I'm on fence whether to choose AMD or Nvidia graphics card for my first ever PC build. I'm looking for a power efficient GPU that's able to do 1080p at 60FPS maxed details and able to run high details at 1440P in the future, not to mention, good game optimizations and long term driver support. Can you help me choose one? So far my choices are:
GTX 970: Yes, I know people will say that it's a 3.5GB + 0.5GB card, but from what I have read, it's a good price/performance card.
GTX 980: A bit overpriced, but I'll try to find better deals either online or at local retails.
AMD Radeon Fury Nano: a 4K powerhouse in a small form factor. If only I have the patient to wait for the card to be released.
If you have other suggestions, please share. Many thanks
Budget for GPU $200-$400.
General consensus is that, if you're on a budget, go AMD. Otherwise, get an Nvidia.
When I built my rig about 9 months ago, I decided to go cheap and get an R9 270x. The only games I haven't been able to run settings maxed at 1080p 60fps are Injustice (decided to set MSAA to 4x because 16x got random frame drops), and Final Fantasy XIII (because the port is awful).
Granted, I'm not into many AAA games, so I'm not the best to ask if you're concerned Battlefield 4 or The Witcher III: Wild Hunt won't run well.
I have a 270x Witcher 3 runs between 30-40 fps everything set to ultra, so i cap it to 30fps.
Battlefield 4 runs at pretty much 60fps on High...
For that price go for 970 but you might as well wait and see how are the new AMD cards going, for 1080p 4GB VRam its more than enough.
But rest that a 970 will last you for a long long time
I think right now 4gb is enough for 1440p not sure how that goes in the future, maybe wait for a 6gb option ? You could wait for the new R9 390 there are 6gb and 8gb versions.
I have a 270x Witcher 3 runs between 30-40 fps everything set to ultra, so i cap it to 30fps.
Battlefield 4 runs at pretty much 60fps on High...
For that price go for 970 but you might as well wait and see how are the new AMD cards going, for 1080p 4GB VRam its more than enough.
But rest that a 970 will last you for a long long time
I think right now 4gb is enough for 1440p not sure how that goes in the future, maybe wait for a 6gb option ? You could wait for the new R9 390 there are 6gb and 8gb versions.
Does the 300 series card run cooler than 200? Also, how're the game optimization and driver support for AMD cards?
I have a 270x Witcher 3 runs between 30-40 fps everything set to ultra, so i cap it to 30fps.
Battlefield 4 runs at pretty much 60fps on High...
For that price go for 970 but you might as well wait and see how are the new AMD cards going, for 1080p 4GB VRam its more than enough.
But rest that a 970 will last you for a long long time
I think right now 4gb is enough for 1440p not sure how that goes in the future, maybe wait for a 6gb option ? You could wait for the new R9 390 there are 6gb and 8gb versions.
Does the 300 series card run cooler than 200? Also, how're the game optimization and driver support for AMD cards?
I've had zero driver/optimization issues with my 270x; same with my previous card (GeForce GTX 350). I honestly can't tell the difference between them, beyond my R9 270x being much faster than my GTX 350. The card's fans hardly ever run past the minimum (which is next to silent), and I don't think it's ever gotten significantly hot. I think the only time I've been able to hear the card's fans was when I was emulating Xenoblade Chronicles with the HD texture pack.
I can't speak for the R9 300 series, since I don't have one.
My 270x never had heat issues and previews has been saying that the 300 series would do the same, that may change between each card but i doubt, unless you overclock a lot.
Besides the typical exclusives stuff from AMD (TressFX) or Nvidia (Gameworks) which work pretty bad with the card from the company i never had problems with performance, optimization or drivers, pretty stable, even Mantle works like a charm nowadays.
So, Nvidia or AMD? Both produce great GPUs, but hard to pick one of them.
At the end, it depends on the deal can you find, for even matched price GPUs both are great, Nvidia has the upper (untill the Fury GPUs are released) hand on the super high-end market with the 980 and the Titan X, but those are well above your budget also.
