Prepare for sub $500 GTX780's very soon!

[cvearl 60]

So here we go again. GTX 780 will be needing another trim on the pricing.

 

The $399 R9 290 should be hitting the shelves some time this month and is roughly the same performance as the GTX780 which is selling for $519 now (reduced from $649 when the R9 290X arrived last week LOL).

 

I predict $449 for GTX780 by December if not sooner. Depends when AMD Board Partners start announcing SKU's for Christmas Season. AMD is waiting to see what the GTX 780Ti comes out like. Faster than R9 290X is almost guaranteed. But it better not be $700. Not worth that. Should be launched at $649. But that is still way beyond my budget for gaming.

 

$399 for GTX780 performance is bang on. And the GTX780 at $449 is a real treat too! November/December is a good time to be a GPU customer.

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeon_r9_290_review_benchmarks,32.html

http://www.pcgamer.com/review/amd-radeon-r9-290-review/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_290/

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-review-benchmark,3659-20.html

[Alec 370]

The issue I see is AMD and FSX. When I had an ATI card, I remember the driver never did get along well with Flight Simulator. I had an issue where a line would cross my entire screen, and there was nothing I could do about it. Since then I learned NVIDIA all the way for Simulators. Has that changed in these last few years? I'm about to change my GPU, and The 399 dollars card that runs like a 780 looks great!

[cvearl 60]

The issue I see is AMD and FSX. When I had an ATI card, I remember the driver never did get along well with Flight Simulator. I had an issue where a line would cross my entire screen, and there was nothing I could do about it. Since then I learned NVIDIA all the way for Simulators. Has that changed in these last few years? I'm about to change my GPU, and The 399 dollars card that runs like a 780 looks great!

 

ATI in FSX has been fine since the 6000 series. I have been running AMD on simulators for a few years without issue and currently run a 7970Ghz edition which is now known as the R9 280X.

 

But to qualify it...

 

Driver version 13.4 is fine.

 

Issue 1 - Current BETA's have a problem with DX9 mode FSX that AMD said they would address.

 

Issue 2 - no matter the driver, in DX10 Preview mode with the DX10 Fixer Mod, you have to dial back water to Low 2x and cloud density to High or you get scenery texture spikes sometime during your flight. 8xSSAA while very smooth is a tease because it will also result in scenery spikes some time in your flight.

 

I am waiting on a few things.... P3D v 2.0 DX11 annnddd..... Arrival of partner boards for AMD on the R9 290. $399 for GTX780 performance is out of this world. 8xSSAA here I come.

 

If R9 290 does not work right with P3D v2.0 or AMD does not sort out the current beta 13.11 Beta 8 driver issue for FSX DX9, I will get a GTX 780 for my simulator.

 

I want to vote AMD with my wallet as I appreciate the $$$ per fps ratio they have always given the public. nVidia is a bit too greedy for me so I have that soft spot for AMD. But not soft enough to stop siming should the cards not play well going forward.

 

I fly every night on driver 13.4 in DX9 perfectly and glass smooth. And that is good for now. I really want 8xSSAA now and at a price I can afford. I am not paying $700 for the 780Ti. Forget it.

 

Charles.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

The issue I see is AMD and FSX. When I had an ATI card, I remember the driver never did get along well with Flight Simulator. I had an issue where a line would cross my entire screen, and there was nothing I could do about it. Since then I learned NVIDIA all the way for Simulators. Has that changed in these last few years? I'm about to change my GPU, and The 399 dollars card that runs like a 780 looks great!

 

Exactly. The latest AMD drivers broke FSX for me, and when I try to revert to older drivers then they just corrupt my entire Windows 7 installation and I'm forced to restore. AMD and FSX is a no-go.

[pmanhart 176]

While I would never buy AMD because of their problems with FSX (and history I've had with their boards and drivers), I definitely welcome the competition to nVidia to drive down the prices. Capitalism, hooyah!

 

I also don't like their decision to have the 290(X) operate at 95 degrees constantly, as that reminds me of the GTX 480 too much... My CPU already produces enough heat, no need to add a space heater to the inside of the case...

[Alec 370]

I'm looking at the benchs! Wowwwww, the R9-290 is crushing the Nvidia 780 for 100 dollars less!! Man... This is going to change a lot of things. I'll stay tuned to the next AMD driver to see if they fix FSX.

[cvearl 60]

Exactly. The latest AMD drivers broke FSX for me, and when I try to revert to older drivers then they just corrupt my entire Windows 7 installation and I'm forced to restore. AMD and FSX is a no-go.

I seriously don't understand why that happened to you. I have done that same procedure dozens of times on at least four different machines recently and FSX and windows 7 perfectly fine no issues whatsoever going back to 13.4.

 

C.

While I would never buy AMD because of their problems with FSX (and history I've had with their boards and drivers), I definitely welcome the competition to nVidia to drive down the prices. Capitalism, hooyah!

 

I also don't like their decision to have the 290(X) operate at 95 degrees constantly, as that reminds me of the GTX 480 too much... My CPU already produces enough heat, no need to add a space heater to the inside of the case...

Might just be the reference cooler but who knows. Board partners might come up with better cooling solutions they often do.

 

Personally I'm waiting for more reviews when those boards partners get that stuff done.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

I seriously don't understand why that happened to you. I have done that same procedure dozens of times on at least four different machines recently and FSX and windows 7 perfectly fine no issues whatsoever going back to 13.4.

 

C.

 

Ugh, believe, AMD drivers hate me for some reason. Lots of game compatibility issues, atikmdag.sys/atikmpag.sys BSODs, broken video playback, corruption or BSOD during installation... This is the last time I'm buying an AMD card. From now on I'll only go with NVIDIA.

