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780 Lightning or R9 290?

Aznboy1993

Aznboy1993

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
2,078
I'm deciding on a new card to get (in the coming weeks) and I am currently sitting on either the GTX 780 Lightning for $515 (plus 3 free games I will probably sell off) or the R9 290 for $400 + $75 (for the Arctic Cooling Xtreme III). I plan on playing at 1080p @120fps (mainly CoD Ghosts). Which do you guys think will be the better buy (all things considered)?

Note: This is my "preference list" - things listed higher up take higher priority!
- Pure performance
- Overclockability
- Cost
- Heat output
- Noise
- Power draw
 
Nvidia wins
- Heat output
- Noise
- Power draw

Has yet to be seen
- Pure performance
- Overclockability
- Cost

we will only see this with non reference coolers on the 290... @ 1 screen i would probably go 780 lightning (even with 120hz) Ghost doesnt support mantle so its not like thats a factor either.
 
Mantle is the big question mark here, your current choice of primary game aside. If it delivers as promised with wide support, then AMD will surely be the best the choice.
 
well they will end up at the same price and about the same performance when both are oced. at just 1080, the 780 will probably be the slightly faster card overall card when both are oced. and of course the oced 290 will use more power and make more heat than the oced Lightning unless you use crazy high voltage on the 780.

so its up to you of course but I would personally pick the 780 Lightning.
 
Yeah, I was leaning on the 780 too, tbh. Y'all think it's better to wait for Black Friday to purchase or just buy now (and sell off games before their values drop)? It's currently at $515 after MIR on the Egg (with the 3 free games, of course).
 
Aznboy1993 said:
Yeah, I was leaning on the 780 too, tbh. Y'all think it's better to wait for Black Friday to purchase or just buy now (and sell off games before their values drop)? It's currently at $515 after MIR on the Egg (with the 3 free games, of course).
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well the 3 game bundle ends on Nov 26 and black friday is the 28th.
 
OP the R9 290 with an arctic accelero xtreme iii is the better choice

http://translate.google.com/transla...celero_xtreme_iii_meets_amd_r9_290/index6.php

you should know the arctic xtreme iii is quiet even at max fan speeds . this cooler is a beast. it does not even let R9 290 throttle in furmark :D

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-19.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1RYjETWR7U

btw R9 290 with the accelero xtreme iii cooler and voltage overclocking can hit 1200 - 1250 mhz and easily beat out a 1300 - 1350 mhz gtx 780. all of this with lower noise.
so performance, noise , cost are all in R9 290's favour. For features Mantle is around the corner with a tech reveal next week by Johan Andersson at APU summit 2013.

for GTX 780 the game bundle, Physx and G-Sync are advantages. for g-sync you need a g-sync enabled monitor which costs more. so think and decide.
 
at 1200 - 1250 mhz, he is looking at way over 200 additional watts being needed over the stock 290 so he better have a really stout power supply.
 
Another vote for the 290. Invest in the 780 and you will feel robbed 6 months from now. Look at all the angry Titan owners.
 
jmilcher said:
Another vote for the 290. Invest in the 780 and you will feel robbed 6 months from now. Look at all the angry Titan owners.
Click to expand...
how does that make any sense? after selling the games, the 780 will be CHEAPER than the 290 with a $75 cooler.
 
Smashing Young Man said:
Mantle is the big question mark here, your current choice of primary game aside. If it delivers as promised with wide support, then AMD will surely be the best the choice.
Click to expand...

I'm so sick of hearing about this whole mantle thing. I wish people would quit bringing it up like it's the next best thing. It's the same thing as saying you need 6 gigs of vram right now because games might need it in the future... God so stupid!!!! lol
 
hdgamer said:
I'm so sick of hearing about this whole mantle thing. I wish people would quit bringing it up like it's the next best thing. It's the same thing as saying you need 6 gigs of vram right now because games might need it in the future... God so stupid!!!! lol
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well it it will be out next month so you might as well stay off the forums if it bothers you that much. :p

I am guessing it will make about a 20% improvement but no matter what, I ready for it to be out so we can see what it brings.

and be prepared for the gsync talk to pick up too if mantle is actually worth a crap so we can have even more debates. lol
 
I was in the same boat, considering dual 290x or dual 780 Lightnings. With the 290x I was concerned about noise/heat, with 780 Lightnings the concern was slightly lower performance and the non ref design dumping all the heat inside my case.

