970/390 now or wait it out?

D

darrpara

Gawd
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
680
Currently building a new computer:

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $290.00)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler (Purchased For $19.99)
Motherboard: ASRock X99E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA2011-3 Narrow Motherboard (Purchased For $209.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($86.58 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($322.03 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($117.99 @ Directron)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($19.58 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($19.58 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12-1300 54.4 CFM 120mm Fan ($17.55 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-P12-1300 54.4 CFM 120mm Fan ($17.55 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A9x14 29.7 CFM 92mm Fan ($16.84 @ OutletPC)
Other: Ncase M1 (Purchased)
Total: $1336.69
As you can see I basically just need RAM, PSU, M.2 drive. I was wondering what you guys would do: Buy a cheap 970 or 390 and then upgrade when the new cards come out or just use a single unlocked 6950. I've been on the single 6950 for about 2 months in my current setup so I could probably chug along for a while longer. Would it be a waste of $ to buy a new card now and then upgrade again?

FWIW I am aiming for maxed 1440p gameplay. Plus I am hoping for less power usage and lower temps from the new cards which will help in my Ncase build.
 
You're looking at probably 5-6 months for new Nvidia cards unless you want the new Titan at $1000-1200 and longer for AMD, so it's up to you how long you want to wait.
 
So far AMD has shown new working silicon, nvidia not yet. I'd say 5-6 seems about right.

A 970/390 will be moved over to lower mid-tier when the next gen cards come out. At this point I would wait. However if you must change the 390 will probably fare better with next gen games & DX12 in the long run. (This is speculation based on current 7970/280x cards longevity and continued performance increases)
 
i think there both good buys today......unless your not in a rush to play games what choice do you have? I would sure as hell not buy a titan this close to the newer cards lol
 
If you can get a good deal (it would have to be a really good deal), you'll have a good experience for the better part of the year while waiting for a possible holiday deal on the new cards. Short of that, I also say wait.
 
For 1440p the 970 might not be the best investment in the long run. So either a 390 or wait.
 
Maybe grab a used 290X? ...same horsepower as the 390X and, imo, a better (and cheaper) choice than a new 970 or 390 for a stop-gap while waiting for the next gen parts to emerge.
 
Buy now and upgrade in a year. By then they will have most of the bugs worked out in the drivers.
Set aside $20.00 a week in the meantime and you'll have $1040.00 to use towards the new card which will make the price reasonable. :)
 
Buy one of them used, sell it off for approximately the same price when a new generation of cards come along
 
DejaWiz said:
Maybe grab a used 290X? ...same horsepower as the 390X and, imo, a better (and cheaper) choice than a new 970 or 390 for a stop-gap while waiting for the next gen parts to emerge.
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Second this.

Used 290X Lightning, probably can't be beat in terms of perf/value.
 
I would grab a cheaper card and keep it until Pascal/Polaris. You can sell the card towards the new GPU's later down the road.
 
buy a used/cheap 970 or 390 now. They should play 1440 ok, mostly maxed; the 390 should be somewhat better at 1440 depending on titles, at the cost of more power/heat. Upgrade after next gpu cycle settles in and prices drop a bit, maybe you can snag a used one for a decent price again.
 
Nothing is going to give you "Maxed" 1440p gameplay without looking at a 980 Ti. But let's assume you just mean really good at high but not ultra settings.

You're going to want either a highly clocked 970 or a used 980 as cheap as you can find.

Buying a standard 980 at new prices is insane right now.

You can also just bite the bullet and get a 980 Ti now and just skip the Pascal launch and reevaluate in 2 years.
 
We don't know anything concrete about the expected release date for Polaris or Pascal - it's all speculation at this point. We could see them in the next 3-4 months or we could see them towards the end of the year, we don't know. I'd buy now and just enjoy. Once the new cards are announced then just sell off what you have. I went ahead and just bought a R9 390 and will upgrade to Polaris or Pascal when they are released and selling at a reasonable price.

