GPU for Christmas... help!

[mwwwilson]

Looking for an HONEST (no fanboy bias) opinion on which would be best all around. Performance, FPS, cooling, etc.

NOTICE that I have dimensions in bold... because the card has to be less than 11 inches or 275mm in length to fit into my rig.

1) Open Box: PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X 3GBD5-T2DHE/OC Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

OPEN BOX!...
PowerColor AXR9 280X (3GBD5-T2DHE/OC)
Radeon R9 280X
Card Dimensions (L x H): 10.5" x 4.4"

Core Clock
880MHz
Boost Clock
1030MHz
Stream Processors
2048 Stream Processors
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
1500MHz (6.0Gbps)
Memory Size
3GB
Memory Interface
384-Bit
Memory Type
GDDR5


2) XFX R9-285A-CDFC Radeon R9 285 2GB 256-Bit DDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

XFX Radeon R9 (285R9-285A-CDFC)
Card Dimensions (L x H): 8.7" x 1.5"

Core Clock
918MHz
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
5500MHz
Memory Size
2GB
Memory Interface
256-Bit
Memory Type
DDR5


3) SAPPHIRE DUAL-X 100373-2L Radeon R9 280 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Sapphire Radeon R9 280 (100373-2L)
Card Dimensions (L x H): 10.3" x 4.4"

Core Clock
850MHz
Boost Clock
940MHz
Stream Processors
1792 Stream Processors
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
5000MHz
Memory Size
3GB
Memory Interface
384-Bit
Memory Type
GDDR5


4) ZOTAC ZT-70406-10P G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Zotac GeForce GTX 760 (ZT-70406-10P)
Card Dimensions (L x H): 9.45" x 4.38"

Core Clock
993 MHz
Boost Clock
1059 MHz
CUDA Cores
1152
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
6008MHz
Memory Size
4GB
Memory Interface
256-Bit
Memory Type
GDDR5

So, as you can see, I have tipped the selections toward the AMD side of things. I did this because they are all in the 384-bit family. That seems better than a 256-bit card... from what I read.

I have a ZOTAC GTX 550 Ti right now. I like Nvidia and I have never tried any AMD cards to draw a comparison. My current Zotac runs hot and from time to time I have to re-thermal paste the heatsink onto the GPU. I don't know if this is a Zotac thing or just a fluke card.

The OPEN BOX option (1) concerns me but NEWEGG is easy to deal with.
The Zotac option (4) concerns me because of my current card's heating issues.

This card will be strictly for gaming. I am looking for which is best.
Thanks Techies,
Mark W

 

[Dauntae]

I've had both brands and the main reason I stay with Nvidia now is because the drivers are updated regularly and the Geforce expierience program has some really nice features I really like. As for performance I'd have to say the 280X might be the winner on this, Not too sure what the 285 is in comparison to the 280X as I've not seen it in any comparisons. But out of honesty if around $200 was my budget I might have gotten the 760 and the fact it IS the 4GB edition it will have an extra gig over the others, Sold my 770 4GB to get my 970 and would not get a card with less now but that's just my personal preference. And keep in mind the AMD card are known to also run hot and draw a bit more power but they seem to be fine a little hotter, Not sure if you may have a fluke card or not but I find your 55TI running that hot a little odd, Might be the case you have it in is contributing if not enough air flow getting in.

Dauntae

 

[PP Mguire]

Looking for an HONEST (no fanboy bias) opinion on which would be best all around. Performance, FPS, cooling, etc.

NOTICE that I have dimensions in bold... because the card has to be less than 11 inches or 275mm in length to fit into my rig.

1) Open Box: PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X 3GBD5-T2DHE/OC Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

OPEN BOX!...
PowerColor AXR9 280X (3GBD5-T2DHE/OC)
Radeon R9 280X
Card Dimensions (L x H): 10.5" x 4.4"

Core Clock
880MHz
Boost Clock
1030MHz
Stream Processors
2048 Stream Processors
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
1500MHz (6.0Gbps)
Memory Size
3GB
Memory Interface
384-Bit
Memory Type
GDDR5


2) XFX R9-285A-CDFC Radeon R9 285 2GB 256-Bit DDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

XFX Radeon R9 (285R9-285A-CDFC)
Card Dimensions (L x H): 8.7" x 1.5"

Core Clock
918MHz
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
5500MHz
Memory Size
2GB
Memory Interface
256-Bit
Memory Type
DDR5


3) SAPPHIRE DUAL-X 100373-2L Radeon R9 280 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Sapphire Radeon R9 280 (100373-2L)
Card Dimensions (L x H): 10.3" x 4.4"

Core Clock
850MHz
Boost Clock
940MHz
Stream Processors
1792 Stream Processors
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
5000MHz
Memory Size
3GB
Memory Interface
384-Bit
Memory Type
GDDR5


4) ZOTAC ZT-70406-10P G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Zotac GeForce GTX 760 (ZT-70406-10P)
Card Dimensions (L x H): 9.45" x 4.38"

Core Clock
993 MHz
Boost Clock
1059 MHz
CUDA Cores
1152
Memory
Effective Memory Clock
6008MHz
Memory Size
4GB
Memory Interface
256-Bit
Memory Type
GDDR5

1 So, as you can see, I have tipped the selections toward the AMD side of things. I did this because they are all in the 384-bit family. That seems better than a 256-bit card... from what I read.

2 I have a ZOTAC GTX 550 Ti right now. I like Nvidia and I have never tried any AMD cards to draw a comparison. My current Zotac runs hot and from time to time I have to re-thermal paste the heatsink onto the GPU. I don't know if this is a Zotac thing or just a fluke card.

3 The OPEN BOX option (1) concerns me but NEWEGG is easy to deal with.
The Zotac option (4) concerns me because of my current card's heating issues.

This card will be strictly for gaming. I am looking for which is best.
Thanks Techies,
Mark W

1: Nope. 384 vs 256 is moot. A 256bit card running RAM at 7GHz will perform closer towards 512bit. If you're running 1080p you won't see any difference between VRAM bus width or speed, only size depending on game.

2: I think your card is just on the brink of kicking the bucket or your cooler isn't making proper contact. Since you're replacing it, not much issue anyways.

3: Like I said above. Also, Drogos here has a Zotac 970 and it's running perfectly for him.

It's a toss between the 280x and the 285 but the 280x is the clear winner in all aspects besides heat and power consumption. With a 200 dollar 280x in the picture I can't possibly recommend a 760 unless you wanted to stream.