22 replies to this topic

[FlipOver]

Hello all.

I have been looking around Graphics Cards on the market for a future purchase.

I've used TomsHardware chart to figure out which one I would like to get and I figured it would be between the GTX 760 and the R9 280x/290.

Now, once I started looking around for prices on my countries suppliers, I found a tremendous amount of variations on each Graphics Card.

For example, GTX 760 we have:
- 2GB DDR5 and 4GB DDR5 (don't know which was referred to on Tom's)
- In the 4GB DDR5 we also have Asus (with MARS and STRIKER); MSI with one standard and another OC; EVGA has 3 different versions - one FTW, another standard, another SC; and so on...

Same deal with R9 Cards, we have around 30 versions of those between Asus, Sapphire, Gigabyte, MSI, XFX and so on...

All of these differ in price, in some cases quite a bit.

Now, can someone explain to me which one I should keep an eye out to track price variations, and the reasons for it?

Thanks,

FlipOver

[Lily from animove]

Well prices differ a bit, also depends on which fan is on them. Some come overclocked by manufacturer. Have a look at the clocking. If they don't differ, well then there isn't much of a difference except the Manufacturer, fan (possible noise and cooling abilities) and some "equipment". Bought my GTX 780 Ti from EVGA, they had a DVI Adabter and 2 power cable adapters in the package as well. These things sometimes make some diference in the price too.

Can't give you any advice about the manufacturer itself, because I rarely buy hardware to be able to tell you quality differences.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

280X unless you can scrimp up to the 770 in this instance.

In terms of Vram if your running at 1080p 2gb will suffice; 3GB+ for multi monitor

The price difference between brands is because hey come with varied different cooling solutions; some cards over clocked more than others and different power phase designs.

Different brands also have different returns policies.
Personally I stick to Asus;MSI and EVGA

Edited by DV McKenna, 28 August 2014 - 02:46 AM.

[FlipOver]

Lily from animove, on 28 August 2014 - 02:41 AM, said:

Well prices differ a bit, also depends on which fan is on them. Some come overclocked by manufacturer. Have a look at the clocking. If they don't differ, well then there isn't much of a difference except the Manufacturer, fan (possible noise and cooling abilities) and some "equipment". Bought my GTX 780 Ti from EVGA, they had a DVI Adabter and 2 power cable adapters in the package as well. These things sometimes make some diference in the price too.

Can't give you any advice about the manufacturer itself, because I rarely buy hardware to be able to tell you quality differences.

Well this already helped me put some things into perspective and understand a bit the price differences.
Some are speculations, some are due to improved "stuff" to improve cooling, noise.

But it seems they all have the same performance overall between the same type of GPU.

Thank you so much for this info.

[Flapdrol]

when looking at the differences between cards of the same type I'd look at warranty and the cooler (the coolers with big fans produce less noise).

the performance differences will all be very minor, especially in this game, which is almost always cpu bound.

[Keira RAVEN McKenna]

my new machine runs the GTX760 2Gb and it rocks this game

[Egomane]

FlipOver, on 28 August 2014 - 02:07 AM, said:

I have been looking around Graphics Cards on the market for a future purchase.

I've used TomsHardware chart to figure out which one I would like to get and I figured it would be between the GTX 760 and the R9 280x/290.

If you have the choice, take the R9 280X/290 as they are more powerful then the GTX 760.

FlipOver, on 28 August 2014 - 02:07 AM, said:

Now, once I started looking around for prices on my countries suppliers, I found a tremendous amount of variations on each Graphics Card.

For example, GTX 760 we have:
- 2GB DDR5 and 4GB DDR5 (don't know which was referred to on Tom's)
- In the 4GB DDR5 we also have Asus (with MARS and STRIKER); MSI with one standard and another OC; EVGA has 3 different versions - one FTW, another standard, another SC; and so on...

Same deal with R9 Cards, we have around 30 versions of those between Asus, Sapphire, Gigabyte, MSI, XFX and so on...

All of these differ in price, in some cases quite a bit.

Now, can someone explain to me which one I should keep an eye out to track price variations, and the reasons for it?

I'll try to make it as generall and as easy to understand as possible.

Bigger amount of Memory is better. It also increases the price. Do not concern yourself with the clock speed of the memory. There are to many factors to consider, to be sure there really is a performance boost. But if you want to look at it, higher is better (but only of you look at the same type of card (for example: GTX 760 vs GTX 760)).