Then the 290 non x dropped and it changed my plans. At $380 each, I went for two. The roughly $400 in savings over dual 290x is now going towards funding a custom water loop. I think this will be my best option as I will have close to 290x CF performance, plus cool and quiet operation that wont bake the interior of my case.
 
cannondale06 said:
well it it will be out next month so you might as well stay off the forums if it bothers you that much. :p

I am guessing it will make about a 20% improvement but no matter what, I ready for it to be out so we can see what it brings.

and be prepared for the gsync talk to pick up too if mantle is actually worth a crap so we can have even more debates. lol
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure how useful gsync will be to most people. You need an nvidia card plus a compatible monitor. That pretty much rules out all the 1440p/1600p monitors. I have 2 HP zr30w 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor (love it).

Mantle is more like physx, where all you need is a video card and compatible game. Where physx gives you extra effects, mantle will boost performance.
 
NukeDukem said:
I was in the same boat, considering dual 290x or dual 780 Lightnings. With the 290x I was concerned about noise/heat, with 780 Lightnings the concern was slightly lower performance and the non ref design dumping all the heat inside my case.

Then the 290 non x dropped and it changed my plans. At $380 each, I went for two. The roughly $400 in savings over dual 290x is now going towards funding a custom water loop. I think this will be my best option as I will have close to 290x CF performance, plus cool and quiet operation that wont bake the interior of my case.
Click to expand...

Grats on an awesome setup for the price!
 
NukeDukem said:
I was in the same boat, considering dual 290x or dual 780 Lightnings. With the 290x I was concerned about noise/heat, with 780 Lightnings the concern was slightly lower performance and the non ref design dumping all the heat inside my case.

Then the 290 non x dropped and it changed my plans. At $380 each, I went for two. The roughly $400 in savings over dual 290x is now going towards funding a custom water loop. I think this will be my best option as I will have close to 290x CF performance, plus cool and quiet operation that wont bake the interior of my case.
Click to expand...
$380 where? I see them for 386 at newegg if you use a code. and why say roughly 400 bucks when its closer to 300 bucks you saved if they really were 380 a piece?
 
trungracingdev said:
I'm not so sure how useful gsync will be to most people. You need an nvidia card plus a compatible monitor. That pretty much rules out all the 1440p/1600p monitors. I have 2 HP zr30w 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor (love it).

Mantle is more like physx, where all you need is a video card and compatible game. Where physx gives you extra effects, mantle will boost performance.
Click to expand...
yeah I was joking that people will keep bringing gsync up but it will not be the least bit relevant for most people anyway. its only going to be coming installed starting next year on that one 1080 144hz ASUS monitor. no other official announcements as for as the other actual screens we could see it on.
 
I had to make similar decision but I guess I was much more interested in a change from red to green just so I could see how effective 780 SLI cooling is because I am determined not to go water and try to have a quiet system if possible.

I'm guessing that the 290 series coolers from AMD affiliates will all be open air. I could absolutely be wrong... in which case I will probably end up regretting pulling the trigger on the first 780 SC--but I just gotta see what it's like on the other side right now. No way I could have considered 780 prices before r9 launch.

fanboy said:
This cooler also works on the 290

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426026

They even cooled a 480GTX down with this cooler just to show it cooling power.
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Those coolers are effective... but they are pretty ugly.

The coolers on the Sapphire and friends' upcoming 290 series releases will be pretty good I bet. I'm super curious to see who blings it up the most.

The worst thing about the Gelid coolers is that they aren't PWM at all. I controlled mine with motherboard header but it was kinda sketchy sometimes (too loud) and the adapter is fiddly, though it is sleeved.
 
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Newegg 5 percent discount + shoprunner free 2 day shipping and no sales tax I got two 290's shipped for $760 total. 290x options were bf4 editions at $580 each, $1160 for two. So yes assuming a 5 percent discount on those 290x, a max discount of $50, it would have been a $350 difference instead of $400... If the Egg had 290x in stock when I ordered, which they didn't.

I want to pull out my hair for writing all that out on my phone. The point was I saved a good chunk of money going 290 instead of 290x/780 lightning and that money is going towards a superior cooling solution.
 
