770, 280X or 290

[JokerPower]

Hello guys. I'm planning to upgrade my video card and your assistance is required. Right now I have HIS 7850 2GB. It's ok, runs well games, but I'm looking to max out GTA 5, Far Cry 4, Alien, DOOM 4 beta and other interesting projects coming in autumn 2014-2015. So I need a powerful card for 2015 projects. I was looking for GTX 770, Radeon 280X or 290. I need your help to choose what fits me. My resolution is 1980 x 1200. CPU i5 3470. Radeon 290 seems to be the most powerful. But it's more expensive, and in some tests I've seen it's on the same level with 770 or the difference is not big. What do you think? Thanks for your time and suggestions.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

770 is a perfect card for 1080p imo.

 

[Vario]

290

 

[JokerPower]

770 is future proof? I mean for games 2015

 

[KingPing]

I would go for a 290.

Consider the 770 only if it has 4GB, 2GB is not enough for some games, and it'll be worst in 2015 IMO.

 

[Vario]

770 is future proof? I mean for games 2015

Should be but if you want to be doubly sure you can run things on ultra 1080 through late 2015 290 is the way to go.

 

[GhostRyder]

R9 290 is the best choice for future proofing.

In terms of performance it's normally the 290 on top even in overclocking compared to the other 2. 280x and 770 generally are identical in performance.

If you want the best future proof card if your choices, get an R9 290.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

770 is future proof? I mean for games 2015

I hate the idea of future proof when it comes to computer hardware in general. It seems to be all the rage these days on the forums, but you can never REALLY future proof a computer.

 

[Vario]

770 can run ultra on most things now but in a year or two probably only do high, thats why I say 290.

 

[JokerPower]

I hate the idea of future proof when it comes to computer hardware in general. It seems to be all the rage these days on the forums, but you can never REALLY future proof a computer.

Why not? 7850 did well, and even now it runs ok.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Why not? 7850 did well, and even now it runs ok.

Just buy the best hardware you can afford at the time. Its all you can really do.

 

[JokerPower]

Let's say I can afford 4 cards of 290X, Titan or 780 Ti. But the question is, do I really need this power? I don't think so. That's why it's important to find balance between performance and price.

Thanks for advices. I will stick with Sapphire 290 Tri-X.

 

[erocker]

You always need this power. The more powerful the card is now, the longer it will last you. It's up to you to decide whether the price is reasonable or not.

 

[64K]

Of your choices I would get the R9 290. It will be a very good upgrade in performance from that HD 7850 and I think you will be glad you have 4 GB VRAM in a year or two. 2GB might hold you back on down the road.

 

[buildzoid]

I hate the idea of future proof when it comes to computer hardware in general. It seems to be all the rage these days on the forums, but you can never REALLY future proof a computer.

My CPU strongly disagrees with that statement since there hasn't been a CPU until Haswell-E that's better by more than 5%.

As for which GPU OP should by the R9 290 is definitely the most powerful of the cards he listed

 

[droopyRO]

As said above futureproof is a myth, buy the cheapest one and wait for the nVidia 8xx series if you want to play 2015 titles maxed out.

CPU until Haswell-E that's better by more than 5%.

Or maybe because games(since this is the topic) suck at using more than 2 cores/threads. I really love it in ArmA 3 when my GPU is at 50% and the framerate goes down under 30, guess why that is.

 

[RealNeil]

I was going to get two R9-270s but I was offered a great deal on a pair of R9-280xs.

I have them in Crossfire now, and I'm glad I decided on the most powerful I could get at the time.

If you can afford the 290X, get it. Maybe another one later will adjust the trim on your system for a longer time.

Here is my firestrike score with the two 280X cards. This is with an older i7-2600K CPU.
Screen resolution was 1920 X 1080

 

[Scrizz]

yes, get the most powerful you can afford (within reason) lol
so 290 GMV

I've seen some for around $300.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Nothing is "future proof". It's an oxymoronic term. As always, get the best you can afford and upgrade it before it loses it's popularity so you can at least get something back from it. The best of what you mentioned is the 290, and it easily is the most future ready regarding VRAM.

 

[eidairaman1]

Get another 7850 or a 290/290X

 

[dr0thegreatest]

r9 290, price is pretty good for used cards and once you cross fire them they run just as good as the r9 295 for 1/3 of the price.

 

[Froggy]

Here's a decent price on a 290:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1032150-REG/xfx_force_r9_290a_edfd_radeon_r9_290_black.html

 

[RealNeil]

Here's a decent price on a 290:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1032150-REG/xfx_force_r9_290a_edfd_radeon_r9_290_black.html

That's a good price, and XFX is a good brand.

 

[Vario]

With regard to future proofing I'd say always buy cards with high price to performance and just rebuy the next generation when the prior is no longer delivering at least medium settings at your resolution. Usually $250-350 is the sweet spot for these cards.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_780_STRIX_6_GB/27.html

 

[eidairaman1]

I say buy whats in your budget and then if you have cfx/sli capable motherboard add a secondary 1-3 gens down when those cards are cheap.