If you're looking for 1440p I'd recommend getting a R9 390. At 1080p the 390 and 970 are pretty much a wash and perform very similar - trading blows with each other from game to game. But once you hit 1440p then the R9 390 starts to stretch its legs a bit and begins to take a more consistent lead over the 970. We're also starting to see games take advantage of more than 4GB of VRam even at 1080p (GTA V, Shadows of Mordor, Rise of the Tomb Raider) which is also nice for the 390.
 
n=1 said:
Second this.

Used 290X Lightning, probably can't be beat in terms of perf/value.
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I third this. My main system is down for a few weeks, I had a 290X lightning in it, with a 970 in my other. I was forced to decide between the 2 cards on what to use due to 1 pci express slot, loaning the other card to a buddy. This week I tested 6 games swapping the 2 gpu's around and only Batman arkham asylum ran faster on the 970, barely. Average framerate was about 15% slower with similar min/max. I did heaven benchmark/crysis 3/metro LL/batman arkham asylum/shadows of mordor and witcher 3.
 
Used 290x is still pushing $300. 970 can be had below $300 new. Wouldn't the 970 be the better buy?
 
I would wait it out. Although I jumped to 980Ti and 390X so maybe I shouldnt be talking haha.
 
Get a 980 Ti. Only card worth purchasing right now. Probably can get a used one for about 500 on forums.
 
Not everybody wants to spend $500+ on a GPU, and not everybody has a 120Hz monitor. Two quick and dirty reasons why 980 Ti is most certainly NOT the "only card worth purchasing right now".

As I pointed out above, if someone is fine with used cards, a 290X Lightning for below $250 (or close to $200 even) is the absolute bang for buck right now.
 
n=1 said:
Not everybody wants to spend $500+ on a GPU, and not everybody has a 120Hz monitor. Two quick and dirty reasons why 980 Ti is most certainly NOT the "only card worth purchasing right now".

As I pointed out above, if someone is fine with used cards, a 290X Lightning for below $250 (or close to $200 even) is the absolute bang for buck right now.
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I'd have to agree, I also wouldn't want to spend $500+ now on a GPU when Pascal and Polaris are coming out in the next few months. I honestly wouldn't spend more than $300 right now and that is only if you absolutely have to get a new GPU (building a new PC from scratch, previous card died, or is extremely old and can't play any recent games anymore, etc). Otherwise I'd stick with what you have and see what will be revealed soon.

KickAssCop said:
Get a 980 Ti. Only card worth purchasing right now. Probably can get a used one for about 500 on forums.
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OP is asking about a GTX 970 or a R9 390 which are both ~$300 cards. Why even recommend him a 980 Ti that costs nearly 1.5-2x as much?
 
n=1 said:
Not everybody wants to spend $500+ on a GPU, and not everybody has a 120Hz monitor. Two quick and dirty reasons why 980 Ti is most certainly NOT the "only card worth purchasing right now".

As I pointed out above, if someone is fine with used cards, a 290X Lightning for below $250 (or close to $200 even) is the absolute bang for buck right now.
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Where are you finding used 290x lightnings for $200? Been looking for over 2 months and they are all 300+.
 
On this very own site. :)

$250 seems to be the average going price, but once every while a good deal rolls around.
 
The 390 is a more capable 1440p card than the 970, though, both are not ideal if the goal is "maxed". Though, certainly, both are far better than the 6950....

I wouldn't worry about what the future holds - there's always the next best card on the horizon at any given point in the future. If you have the cash to spend and are not happy with your current level of performance, that's the best time to upgrade. Thus, you can then pick the best card at that time to meet your expectations and budget....
 
Haven't seen a 290X on here for close to that. Lots of regular 290s go for that but zero lightnings. They tend to go for $300 - $500 when I do see them.
 
970 will hold you -- if that's not enough, buy one of the 980s from all the guys that went to 980Ti? It's a terrible upgrade but it's a great start. Wait for the new shit. I would have, but the ~$1300 I spent was expiring in 3 months, so I had no choice. Is 980Ti SLI nice? Goddamn right it is. Sadly, it'll be nothing in 3-6 months from now.

