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Current state of GPUs: AMD or Nvidia


Sotha

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I recently considered breaking my piggy bank and upgrading my old Radeon HD 4800 to a new GPU card, but I've not followed the GPU market for a long time.

 

Is there any reason to prefer either AMD or Nvidia cards?

 

I was thinking of maybe getting an AMD R9 270 or a Nvidia GTX760, which are within my price range.

 

I know there are some really tech-savvy people here, who hopefully could give some advice, opinions or comments.

 

If it matters, my current setup is

Asus P5Q-PRO

Intel Core2 Quad Q9550

4096MB RAM.

 

The idea is to avoid big system overhaul, and just upgrade a non-bottlenecking GPU to get some more bang in gaming.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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When I read your post, I was browsing the benchmarks a little and decided to get a new card, too. :) I was thinking to do so for some time now, because I got into stereo 3d gaming and you just need a little more oumph for that. My usual approach in getting a new graphics card is actually pretty simple: I check the benchmark score rankings and work my way from top to bottom until I am happy with the price-performance-ratio. Then I check which manufacturers offer a quiet and maybe overclocked affordable version of that card. This way, I found and now bought the

MSI N770 TF 2GD5/OC Twin Frozr Gaming, GeForce GTX 770, 2GB GDDR5

 

It costs just 70 € more than the GTX760, but performancewise you have a gain of 130 %, so I would maybe consider spending a little more.

 

For me, it has always been geforce only, because I heard of so many problems due to catalyst with several games, mainly indies, e.g. TDM and Minecraft. Somebody is probably going to start postulating that nvidia has its downsides, too. ^^ Anyway, I am a CUDA-programmer, so I don't really have any other option.

 

One thing you should still think about is that your CPU will pose a serious bottleneck and because of that you might not even get to experience the full power of your new gpu.

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It's a good system baseline!

 

My criteria for a GAMING VGA choice:

 

-less driver problems with old application (aka games :D)

-extended driver tweakability and documentation

-good user community bridge with driver developers (to resolve issues)

 

-> nVidia

 

Which model for your system? GTX 760.

 

 

If you want a NON-strictly-gaming VGA (->OpenCL performance) AMD is your choice.

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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overclocked affordable version of that card.

Problem is: tomorrow you'll get a Crysis-like application that kills your factory overclock so you'll have to DOWNclock your GPU/onboard memory work frequencies.

User overclock is now safe (thanks to AMD powertune-like hardware-software features), so if you wanna play with frequencies there's no damage risk.

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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I never had to do that and wouldn't know why I'd have to... After all, the oc versions usually also get a better cooler.

It's not (only) a cooling problem :D

Drivers (and drivers are *ALL* with today's total-programmable GPUs - they are completely driver-dependent for rendering) are developed by nVidia/AMD, not by card manufacters and a firmware-overclocked GPU (onboard memory overclock is not the problem) can be.....problematic when, maybe after 1/2 year, drivers (=DX / OpenGL / other API rendering pipeline) got an overhaul.

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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Thanks for the advice.

 

Then I check which manufacturers offer a quiet and maybe overclocked affordable version of that card.

 

Since having a few hairdryer fans in the past, silence is important for me. How exactly do you find objective and reliable card noise level benchmarks?

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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Addendum: my experience with a factory-overclocked GPU (AMD Pitcairn family).

 

-got a 7850 1 GB last year with a shiny factory overclock

-GCN GPUs are great with GP computation and so with image realtime post-processing tools like SweetFX

-" now-i'll-put-the-bloody-SMAA-everywhere-you-damned-deferred-lighting-DX9-game-engines " madness :ph34r:

-random system hangs with NO GPU temperature problem and monitor with strange patterns (corrupted framebuffer?)

-classic MSAA (driver-based) use has issues too

 

-> it's a driver problem!!!1111

 

-driver changed -> same problem

-downclocked GPU -> problem solved

 

-> damn factory overclock!!!!1111

 

-" i-want-my-gigaterapetahertZZZ-back" madness :P

-upgraded the firmware

-now I'm stable with a 1 GHz GPU powered card

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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Addendum: my experience with a factory-overclocked GPU (AMD Pitcairn family).

 

-got a 7850 1 GB last year with a shiny factory overclock

-GCN GPUs are great with GP computation and so with image realtime post-processing tools like SweetFX

-" now-i'll-put-the-bloody-SMAA-everywhere-you-damned-deferred-lighting-DX9-game-engines " madness :ph34r:

-random system hangs with NO GPU temperature problem and monitor with strange patterns (corrupted framebuffer?)

-classic MSAA (driver-based) use has issues too

 

-> it's a driver problem!!!1111

 

-driver changed -> same problem

-downclocked GPU -> problem solved

 

-> damn factory overclock!!!!1111

 

-" i-want-my-gigaterapetahertZZZ-back" madness :P

-upgraded the firmware

-now I'm stable with a 1 GHz GPU powered card

 

I'd say in this instance the card should be exchanged. Yes you can probably limit "having to exchange a product" by getting a normal clocked card. Higher binned GPUs/CPUs... it iS a grab bag really. But the majority of the time this isn't an issue. Maybe a few percentage of sales are DOA or have issues. The issue you're describing sounds like the memory modules were the culprit actually.

 

Still, if you have the CPU mhz to feed the card properly, then by all means, run the GPU faster :)

Edited by Lux
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The issue you're describing sounds like the memory modules were the culprit actually.

