Which Radeon is equivalent performance to a GTX 980? And what's currently the best Value Radeon for Gaming?

[GuruMeditationError]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

Your profile says you already have a GTX 970... and an i3

Upgrade to a 4790K instead?

If you want to try an AMD graphics card, wait for Vega

Also you should avoid SLI/Crossfire for now

To be honest the i3's just not been affecting my gaming...it seems to be fine for my needs. It seems there's a remote possibility it's bottlenecking my 970 but if I persevere and keep pushing, my card starts artifacting just beyond the crash...I've since turned on v-sync and overclocked it as much as the voltage it will support (under MSI Afterburner) will allow. It's pretty much at its limit.

4 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Generally it's better to sell your old card and buy something new. There are of course some exceptions, but as a general rule, a single card is always the better choice.

While that's definitely a valid strategy, I'm on a shallower upgrade curve, so adding a second card when they get a lot cheaper actually could work out cost effective for me, even if it'll only work with three or four of the games I want to play.

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, GuruMeditationError said:

To be honest the i3's just not been affecting my gaming.

 

While that's definitely a valid strategy, I'm on a shallower upgrade curve, so adding a second card when they get a lot cheaper actually could work out cost effective for me, even if it'll only work with three or four of the games I want to play.

The i3 will become more of an issue as you add more GPU power and especially going with Crossfire as that adds a bit more CPU overhead. 

 

Fair enough, just don't expect great scaling in many games and expect issues that can occur with multi-gpu configs (like microstuttering/less stability).

[flibberdipper]

10 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

best value card would be the R9 Fury and closest in preformance to a 980 would be the RX580 or R9 390x which both preform worse then the fury(as long as VRAM isnt a problem and you are not running DX12 or Vulcan)

The Fury is good value if you find a used one for a decent price (same goes for the 390/x). Other than that the RX580 takes the cake.

[GuruMeditationError]

1 minute ago, black0utm1rage said:

@GuruMeditationError But you should really consider upgrading your CPU. An i3 is just not going to do the trick for you if your getting something like a 390x.

Thanks...it's been okay for the 970 but if I'm going to wait for Vega I'll probably upgrade to at least an i5 at the same time. But yeah...there's a chance I'm at the limit with the CPU with the OC'd 970 SOC I have...it keeps crashing valley and it feels like a threading/CPU-interplay issue...but that's just a guess.

[Spenser1337]

3 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

link?

Couldn't find the exact video but 

 

 

 

[Bananasplit_00]

2 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

The Fury is good value if you find a used one for a decent price (same goes for the 390/x). Other than that the RX580 takes the cake.

its $200 on Amazon last time i checked makeing it pretty freaking amazing value new too

[GuruMeditationError]

37 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

The i3 will become more of an issue as you add more GPU power and especially going with Crossfire as that adds a bit more CPU overhead. 

 

Fair enough, just don't expect great scaling in many games and expect issues that can occur with multi-gpu configs (like microstuttering/less stability).

No, I'm not expecting the world...just a bit of a boost in a few of the games I want to play, to keep me going long enough to get some more value out of the hardware.
 

37 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

The Fury is good value if you find a used one for a decent price (same goes for the 390/x). Other than that the RX580 takes the cake.

 

34 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

its $200 on Amazon last time i checked makeing it pretty freaking amazing value new too

Thanks, I'll take a look at that, but probably going to hold out for Vega and Crossfire another of those in my existing motherboard when I can pick one up cheap on eBay towards the end of its used market lifespan...

...I've got a ton of Retro console stuff to be going on with in the meantime (just picked up Steel Battalion and a Surround Sound setup) so I'm pacing myself with it all.

[GuruMeditationError]

Okay...calling it...

...Waiting for VEGA, going to upgrade my CPU to a used i7 when I buy the new graphics card and keeping my existing budget gaming board so as to crossfire on it in about two to three years time.

...Massive thanks to everyone that posted.  

 

[Bananasplit_00]

1 minute ago, GuruMeditationError said:

No, I'm not expecting the world...just a bit of a boost in a few of the games I want to play, to keep me going long enough to get some more value out of the hardware.
 

 

Thanks, I'll take a look at that, but probably going to hold out for Vega and SLI another of those in my existing motherboard when I can pick one up cheap on eBay...

...I've got a ton of Retro console stuff to be going on with in the meantime (just picked up Steel Battalion and a Surround Sound setup) so I'm pacing myself with it all.

just took a look at your rig, that CPU is a pretty major bottleneck here, not the GPU. the poor I3 will bottleneck. whatever "going to hold out for Vega and SLI another of those in my existing motherboard" means it seems pretty janky. 970 SLI dosent work all too well last time i heard anything about it and you can just throw a new GPU and put that in SLI with your current card and much less if its an AMD card

[GuruMeditationError]

9 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

just took a look at your rig, that CPU is a pretty major bottleneck here, not the GPU. the poor I3 will bottleneck. whatever "going to hold out for Vega and SLI another of those in my existing motherboard" means it seems pretty janky. 970 SLI dosent work all too well last time i heard anything about it and you can just throw a new GPU and put that in SLI with your current card and much less if its an AMD card

The thing is my motherboard doesn't support SLI...it's budget, and all of my stuff is janky...it's all ghetto rigged and weird (I've got a non-reference card with a reference card cooler that I cut my own heatsinks for, from generic aluminum heatsink from China)...it's just my way of stretching the value out of all of it.