Climber said:
Haven't seen a 290X on here for close to that. Lots of regular 290s go for that but zero lightnings. They tend to go for $300 - $500 when I do see them.
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Anyone who pays $400+ for a 290X is out of their fucking mind.
 
Climber said:
Haven't seen a 290X on here for close to that. Lots of regular 290s go for that but zero lightnings. They tend to go for $300 - $500 when I do see them.
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What? Do a search for 290X Lightning on the FS/FT forum. First page results are all under $300. Highest $280, lowest $235 (local) or $250 (shipped). Here's another for $260.

Not sure where you're seeing these $300-$500 prices for 290X.
 
I can't search hard forums so I went back 10 pages looking for one and didn't see any. Searching ebay, craiglist, Amazon used, and Newegg all prices vary between 3-500 for a 290X lightning.
 
n=1 said:
What? Do a search for 290X Lightning on the FS/FT forum. First page results are all under $300. Highest $280, lowest $235 (local) or $250 (shipped). Here's another for $260.

Not sure where you're seeing these $300-$500 prices for 290X.
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Not sure if you looked at the dates on those. The most recent one is almost 2 months ago and the other two are 7-8 months ago...you don't really see them now. I have a feeling most people are now holding onto them and just waiting for the new cards to release. You'll see another huge surge of them right before the new cards drop, but at that point you'll probably want to get one of the new cards anyhow.
 
Climber said:
I can't search hard forums so I went back 10 pages looking for one and didn't see any. Searching ebay, craiglist, Amazon used, and Newegg all prices vary between 3-500 for a 290X lightning.
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Why are you not able to search [H]? Anyway I linked several in my post above. Amazon and Newegg never have good deals on used GPUs. Searching eBay, there's currently only two listings, one used starting at $270, and a "new other" for $350.

exlink said:
Not sure if you looked at the dates on those. The most recent one is almost 2 months ago and the other two are 7-8 months ago...you don't really see them now. I have a feeling most people are now holding onto them and just waiting for the new cards to release. You'll see another huge surge of them right before the new cards drop, but at that point you'll probably want to get one of the new cards anyhow.
Click to expand...

Lightning GPUs are usually pretty low volume anyway. Even 780 Lightning doesn't get a lot of hits if you look in FS/FT. But if you don't restrict yourself to the Lightning model, you can still find tons of good deals on a custom 290X. All the first page listings are no older than 2 weeks.

I suggested a Lightning because it's simply the best aftermarket 290X available. But if that's proving too hard to find these days, any decent custom 290X will do as well.
 
Searching [H] on my phone results in the screen popping up then disappearing. So I am unable to type anything in. When I get back home I'll be able to do a more thorough search but while traveling I'm unable to do much searching through [H].searching ebay and Amazon are where I normally go for used pricing.
 
I would go with the GTX 970, its great for most games now a days and if you look around you can find some great deals on some mint cards.
 
I would recommend a GTX 970 as well. I grabbed mines from EVGA's B Stock for $249.99. It was a temp GPU for me since I am stretching the life of my 1080P monitor. I want to wait it out until the new generation of GPU's drop before I decide to make the move to a 4K monitor.
 
I have a 6950/flashed to 6970. Would there be any point in going to a 970 or just waiting at this point?
 
Glyphic said:
I have a 6950/flashed to 6970. Would there be any point in going to a 970 or just waiting at this point?
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Depends if you feel your 69x0 is long in the tooth with what you use it for. A 970 would be quite a significant performance jump.
 
Grad a used card for the meantime if you feel inclined. Something like a 780 could bridge the gap.

Also, why not make the jump to Skylake with your build? It doesn't seem like you're being held back by a budget at this point.
 
DejaWiz said:
Depends if you feel your 69x0 is long in the tooth with what you use it for. A 970 would be quite a significant performance jump.
Click to expand...

I play at 1920x1200, I will say it runs Fallout 4 horribly, 30 FPS on low settings.
 
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