Want to update my video card, check my other parts

I want to update my vid card to maybe a Nvidia 970 or AMD R9 290x and format/reinstall Win8 at the same time. The price difference between these 2 cards are not an issue, I just want the best at that price range but not willing to go to a 980. I think my other specs are good for another 2yrs. Let me know what everyone thinks.

Core i7-3770 quad core 3.4GHz LGA 1155

Asus P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

G.Skill ARES 16GB 2 x 8GB 240-pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 ( PC3 12800)

Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5

Samsung 840 pro 256GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD

WD Black 3TB  64MB cache

Corsair Enthusiast  CMPSU-850TX 850W

I'd go with the 970 

Why?  This and I wouldnt worry about this unless you are planning on running games at higher res than  1080p.

That comparison looks to be a 280x compared to a 970. The proper comparison shows that they are very even. This is the 290x on "uber" compared to the evga 970 that I think is overclocked:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1059?vs=1355

Performance wise, neither is universally better than the other, it is dependent on what games you are playing. The 290x is considerably cheaper, with really great deals showing up for $213-250 AR.

http://slickdeals.net/f/7627314-powercolor-radeon-r9-290x-4gb-gddr5-video-card-20-gift-card-233-after-30-rebate-shipping-new-customers-only

With all that being said, if they both cost $350, the answer is GTX 970 without a doubt. It is definitely not worth $100 more than the R9 290X, but the lower temps and lower power consumption are a good tiebreaker, plus it is a newer card and hopefully game performance can improve further with new drivers.

I'm looking for info on these as well. People say to worry about the 970 above 1080p which I was hoping to do 1440p in the future.