GPU Opinion

lawrence281 · 16 Jul 2015 at 22:21

So, i've just sold my GTX ASUS 760, wanting to get 970 since the price comparison and benchmark are beautiful.

Do GPU'S ever drop in price, or is that only during when new models come out? or rarely at all. Also EVGA, Or the asus 970? which one would you say is best, and why? specifically

Panos · 17 Jul 2015 at 08:07

lawrence281 said:
So, i've just sold my GTX ASUS 760, wanting to get 970 since the price comparison and benchmark are beautiful.

Do GPU'S ever drop in price, or is that only during when new models come out? or rarely at all. Also EVGA, Or the asus 970? which one would you say is best, and why? specifically

Get a GTX980 or an AMD card for that price range.
970 ain't worth the money, and especially in light with issues it has.
R9 390 is cheaper than the EVGA & Asus 970 and faster.

brakeinup · 17 Jul 2015 at 08:39

Cheapest 970 is £239.99 and the cheapest 980 is £379.99 (all OCUK) - not sure how that is the same price range?

Apart from the questionable 4GB memory issue (its only an issue if you hit over 3.5GB VRAM if I remember correctly) what other issues are there?

OP: what resolution are you gaming at?

Amatsubu · 17 Jul 2015 at 10:51

Panos said:
Get a GTX980 or an AMD card for that price range.
970 ain't worth the money, and especially in light with issues it has.
R9 390 is cheaper than the EVGA & Asus 970 and faster.

If 970s aren't worth the money, then neither are 980s. It's the 980 that's the pointless card, a lot more expensive for not a whole lot of grunt more.

Vram gate is a non-issue, you can't replicate any stuttering unless you use settings that result in unplayable framerates anyway (Shadow of Mordor's ultra textures can't make the card stutter :rolleyes:

). Nobody in their right mind will use those cards above 1080p, and the same goes for the 3xx series. They're too weak to use all the vram they've been outfitted with.

My advice would to the OP would be to get a cheap, decent 970, preferably a b-grade one and overclock the living hell out of it. Use it for a while and get rid of it when something better comes out. Or better, source a used 290x and enjoy very decent performance at a very decent price.

You can also get a 390 if you want to listen to all the scaremongers saying "3.5gb, omfg teh 970 iZ Doomd!"

It's also a viable option but keep in mind that you're essentialy paying a lot more for an oc'd 290x with vram you can't you since the card will run out of puff beforehand. On top of that, it's still more power hungry, less efficient than a 970 and not really any faster. A 970 at 1500mhz should give it a run for its money.

3.5gb vram might become an issue sometime but when that happens 4gb cards will struggle too and the mighty 8gb 390 will already be a piece of junk

Yeah, Nvidia cocked up but the point still stands.

TL;DR

:

1. Get a used 290x. Enjoy it for some time, get rid of it and buy something better.

2. Get a used 970 and do the same.

3. Get a glorious 390 and enjoy your "future-proof" card with 8gb of memory you won't be able to use unless you trifire

Cheers!

Gripen90 · 17 Jul 2015 at 15:04

Amatsubu said:
If 970s aren't worth the money, then neither are 980s. It's the 980 that's the pointless card, a lot more expensive for not a whole lot of grunt more.

Vram gate is a non-issue, you can't replicate any stuttering unless you use settings that result in unplayable framerates anyway (Shadow of Mordor's ultra textures can't make the card stutter). Nobody in their right mind will use those cards above 1080p, and the same goes for the 3xx series. They're too weak to use all the vram they've been outfitted with.

My advice would to the OP would be to get a cheap, decent 970, preferably a b-grade one and overclock the living hell out of it. Use it for a while and get rid of it when something better comes out. Or better, source a used 290x and enjoy very decent performance at a very decent price.

You can also get a 390 if you want to listen to all the scaremongers saying "3.5gb, omfg teh 970 iZ Doomd!" It's also a viable option but keep in mind that you're essentialy paying a lot more for an oc'd 290x with vram you can't you since the card will run out of puff beforehand. On top of that, it's still more power hungry, less efficient than a 970 and not really any faster. A 970 at 1500mhz should give it a run for its money.

3.5gb vram might become an issue sometime but when that happens 4gb cards will struggle too and the mighty 8gb 390 will already be a piece of junk Yeah, Nvidia cocked up but the point still stands.

TL;DR:

1. Get a used 290x. Enjoy it for some time, get rid of it and buy something better.

2. Get a used 970 and do the same.

3. Get a glorious 390 and enjoy your "future-proof" card with 8gb of memory you won't be able to use unless you trifire

Cheers!

