Going 2560x1440 .. not sure which card to get

Riccochet

Riccochet

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Apr 11, 2007
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Trying to stay in the $350 price range to run a 2560x1440 panel. I guess my options are 970, 390 or 290x.

Looking for suggestions. I'm leaning towards the 970. But, I guess they all run around the same depending on the game. I mostly play FPS, so.
 
at that ress with that budget.. R9 290X all the way..
 
Used 290x 'cue the power usage brigade'...
That's like a modified performance car forum bitching about fuel usage.
 
no shits given about power usage. you think I'm trying to save the planet? lol

Only reason I bring up the 390 is due to the extra vram.
 
I would say any of those cards would be good. I doubt 8GB vs 4GB matters in most games. I'm running a 290 and it suits me pretty well at 1440. 290X would likely be cheapest and perhaps the best value. If you want to spend your entire budget, maybe a used 980 for a little extra speed as others have mentioned.
 
defaultluser said:
Doesn't help for 1440p. 4GB is plenty for that resolution.
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It depends on how important at what FPS he wants to play at. Some games can go above 4GB usage with AA enabled at with max textures at 1440p. But the cards he's looking at, running at those settings and depending on the games he's playing, he would get sub 60hz for sure.

So if you wanna get a card in your range with 4GB VRAM, being an FPS player, you might have to sacrifice image quality to get your FPS up anyway. But if you want image quality, then 4GB might not be enough.
 
I think if I go 290x I'll need a PSU update. Currently running a 650w Corsair.

Used 980's are a tad out of my price range. Besides, used. I don't like buying other peoples problems.
 
I'm currently using an overclocked 970. It's fine at 1440. Hard to argue.

But a 980 would fill in the rare areas where performance gets just a little too low, or you just really really want to turn the graphics options to max.

I agree entirely however that buying a 980 new is pointless against the new price of a 980 ti.

So 970, or 290x.

Either option won't leave you wanting too much.
 
HydroBudz said:
I think if I go 290x I'll need a PSU update. Currently running a 650w Corsair.
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No you dont. I've run 290X and 2600K with 450w PSU. Unless you plan on doing extreme OC's with that machine, 650w is plenty enough. I could run my 290X @ 1320 / 1600 and 2600K @ 5.4Ghz with 650w Corsair HX PSU and I'm pretty sure you are not going to do any extreme benchmark runs :p
 
290X.

Clock for clock the 390 is on par with a 290 performance wise. I would prefer the extra power of the 290X over the extra VRAM of the 390. You're going to need it at 2560x1440. Only a few games are VRAM hogs at that resolution (Dying Light and Shadows of Morder with Ultra Texture Pack are a couple examples).
 
Yeah, you'll be fine with that PSU. The 290x uses slightly less power than your sli setup.

I used to recommend the GTX 970 based on Tech Power Up "overall" results, but it's come to my attention that those results are massively unbalanced this year. Just the results of three wildly unbalanced games (Cars, Wolfenstein, Wow) is enough to make up for the 290x having a 10% or better performance advantage at 1440p in half a dozen recent games. And in every other game they're the same.
 
I know your wallet hydro :| buy 2x 290xs and be done with it :D
 
pliskin679 said:
I know your wallet hydro :| buy 2x 290xs and be done with it :D
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lol, I only want one card....for now. Maybe. Actually tired of SLI/Xfire bullshit drivers and non-scaling. The return doesn't justify the cost. At least not in this situation. If I were to drop that kind of money I'd go straight for a 980ti and call it a day.

But, since I'm upgrading my displays to Crossover 2795's I need more card than I have now. Only budget for 1 card for now.

Looks like a 290x will do it.
 
pliskin679 said:
I know your wallet hydro :| buy 2x 290xs and be done with it :D
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For that, he would probably need to get a new PSU. Something in the 800w range.

If the plan is dual card, I'd recommend GTX 980 Ti then. The CFX drivers are horrible. And you save $100 not buying a new PSU!
 
