Refurbished R9 290 vs. Refurbished GTX770

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PGHammer

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I'm looking at factory-refurbished GPUs again - this time of the refurbished sort. (Why refurbished? I've actually had good luck with them - my current GPU is a refurb, and it's WAY outlasted the warranty.)

The choice is between the Visiontek R9 290 (NOT 290X) and the blower-cooled (also factory-refurbished) GTX770. Both support DX12; however, I have no idea if either supports 4K (later display upgrade). The GTX is $20USD pricier; both are at the same MicroCenter where I bought my current GPU - Rockville, MD. Power requirements are a great big non-issue - so are display drivers (definitively in the case of the GTX770, as I am running the current 365.10 drivers). Which has the best bang for the DX12 buck?

Also (completely separate question), which one supports 4K (if either)?
 
The 290X is for sure the better card. However, I think that some people reported problem with the stock cooler (ie 95C temps). The GTX 770 is equivalent to a 280X, which makes it much weaker. Both cards support 4k via DP.

Just a quick question, but how much VRAM does the 770 have? 2gb or 4gb? That'll make a big difference if you're planning on playing at 4k res.
 
htphm42 said:
The 290X is for sure the better card. However, I think that some people reported problem with the stock cooler (ie 95C temps). The GTX 770 is equivalent to a 280X, which makes it much weaker. Both cards support 4k via DP.

Just a quick question, but how much VRAM does the 770 have? 2gb or 4gb? That'll make a big difference if you're planning on playing at 4k res.
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Wouldn't even call it equivalent to a 280x.
 
The R9 290 is actually in another tier/category in comparison to the old GTX 770, its just way too much powerful to compare both cards. so the obvious choice is R9 290 and you will be receiving actually about ~3X maybe more performance than your 550TI but careful with that, as you will be extremely CPU limited with a card like that, being not able to enjoy fully performance of that card even with the help of DX12, and not only by how powerful is the card but also by the big driver overhead that AMD present in DX11 so you need a powerful CPU to help feed a card like that.

And I must ask, why buy those very year old cards ACTUALLY? I mean, nvidia anounced GTX 1070 to be available in June at 380$ with a bit more than Titan X performance which is again even a way bigger upgrade over your actual choices and that will make actual gen of cards even cheaper, so it's a matter of think really.. the GTX 770 is a really outdated card, and the R9 290 is going to be outdated kinda soon with the launch of AMD polaris cards, so my advice save a bit more for new gen cards.
 
The 290 is a better card however I would not buy one right now (ever). The new GTX cards are coming out the end of May and AMD is releasing its new cards shortly.

The 290 is hotter than an inferno. I have a custom cooling on mine and it's still hot.
The 300 series of AMD will be cheaper soon,
The new Polaris cards will have an updated less power/heat hungry 290 equivalent for probably mid $200.
As a last resort the 290 will be even cheaper.
 
If I were you I would wait a few weeks till the new cards released (as it pointed out above) and then buy refurbished 290X or GTX 970.
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Not sure if you already bought your cards, but the 290 is the winner there in performance. In power consumption, the 770 should do better. I had both and I would say I preferred the 770 in the end since it was just less noisy.
 
good luck finding a cheap 290, most of them are mining cryptocoins. cheapest ive seen them from a vendor and ive been looking is $200 but went out of stock in less then 24 hours. generally closer to $250 unless you find someone unaware of their value. for $250 might as well get a 390
 
buttons said:
good luck finding a cheap 290, most of them are mining cryptocoins. cheapest ive seen them from a vendor and ive been looking is $200 but went out of stock in less then 24 hours. generally closer to $250 unless you find someone unaware of their value. for $250 might as well get a 390
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That's not really a big thing anymore, anyone still mining crypto using GPUs is essentially stuck holding the bag at this point. None of the "new" coins seem to be going anywhere. Because of this Radeon resale prices have fallen significantly and probably will again as soon as the market feels like GTX 1080 an 1070 cards are readily available. I expect that correction will happen very soon.
 
Quix said:
That's not really a big thing anymore, anyone still mining crypto using GPUs is essentially stuck holding the bag at this point. None of the "new" coins seem to be going anywhere. Because of this Radeon resale prices have fallen significantly and probably will again as soon as the market feels like GTX 1080 an 1070 cards are readily available. I expect that correction will happen very soon.
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Actually it is. Just not bitcoin.
 