More probably the GPU with old firmware management settings, 'cause the hangs were more frequent using SMAA than MSAA, and SMAA is a totally not memory-dependent AA algorithm.

Now, with the new firmware, the problem is gone and I can enjoy this very cost-effective card (it's the actual R7 265 :D)

Edited by lowenz

Task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody see. - E.S.

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  • GeForce GTX 770, 2GB GDDR5
  • One thing you should still think about is that your CPU will pose a serious bottleneck

  • Fyi, this is another nVidia rebadge - GTX680 to GTX770 and whats worse the 770 uses 35W more than the 680. Fyi, the 760 is a re-badge of the 670. And I would disagree on the 770 being 130% faster than the 760, 15-20 if your lucky.
  • I had this CPU and upgraded to a Corei5 and I would say it was only worth upgrading because I had thew cash to do so, that Yorkdale CPU can still hold it own.

silence is important for me. How exactly do you find objective and reliable card noise level benchmarks?

Same here which is why my GTX670 is a vapor cooled tri fan jobbie, with the fans at 1005 its a bit noisy but I have been playing all the latest games (Metro: Last light was the heaviest) and the fans have never gone above 45%.

-upgraded the firmware & now I'm stable with a 1 GHz GPU powered card.

Unfortunalty thats AMD for you, upgrading F/W and the driver to fix problems seems par for the course. This should have been done from factory, what was the make & model of your card?

 

@Sotha what's your budget and who are your preferred online e-tailers so I can go and have a look and then recommend a card for you.

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@Sotha what's your budget and who are your preferred online e-tailers so I can go and have a look and then recommend a card for you.

 

200-300 e or so.

I'm probably getting it from a well-known finnish netshop: http://www.verkkokauppa.com/

Makes reclamation of broken equipment easier.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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That is correct, but the 680 costs more than 500 € whereas the 770 costs just 270 €.

That is just an expired price as no-one in thier right mind would pay that.

€200-300 and I'm probably getting it from a well-known finnish netshop: http://www.verkkokauppa.com/

LOL Im already on there, give me a few minutes...

 

  • Bikerdude hadn't turned up, Scroll to bottom, Ah, there you are.
  • I've an i5 and a 660GTX. Any point in changing anything? I've had no issues with any games I play. I play on a 27" Samsung at 1080p.

  • hehe, thanks for the nod.
  • hmm thats a tough call, as the GTX 660 is a good mid range card. So I would say like I did, if you have the spare cash and justify the purchase then a GTX770 would be a nice jump.

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@Sotha,

 

nVidia -

Gigabyte GTX760, (in the UK its stated having a 3yr warranty so u will have to check with this supplier) and same tri-fan vapour cooler as I have on my GTX670 - €258

Msi GTX770, (in the UK its stated having a 2yr warranty so u will have to check with this supplier), dual fan direct-CU cooler, €299

 

Amd -

Asus R9 280, (in the UK its stated having a 2yr warranty so u will have to check with this supplier), Dual fan direct CU cooler, €296

 

Out of those 3 I would recommend the Gigabyte, longest warranty, best cooler and lowest price. The 770 is 10-15% faster for €40 '1:1 price increase-per-perf' so your getting what your paying for, but with a reduced warranty period.

 

I didn't bother including the R9 270 as its slower than the GTX760 across the board and on that website is almost the same price as the 760.

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AMD for no drivers, Nvidia for house fires and Integrated graphics for turtles.

 

 

Really though, Sapphire 7970 models aren't great, I've had a few of them, you need to pick your GPUs wisely.

 

Edited by MasterHelpo

Nonsense, tomfoolery and abject stupidity, all of which can be found on my channel. (TDM stuff included)

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They all use a reference design (meaning all the cards are identicle) aside from the coolers but isn't Sappire, ATI's "house" brand as in, the name AMD ATI sell their own cards under? And PNY is Nvidia's house brand?

 

So the reason their inexpensive is because they're the mfg.'s direct store? Also, they're not necessarily less expensive depending on clocks/cooler/bundle.

 

I for one am all for straight stock coolers. I don't know about ATI first hand but Nvidia's are pretty quiet these days and they offer the feature I appreciate the most, they exhaust the very hot air out the back of the case instead of cycling it inside the case which can increase temps on all other system components.

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@Sotha,

 

nVidia -

Gigabyte GTX760, (in the UK its stated having a 3yr warranty so u will have to check with this supplier) and same tri-fan vapour cooler as I have on my GTX670 - €258

Msi GTX770, (in the UK its stated having a 2yr warranty so u will have to check with this supplier), dual fan direct-CU cooler, €299

 

Amd -

Asus R9 280, (in the UK its stated having a 2yr warranty so u will have to check with this supplier), Dual fan direct CU cooler, €296

 

Out of those 3 I would recommend the Gigabyte, longest warranty, best cooler and lowest price. The 770 is 10-15% faster for €40 '1:1 price increase-per-perf' so your getting what your paying for, but with a reduced warranty period.

 

I didn't bother including the R9 270 as its slower than the GTX760 across the board and on that website is almost the same price as the 760.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

After thorough examination of my options, I decided to go with Gigabyte GTX760.

The price was right, and my puny 500W PSU would not have liked the faster cards, which require a beefier PSU.

 

Next computer upgrade will be a total system overhaul, I guess, but now that is years away.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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