Purchasing a 380X or waiting for Polaris

[escrow4]

I didn't recommend that the OP buy a GTX 1070, although it would be a better deal at $379 than a $300+ R9 380X at this stage of the game. The OP does need something now though, so R9 380X isn't bad.

Personally I would just go with an R9 390X and be set for a good long while if I had to buy AMD and had to buy right now.

$379 US will magically turn into $500 AUD here. And on the 380s/390s, are there any driver issues? Looks like the 380s suffered black screen issues and driver crashes over the past few months.

 

[RussianSensation]

In order:

- $315 - Sapphire Nitro
- $358 - Asus Strix 380X - looking at this one.
- $485 - Sapphire Nitro
- $479 - Windforce OC

Polaris will be the same if not more (likely more). I'm looking at the 380X, it seems to be a modern 7970 equivalent more or less. Seeing as AMD drivers mature as opposed to strangling older products I doubt waiting would make much difference. At least pricewise.

Those prices are way too high for what is essentially a slightly faster 2012 HD7950 V2 (Ya I know Tonga XT is faster stock, but overall it's not any faster than November 2012 $300 USD HD7950 overclocked to 1150mhz. If I had to choose a 380X, I'd go with Sapphire Nitro since it's the cheapest.

Why not go for the standard R9 380 4GB and save $? If you are happy with 40 fps then I doubt 380X is even worth getting.

R9 380 vs. R9 380X in 14 games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od1lfnJW7ug

In many games the 380X is barely faster than a standard 380 and slower than HD7970Ghz.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r9_380x_4gb_review,9.html

IMO, the 380X sits in no man's land based on the prices you have outlined. Might as well step-up to the R9 390 or go down to a 380 4GB if you don't want to wait for Polaris 10 or wait for price drops on the 390.

Even if 380X is cheaper than 970/390/1070, its price/performance may still be way worse. Have you calculated that?

 

[wilds]

Just get some LN2 and OC that Beast 730 to 1.7 ghz and it should run Doom like a champ! /s

Agreed with RS. Those prices are ripoffs. I would definitely go used or wait for the Pascal release to see if it affects pricing.

 

[escrow4]

EDIT: Scratch that, will be picking up a 960 4GB tomorrow and onsell if there is something better next year.

 

[oussama-tn]

if the r9 390 nitro isnt cheap i would buy it it runs quiet and cool

 

[AtenRa]

EDIT: Scratch that, will be picking up a 960 4GB tomorrow and onsell if there is something better next year.

What is the price of the 960 4GB ???

 

[AtenRa]

$379 US will magically turn into $500 AUD here. And on the 380s/390s, are there any driver issues? Looks like the 380s suffered black screen issues and driver crashes over the past few months.

I havent had any problems with my 390 since now. I have used it in many different systems including FX8150 @ 4.6GHz, Core i7 and APUs.

 

[escrow4]

What is the price of the 960 4GB ???

$305 for the Strix, near $45 cheaper than the 380X, $10 cheaper than the plain 380.

 

[AtenRa]

$305 for the Strix, near $45 cheaper than the 380X, $10 cheaper than the plain 380.

For $10 more i would get the 380, it should be faster in DOOM and faster in every other current or future DX-12 game.

Anyway, i would wait until the end of month to see how things will shape up.

 

[Arachnotronic]

For $10 more i would get the 380, it should be faster in DOOM and faster in every other current or future DX-12 game.

Anyway, i would wait until the end of month to see how things will shape up.

960 is faster in DOOM.

 

[monstercameron]

960 is faster in DOOM.

Pre or post amd driver fix?

 

[Arachnotronic]

Pre or post amd driver fix?

Driver fix applies to 390 series, not 380 series (Tonga).

 

[RussianSensation]

Driver fix applies to 390 series, not 380 series (Tonga).

AMD released 3 consecutive drivers. The latest fix boosts Doom performance even more using 16.5.2.1

960 4GB still wins but 960 2GB is completely destroyed by Doom due to VRAM limitations. Overall, the difference in performance between a 280X/380X and 960 4GB for this game are hardly worth talking about. 290/290X completely destroy these 380/380X/960 level cards. The OP didn't want to wait for any deals or buy a used after-market 290/290X/970.