The monitor will also play a role. If its a GSYNC monitor there is no point going AMD. If its a freesync monitor it makes better sense to go with AMD.
 
osirus35 said:
The monitor will also play a role. If its a GSYNC monitor there is no point going AMD. If its a freesync monitor it makes better sense to go with AMD.
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Crossover 2795 is overclockable, but not to 144hz. No GSync or FreeSync.
 
defaultluser said:
For that, he would probably need to get a new PSU. Something in the 800w range.

If the plan is dual card, I'd recommend GTX 980 Ti then. The CFX drivers are horrible. And you save $100 not buying a new PSU!
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Hahha cfx is better than sli.... And right now amd drivers are better than nvidia drivers....
 
pliskin679 said:
wait, are you really rocking 560ti in sli like your sig implies?
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Probably why he's against another mGPU solution. When both of his cards are utilized he's a happy camper. I bet it's as fast as a 280x or GTX 780. As soon as a game doesn't support SLi his frame rate halves and he's pissed. 30Hz gaming is not fun when the last game you played ran at 60Hz. At least that was my experience with mGPU.
 
pliskin679 said:
wait, are you really rocking 560ti in sli like your sig implies?
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Yup. Haven't wanted or needed to upgrade since I game at 1080. But, these cards are getting long in the tooth for modern games. And my monitors are shitting the bed as well. Time to upgrade both.

cageymaru said:
Probably why he's against another mGPU solution. When both of his cards are utilized he's a happy camper. I bet it's as fast as a 280x or GTX 780. As soon as a game doesn't support SLi his frame rate halves and he's pissed. 30Hz gaming is not fun when the last game you played ran at 60Hz. At least that was my experience with mGPU.
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I'd say my cards are on par with a 670 or 680, at most, when scaled. They just aren't going to cut the mustard, or even support the resolution, of 2560x1440.
 
HydroBudz said:
I think if I go 290x I'll need a PSU update. Currently running a 650w Corsair.

Used 980's are a tad out of my price range. Besides, used. I don't like buying other peoples problems.
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Your PSU is fine for 290X. Though, the 290X is workable for 1440p and better than the 970, it won't run everything maxed out in the most difficult games today.

A 970 GTX doesn't cut it for a 1440p screen. A 980GTX will get you close, generally on par with the 290X.
 
I don't care about running maxed out. I don't game a lot. It should at least perform better at 1440 than my SLI 560ti's do at 1080.
 
290x will push 1440p just fine. I ran a GTX780 (pretty comparable) overclocked on my QX2710 and BF4 would run 60fps on ultra (not fully maxed of course).

QX2710 looks great IMO, I really like the monitor for the price. I went to 144hz TN and I will be split screening when I move.
 
doz said:
290x will push 1440p just fine. I ran a GTX780 (pretty comparable) overclocked on my QX2710 and BF4 would run 60fps on ultra (not fully maxed of course).

QX2710 looks great IMO, I really like the monitor for the price. I went to 144hz TN and I will be split screening when I move.
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Kind of what I though. I looked at a lot of 27" QHD displays. For $230 shipped the QX2710 was the best deal.
 
Yeah, it has limited connectivity and adjustments, but I found it to be great still. The glossy screen is awesome (no bullshit coating) and clarity is unreal. I prefer it over the Dell u2410 that we have and that has been my favorite monitor for years.
 
doz said:
Yeah, it has limited connectivity and adjustments, but I found it to be great still. The glossy screen is awesome (no bullshit coating) and clarity is unreal. I prefer it over the Dell u2410 that we have and that has been my favorite monitor for years.
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This model has DL-DVI, HDMI. Honestly, though, as long as it had one that worked with my vid card I wouldn't care. I don't have multiple devices connected to my monitors.

Not sure if it has a glossy panel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400981777918?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
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Save some money and get a 970. I ran 1440p on a single 970 just fine. Then you can just get a second one down the line if you need more juice.

Edit: Didn't see you already bought a 290x.
 
w35t said:
Save some money and get a 970. I ran 1440p on a single 970 just fine. Then you can just get a second one down the line if you need more juice.

Edit: Didn't see you already bought a 290x.
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Yup. $265 after MIR. Thought it was the better deal.
 
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