Everything he just said

However I will give a bigger thumbs up to R9 390 8GB since it's in the same price range is faster, and does have the 8GB which does help texture caching and texture allocating faster and smoother in some games (Witcher 3 etc).

But getting a 2nd/used GTX 970 4GB for a good price would defintely be a good choice... or for that matter a used GTX 980 4GB ! - I just myself hands on a MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G for £272 used and still with invoice/warranty papers.

bru · 17 Jul 2015 at 15:23

Panos said:
Get a GTX980 or an AMD card for that price range.
970 ain't worth the money, and especially in light with issues it has.
R9 390 is cheaper than the EVGA & Asus 970 and faster.

While of course you are allowed your opinion and discussion is always good, just remember that from what has been said by Gibbo and others the 970 is the best selling enthusiast level card this year by a mile even with the whole ramgate issue. So that is an awful lot of people that would disagree and say it is worth the money.

MrMD · 17 Jul 2015 at 15:25

Get a 970 and overclock it

Meladath · 17 Jul 2015 at 15:28

Amatsubu said:
TL;DR:

1. Get a used 290x. Enjoy it for some time, get rid of it and buy something better.

2. Get a used 970 and do the same.

3. Get a glorious 390 and enjoy your "future-proof" card with 8gb of memory you won't be able to use unless you trifire

Cheers!

This is also my recommendation. Or look for a used 290 too. Basically the same card as the 290X and you might get lucky on one.

humbug · 17 Jul 2015 at 15:59

bru said:
While of course you are allowed your opinion and discussion is always good, just remember that from what has been said by Gibbo and others the 970 is the best selling enthusiast level card this year by a mile even with the whole ramgate issue. So that is an awful lot of people that would disagree and say it is worth the money.

The iPhone is the best selling smart Phone, despite the fact that its a pile of junk compared with a lot of much cheaper Android Phones.

The 390 is faster than the 970 and if you get the right one also faster overclocked, it also has 8GB of VRAM vs 4GB, or technically 3.5GB on the 970

The 970 is more power efficient than the 390
It does have a quality of performance issue once the game hits 3.5GB of buffer or more, at the moment that is very rare and there is a good chance a user would not come across it any time soon, but we can't tell what the future holds in terms of VRAM.

With DX12 developers will be able to paint a lot more polygons given that to call objects in DX12 is massively higher than it currently is, that will increase buffer use. AMD's GPU's are also a lot better at rendering polygons on mass.

bru · 17 Jul 2015 at 16:05

humbug said:
The iPhone is the best selling smart Phone, despite the fact that its a pile of junk compared with a lot of much cheaper Android Phones.

Yup I would agree with you, I don't think much of the iphone either, but an awful lot of people do, hence why it is the best selling smartphone.

Which brings us back to my comment aimed at Panos saying "970 ain't worth the money" 970 is the best selling enthusiast card so there are an awful lot of people who think it is worth the money.

fs123 · 17 Jul 2015 at 16:11

Just because it sold loads at a time when there was no competition doesn't necessarily mean it is the best right now. The 390 is the faster card now and has 8GB which WILL come in use for games such as GTA5, Shadow of Mordor, COD:AW& Ghosts, etc.

Also in the furture you could crossfire with another 390 and get a 1440P/4K card at a cheap price.

Amatsubu · 17 Jul 2015 at 16:16

humbug said:
The iPhone is the best selling smart Phone, despite the fact that its a pile of junk compared with a lot of much cheaper Android Phones.

The 390 is faster than the 970 and if you get the right one also faster overclocked, it also has 8GB of VRAM vs 4GB, or technically 3.5GB on the 970

The 970 is more power efficient than the 390
It does have a quality of performance issue once the game hits 3.5GB of buffer or more, at the moment that is very rare and there is a good chance a user would not come across it any time soon, but we can't tell what the future holds in terms of VRAM.

With DX12 developers will be able to paint a lot more polygons given that to call objects in DX12 is massively higher than it currently is, that will increase buffer use. AMD's GPU's are also a lot better at rendering polygons on mass.

Yep, it's infinitely faster than a 970 (like 2-3 fps, but sometimes the 970 comes out on top and it shouldn't because it's a piece of junk). Also, DX12 will give it a lot more grunt so the already tremendous gap in performance will get even bigger. Well, it'll be outdated by that time but who cares. And let's not forget 8gb of vram since the card is so powerful it can use all of that easily. Witcher 3 maxed uses up a staggering 2gb and yet the 390 is able to hold a steady 60fps all of the time (not really). Unbelievable! A 970 is a worthless pile of junk, clearly 8gb of vram is better than 3.5 gb of vram. You can't tap into it but it's there isn't it?

