Build Advice GPU upgrade: 280x Vs GTX770 - what to do?

Really dont know what to do here,

Asus R9 280x DirectCUII or the Gainward GTX 770 Phantom

There pretty much equally matched, same price but i can sell the games that come with the 770 for about £30-35 making a bit of a better deal.

But on one hand my mobo only supports crossfire so down the line i could not SLI the 770, but nvidia have exclusive effects in warframe (which i do play) and a few other games.
Both due in stock this week.

 

I would say go for the 280X.

 

Depends if you like the Physx effects tbh. I like the idea of it, but more often than not it seems like they've added in loads because they can and they go a bit OTT. IMO like in this video. Borderlands looked ok with it, and I like the effects on the Planetside 2 lifts.

Also depends how much money is an issue. If it's not at all, then could you not buy a new mobo later to SLI? If you're more on a budget then AMD has the games bundle that can get you some money back.

Personally, if money wasn't an issue I'd get nvidia because I could get a mobo to SLI if I wanted to, and I can have physx too if I wanted it.

 

I love the effects on Warframe, looks kinda dull when they're turned off
money is very much an issue, £250 is my limit for my upgrade.

but my main game is BF4 and will be for some time, which will scale a little better to AMD :/
saying that, stock for stock, 280x is only 3 fps faster in BF4

 

This might be worth a read. Seems to be possible to get SLI working on your current board.
http://www.overclock.net/t/586111/p6t-se-deal-thread-turned-discussion-cross-flash-to-p6t

 

ah! nice one! ill bookmark that!

Seems its getting mixed results, some it works perfectly, other loose there stable clocks and/or cant get it to work. but no bricking so worth a try in the future if i still have this mobo.

Iv pre-order the 770... selling the games makes this to much of a good deal.

 

Then entirely up to you The 770 is in your budget (oh ok, out of budget by £1.72), gives you more of what you want in warframe, and 3fps isn't much to lose in bf4. For me, SLI or CF wouldn't really come into consideration in the here and now if I was choosing, but that's also partly because I'm a 1 GFX card kinda man

Obviously saving money is always a plus, and the £30 from the possible sale of the games is good, but it is a possible sale not a guaranteed sale.

Though either card will make you happy as you well know so don't worry too much over which one you pick!

 

I was in the same situation, but considering that AMD graphics are powering the next-gen consoles, I cant help thinking that, that will be a big factor in upcoming games!

 

That did cross my mind dude! its a real hard call.

 

I know, I had originally ordered a Inno3D gtx 770 with the Titan cooler, but I just couldn't shake the fact that the 280x shares the same GCN architecture as the next-gen consoles. I really think that will play a big role in future-proofing.

 

Theres also mantle to consider, it could give the 280x the edge over a 770

 

Absolutely, it would give it an even bigger edge

Don't get me wrong, I am by no means an AMD fanboy, in fact I largely use nvidia cards, but in this case the argument for the 280x seems very strong.

 

Can you see it been implemented heavily in the next year? i don't really think so.

Battlefield 4 used Mantle tec, and made little to no difference as benchmarks will show.
There's been debate about mantle already here:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=264618

If dev's are going to put nvidia users off (over 60% of all computers in the world) buying their game because it won't perform as very well, devs and publishers are going to loose out on a lot of money! They can't afford for AMD to have this sort of exclusive lead they want.

I really do feel its always going to be down to cost/power Vs cost/power... Then pick the exclusive tec you like second. Like Eyefinity, G-sync, physX.

Something from AMD i really like the look of and feel it will help AMD a lot is that you can now start to crossfire their cards with odd match's.
Right now you can crossfire a 7970 with a 280x, and this is going to expand in the coming months.

 

Has mantle even been released yet?

Is that not because they are the same card.

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2013/11/04/amd-mantle-cloud-imperium-eidos-oxide/1
Rereading that it says to be implemented in an update, my mistake.

Well, the first batch was, the XTL updated versions which have come out this week (i think) are not. But still work with odd matching. This will be expanded so that it will work with cards with more architectural difference can crossfire.

You guys are twisting my arm..... may swop my order with a 280x...

 

Personally I would wait a few months and see how things go with mantle and if G-Sync offers anything special as well.

But if I had a gun to my head I would go with the AMD card. Since its so close to the alternative and there are a few games which will support mantle which could give it that edge over the 770 and if it doesn't, well they are pretty well matched anyway.

 

months it to long, i would always be waiting for the next best thing.
I wish i could look into the future to see if mantle is over hyped or really will make a difference.

 

also in favour of the 280x is 3gb ram

 

would any game use more than 2GB in 1200p? :/ iv been monitoring Vram usage in BF4 and it only goes a little over 1GB. Pretty sure no game will use more than 1.5GB unless using mad rez or multi monitor gaming.

Something thats been on nvidia's side in ARMA2/3 and DayZ (if it ever comes out! lol) will all run better on Nvidia.

Still should be buying a GPU for future proofing not so much current games :/
If the Nvidia didn't come with the free games to sell, it would be a no brainer and i would of originally gone with 280x, but i'm pretty poor at the moment. Made redundant almost 2 years ago and not been able to get a job from then. So the small saving really does count here.

considering changing my order still to the Asus 280x.

 

You guys should get a sales job with AMD...

Iv now got the R9 280X DirectCU II on its way instead....