AMD R9 390X VS GTX 980 Ti Performance Leak

[The Chaos Pope]

to what 3.5-5 thing are you referring to? im unfamiliar

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-nvidias-gtx-970-slows-down-using-more-than-35gb-vram/

TL;DR: The GTX 970 has 3.5gb of high bandwidth memory, 512mb of lower bandwidth memory and you can expect to see framerate drops when the fast memory is full.

 

[WarrenPeace]

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-nvidias-gtx-970-slows-down-using-more-than-35gb-vram/

TL;DR: The GTX 970 has 3.5gb of high bandwidth memory, 512mb of lower bandwidth memory and you can expect to see framerate drops when the fast memory is full.

Also too slow.

 

[The Chaos Pope]

Also too slow.

Way too slow!

 

[Slansickness]

thats a shit thing for Nvidia to do... had to be deliberate, since the 980 doesnt do it

The 970 chip is a binned 980, and its a technical issue due to haw the memory is accessed with the disabled hardware. Nvidia had to pull a bit of a trick to put more than 2GB of ram on the card, but the ram problem is an unfortunate side effect. Still, as long as vram usage is kept under 3.5 GB, which is not going to happen to me in my current setup, it screams.

 

[Czechmate]

I'm happy with my gtx 780.

 

[RipVanDan]

I have always gone back and forth with each new video card purchase, because I am fed up with the card I have. I suppose grass is greener mindset. Good news for slum my current card is AMD.

 

[NKato]

my 7970 is showing its age now

WHich is why I picked up a second 7970 from a friend, going to Crossfire it so I can buy myself time until the 390X becomes more affordable.

 

[NKato]

SNIP!

Slum,

Let's not factor non-agnostic software backends into your argument. PhysX is, and always will favor nVidia hardware. I know the latest iteration has become more CPU-friendly, but it still doesn't support offloading the processing to a non-nVidia GPU.

Currently, I only go to AMD for their GPUs, since their CPUs have been of inferior quality to Intel of late. So that's right, I'm running an i7/AMD build.

Overall, I'd prefer to stick with the underdog, because I want nVidia to stop making general products (like the Batman: Arkham Asylum games) require their own graphics card for the "ultimate" gaming experience. You want to provide the ultimate gaming experience? Then don't be an anti-competitive dickwad.

I mean, back in the day, I actually considered getting an Nvidia GPU to go with my 5870 for the physx processing. Then I learned that nVidia locked that capability out in the newer driver releases - which just utterly and completely convinced me that nVidia was not interested in the advancement of the gaming hobby as a whole, and only in their own bottom line.

Seriously, when someone sells you a Chevy, and you want to stick a Ford engine in it, they tell you that you can't do that. How would you feel?

This is actually a law on the books in one of the States...I forget which. Also, I used to be an nVidia user, but they drove me away when it came out that they were doctoring benchmarks back in the early 2000's. I have a strict policy of not giving businesses my money when they employ highly questionable practices.

 

[o-BHG-o]

WHich is why I picked up a second 7970 from a friend, going to Crossfire it so I can buy myself time until the 390X becomes more affordable.

I did this too!

I'm not disappointed with performance but not blown away.

Due to AMD drivers I can't go full settings in GTA V.
Crossfire doesn't work in windowed mode (though I still get 6GB of vRAM to play with in settings) and full screen mode does not work at all. Also I have to turn post processing to high or graphical artifacts occur. This is only one game I know, but the driver crashes, tearing and frame drops are real in all games.

I've been with AMD since my old HD4890 but was a solid nVidia fan boy previous.
I think I changed because $$$ but I'm definitely going nVidia with my next investment in gfx.
I'll be holding off until S42 launch.

 

[Snowianth]

Hmmm i might could heat my house also with those 2*R9 295

 

[Exarkun007]

The heat is definitely a factor for me... I'm in texas so I don't need any extra heat at all lol. Might pick up a 980, and then a second one later rather than waiting for the 390. The power draw is far lower also.

 

[Star Pilgrim]

Be carefull with the new offering from AMD as they tend to sell refurbished/reused/repurposed old chips in the lower end and mid tier cards.
They just change the name and voila.

Be sure which chip is on, EXACTLY.

280x card for example uses "Tahiti XTL" chip, being a slightly upgraded, rebranded Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition.
Don't get me wrong, the card is phenomenal, but it is old tech.
290x is NEW tech (when these came out) based on "Hawaii XT" chip.

So you see, you would think that the series R9 X200 chips are all the same, just lower clockspeed and whatnot etc.
No no, see Tahiti is old stuff they cram on us unawares, Hawai is the new stuff you should pay attention, as it is the only chip that had improved and new features added to it.

This warning is to those who intend to buy the new upcomming x300 series cards.
Make sure you buy NEW tech, not old rebranded chips which were superseded.

