So you're saying the 770 is slow and using that statement to defend the card. Congratulations, I guess? :thumbsup:
I remember people making the same statement when the 6950 and 6970 came out and had 2GB. Thank god I didn't fall for that then, or I wouldn't have put nearly as many hours into Skyrim modding as I've had.
That is not at all what I'm saying. It is too slow to really use more than 2GB though (except in SLI which is the only time one should ever consider a 4gb 770). My self-righteous ranting is spurred by people telling folks to not get a 770 2gb and instead saying to look for the 770 4gb if they want green team, or that the 770 2GB is somehow a broken card with that little ram. Which is absurd advice because in gaming requiring more ram both versions choke about equally anyway (aka, too slow) and the price premium makes either the 280x or the 290 look miles better.
I owned a 6970, it was a fine card for the price. But it did not age any differently than the 570 or 580 for the games most people play. Both the 570 and 580 beat it in BF4 at every resolution, more ram or not. The sweoverclockers review linked in this thread even includes minimums of which the 480/580 both have better numbers than a 6970. Those class of cards are too slow for the extra ram to matter (again, most of the time).
People (ok, me) are making too much fuss about this. More ram is useful sometimes for certain things, but for a general buyer it is not worth the mark up that comes along with it for otherwise identical cards. The 290 and 280 have more ram than their competition, this is a plus that should be considered, but it is not worth nearly as much as people seem to think unless you are a dedicated modder.
For what is at this time the third from the top tier of cards price and performance should matter far more. Even with high resolution textures (unless I am vastly mistaken on my assumptions for how high they will go in the next year) you will likely not notice a difference between 2 through 4gb on a 760 through 280 kind of card at 1080p for the foreseeable future. When games start shipping with that kind of textures as an in box option other graphics settings will likely be present to make the card you own weep.
There is no such thing as future proofing. There is only buying the best card you can afford today. No matter what you buy you will in a years time be faced with either upgrading or lowering settings, the more you spend the longer out that may be.
That being said, of course a 280x is better for BF4. Even if it cost a bit more cash it performs better and will support mantle. It very likely won't age any differently than a 680/770 (akin to 580 vs 6970) in non mantle games though.