The next thing you want to look at, is the cooling of the card. Stay away from anything with stock cooling (usually a single radial fan). The more and the bigger the fans are on the card, the better. Of course there are exceptions to this as well, but to explain that would be complicated.

You can also look at the clock speed of the GPU. Do not compare it between different card types. Just like it is with the memory, there are more factors to be considered, then an easy to understand guide could cover. You should again only compare it with identical card types (for example: R9 280 vs R9 280; R9 280X vs R9 280X; GTX 760 vs GTX 760; GTX 770 vs GTX 770).

An OC behind the card type usually only means, that the card is already overclocked at the factory, which is covered by the warranty. An overclocked card has more processing power then a stock clock version. This often comes at the price of higher noise volumes, as the card needs more power to run and therfore generates more excess heat that needs to be transfered off.

Price difference by brand name is often just that. Some brands see themself as more valuable. Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not.

If you have a budget you want to tell us about, we can take a look around for you and find the best card for your money. Or if you look at a specific card, you can link it here and we can attempt to rate it for you.

[Thorqemada]

The Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X is a wonderful Card - very low noise, OCed by factory (with a Switch disable OC), i am very happy with the Card.

http://www.sapphiret...&pid=2024&lid=1

Edited by Thorqemada, 28 August 2014 - 06:36 AM.

[Odins Fist]

GTX 770 4gb superclocked ediition EVGA..
.
Gonna run 3 monitors = No problem.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130945

If you want to sell your first born get this..
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814487001

Edited by Odins Fist, 30 August 2014 - 10:25 AM.

[MoonUnitBeta]

NCIX has a 770 going for just $300.

http://search.ncix.c...&showmessage=no

make an account an the price drops $80. It's only this cheap till Sept 30th. It fit my budget, runs everything at max. Even star citizen without any hiccups. I wouldn't get bent on which card is minutely better, this is a great deal for the card you get and will cater to your needs.

If you can't get this card, I'd definitely go for the 770 that Odin linked.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 30 August 2014 - 12:47 PM.

[Lord Letto]

Egomane, on 28 August 2014 - 04:27 AM, said:

If you have the choice, take the R9 280X/290 as they are more powerful then the GTX 760.

This

[Odins Fist]

Lord Letto, on 30 August 2014 - 02:58 PM, said:

This

Save a little... get better GPU

[FlipOver]

Guys thank you so much for your replies.

I feel I'm a bit more knowledgeable about all the price variations thanks to your answers.

Will be looking closely to the R9 280X/290 and GTX760 and see how their price fluctuates in the next couple months. Will probably go for the R9 but if the 760 get a good drop in price I might be tempted in getting that one. We will see, again thank you all for sharing your knowledge.

Edit - A 770 isn't out of the equation also... But time will tell.

Edited by FlipOver, 01 September 2014 - 01:01 AM.

[Keira RAVEN McKenna]

Forgot to mention, my PC not just the GTX760, is silent... totally silent. I love that!

[FlipOver]

AH Keira_NZ, on 01 September 2014 - 02:54 AM, said:

Forgot to mention, my PC not just the GTX760, is silent... totally silent. I love that!

Well that's a big plus since my main objective is to have a silent machine while running MW:O.

[xWiredx]

Unless you are going to resolutions higher than 1920x1080, you don't need 4GB of RAM on a GPU for most games right now. If fan noise is a concern, heat will be a point of concern, and Nvidia's 700 series is pretty much all-around more power-efficient, which means less heat and thus less fan noise. ASUS has a new line of cards out the addresses fan noise specifically.

[GunnyKintaro 01]

750 Ti I'm loving this card !!!

[Padjo]

In addition to everything mentioned above, keep an eye on deals for the next higher card. I bought a gtx 770 for the same as a 760 last week on amazon.... really happy with it.
If you wait a month or so, nvidia 9xx cards will launch and the older generation will probably drop in price alot.

[Lord Letto]

Padjo, on 02 September 2014 - 11:58 AM, said:

In addition to everything mentioned above, keep an eye on deals for the next higher card. I bought a gtx 770 for the same as a 760 last week on amazon.... really happy with it.
If you wait a month or so, nvidia 9xx cards will launch and the older generation will probably drop in price alot.

9xx? I think you mean 8xx?

[Padjo]

Nope, apparently they're going to skip the 8xx on desktop so it doesn't cause confusion with laptop gpus...