is your choice. the ocing potential of 7970 is much better. 280x seems have problems even at stocked clocks. the price of 280x is lower than 7970, umm if dont have interest in ocing then go for cheaper one.........


a friend of mine faced a crashing while gaming prblem and vanished when downgrade the memory clocks. any body confirms if the 280x still have artifacts and crashing problem or resolved ?

 

[mstenholm]

MSI 7970 is your choice. the ocing potential of 7970 is much better. 280x seems have problems even at stocked clocks. the price of 280x is lower than 7970, umm if dont have interest in ocing then go for cheaper one.........


a friend of mine faced a crashing while gaming prblem and vanished when downgrade the memory clocks. any body confirms if the 280x still have artifacts and crashing problem or resolved ?

As far as I know the higher memory clock was the culprit. The newer bios downclock them. I don't have problems running stock clocks but if I want higher core clock I need to lower the memory ditto.

 

[The N]

that is still an issue for this level card. i this senario i definitely consider 7970 the sapphire 7970 vaporx was a monster i used it before. can easily oCed at 1200 at Stocked Voltage.

and why the market is full of 280x nowadays. and cheap too. like on AMAZON.COM MSI 280x priced at @ $279 New and $200 Used. i mean its raining 280x everywhere and quite cheap as well. any specific reason or just due to rebrand of 7970

 

[stefanels]

At the end he got the monster ASUS Matrix Platinum... the card looks and performs very good....