Quix said:
That's not really a big thing anymore, anyone still mining crypto using GPUs is essentially stuck holding the bag at this point. None of the "new" coins seem to be going anywhere. Because of this Radeon resale prices have fallen significantly and probably will again as soon as the market feels like GTX 1080 an 1070 cards are readily available. I expect that correction will happen very soon.
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I have been mining ethereum and decred coins with 8 video cards since start of april 2016. After bitcoin switched to asic, we switched to litecoin, when litecoin switched to asic, we went to X11 coins, now we are on ethereum. After the summer is over, i plan to grow to 16 video cards. If ethereum switches to Proof of Stake ill do decred.
 
FYI for 4k60 support you will need hdmi 2.0, so from either of those cards you will need to get a display port to hdmi 2 adapter. I do think the gtx 7xx series of cards can do a gimped 4:2:2 of 4k60 over the built in hdmi 1.4 slots, if you are in a pinch. If I am reading the Microcenter site correctly @ $239, you might as well go for a refurb 970 GTX, like on the EVGA Bstock site, EVGA - Products - B-Stock for a couple of bucks more ;) ... or wait for a deal on them once the market starts dumping them. I do not think there are any fry's out in your area but they had a 950 GTX for $100 AR, which would be my vote for best bang for the buck atm to get 4k60 output.
 
rhansen5_99 said:
FYI for 4k60 support you will need hdmi 2.0, so from either of those cards you will need to get a display port to hdmi 2 adapter.
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Almost all 4K computer monitors have a displayport input. If he is trying to hook up directly to a 4K TV, then HDMI might come into play.
 
I wouldnt buy anything used or new this close to the new cards....No fucking way!
 
R9 290 is around 30-35% faster than a GTX 770 and this might be bigger since Nvidia has stopped improving/crippled Kepler drivers
 
Yeah, AMD has a knack for refreshing their cards, but this has the advantage that the drivers tend to improve performance for (much?) longer periods of time than nVidia.

With Pascal out now, I would not be surprised if Maxwell gets put on the back burner within the next half a year.
 
Get the 290. The default blower works just fine. I recommend re-pasting the core. Also you can set the target temp for the card lower in than 95c( I use 88) and set the Max fan speed in the 70-80% range. At stock speeds this should make the card perfectly stable just a bit loud..
 
290. If the GTX770 is the 4gb variant then it might have a chance in defending its place in some aspects but the 2gb variant is hopelessly outdated. Modern games eat VRAM like bread when you start to turn the settings up, one of the biggest changes we got when games moved from PS3/X360 ports to current gen ports. 290 may be hotter (and possibly louder depending on cooler) but its just simply a better and faster card and does not have as bad memory bottleneck.

Honestly though, dont buy either. Wait a big longer for the GTX 1060 (or AMD Polaris equivalent) or save few bucks more for the upcoming 1070. The latter is trading blows with Titan X and 980 Ti, sometimes even surpassing both, and is still priced on the relatively affordable enthusiast-midrange level. A cheap 1060 should be a killer for budget builds, and if the AMD Polaris rumors are true then so will they be. Just wait for few months more, I believe you will regret if you dont. Keplers and old GCN's time is simply over.
 
A 770 even with 4GB is basically a 960. (depending on tessellation, among other factors)

I'd def go with the 290 any day of the week.
 
I wish people would quit parroting the 95c stuff. The card works just fine at 95c
 
Further, I've owned several 290s and 290xs (both reference and after-market) and none have hit 95c, even after hours of gaming. It's a hot card, yes, and is designed to handle the heat, but what are people doing to these cards to make them run 95c (honest question)?
 
harmattan said:
Further, I've owned several 290s and 290xs (both reference and after-market) and none have hit 95c, even after hours of gaming. It's a hot card, yes, and is designed to handle the heat, but what are people doing to these cards to make them run 95c (honest question)?
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The cards are literally fine for 24/7 operation at 95c.
 
harmattan said:
Further, I've owned several 290s and 290xs (both reference and after-market) and none have hit 95c, even after hours of gaming. It's a hot card, yes, and is designed to handle the heat, but what are people doing to these cards to make them run 95c (honest question)?
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If you don't change the temperature target the fan profile is much more relaxed which it will hit 95c every time.
 
harmattan said:
Further, I've owned several 290s and 290xs (both reference and after-market) and none have hit 95c, even after hours of gaming. It's a hot card, yes, and is designed to handle the heat, but what are people doing to these cards to make them run 95c (honest question)?
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It gets to 95c, trust me.
 
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