AMD R-Series GPUs...Are they worth it?

[FairladyZ]

The R series GPUs have been out for some time now, and we all know they are on an aging platform. But are they worth buying? It depends on if you care about having that shiny new AMD or GTX card that launched like 5 minutes ago and you already have one...Which I don't, I usually keep my GPUs for several years before upgrading. But I still consider them worth it, even this late in their life. The R series cards are great GPUs, but if you want something a little newer, I recommend buying a card from Nvidia instead. 

[TheSLSAMG]

They are definitely worth it, especially anything from the R9 270 to the R9 290X.

[Aniallation]

The R series GPUs have been out for some time now, and we all know they are on an aging platform. But are they worth buying? It depends on if you care about having that shiny new AMD or GTX card that launched like 5 minutes ago and you already have one...Which I don't, I usually keep my GPUs for several years before upgrading. But I still consider them worth it, even this late in their life. The R series cards are great GPUs, but if you want something a little newer, I recommend buying a card from Nvidia instead. 

So are you asking a question or answering it?

 

AMD is better performance for the price, for the cost of power consumption and heat output compared to Nvidia (only exception for the meantime is the 980 which AMD doesn't currently have a competitor to)

[Swndlr]

amd's cards are going for really really really good prices right now, if you can try and snag a 290 or 280x, those cards are perfect for 1080p gaming (if thats the res youre playing at)

 

so to answer your question, yes theyre really worth the money even at this point w/ 900 series cards out

[Atmos]

The R series GPUs have been out for some time now, and we all know they are on an aging platform. But are they worth buying? It depends on if you care about having that shiny new AMD or GTX card that launched like 5 minutes ago and you already have one...Which I don't, I usually keep my GPUs for several years before upgrading. But I still consider them worth it, even this late in their life. The R series cards are great GPUs, but if you want something a little newer, I recommend buying a card from Nvidia instead. 

 

I think you might be confusing the R series gpus with the fx series cpus.

 

Most of the R series, or at least its flagships all launched in late 2013/2014 their not really "old" The 270 and 280, ok, they're kinda old now. The R9 series is no older than the 7 series from Nvidia. And heck, the Titan is ancient if you think that the R series is old

[CoolaxGaming]

The R series GPUs have been out for some time now, and we all know they are on an aging platform. But are they worth buying? It depends on if you care about having that shiny new AMD or GTX card that launched like 5 minutes ago and you already have one...Which I don't, I usually keep my GPUs for several years before upgrading. But I still consider them worth it, even this late in their life. The R series cards are great GPUs, but if you want something a little newer, I recommend buying a card from Nvidia instead. 

What gtx card launched 5 mins ago?

[Ertman]

Isn't it like saying are the GTX cards worth buying? R is just a branding. Yes I get they rebadge their cards, but it doesn't matter that much if they give good performance per dollar.

Yes efficiency does matter some and should be taken into account in circumstances where it is important.

[Kyuubixchidori]

IMO 7970s and 7950s are still worth buying. considering it can run far cry 4 1080P60fps maxed out when its slightly overclocked, for well. 100-120$. thats a steal in my book

[zlolslavez]

Just going to compare you to nVidia's options

 

>$100 : nVidia doesn't have many good cards down here, but neither does AMD, (r7 240)

$100-$150 : r7 260x is cheaper than GTX 750TI, performs slightly worse, r9 270(x) performs better at the same(slightly higher) price.

$200 : r9 280 is slightly cheaper or same priced as GTX 960 performs slightly worse and 280 has 1 more gb of ram, r9 280x costs slightly more and blows 960 out the window (and heats up the room while your at it hue)

$300: the GTX 970 beats the r9 290(x) in most 1080p benchmarks, but due to the current 3.5 GB vRam issues, the r9 290x may be more "future proof" (whatever that means) due to having 512MB more ram, and even comes ahead in some 4k benchmarks.

$500+ the R9 295x2 is strictly (strength) better than the GTX 980, but does consume much more power, and is quite inconvenient in multi-gpu setups, and costs more.

 

tl;dr : amd do have some pretty good options in the R series compared to nvidia, and up to you on the route.

[Razzaa]

Anything made by AMD is crap from my experience. Do yourself a favor and buy quality from the start. The fastest and best performing CPU's are made by intel and GPU's are made by Nvidia. If you cant afford it, go AMD.

[typographie]

But are they worth buying?

 

You can't really make a sweeping generalization about this. It breaks down by price segments. For ~$200, I'd rather recommend someone go with an R9 280 or 285 over a GTX 960, unless they had very strict power requirements. On the other hand, the GTX 970 still looks pretty attractive over the R9 290X, except for very high resolutions.

 

I know several of the 200-series SKUs are rebranded, but they're still performing about where they should for their price and competition, at least in raw framerates. I'll be worried if they get rebranded again as 300-series cards, though.

[brandishwar]

Anything made by AMD is crap from my experience. Do yourself a favor and buy quality from the start. The fastest and best performing CPU's are made by intel and GPU's are made by Nvidia. If you cant afford it, go AMD.

