Looking for a new GPU *Update 01/31 - Found card!*

[easye-at]

Hello,

New to the forum, I couldn't find a "Help me find a deal" forum.

I just got in on the Steam Link deal for $20 dollars, which is great because I really like what PC offers but from a console playing style.

That being said, here is my current rig:

CPU: i5 4670k

MOBO: Hi-Fi Z87X

RAM 8GB DDR3 1066.5 MHZ

GPU: R7950 Twin Frozr 3GB

I would like to get a "bang for your buck" card. I am not opposed to AMD, but I really wouldn't mind switching back to the green team.

Budget: I typically hang on to cards for 3-4 years before switching. I would like to stay under $300, closer to $200, but I am looking for a noticeable upgrade over my current option.

Timeframe: No dire rush to buy a card, maybe within next couple months.

I have been seeing these rumblings of "Vega" cards from AMD. Not sure the timeframe of those or if I should wait to see if prices drop more.

As of now, I was stuck between the R9 Fury for $235 or MSI Gaming X RX480 8GB $240

Thanks!

 

[Mercennarius]

Under $300 there is no card that offers a better bang for your buck than the R9 Fury. And there probably won't be a better bang for your buck anytime in the next 3-4 months...

 

[easye-at]

Under $300 there is no card that offers a better bang for your buck than the R9 Fury. And there probably won't be a better bang for your buck anytime in the next 3-4 months...

Thanks,

How "hot" of a deal is the R9 Fury at $235?

Is it a worthy upgrade from 7950?

Will Steam Link benefit from it?

Finally, what would you buy under $300?

 

[Mercennarius]

Thanks,

How "hot" of a deal is the R9 Fury at $235?

Is it a worthy upgrade from 7950?

Will Steam Link benefit from it?

Finally, what would you buy under $300?

Like I said above, there is no GPU on the market under $300 that offers a better value than the Fury. That's the card I would buy if looking to spend under $300. It's a pretty big upgrade over a 7950. The closest Nvidia is either a 980ti or a 1070 and both are over $100 more expensive.

Also judging by AMDs performance over the last few years the Fury will probably age pretty well too....

 

[Bacon1]

Fury is a great deal at that price yes. The 470/480 are also good buys in that price range. Both are weaker than the Fury so you'd want to buy them @ ~$150 (470) -> $200 (480).

If you are waiting a few months though you might as well see how Vega turns out. It will last the longest since its the newest tech. If nothing else prices will drop on other stuff.

Is your 7950 not providing enough umph currently for steam link? What games are you trying to play? There will always be some input lag due to the tech.

 

[Newbian]

If you can bump your budget about $75 more you can find gtx 1070's for about $375 at times otherwise the fury or gtx 1060 6gb / rx 480 8 gb in the $250 range is your only options really and stay away from the 3 gb / 4gb versions if you can as it's worth the $50 more for either of those.

 

[SlickR12345]

For $250 you can go for the RX 480 8GB and be extremely happy with it. Its quite better in DX12 than Nvidia's offering, its better in Vulkan and with the recent relive driver update its better in DX11 or equal in many titles where previously it wasn't as good.

Knowing AMD and their past cards, the RX 480 is also going to age really nicely and get better and better. There is no better card at the moment for $250 and I'd like to suggest the MSI version if you want quality, OC headroom, low noise, or go for the Nito+ if you want best performance out of the gate or great overclocking results!

The GTR from XFX is second after the Nitro+ in terms of performance!

 

[easye-at]

Like I said above, there is no GPU on the market under $300 that offers a better value than the Fury. That's the card I would buy if looking to spend under $300. It's a pretty big upgrade over a 7950. The closest Nvidia is either a 980ti or a 1070 and both are over $100 more expensive.

Also judging by AMDs performance over the last few years the Fury will probably age pretty well too....

Thanks. Sorry, just wanted to confirm.

Fury is a great deal at that price yes. The 470/480 are also good buys in that price range. Both are weaker than the Fury so you'd want to buy them @ ~$150 (470) -> $200 (480).

If you are waiting a few months though you might as well see how Vega turns out. It will last the longest since its the newest tech. If nothing else prices will drop on other stuff.

Is your 7950 not providing enough umph currently for steam link? What games are you trying to play? There will always be some input lag due to the tech.

Haven't tried it yet, just have the cash. That is probably the best step.

If you can bump your budget about $75 more you can find gtx 1070's for about $375 at times otherwise the fury or gtx 1060 6gb / rx 480 8 gb in the $250 range is your only options really and stay away from the 3 gb / 4gb versions if you can as it's worth the $50 more for either of those.

Honestly, I could spend $1,200 if I wanted too, but I really like buying a mid range card for $200-$250 every 3-4 years as a value. I just typically don't like shelling out big bucks on GPUs.

Well, the Fury is a 4GB card, so you would stay away?

 

[easye-at]

For $250 you can go for the RX 480 8GB and be extremely happy with it. Its quite better in DX12 than Nvidia's offering, its better in Vulkan and with the recent relive driver update its better in DX11 or equal in many titles where previously it wasn't as good.

Knowing AMD and their past cards, the RX 480 is also going to age really nicely and get better and better. There is no better card at the moment for $250 and I'd like to suggest the MSI version if you want quality, OC headroom, low noise, or go for the Nito+ if you want best performance out of the gate or great overclocking results!

The GTR from XFX is second after the Nitro+ in terms of performance!

Yeah, I was pretty much planning on going with MSI Gaming X RX480 8GB, but I read that Fury R9 is better by a considerable margin.

