Nvidia’s Maxwell-based Geforce GTX 980 and GTX 970 based are great graphics cards, with good performance and exceptional efficiency. In many scenarios they can outperform the Radeon R9 290X and R9 290 cards, but AMD is fighting back with aggressive performance.

The performance difference is not that big and AMD lovers can still enjoy their Hawaii-based cards and get decent frame fates in all AAA games that came out this year. We went out looking for new 8GB Radeon R9 290X SKUs and we could not find them available in the US at press time, although they are starting to appear in Europe.

However, we found something better.

The Radeon R9 290X was available at a range of price points over the last year and now it has made it all the way down to $329.99. With a mail in rebate on Newegg, companies like Power Color and XFX will sell you a 290X for as low as $299.99.

This is a great price for a proper high-end card card that will deliver enough performance for years to come. It costs quite a bit less than the Geforce GTX 970 and GTX 980. AMD will also give you a three-game bundle as well as Sid Meir’s Civilization Beyond Earth to sweeten up the deal.

Nvidia on the other hand will give you a bundle of its own where you get to choose one from three AAA games. Although Nvidia's high-end cards are newer and more efficient, if you are on a budget the Radeon R9 290X is definitely a card worth considering and it will definitely offer great frame rates in all current games.