 

And from my experience -- which is abut 16 years running (and I know pros who've been with AMD for a lot longer) -- AMD has never been a bad buy. I've owned predominantly AMD chips over that time as well. I've owned the K6-2 (333 MHz and 500 MHz model), XP, X2 and now the FX 8350. For Intel I've only owned an 486 DX-2 and Celeron. I even owned a Cyrix chip at one point -- that was the only processor purchase I ever regretted.

 

Yes Intel has typically delivered on performance, but AMD's focus has always been on value, ever since they started competing with Intel with their 386 clone. But AMD managed to outpace Intel with the 64-bit instruction set, which forced Intel to play catch-up. Otherwise AMD and Intel have typically traded blows in the market -- AMD offering value over performance, being the "best bang for the buck", while Intel tried to deliver on performance and be the "bleeding edge". In the GPU market, however, things were much, much different. Several competitors existed until it whittled down to just the big two: ATI (acquired by AMD in 2006) and nVidia. First 3D accelerator I owned was an ATI Rage 128, which I swapped out for a 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee. Later I'd buy an nVidia Riva TNT AGP, then later upgrade to an nVidia GeForce 2. After that I went back to ATI because I couldn't justify the expense of the nVidia cards and stuck with them only until last year -- I now run a pair of GTX 770s.

 

In my wife's machine since the first custom build in 2007, she had nothing but Radeons until a GTX 660 pair bought at the start of last year -- 1 initially, then bought the second later. Now she's back to AMD with a Radeon R9 290X (it's getting a waterblock this weekend). I considered the GTX 970, but that memory issue just made me wonder how it'd affect things given how hard she runs her computer. And perhaps later this year it'll be a second 290X in Crossfire. In fact given how hard she can run her computer at times, the fact we've never had any problems with her hardware shows that AMD is certainly not crap.

 

Again, never had problems with AMD or ATI. I don't have any dog in this fight -- I tend to buy on value anyway, and AMD has consistently delivered, which is why I've stuck with them, except for a couple deviations for 16+ years.

[Whorax]

Anything made by AMD is crap from my experience. Do yourself a favor and buy quality from the start. The fastest and best performing CPU's are made by intel and GPU's are made by Nvidia. If you cant afford it, go AMD.

I've used AMD GPUs since I've started pc gaming, and I've never had a single problem. Must just be shitty luck on your part or something.

 

OP, do yourself a favor and think with your wallet not with which company you think makes the better stuff. The R9s are absolutely worth it, the 290X price/performance ratio is incredible.

[Razzaa]

I've used AMD GPUs since I've started pc gaming, and I've never had a single problem. Must just be shitty luck on your part or something.

OP, do yourself a favor and think with your wallet not with which company you think makes the better stuff. The R9s are absolutely worth it, the 290X price/performance ratio is incredible.

AMD is a great budget option. I was just stating who makes the highest performing products.

[sgloux3470]

The 290 and 290x are still very good cards, especially for the price point.

 

Realistically speaking for a moment, unless you're playing an extremely unoptimized game like AC:U pretty much any GPU in the last 2 years is still performing very well in new games.  (Like the 280x for example)

 

No reason to rush out to upgrade for 1080p imo.

 

 

[sgloux3470]

AMD is a great budget option. I was just stating who makes the highest performing products.

 

Are we going to ignore the 295x2?

[Whorax]

AMD is a great budget option. I was just stating who makes the highest performing products.

Ehh, guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[VirtualNinja]

I'd wait for the moment, AMD's 300 series is due soon this will push prices down on existing R200 cards in runout. And we'll see what effect they have on Nvidia's prices. Oh and ignore advice from blatant fanboys

[Razzaa]

Are we going to ignore the 295x2?

No not at all. 

[Razzaa]

I'd wait for the moment, AMD's 300 series is due soon this will push prices down on existing R200 cards in runout. And we'll see what effect they have on Nvidia's prices. Oh and ignore advice from blatant fanboys

Most of the 300 series is comprised of rebranded 200 series cards..................

[brandishwar]

AMD is a great budget option. I was just stating who makes the highest performing products.

 

That's a much different tune from saying "Anything made by AMD is crap in my experience".

[Razzaa]

That's a much different tune from saying "Anything made by AMD is crap in my experience".

I still believe it is crap compared to Intel / Nvidia but it serves a purpose. Inferior products always serve a purpose. I wish they made better products but they haven't in some time now. AMD has done nothing but go down hill in the last while.

[GrimNeo]

Most of the 300 series is comprised of rebranded 200 series cards..................

Good to know. I'm still waiting for the benchmarks from AMD and Nvidia(if they release a high end gpu this year).

AMD fanboy

Intel fanboy

Nvidia fanboy

I would like to see another gpu and cpu company as well. Add more to the mix.

While not like them all. I pick based on performance and I encourage competition.

[Razzaa]

 

While not like them all. I pick based on performance and I encourage competition.

Some pick based on budget as well. We all want competition. The problem is AMD needs to get it together and be competitive.

[GrimNeo]

Some pick based on budget as well. We all want competition. The problem is AMD needs to get it together and be competitive.

I use to pick based on budget but now I make enough so I can afford the high end tech. Budget is always great for people that want to spend x amount.