reference 290x vs SLI OC 760

I am currently wanting to upgrade my GPU so i can make it a little smoother, some of the games i play are Anno, COH, Skyrim etc
Right now my setup consists of:
-i7 4770k w/LC
-Z87 Sabertooth
-2x16gb 1866 gskill
-950w Corsair PSU
-Asus DC2 OC gtx 760
-5 SSD's
-BenQ GL2760H (DVI) (wont be upgrading for at least a year or two)



-Whats my best bang for buck?
-is it worth getting a reference card especially with all the talk of overheating on the 290s?
-whats the risk of driver issues if i go with the 290x?

The 760 i can get locally for $150-$180 and the sapphire 290x reference card $250 (canadian $), I dont mind expanding if need be i just dont know what would be best for my style of gaming!

290x or 290? Still better off getting a gtx 970 anyway.

the 290/290x will be much better than the 760's in sli, I sli a pair of gigabyte 760oc cards and one of my 7970's run single just stomp them into the dirt.
a single 970 will stomp them, use less power doing it and will not need to be upgraded for much further into the future, get a 970.

I agree those are better cards but this is on a budget of less than $250... the 970 starts at 400 and the 980 is 600!

Your best bet is to save up some more. Don't waste your funds on another 760 to sli. You will not see any difference from 1 760 to 2 of them. In benching, maybe a few points, but that's about it. Games don't scale well in sli either.

1 760 + 1 760 = less than a 770, sell your 760, save some more cash, then buy the new card.
I'll be glad to throw in both my 760's and run a bench or two for you, I'll have fun, you'll get depressed.

on that budget a used 7970, 280 or 280x would be good choice, all $200 or less.

I've never dealt or heard much of reference cards but i can get a reference 290x for just over $200

a 290 or 290x is a fine choice. $200 is the tops, shipping included.

Reference cards are pretty loud though. The custom-cooler 290's/290x's might be a better option if the price difference isn't significant, since they're a lot quieter and aren't guaranteed to throttle with normal use.

for the 290 and 290X they make an aftermarket two fan cooler, and even better nzxt makes a mounting bracket to water cool them.

Anyone have any feelings on a used XFX 290x? its 225 canadian

I'd try for an ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte instead for the warranty support.

edit: Unless XFX offers serial# warranty in Canada - the above brands don't care if you're not the original owner.

ummmmm, 225 is more than 200, look around some more.

The reference 290 and 290x are fine driver-wise and would be excellent options for you. Yes, they'll be hot and loud, but as long as your case isn't a cardboard box with a couple holes poked in it, they're not going to throttle. I'm not sure what the market looks like for AMD cards in Canada, but if it $400 for a 970 and $225 for a reference 290x, then it's probably ~$250-275 for a non-reference 290x.

I would take the 290x at either of those price points against a $400 970. There's just not enough (or any in some cases) performance gain to justify the $ bump.

caddi daddi said:

I sli a pair of gigabyte 760oc cards and one of my 7970's run single just stomp them into the dirt.

Click to expand...

Benchmarks or it never happened.

7970 is ~5-10% below a 280x (7970ghz). 280x is on par with the 770. 760 is 10-20% below a 770. There's no way a single 7970 outperforms two 760s.

Please don't take this as me advocating FOR sli 760s. Terrible option for you or anyone.


Get the 290x. Wait for the next few cards to come out from both AMD and nvidia. Then make a decision on what your "real" upgrade will be.

You should be able to get most of what you put into a 290x back at that point, reselling it.

Awesome feedback everyone!
i'll sit on it for a while since its a first world problem lol

caddi daddi said:

1 760 + 1 760 = less than a 770, sell your 760, save some more cash, then buy the new card.
I'll be glad to throw in both my 760's and run a bench or two for you, I'll have fun, you'll get depressed.

Click to expand...

unless there are 760 strikers in sli