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Thinking of getting my first AMD card in maybe 10 years, few questions

chickadee

chickadee

chickadee

Associate
Joined
14 Feb 2015
Posts
474
Location
Scotland
Hey guys,

Months have flown by with me trying to decide on what nvidia 970 card I want and so far the hunt is still going and im sick of it. I cant deal with coil whine and taking the risk isn't worth it.

I was thinking about going to the red side and maybe grabbing a 290/290x but since my last ATI card was the 9800pro back in 2003 i am a bit reluctant.

Are the drivers any better now is my first question because they used to be terrible.

Is AMD/ATI a quality product all around because I feel there is some exaggeration when it comes to the Nvidia vs AMD battle sometimes.

Any feedback would be awesome that would be able to sway me either away from or to AMD as my future card.

Also my specs:

i7 920 @ 3.4ghz
6gb ddr3
120gb M4 ssd
2 x 1680x1050 monitors
Corsair 750watt

Oh and currently running an old Nvidia GTX280 as my card, its really not idea.
 
I have just gone from a nvidia gtx 980 to an amd 290x crossfire and as far as druvers are concearned ive not noticed any difference.

Games still look the same nothing has changed just i get more fps
 
I wouldn't be concerned about the drivers. I've been flipping between the brands for 15 years and have no preference. I can't recall the last time I had any issue with AMD or Nvidia drivers for single cards
 
290x at the offer prices are a steal mate. Decent amounts of vRAM too. I@ve had both Nvidia and AMD and price point, AMD win.
 
I'm using an AMD card at the moment and swapped between nvidia and AMD. Short of one game (infinite crisis, which is probably a separate issue anyway) the AMD card has had no issues at all. When I had the Nvidia card it had an issue with a single game (Rage) as well so can't complain.
 
The 290x is at an excellent price as long as you keep to 1 card then you should have minimal issues - driver updates are slow - but if you show some patience when playing the latest releases then it's a fantastic card.

As for the coil whine, you do know about DSR? I know some have experienced it but in the grand scheme of things, only a small % have issues (like with most products).
 
I have been using an MSI 290X ( The 8Gig version)...and everything is fine...although if I use Mantle in game ( BF4) I do get fps drop outs and have had some crashing ...turn Mantle off...and no issues :)
 
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For a single card on a standard monitor, there is almost no appreciable difference between AMD and Nvidia in driver terms (there will be a difference in frame rate, power usage, and fan noise dependant on which AMD/Nvidia cards you're comparing). The issues with drivers on either side tend to come up when you're using multiple GPUs, multiple monitors, or niche monitors (4K, G-Sync, FreeSync, 144Hz, etc). Sometimes, particular games can have issues with one flavour of GPU - for example games containing some Gameworks features tend to run better on Nvidia cards than AMD ones, but it's not a hard and fast rule.

Quality wise, most cards run custom heatsinks so an Nvidia card with an MSI cooler on it will feel and look just the same as the AMD card with the same cooler. If we're talking reference cooler, then the current Nvidia reference cooler is quieter than the AMD one, but I'd generally advise a custom cooler if you're running a single card in a case bigger than an ITX one so this is a moot point.

In general, if you're playing a variety of games, rather than spending all your time on one, and using a single GPU to game on a single, 60/120Hz monitor, just choose whichever card fits your budget best and don't worry about which company designed the GPU core. :)
 
ArchAnGeL said:
I wouldn't be concerned about the drivers. I've been flipping between the brands for 15 years and have no preference. I can't recall the last time I had any issue with AMD or Nvidia drivers for single cards
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+1

Confused Stu said:
For a single card on a standard monitor, there is almost no appreciable difference between AMD and Nvidia in driver terms (there will be a difference in frame rate, power usage, and fan noise dependant on which AMD/Nvidia cards you're comparing). The issues with drivers on either side tend to come up when you're using multiple GPUs, multiple monitors, or niche monitors (4K, G-Sync, FreeSync, 144Hz, etc). Sometimes, particular games can have issues with one flavour of GPU - for example games containing some Gameworks features tend to run better on Nvidia cards than AMD ones, but it's not a hard and fast rule.

Quality wise, most cards run custom heatsinks so an Nvidia card with an MSI cooler on it will feel and look just the same as the AMD card with the same cooler. If we're talking reference cooler, then the current Nvidia reference cooler is quieter than the AMD one, but I'd generally advise a custom cooler if you're running a single card in a case bigger than an ITX one so this is a moot point.

In general, if you're playing a variety of games, rather than spending all your time on one, and using a single GPU to game on a single, 60/120Hz monitor, just choose whichever card fits your budget best and don't worry about which company designed the GPU core. :)
Click to expand...

+1 Well said.
 
I supposed were not all perfect, but if you really want to go AMD then get a 290x. Keep the windows open and get ear muffs and you're all set for gaming nirvana. Oh and AMD has coil whine too.
 
LambChop said:
AMD has coil whine too.
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The only sensible thing you said there

ALL GPU'S can be subject to coil whine

factors that reduce it in my experience are going for a decent brand(read reviews) with a good warranty service just in case, using a decent PSU and praying for the best

Although I've been lucky and have only had one card with coil whine before, my two GTX 670's don't whine unless FPS is in the 1000's like in some game menus
 
A 290x with a non-reference cooler is about as cool as my Nvidia Titan X

Probably about as loud as well.

Coil whine affects all cards. The only one I personally ever saw it on was an Nvidia 980 GTX.
 
murah said:
ALL GPU'S can be subject to coil whine
Click to expand...

This is very true, however I think AMD cards in the past few years have had less than nvidia cards. Especially the 970 atm compared to the 290/x which is its closest competitor.

VincentHanna said:
A 290x with a non-reference cooler is about as cool as my Nvidia Titan X

Probably about as loud as well.
Click to expand...

If you check some reviews you will find that the titan X cooler is actually fairly bad. It's a good reference cooler for sure (I mean its the same one they used on lots of previous cards) but every review I have seen shows the cooler holding the card back with thermal throttling when you start overclocking at all, it really should have a non ref cooler or a water block to allow its full potential imo.
Kinda funny too because according to nvidia's official specs it should only put out as much heat as the original titan which is not the case at all.
 
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VincentHanna said:
A 290x with a non-reference cooler is about as cool as my Nvidia Titan X

Probably about as loud as well.

Coil whine affects all cards. The only one I personally ever saw it on was an Nvidia 980 GTX.
Click to expand...

Whats the comparison got to do with what I said ?

So in fact, a 290x is indeed loud, is indeed hot, AMD do have coil whine and indeed no-one is perfect.

Funny that.
 
Ignore Chopper, he has a deep rooted hate for all things AMD, as all others have posted, a non Reference 290X will be just as good as a 980 on a 1080p setup. Drivers are no longer an issue on single cards, AMD are by far the best performance per pound spent cards, thats for sure.
 
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