Doom is actually a good showing for 960 but what about other games in 2016? Watch, once Total War Warhammer gets the DX12 patch, 960 will get destroyed by a barely more expensive used R9 290.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

AMD released 3 consecutive drivers. The latest fix boosts Doom performance even more using 16.5.2.1

Wow, a non ultra test, thx.

Looks like my kepler isn't quite as useless as on ultra.

 

[nenforcer]

I'm playing the game on a Radeon R9 285 2GB @ 1080P and am averaging just above 40fps on Medium settings with the latest AMD Crimson Edition 16.5.2.1 driver. Absolutely wait for Polaris it targets the mid range cards you are talking about - the R9 380/X and Geforce GTX 960 all at lower power and presumably the same or less pricing.

 

[xthetenth]

Doom is actually a good showing for 960 but what about other games in 2016? Watch, once Total War Warhammer gets the DX12 patch, 960 will get destroyed by a barely more expensive used R9 290.

It won't take that much in all likelihood. That'd be enough that it'd probably get murdered by a 380. The 290's just a different level of card entirely.

 

[RussianSensation]

Wow, a non ultra test, thx.

Looks like my kepler isn't quite as useless as on ultra.

The issue is 7970/280X are getting 50-57 FPS on Ultra, while 680/770 are at 32-35 FPS. 2GB of VRAM isn't enough for 1080p in this game on UQ. Back then Nv debuted GTX770 2GB at $399 and 4GB at $449, while R9 280X was $299. Even after price drops, the 770 never came close to 280X. 780Ti losing badly to an R9 290 is pretty bad too.

 

[sirmo]

Just get some LN2 and OC that Beast 730 to 1.7 ghz and it should run Doom like a champ! /s

Agreed with RS. Those prices are ripoffs. I would definitely go used or wait for the Pascal release to see if it affects pricing.

Because Pascal release prices aren't a rip off?

 

[wilds]

Because Pascal release prices aren't a rip off?

The 1070 and 1080 have quite decent price/perf ratios. The FE is a rip off, but the aftermarket versions at MSRP will be a solid recommendation for quite some time.

 

[sirmo]

The 1070 and 1080 have quite decent price/perf ratios. The FE is a rip off, but the aftermarket versions at MSRP will be a solid recommendation for quite some time.

I doubt we will see MSRP prices any time soon and definitely not in quantity, but that remains to be seen.

I think people may have forgotten that die shrinks are usually about the next price/perf jump, since it's been a long time since we had one. And seeing how this is basically a double shrink (since we skipped 20nm). A price/perft jump is to be expected.

How good of a price/perf 1080/1070 are, remains to be seen. Because we have yet to see their FinFet competition.

 

[R0H1T]

The 1070 and 1080 have quite decent price/perf ratios. The FE is a rip off, but the aftermarket versions at MSRP will be a solid recommendation for quite some time.

The 1070, if it launches at 379$ in decent numbers, is good VFM but not the 1080, even at $600. The 1080 however will command a premium (only?) till the time it's usurped as the single fastest GPU, possibly by small Vega.

 

[tential]

Why do people love Tonga so much? Talk about a mediocre improvement.

 

[DamZe]

I would definitely wait for Polaris, the performance/watt gains are said to be massive over the older GCN cards.

 

[Olecki]

Doom is actually a good showing for 960 but what about other games in 2016? Watch, once Total War Warhammer gets the DX12 patch, 960 will get destroyed by a barely more expensive used R9 290.

Total War Warhammer so far looks like optimisation crap. I heard from person testing pre-sale version that in 1080p, i7-4790K @4500 MHz, GTX 1080, during 4x4 battle when fight beigns framerate drops to 20 FPS...
It looks that this game will be able to eat any CPU, I doubt that DX12 version will help much.

 

[Zstream]

$305 for the Strix, near $45 cheaper than the 380X, $10 cheaper than the plain 380.

Where are you from? I picked up a 380 (4gb) asus strix for $220. I think one of us could ship you one if needed.