It just seem the most cost-effective way of doing it right now and I just dropped a bunch of cash on a 2011 Onkyo AV Receiver and a priced to cleared Tannoy 5.1 setup...it was about 1200 new but I got it open box and priced to clear for just over 400...so...I've not got to much cash to throw around right now...I just sold a bunch of collectible video games and my G1 Transformers to help pay for it all...

...but yeah...spreading the cost.  

Also, I'm pretty sure my CPU is bottlenecking but I keep running it through and Valley's recovering enough to let me push the clocks to where it's artifacting and it's doing that only just past the crash...so...for the moment I'm sticking with it, but I might wait for VEGA and then upgrade to a second-hand i7...by then it'll probably cost me as much as the i5 would cost me if I bought today.

[Bananasplit_00]

7 minutes ago, GuruMeditationError said:

The thing is my motherboard doesn't support SLI...it's budget, and all of my stuff is janky...it's all ghetto rigged and weird (I've got a non-reference card with a reference card cooler that I cut my own heatsinks for, from generic aluminum heatsink from China)...it's just my way of stretching the value out of all of it.

It just seem the most cost-effective way of doing it right now and I just dropped a bunch of cash on a 2011 Onkyo AV Receiver and a priced to cleared Tannoy 5.1 setup...it was about 1200 new but I got it open box and priced to clear for just over 400...so...I've not got to much cash to throw around right now...I just sold a bunch of collectible video games and my G1 Transformers to help pay for it all...

...but yeah...spreading the cost.  

Also, I'm pretty sure my CPU is bottlenecking but I keep running it through and Valley's recovering enough to let me push the clocks to where it's artifacting and it's doing that only just past the crash...so...for the moment I'm sticking with it, but I might wait for VEGA and then upgrade to a second-hand i7...by then it'll probably cost me as much as the i5 would cost me if I bought today.

im getting an I7 4790K seeing as you can find them for good value on the used market, you should probably get one aswell if you want anything more powerfull then the RX 580. 

[GuruMeditationError]

1 minute ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

im getting an I7 4790K seeing as you can find them for good value on the used market, you should probably get one aswell if you want anything more powerfull then the RX 580. 

I think I will...at the moment, where I am, the eBay price for an i5 that'll fit my system is about 150 whereas an i7 that'll fit my system is 200, so...not much difference...I'll hold out for Vega and upgrade then...I'm pretty sure the i7 prices shouldn't go back up? At worst I'd imagine they'd just hold at 200, but who knows...I'm monitoring the prices, so keeping an eye on things...I just need to show my credit card some love (I've been abusing it a bit too much recently).

[Bananasplit_00]

5 minutes ago, GuruMeditationError said:

I think I will...at the moment, where I am, the eBay price for an i5 that'll fit my system is about 150 whereas an i7 that'll fit my system is 200, so...not much difference...I'll hold out for Vega and upgrade then...I'm pretty sure the i7 prices shouldn't go back up? At worst I'd imagine they'd just hold at 200, but who knows...I'm monitoring the prices, so keeping an eye on things...I just need to show my credit card some love (I've been abusing it a bit too much recently).

im getting one for $250 that i know can clock to 4.8GHz  its the cheapest its going to get seeing as i cant use Ebay

[GuruMeditationError]

1 minute ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

im getting one for $250 that i know can clock to 4.8GHz  its the cheapest its going to get seeing as i cant use Ebay

I'm guessing that's a good overclock...? I've not really looked that closely at them. I'm a bit worried I'll end up with one that needs over-volting to maintain stock speeds but...I guess that's part of the risk of buying second hand.

[Bananasplit_00]

1 minute ago, GuruMeditationError said:

I'm guessing that's a good overclock...? I've not really looked that closely at them. I'm a bit worried I'll end up with one that needs over-volting to maintain stock speeds but...I guess that's part of the risk of buying second hand.

4.8GHz is pretty awesome for an I7 4790K, my I5 4690K clocks 4.7GHz and its basically a decently above avrage chip, most can only go to 4.5GHz

[GuruMeditationError]

2 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

4.8GHz is pretty awesome for an I7 4790K, my I5 4690K clocks 4.7GHz and its basically a decently above avrage chip, most can only go to 4.5GHz

Wow, that does sound good. Are they charging you extra because it's a good overclocker?
 