Seriously mate, you're having a bubble.

bru · 17 Jul 2015 at 16:25

I've just had a look at a couple of reviews of the 390 and it losses just as many benches as it wins against a 970. Also looking at OCUK prices at the moment the cheapest 970 is £20 cheaper than the cheapest 390. overall though there doesn't seem to be much in it.

Amatsubu · 17 Jul 2015 at 16:25

fs123 said:
Just because it sold loads at a time when there was no competition doesn't necessarily mean it is the best right now. The 390 is the faster card now and has 8GB which WILL come in use for games such as GTA5, Shadow of Mordor, COD:AW& Ghosts, etc.

Also in the furture you could crossfire with another 390 and get a 1440P/4K card at a cheap price.

Well, GTA 5 is already out and I don't have any trouble with stuttering despite almost maxing the game and using a modified .ini which increases traffic/population density above ultra values. Vram usage goes above 3.5gb. Shadow of Mordor with ultra textures is also smooth. Care to give me one valid reason why you think 8gb on a card as weak as a 390 is an infinite advantage over the 970? And why do you think 8gb "WILL come into use" in games which are already out and can hardly even use half of that? :rolleyes:

These are all stopgap cards. I seriously doubt anyone will bother with crossfiring 390s in a year's time. Especially that you'd need 3 to use all that vram, assuming perfect scalling (which won't happen).

fs123 · 17 Jul 2015 at 17:03

bru said:
I've just had a look at a couple of reviews of the 390 and it losses just as many benches as it wins against a 970. Also looking at OCUK prices at the moment the cheapest 970 is £20 cheaper than the cheapest 390. overall though there doesn't seem to be much in it.

You need to compare the 970's that start from £260 onwards such as the Gigabyte to compare with the 390's. The cooling the cheapest 970's are not worth it at all if you want to overclock. I had a bog standard Inno3D 970 and that hit 82C peak in games so had almost no room to overclock.

humbug · 17 Jul 2015 at 17:32

Amatsubu said:
Yep, it's infinitely faster than a 970 (like 2-3 fps, but sometimes the 970 comes out on top and it shouldn't because it's a piece of junk). Also, DX12 will give it a lot more grunt so the already tremendous gap in performance will get even bigger. Well, it'll be outdated by that time but who cares. And let's not forget 8gb of vram since the card is so powerful it can use all of that easily. Witcher 3 maxed uses up a staggering 2gb and yet the 390 is able to hold a steady 60fps all of the time (not really). Unbelievable! A 970 is a worthless pile of junk, clearly 8gb of vram is better than 3.5 gb of vram. You can't tap into it but it's there isn't it?

Seriously mate, you're having a bubble.

The GTX 970 is far from a "worthless pile of junk", i didn't say that, its a very good GPU i just think the 390 is better.

Amatsubu · 17 Jul 2015 at 17:59

humbug said:
The GTX 970 is far from a "worthless pile of junk", i didn't say that, its a very good GPU i just think the 390 is better.

Sorry for misunderstanding your post then. I'm just trying to help the OP and I can't imagine a scenario where a new 390 would be a better investment than a b-grade 970, or even better, a 290x.

I simply fail to see what makes the 390 the superior card. It's uses slightly more power, is a bit hotter and has 8gb of memory which you can't really take advantage of. The performance is more or less the same. I've seen tests where it performs under the 970 (stock & oc'd) and some where it beats it by 1-4fps or where both are tied. Also, it is a bit more expensive than a 970.

Honestly, I think people will forget about both pretty quickly. They're are 1080p GPUs at best and the 390 is just a rebrand of a card that's already two years old. I really think it's better to get a b-grade 970 or 290x and enjoy a vastly better price-perf ratio.

Cheers.

lawrence281 · 17 Jul 2015 at 22:37

Meladath said:
This is also my recommendation. Or look for a used 290 too. Basically the same card as the 290X and you might get lucky on one.

I have a g-sync monitor though..so I guess Its preffered I use nvidia?

coupe69 · 17 Jul 2015 at 22:56

Meladath said:
Or look for a used 290 too. Basically the same card as the 290X and you might get lucky on one.

Erm, no, it's not the same card at all....

To the op, have a look around at some benchmarks online. There's plenty on youtube like this one;

My vote would be for a 970. Pro tip, stay well clear of reference 290/290X's!

mnc fear · 18 Jul 2015 at 02:24

Get either a 390 or 970

Problem solved and arguing over