gamegpuDARK SOULS III Benchmarks

[escrow4]

Precisely. 290X sold for substantially less, often up to $200-250 less for most of its life when comparing it to the 980. The same can be applied to 390/390X vs. 980, as well as to the after-market 290 vs. 780Ti. For a large chunk of 780Ti's generations, it was possible to own 290 CF, and during 980's generation 290X CF / 295X2 for barely more $ than either of those NV cards. In that context, it's like today having set aside $200-300 towards a next gen card that will be 50-75% faster than a 780Ti/980. That's why I stress price/performance as a key metric for most gamers. It might not be obvious right away but if you buy a $550 card that performs barely better than a $280 card in modern games, it's akin to spending $270 extra for very little benefit other than lower power usage. To me, that makes GCN far superior since it costs way less to own over time, which makes future GPU upgrades cheaper OR you can spend that money on a better monitor, SSD, platform upgrade. It's actually possible to sell old 2500K/2600K + mobo + DDR3 and move to an i7 6700K + Z170 + DDR4 after reinvesting the old parts value + $270 saved on not buying a 980.

It seems like at the end of this generation, a 980 is barely faster on average than a 290X/390X. Ouch. It's odd that many NV users always ignore the huge price disparities like that when comparing performance as if every gamer here already has an i7 6700K or similar.....

All of these 2016 titles are tempting me to get a 390 now instead of waiting. Hmmmmm.

 

[RussianSensation]

Yeah but the 290X was only $50 cheaper than the 980 at launch of the 980. The price only tanked after the 980 launched.

PS: If developers do focus on DX12 then I do worry that they will focus on GCN 1.1 and nothing else. Driver optimization options are going to be limited, it's all up to the developer.

After-market 290s were already dropping to $350-375 on Newegg with R9 290X cards selling for $450 with rebates, before 970/980 launched. Also, what difference does it make what 290/290X cost the day of 980's launch? When someone was buying a 980, the price of 290/290X was already adjusted unless you want to focus on 5-7 days after 980 launched and ignore October 1, 2014 until now? Literally from October 2014 or so, 290X CF ~ 980 and R9 290X was $300 USD and that continued for a solid 15 months before 390/390X launched. If anything 290X/R9 295X2 dropped even more in price.

August 2015, after-market 290 was only $250, 980 at that time was still $550. How does a 980 look against an after-market 290 (390) or 290 CF (390 CF) today? Like utter garbage.

Recent reviews from TPU that don't even incorporate 5-6 new AAA games where Maxwell bombs already show 980 barely beating 390/390X. Pathetic given the gigantic price disparity between them.

March 31, 2016

Even last month, we saw R9 390 for $275 with rebates, before selling off the Hitman game. The cheapest 980 I saw was like $400. :thumbsdown:

780Ti looks awful now too, slower than an after-market 290. What are the excuses? Remember both of these cards sold for years at $400 vs. $700 price differences between them.

All of these 2016 titles are tempting me to get a 390 now instead of waiting. Hmmmmm.

I think for you it makes sense to wait. Depends on how quickly new cards launch in Australia/New Zealand, you may be able to score a big discount on 980Ti or pick up a GP104 1070 card. Since you have a 780Ti, I wouldn't bother with a 390. Since most people are also clueless and buy NV no matter what, it'll be very easy for you to unload a 780Ti in the used market and pick up a next gen card. I feel if you are going to get a new card from a 780Ti, it should be 50-75% faster or why bother? If you put 390 to mine Ether for the next 2 months, then sure I'd recommend it, but otherwise, no. You waited this long already, might as well wait another 2-3 months. :thumbsup:

 

[4K_shmoorK]

I wonder if actual game systems work at 2x speed like in their previously tacked on 60 fps efforts. If your weapons degrade faster because you're running at 60 instead of 30, not good. Maybe that was ok back when Quake 3 came out but in 2016 its embarrassing. Lets hope they figured that out

Yep its all fixed this time around. That was specific to DSIIs engine. DSIII uses the bloodborne engine. Someone at FROM must've remembered this time. "Hey remember degradation is tied to FPS.."

In DSIII, weapon degradation is almost non existent.

 

[PhonakV30]

I Installed this game and then Deleted!!!

1- Horrible Image Quality Of Character's face
2- Strange Keyboard Control ( No Textbox "Save" or "Back" )
3- High performance hit compare to Dragon age.

I still play Dragon age inquisitor and very smooth compare to Dark soul III.

 

[ArchAngel777]

I Installed this game and then Deleted!!!

1- Horrible Image Quality Of Character's face
2- Strange Keyboard Control ( No Textbox "Save" or "Back" )
3- High performance hit compare to Dragon age.

I still play Dragon age inquisitor and very smooth compare to Dark soul III.

LOL... Comparing DS to DA.

 

[4K_shmoorK]

I Installed this game and then Deleted!!!

1- Horrible Image Quality Of Character's face
2- Strange Keyboard Control ( No Textbox "Save" or "Back" )
3- High performance hit compare to Dragon age.

I still play Dragon age inquisitor and very smooth compare to Dark soul III.

Bought a game and promptly deleted it? Sounds like some piracy may have been involved to me.

Totally different game from Dragon Age.

 

[PhonakV30]

Yes I got from torrent.They could optimize game, button "Esc" means Back but sometime you can't use in dark soul.if I'm not mistaken , dragon age uses frostbite engine , right?

 

[repoman0]

Yes I got from torrent.They could optimize game, button "Esc" means Back but sometime you can't use in dark soul.if I'm not mistaken , dragon age uses frostbite engine , right?

Wahhhhhhh this free game I illegally downloaded isn't optimized and looks bad :thumbsdown:

 

[railven]

I'll eat my crow.

 

[JasonCoder]

This is the most demanding game I play on my PC and I'm confused as f*ck by the charts by what to upgrade to. I have a GTX 660 and I game at 1440p. It runs ok, I get some pop in and occasional slow downs. But certainly playable.

So I spend $240 on a 960 to gain about 11 fps? If I want anything approaching 60fps I need to throw down over $300. Do I have this right?

 

[IllogicalGlory]

This is the most demanding game I play on my PC and I'm confused as f*ck by the charts by what to upgrade to. I have a GTX 660 and I game at 1440p. It runs ok, I get some pop in and occasional slow downs. But certainly playable.

So I spend $240 on a 960 to gain about 11 fps? If I want anything approaching 60fps I need to throw down over $300. Do I have this right?

The power of 28nm. :thumbsup:

2.5 years ago, 290s cost $400. Now they (390/970) cost $300. Price decreased 25% over 2.5 years.