My biggest concern is which one is better from the 1080P Steam Link gaming I will be doing and what is overall a better purchase?

Thanks for the replies so far!

 

[Newbian]

.

Well, the Fury is a 4GB card, so you would stay away?

The 4gb version to stay away was for the rx 480.

 

[easye-at]

The 4gb version to stay away was for the rx 480.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks.

 

[Headfoot]

Steam Link is going to be the weakest part of the chain for sure, it will limit how much of an effect FPS will make as well as image quality and input latency. Have you tried your 7950 on it yet? It very well may last you a little while longer. If you can wait until Vega comes out it will likely put price pressure on all the cards currently out so you might get a better deal on 480's and 1070/1060's

Overclocked 7950 is still a solid GPU

 

[easye-at]

Steam Link is going to be the weakest part of the chain for sure, it will limit how much of an effect FPS will make as well as image quality and input latency. Have you tried your 7950 on it yet? It very well may last you a little while longer. If you can wait until Vega comes out it will likely put price pressure on all the cards currently out so you might get a better deal on 480's and 1070/1060's

Overclocked 7950 is still a solid GPU

Honestly, I am trying to play The Division, GoW 4, and Doom. Fallout 4/ Witcher 3 ran fairly well on stock. I didn't even have my MSI Afterburner on.

Holding out might be the best thing then... Sounds like I should do some trial and error first.

 

[Headfoot]

Honestly, I am trying to play The Division, GoW 4, and Doom. Fallout 4 ran fairly well on stock. I didn't even have my MSI Afterburner on.

Holding out might be the best thing then... Sounds like I should do some trial and error first.

Yeah I'd say so. If you haven't overclocked yet you can get insanely huge OC's out of those 7950s because of how low they set the clock stock. It comes at 850 IIRC? You are basically guaranteed to get 1000, and every 7950 I ever owned (3, during the mining days) got between 1150 and 1200 on only a tiny bit more voltage. 50% overclocks are not unheard of.

 

[easye-at]

Yeah I'd say so. If you haven't overclocked yet you can get insanely huge OC's out of those 7950s because of how low they set the clock stock. It comes at 850 IIRC? You are basically guaranteed to get 1000, and every 7950 I ever owned (3, during the mining days) got between 1150 and 1200 on only a tiny bit more voltage. 50% overclocks are not unheard of.

I have overclocked it before. I haven't been really gaming for last 18-24 months. Steam Link opened up new avenue for me really. I like the idea of playing off of a TV in my living room with a Console controller.

Just to disclose, Steam Link will be connected by hardline as well. I have a 300MBPS connection, believe they are capped at 100 tho.

 

[Headfoot]

I have overclocked it before. I haven't been really gaming for last 18-24 months. Steam Link opened up new avenue for me really. I like the idea of playing off of a TV in my living room with a Console controller.

Just to disclose, Steam Link will be connected by hardline as well. I have a 300MBPS connection, believe they are capped at 100 tho.

That'll definitely help with wireless jankiness for sure then

 

[tential]

I would get a 480 over fury. Fiji performance is all over the place and I doubt it will get better as its the least bought into architecture from amd recent memory in my eyes

 

[SlickR12345]

Yeah, I was pretty much planning on going with MSI Gaming X RX480 8GB, but I read that Fury R9 is better by a considerable margin.

My biggest concern is which one is better from the 1080P Steam Link gaming I will be doing and what is overall a better purchase?

Thanks for the replies so far!

I personally don't like the Fury as much, its really big with its massive cooling on pretty much most aib partners, therefore its louder, consumes more power, and the card itself is unbalanced, a ton of shaders, but not enough raw performance and of course its a cut down from the Fury x.

It would make sense if it was water cooled, but those options are very rare and much more expensive, in fact $320+

Sure its faster than the RX 480 8GB, but considering how unbalanced it is, I don't know if its going to keep winning going forward.

 

[DamZe]

The Sapphire R9 Fury for around 260$ is insane! That thing was touted as just good enough vs the 980 a year ago, then matured and is trading blows with the 980Ti/1070 in newer titles, what a beast and for the money unbeatable for 1080p/1440p, the amount of raw brutal power it posses for that asking Price is unheard of .

 

[Head1985]

get rx480-faster under dx11 than fury in gameworks games and pretty close dx12 performance.
If you want keep it 3-4years get 8GB version

non reference rx480 are even faster than furyX under dx11 games in 1080p.

 

[DamZe]

get rx480-faster under dx11 than fury in gameworks games and pretty close dx12 performance.
If you want keep it 3-4years get 8GB version

non reference rx480 are even faster than furyX under dx11 games in 1080p.

The fury is faster, you can't erase the shader/bus advantage it has over the polaris part.

 

[Thinker_145]

AIB max OC RX 480 8GB will get very close to a max OC fury and obviously will last longer. Don't fall for the fake value of buying a Fury.

 

[Mercennarius]

AIB max OC RX 480 8GB will get very close to a max OC fury and obviously will last longer. Don't fall for the fake value of buying a Fury.

Fury > RX 480 in performance...both stock and both overclocked. And where did you read that Fury's won't last as long? Dollar for dollar your money is better spent on a Fury than an RX 480 8GB. The RX 480 is slower than a 290X/390X.

 

[Head1985]

aftermarket rx480 is faster than both furyx and aftermarket fury
watchdogs2

dishonored2

 

[Leyawiin]

I would no more spend $259.99 for a 4GB card than I would $199.99 for a 3GB card. Under $300 its RX 480 8GB or GTX 1060 6GB.