Long Term GPU Comparison Over Time?

[liqstr]

When considering the difference between, say, the R9 280 or the R9 290, there are good performance gains, but do those performance gains stay consistent over many years as newer games are released, or do the performance gains become negligible as time goes on?

i.e. is it worth it to spend the extra dough if it makes the card last X months longer before you have to buy another? And how many months is that X time? In 4 years, will it matter if I buy a 280 vs 290?

 

[KingstonU]

That's a very good question worth discussing. My suspicion is that an analysis will show that on a performance per $$$ per year basis, the winners will be mid/high-end cards like GTX 560/660 HD4850/5850/7850

 

[tential]

It's not just that op. If the r9 280 doesn't even deliver the performance you want in the first place it doesn't matter how great a deal it is.

As a former 280 (7950) owner, I mean I understand what you're trying to say but it's not a set metric many people who are 280 owners are happy including my cousin. I'll upgrade to pascal/arctic islands when available because the 290 is fast, but I'd get even more speed/features if the price is right.

If you are willing to turn settings down like many users do who keep cards for 4 years then it's an even harder thing to measure.

This doesn't even begin to touch on how poor of an investment holding onto a gpu for 4 years is if you're trying to maximize bang for buck.

 

[railven]

It's not just that op. If the r9 280 doesn't even deliver the performance you want in the first place it doesn't matter how great a deal it is.

As a former 280 (7950) owner, I mean I understand what you're trying to say but it's not a set metric many people who are 280 owners are happy including my cousin. I'll upgrade to pascal/arctic islands when available because the 290 is fast, but I'd get even more speed/features if the price is right.

If you are willing to turn settings down like many users do who keep cards for 4 years then it's an even harder thing to measure.

This doesn't even begin to touch on how poor of an investment holding onto a gpu for 4 years is if you're trying to maximize bang for buck.

Yeah, woof. Most GPU's lose their value (and performance) in 2 years, if not less. Well...this extended node sort of through that to the wind, now it was like 2.5 years?

Anyways, I always buy the best in my price bracket, and sell/cannibalize it as soon as a new product in a similar price bracket is available IF it offers up a worthy performance boost. IE, I won't drop for a 10-15% performance gain, has to be at least 30-40%.

Since I buy a new GPU every year (this accommodates two users) I sort of get the best option. Before I was upgrade each rig every other year, now yearly, I can probably get a nice upgrade for my main rig, or a decent cheap upgrade for her rig. Win/win.