[pmanhart 176]

 

 

Might just be the reference cooler but who knows. Board partners might come up with better cooling solutions they often do.

Personally I'm waiting for more reviews when those boards partners get that stuff done.

 

I absolutely agree, I don't understand why AMD chose to "keep it to themselves" this go around instead of allowing custom PCBs and coolers out at around the same time. They seem to be playing this gen closer to their chest than normal.

 

If the non-reference boards come out more in-line with the temps I get with my GTX 670 (high 20's idle, high 60's at full OC'ed to 1280 core @ 105% of Vcore), then I might consider getting one.

[pirocoptero 2]

Here in Brazil costs at least $ 2,000!

Taxes whenever it!

[Alec 370]

I've been reading about the R9 290. A custom cooler with a nice price tag, and drivers that work for simulators, and this card is the best thing you can get for your money! It's amazing the performance for it's price... Better than the 780 in many games when running 1080p and higher.

[cvearl 60]

Ugh, believe, AMD drivers hate me for some reason. Lots of game compatibility issues, atikmdag.sys/atikmpag.sys BSODs, broken video playback, corruption or BSOD during installation... This is the last time I'm buying an AMD card. From now on I'll only go with NVIDIA.

 

Crap man. If I had all those issues, I would too! LOL But I don't and neither do my friends that run the same hardware. Well... I have 7970 and they have 7950's but whatever. I use it for everything. I can play DIVX no issues, DVD's, AVI's, Netflix and Youtube up the wazzooo.

 

I have several games (most of which I never play more than 30 minutes because FSX calls my name) and glass smooth Ultra settings 1920x1080 goodness. But I too have jumped ship from both companies more than once in my life for the same reason as you state. My luck runs out, I get ###### and I go to the other side for a few years. Been there done that. ATI has been treating me good for over 3 years. But that GTX780 is looking good now that it is $500. But really that's over my budget. $400 is where it's at and the R9 290 is looking like a winner.

 

C.

 

I also don't like their decision to have the 290(X) operate at 95 degrees constantly, as that reminds me of the GTX 480 too much... My CPU already produces enough heat, no need to add a space heater to the inside of the case...

 

Steve at Techspot tore the IceQ X2 cooler off the HIS Radeon R9 280X and stuck it on their R9 290 sample. Cooling was dramatically improved. The FurMark stress test maxed out at 76 degrees while the card never exceeded 63 degrees in Crysis 3 and Battlefield 4. So it seems as expected the board partners will be able to solve the heat issues of the reference card.

 

GTX780 performance, quiet and 75 degrees! for $400! Wow. Common board partners lets go!!!!!

I absolutely agree, I don't understand why AMD chose to "keep it to themselves" this go around instead of allowing custom PCBs and coolers out at around the same time. They seem to be playing this gen closer to their chest than normal.

 

 

 

Rumor mill has it AMD is holding the partners at bay until nVidia drops the other shoe. The GTX780Ti very soon that kills their own Titan and the R9 290X at $700. How much faster than 290X? That's what AMD wants to know. My bet is on $649 and 10% faster.

 

Plus now rumored they are prepping a GTX780 Ghz Edition to replace the 780 and trump the 290. The Ghz edition 780 or whatever they call it, will probably be 10% faster than the R9 290 and standard 780 and I'm guessing priced to kill. $449 is still my bet and 10% faster across the board. But I would still opt for a current GTX780 or ASUS and Gigabyte varieties of the R9 290 in the $400 price point. The value is just undeniable. Everything above that is going to seem stupid for all but multi-screen applications. 

 

One thing is for sure. There is likely some grumpy people over at the green offices right now. They never saw this coming.

 

Charles.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Crap man. If I had all those issues, I would too! LOL But I don't and neither do my friends that run the same hardware. Well... I have 7970 and they have 7950's but whatever. I use it for everything. I can play DIVX no issues, DVD's, AVI's, Netflix and Youtube up the wazzooo.

 

I have several games (most of which I never play more than 30 minutes because FSX calls my name) and glass smooth Ultra settings 1920x1080 goodness. But I too have jumped ship from both companies more than once in my life for the same reason as you state. My luck runs out, I get ###### and I go to the other side for a few years. Been there done that. ATI has been treating me good for over 3 years. But that GTX780 is looking good now that it is $500. But really that's over my budget. $400 is where it's at and the R9 290 is looking like a winner.

 

C.

 

I think that AMD tend to forget about their older cards after a while. I don't see any fixes about the HD 5000 series anymore. My old desktop has a 7600 GT and my laptop has an 8600M GS, never experienced issues with those.

[cvearl 60]

I think that AMD tend to forget about their older cards after a while. I don't see any fixes about the HD 5000 series anymore. My old desktop has a 7600 GT and my laptop has an 8600M GS, never experienced issues with those.

 

Wait. What? You have a 5770? That was a 1GB $150 card 4 years ago. Well... You never know. That card could be hatched. Who knows. Maybe even just a crap card out of the gate for AMD. Never had one. I skipped the 5000 series. I was on NVidia at the time. Good luck with whatever you get anyway. I hope your next experience is better regardless of company.

 

But I recommend a full rebuild on your next swap.

 

Charles.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Wait. What? You have a 5770? That was a 1GB $150 card 4 years ago. Well... You never know. That card could be hatched. Who knows. Maybe even just a crap card out of the gate for AMD. Never had one. I skipped the 5000 series. I was on NVidia at the time. Good luck with whatever you get anyway. I hope your next experience is better regardless of company.

 

But I recommend a full rebuild on your next swap.

 

Charles.

 

Yes, this system will eventually replace my old desktop so I'm getting a completely new build when I have the money.