So: HBM Stacked Memory is up to 9X Faster Than GDDR5 – Coming With AMD Pirate Islands R9 300 Series
Make sure that your chosen cards actually empploys chips that are NOT rebranded from Fiji, Tahiti or any previous tech. And that they have HBM instead of GDDR5 memory.

Bermuda GPU is the tech you want if you shell the bucks for the high end card.
If you intend to buy medium tier, then this warning does not concern you. You will get old tech rebranded, and there is nothing you can do.

Bermuda is the replacement for Hawaii (R9 295X2, R9 290X, R9 290), Fiji is the replacement for Tahiti (R9 280X and R9 280) and Treasure Island is the replacement for Curacao (R9 270X and R9 270)

And if you buy anything less than 390x you are buying old tech.
Damn you AMD.
You are better off with Nvidia if it is anything less than 390X realy.

 

[NKato]

Be carefull with the new offering from AMD as they tend to sell refurbished/reused/repurposed old chips in the lower end and mid tier cards.
They just change the name and voila.

Be sure which chip is on, EXACTLY.

280x card for example uses "Tahiti XTL" chip, being a slightly upgraded, rebranded Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition.
Don't get me wrong, the card is phenomenal, but it is old tech.
290x is NEW tech (when these came out) based on "Hawaii XT" chip.

So you see, you would think that the series R9 X200 chips are all the same, just lower clockspeed and whatnot etc.
No no, see Tahiti is old stuff they cram on us unawares, Hawai is the new stuff you should pay attention, as it is the only chip that had improved and new features added to it.

This warning is to those who intend to buy the new upcomming x300 series cards.
Make sure you buy NEW tech, not old rebranded chips which were superseded.

So: HBM Stacked Memory is up to 9X Faster Than GDDR5 – Coming With AMD Pirate Islands R9 300 Series
Make sure that your chosen cards actually empploys chips that are NOT rebranded from Fiji, Tahiti or any previous tech. And that they have HBM instead of GDDR5 memory.

Bermuda GPU is the tech you want if you shell the bucks for the high end card.
If you intend to buy medium tier, then this warning does not concern you. You will get old tech rebranded, and there is nothing you can do.

Bermuda is the replacement for Hawaii (R9 295X2, R9 290X, R9 290), Fiji is the replacement for Tahiti (R9 280X and R9 280) and Treasure Island is the replacement for Curacao (R9 270X and R9 270)

And if you buy anything less than 390x you are buying old tech.
Damn you AMD.
You are better off with Nvidia if it is anything less than 390X realy.

Very good advice. I'll be waiting for the Bermuda GPU to drop in price before I bite.

 

[Exarkun007]

You act like nVidia didn't tune the gtx 680 and "release" it as the 770, as well as a bunch of their M models. This shit has been going on for like 5 years, and is just the way the business has turned. Don't like AMD, don't buy it. Don't like nVidia, don't buy it. I'll never understand this rabid fanboi attitude. It should be simple. I have $x to spend on a GPU. What is the best price/performance for my budget. Easy.

 

[OldSchoolC]

I've got a GTX 770 that has done pretty well for me. Before that was a GTX 470 and before that a 9800 gtx, and before that a nvidia 6800 (but a ATI 9200 before that... Why do we nerds even remember all these model numbers!?).

Point I planned to get to is I'm happy to see competition, but I also really value a quiet, cool running PC, and AMD just hasn't been able to deliver that. I'll keep watching though!

 

[AntiSqueaker]

Just picked up a R9 290 + Shipping for 120 USD on Amazon.

That will hold me (and my 660, showing it's age finally!) for a good while until 390x's or 980ti/990(?)s come down in price a wee bit

 

[DontTouchMyHoHos]

AMD imo has never delivered, it is always something, ranging from lack of performance to lack of driver performance.

 

[Exarkun007]

I've not had a single problem with my 7870 /shrug. It was much better price/performance than nVidia when I got it. That being said... the 980 is creeping down in price, and is a BEAST of a card.

 

[Wolf Lord Caldersson]

AMD imo has never delivered, it is always something, ranging from lack of performance to lack of driver performance.

I get excited for AMD cards like the 290x. There was so much hype and anticipations and it came out and it was good... then Nvidia came back and destroyed it. I'm not a fan of how Nvidia holds back their full product lately to release a ti version later, but NVidia does build a beast of a card.

 

[Karab]

As someone with Triple Titan Xs - "meh."

>:)

I hear you, although only running overclocked quadfire 290X (295X2 + x2 290X, and hey every percent helps). It runs hot but it still bruteforce things nicely, heat and power isn't really a concern of mine (dedicated AC'd closet and power feed).

Having said that, I've given up chasing the mythical triple-screen 4K 144Hz IPS surround gaming idea; It'll take some years for GPUs to realistically reach that level. In the end all this GPU war is good for everyone as it reduces prices for older high-end cards which can run 1440p quite nicely.

Personally I'm hoping for Windows 10 + DX12 to give some life to our cards.


Edit: Hey, this is my first post, I should stop lurking and start posting more...