Video card upgrade

Present Equipment:
I7-4770K
Samsung SSD
16GB ram
Nvidia 680GTX

For around $300-400, what's my best bet for a new Video Card?

(while I'm at it, can someone suggest a 32" or greater monitor upgrade?)

 

I'd go with a an AMD R9 390X or a GTX 980.

However if you have to spend between that price range, you can get the GTX 970.

As for monitor, what are you running right now?

 

With that Price I was able to get a MSI GTX970 OC 4G and it runs good. Getting a 980 at 300-400 that will not happen and don't even try for a 980Ti at that range you won't find one. For a 32" what are you planning to use Excel or what software is going to use all the 32"? I have a 27" Dell and that is pretty big already on my desk and gaming at 27 is pretty big for me not to mention they get heavier as you get bigger.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Radeon-Overcl...F8&qid=1453104771&sr=1-1&keywords=amd+r9+390x

I've had a 970 in the past and they are great cards, but the 3.5gb vRAM limitation is going to hurt you now and more so in the future. For example, with Rainbow Six Seige at 1080p you will exceed the 970 vRAM and won't be able to use the Ultra HD texture pack without major stuttering. A 390x would have no issue. Even my weak gtx 960m in my laptop can run the HD texture pack with zero issues since it has a full 4gb vRAM. For this reason I do recommend either a GTX 980 or the 390/390x.

390x $369.00 after rebate. Not at all a bad deal. This card is huge though so make sure you have a case that can accommodate it.

 

I run Ultra textures fine too .

 

I haven't tested the 970 myself, I just read this on the boards of other 970 users. I also think it comes down to which brand, memory type you get with your 970. I know when I had mine, I had Samsung memory and I never once experienced any hiccups around 4gb vRam usage. Others with different memory types did.

 

I trust AMD drivers about as fast as I can toss it into the trashcan. They need alot of stability and with release of Crimson that made it worse then better. The GPU is good but their software is lacking in stability and that doesn't help. @Talon - you said "other with different memory types did" so what where they? You can't make a general assumption if you don't at least give a link to where your getting that info so others can find out why?

 

Hmm, that's odd. I've never had any issues with my AMD card's drivers. Your last one might have been a lemon, StormJumper?

Anywho, for the OP, for that range I'd have to agree with the suggestion of either the 970 or the 390x, though personally I'd lean towards the 390x since I'm not a fan of buying broken hardware (thanks to the 3.5GB VRAM issue specific to the 970).

 

It's not exactly a secret that Nvidia's GPU drivers are written and tested to a higher standard than AMD's are. Take microstuttering for example - Nvidia knew about it all along and accounted for it in their drivers code long before the enthusiast community even started probing whereas AMD was totally flat footed by the revelation and had to scramble for a fix.

 

I'm just expressing my experiences with AMD graphics is all. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that AMD has their quality issues, but nVidia has theirs as well (970 being a good example). Given that nVidia has more cash on hand than AMD, they should've done a better job on that product than what they ended up releasing.

I'm not particularly attached to either GPU company (having used Radeons, GeForces, and Quadros), though if it were my $100s of dollars, I'd take a card that has a complete feature set as labeled on the tin than one that doesn't, Just my two cents is all.

 

I should have said "brand" but I figured most users here would understand what I meant. As far as AMD drivers being trash I can say my brother has a R9 390 and it works flawlessly with the latest Crimson, and he uses a FreeSync monitor without issue as well. I've had plenty of my own issues with my 980 Ti drivers lately, so Nvidia isn't any better IMO.

Memory "Brands"

Samsung -- Best 970 memory type/brand
Elipida
Hynix

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2705354/gtx-970-vram-problem.html -- This user reported his Samsung memory typed 970 worked great. I also had a 970 with Samsung memory and never got the stuttering issue reported.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1529816/...-gtx-970-g1-am-i-this-unlucky-with-my-card/20 He also reported good performance with the Samsung 970.

 

Developers are going to continue to utilize more and more vRam, and its usage has been on the jump in the last couple years IMO. The 8GB card will at least help future proof the card a bit.

 

Not a believer in "future-proofing" as far as computer hardware goes. As far as I care of it, it's only a valid term if you're willing to either lower your gaming quality or stick to playing older games as time marches on. And anyway, it'd be more beneficial for a customer to buy a decent mid-range card now and then upgrade to a (much more powerful) future mid-range card for $X than to dump all of $X now on a card that'll be underpowered in a few years.

So I'll stick to higher VRAMs being practical mostly only for pushing out an insane number of pixels more than anything else.