NukeDukem said:
Newegg 5 percent discount + shoprunner free 2 day shipping and no sales tax I got two 290's shipped for $760 total. 290x options were bf4 editions at $580 each, $1160 for two. So yes assuming a 5 percent discount on those 290x, a max discount of $50, it would have been a $350 difference instead of $400... If the Egg had 290x in stock when I ordered, which they didn't.

I want to pull out my hair for writing all that out on my phone. The point was I saved a good chunk of money going 290 instead of 290x and that money is going towards a superior cooling solution.
Click to expand...
lol sorry you had to say on that from your phone too. I go crazy having to use even my 7 inch tablet to reply on during the work day.
 
NukeDukem said:
Newegg 5 percent discount + shoprunner free 2 day shipping and no sales tax I got two 290's shipped for $760 total. 290x options were bf4 editions at $580 each, $1160 for two. So yes assuming a 5 percent discount on those 290x, a max discount of $50, it would have been a $350 difference instead of $400... If the Egg had 290x in stock when I ordered, which they didn't.

I want to pull out my hair for writing all that out on my phone. The point was I saved a good chunk of money going 290 instead of 290x/780 lightning and that money is going towards a superior cooling solution.
Click to expand...

congrats on a smart purchase and an awesome price on the R9 290. heck at USD 380 you are close to half the price of 780 ti but even with a single r9 290 OC you will be close behind the heels of a 780 Ti OC when both are overclocked to max. with 2 cards the performance is mouth watering :)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=25264082
 
NukeDukem said:
Newegg 5 percent discount + shoprunner free 2 day shipping and no sales tax I got two 290's shipped for $760 total. 290x options were bf4 editions at $580 each, $1160 for two. So yes assuming a 5 percent discount on those 290x, a max discount of $50, it would have been a $350 difference instead of $400... If the Egg had 290x in stock when I ordered, which they didn't.

I want to pull out my hair for writing all that out on my phone. The point was I saved a good chunk of money going 290 instead of 290x/780 lightning and that money is going towards a superior cooling solution.
Click to expand...

Didn't $760 used to be about the cost of a single 780 lightning?
 
If you're deciding between the two, then I'd get the 780. I've used both AMD and Nvidia cards, but I've had excellent experience with Nvidia. Also, I love MSI, and I've had many MANY rigs and MSI mobo's have been the best boards over every other motherboard.

Having said that, I don't know about their video cards. I'm sure it's amazing too, but I've been a user of EVGA cards since the GeForce 3 or 4 card and as far as dealing with companies, EVGA is the best company I've dealt with. If I have a problem with a video card, EVGA will shoot me out a new one. Let me clarify by new, they send you a working card, which could be new or refurbished. I've had both, but if they don't have the card you own or if for some reason you keep having problems with a certain card, they'll upgrade you to a higher one for free. I had a 260 and had to replace it twice. It was under warranty. When the third one went bad, I expressed my concerns and they upgrade me to a 470!

I'm sorry, I didn't intend this to be an EVGA fanboy thread, just saying I'd get the EVGA ACX Cooler 03G-P4-2784-KR GeForce GTX 780 3GB for $529 + $10 post rebate at Amazon. Or, if you could wait until next year when Maxwell comes out by Nvidia.
 
Both are great cards, The lightning is pretty badass, and the cooler is top notch.

The 290 is $110-$120 cheaper, and just as good, but the cooling sucks ass, and you dont get free games like you do with the 780 lightning.

I am partial, so I will say the 780 lightnings, but you cant go wrong with either product.
 
Hmm, I pulled the trigger on the Lightning last night, but now after reading some of the responses I felt like I might have acted too soon. No worries, I can always return it for free within the 30-day period :p

My main concern with the R9 290 is the crappy stock cooler. When do you guys suppose we'll be seeing the custom PCBs and coolers for the third parties? And how much of a price differential from reference would that be?
 
Aznboy1993 said:
Hmm, I pulled the trigger on the Lightning last night, but now after reading some of the responses I felt like I might have acted too soon. No worries, I can always return it for free within the 30-day period :p

My main concern with the R9 290 is the crappy stock cooler. When do you guys suppose we'll be seeing the custom PCBs and coolers for the third parties? And how much of a price differential from reference would that be?
Click to expand...

I have a feeling you'll love your lightning. Should be able to hit at least 1200 mhz, while being extremely quiet at the same time.
 
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