For Example, Between the 970 and the 290x both are well good for 1440p/1080p 60fps (but like i said that MAY change in the future) the 970 its slightly more powerful but i dont think its that noticeable and its also somewhat pricer.
Both are great, i tend to do Nvidia --> AMD --> Nvidia --> AMD just to keep things fresh, im not sure i will be changing my 270x for the 900 series maybe wait for the next gen.
So, Nvidia or AMD? Both produce great GPUs, but hard to pick one of them.
Pick the most powerful one you have money for, or wait for the more powerful ones to drop in price.
Try this site for head-to-head comparisons between GPUs: http://gpuboss.com/
Yea, really go for the most powerful one you can find at a given time, regardless of the company. It's not like consoles where one is completely different from the other: you just want the one with the better specs. If you want to get VERY technical, most people say Nvidia has the advantage when it comes to tesselation, blah blah blah... but really, for most people, the differences are negligible.
Me? I've been AMD for my past two builds, but honestly, AMD is having great deals now because their new line is coming out. I just picked up a R9 280 Dualx for like 150 bucks or something crazy like that, and it's a pretty freakin' sweet card for that price range - can run anything current at Ultra settings/30 fps, sometimes more fps.
Check back here when you get one and we can help you overclock and stuff like that to get the most out of your card.
@dumedum
This one cost $1100, its a beast its CPU will handle everything you throw at (yes, even if its an i5) and the GPU its just a tier below the 980/Titan fromNvidia, pretty much the best right now without breaking the bank, should last you the entire generation if not more with games running at Ultra/1080p/60fps, it comes with Windows 8.1 (upgraded to 10), headphones, keyboard, mouse and even some free games, pretty much connect and play
Just for the record, my GPU its about half its power (270x) and it can run pretty much every game Maxed out with a 30fps cap no problem, 60fps if i reduce details to Medium/High, and by the way, the 270x its more powerful than the PS4/XB1 GPU, so imagine what the 390 can do.
If you ever call them ask what does "PSU standard means", because never go cheap on it, its like the heart of the PC and if you want you could even change a few of the stuff to reduce price a little bit or add a GTX970 for $30 more.
The card you are getting its even for 2k+ gaming, at 1080p its a beast.
Like i said you could save some bucks if you build it yourself, but iBuyPower its a pretty good company and its not that expensive.
Looking good, thanks. How's the GTX960 by the way? There's a Father's Day sale going on, but I'm guessing if I wait until Black Friday, everything will be cheaper, right?
Its a great card but its a significant step down from the 390.
In theory its about 50% slower than the 390, but its faster than my 270x (although pretty negible), pretty much same performance as i have, great GPU but may lack a bit of power if you are going for 1080p (for 900p its amazing)
Good news! I've decided to raise my budget for my GPU from $400 to $500. Now what GPU can you recommend me getting based on your experience? Note: my requirements from the previous page.
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Depends on resolution, because at 1440p or (i guess) 2160p the 970 would beat the 390x but for anything else the 390x would be much better because the extra vram (6-8gb vs 3.5gb)
I would say the 390x, its slightly slower (pretty much a non factor) but the extra VRAM might come in handy... But then again, its all about the resolution you want
@dumedum how much would you be spending on the monitor
I have no idea... $300? $400? By the way I'll probably want a monitor with speakers, but I'll game with headphones.
I just hope they patch the Batman game before I buy it lol... otherwise I'd be forced to buy the xbone I guess.
just wanted to play some gta4 again. framerate goes down to like 20 after 2 minutes. then after i changed something in the graphics-options it goes up again and runs fluid but only for a few seconds. then if i change something again in the graphics-options (it doesnt matter what, just change ANYTHING), framerate goes up again until it falls again after a few seconds.
wtf?? totally unplayble right now. a few weeks ago the game ran with around 55fps. weird
@dumedum how much would you be spending on the monitor
I have no idea... $300? $400? By the way I'll probably want a monitor with speakers, but I'll game with headphones.
I just hope they patch the Batman game before I buy it lol... otherwise I'd be forced to buy the xbone I guess.
You want 1080p or more ? If 1080p this are very good choices for a decent price BUT im not a monitor expert so maybe someone else can help
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