I'm wondering where I might find something like that...I always thought it was just a lottery. I've always thought that if you have to pay for the overclock it's kind of a diminishing return...like spending as much as you save by overclocking on the cooling gear you need to overclock the thing in the first place.

 

[Bananasplit_00]

1 minute ago, GuruMeditationError said:

Wow, that does sound good. Are they charging you extra because it's a good overclocker?

 

nope seems like bellow avrage price, the overclock was under an AIO from what i know, the reason its bellow avrage is probably because they are hard to sell seeing as almost all people wanting an I7 are moveing up to an I7 7700k instead and its sold on a website where not a lot of computer hardware interested people are.

[GuruMeditationError]

2 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

nope seems like bellow avrage price, the overclock was under an AIO from what i know, the reason its bellow avrage is probably because they are hard to sell seeing as almost all people wanting an I7 are moveing up to an I7 7700k instead and its sold on a website where not a lot of computer hardware interested people are.

Okay, that's pretty cool...it's just one of those things where if the seller knows what he's got wouldn't he try and leverage that for a better price? Not saying don't go for it, but just take care that it's really what it looks like.  

[Biggerboot]

Coming from an i3/970 user.

 

I'm quite happy on my current setup, but I plan for my next upgrade to be the CPU.  While going to another GPU may increase your average frames overall, a better CPU will improve your minimum frames and reduce microstutter.  Once can be a lot more detrimental to the other in your gaming experience if it's bottlenecking. 

21 minutes ago, GuruMeditationError said:

Wow, that does sound good. Are they charging you extra because it's a good overclocker?

Typically sellers don't do this, but a lot of things come down to supply and demand, and the series of the CPU itself.  Unless it was something absurd like a record breaking CPU.  Since haswells were just really good CPUs overall, it's rare to find one that OCs bad.

[GuruMeditationError]

3 minutes ago, Biggerboot said:

Coming from an i3/970 user.

 

I'm quite happy on my current setup, but I plan for my next upgrade to be the CPU.  While going to another GPU may increase your average frames overall, a better CPU will improve your minimum frames and reduce microstutter.  Once can be a lot more detrimental to the other in your gaming experience if it's bottlenecking. 

Typically sellers don't do this, but a lot of things come down to supply and demand.  Unless it was something absurd like a record breaking CPU.  Since haswells were just really good CPUs overall, it's rare to find one that OCs bad.

That's re-assuring, at this point I'm almost certainly going to be picking one up. I'm not as much worried that it not be a world-class over-clocker just as long as it's not been over-volted to the point of deterioration. 

[flibberdipper]

3 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

its $200 on Amazon last time i checked makeing it pretty freaking amazing value new too

This is the cheapest one on PCPP... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012DSZ2U4/?tag=pcpapi-20

[GuruMeditationError]

16 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

This is the cheapest one on PCPP... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012DSZ2U4/?tag=pcpapi-20

Thanks, I just took a look at this and ran a search for it used...and these things are expensive!

I was thinking the more expensive SLI capable motherboards might be a reason to migrate, but it seems there might be a substantial enough price drop on the nVidia cards to negate the cost benefits of going for a budget Crossfire board. 

It seems my current GTX 970 SOC will outperform the R9 Fury, but it's 70GBP less expensive than the R9 Fury...If I were buying two for a budget SLI build (which I wouldn't recommend), it'd cost me about 400GBP for the two R9 Fury's versus about 260GBP for two GTX 970 SOC's...the difference would be enough to pay for an SLI board. 

[Bananasplit_00]

21 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

This is the cheapest one on PCPP... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012DSZ2U4/?tag=pcpapi-20

gone up then, must have been really low at the time i checked then

[GuruMeditationError]

3 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

gone up then, must have been really low at the time i checked then

The 400GBP is the price I'd have to pay for two on the used market, V.s 260GBP for two GTX 970 SOC's (basically on eBay in my part of the world).

[Spenser1337]

4 hours ago, GuruMeditationError said:

Okay...calling it...

...Waiting for VEGA, going to upgrade my CPU to a used i7 when I buy the new graphics card and keeping my existing budget gaming board so as to crossfire on it in about two to three years time.

...Massive thanks to everyone that posted.  

[edit...] Okay...hang on...I didn't factor in the law of diminished returns re. the value proposition of saving on a budget gaming motherboard with crossfire V.s paying the extra for an SLI capable board:

I just [ran a search for the R9 Fury] used...and these things are expensive!

I was thinking the more expensive SLI capable motherboards might be a reason to migrate, but it seems there might be a substantial enough price drop on the nVidia cards to negate the cost benefits of going for a budget Crossfire board. 

It seems my current GTX 970 SOC will outperform the R9 Fury, but it's GBP 70 less expensive than the R9 Fury...If I were buying two for a budget SLI build (which I wouldn't recommend), it'd cost me about 400GBP for the two R9 Fury's versus about 260GBP for two GTX 970 SOC's...the difference would be enough to pay for an SLI board. 

 

Mate the fury would bust a thick nut all over the 970