[section_title title=Graphics Cards]Graphics Cards
Awarded By – Gavin
Design – XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation 4GB
Although graphics cards are mainly price/performance focused, design plays probably the biggest part of the overall picture as it plays a huge part in performance; cooler designs play an ever important part in keeping temperatures down which in turn, usually allows for a higher overclocking ability.
The stand out graphics card for me this year for design has to be the XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation. Not only has it restored faith in me personally of a brand I would have been skeptical of after a few previous bad experiences, the new range from XFX is a complete game changer; in this case a winning game changer. The sleek black aesthetic of the cooler and the cooling performance shown by the DD cooler is a top draw for me and I am happy to award this card for its impressive design; the light up XFX logo is the icing on the cake.
Performance – ASUS GTX 980 STRIX 4GB
Performance is exactly what it says on the tin, the best of the best and the best performing graphics card we have seen this year is of course the ASUS GTX 980 STRIX. This particular card combines aesthetics, performance and although it isn’t the cheapest option on the market and very overkill for 1080p, it makes 1440p look and run beautifully. 4K is a different matter and there is still no sign GPU option which drives it, but a pair of these would certainly keep the technology aficionado happy.
Value – XFX R9 290 Double Disippation 4GB
With the recent prices cuts across the board for AMD cards, the AMD R9 290 has become the best bang for buck card on the market and none more so than the XFX R9 290 DD offering from the red team. The MSI GTX 970 GAMING isn’t far behind, if not neck and neck but the sheer value the XFX R9 290 gives consumers, I am more than happy to award the XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation the 2014 award for value.
Overall – MSI GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V 4GB
Although the MSI GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V graphics card doesn’t win any of the above awards, it is the best-all-rounded card out of the 2014 candidates. It has the stand out cooler of 2014 in the shape of the latest iteration of the Twin Frozr cooler, it has one of the nicest looking aesthetics on any graphics card I have seen this year second to only the winner of the design award as mentioned above and it has enough performance to make the GTX 980 quake in its proverbial high tops. Best graphics card of 2014 in my opinion? Most definately and I for one hope they bring out a “lightning” variation as if it is any better than the GAMING version, then wow!
