RX 480 vs R9 390

[The Oddball]

My friend was looking to upgrade his GPU, and he needs some help.

 

He's currently looking at the RX 480 (which is very hard to get your hands on, at best buy [he wants to buy it there god knows why]) but the R9 390 is currently on sale for $10 more expensive than the 480.

 

So, should he buy the 480 or the 390?

 

Or should I tell him to f*ck off and get nvidia, if so what card do you reccomend (at the same price point, 250-300~) at the same (or better) performance. (must be at best buy)

[AwesomeMcCoolName]

Well, 1060 (6gb) > 480 / 390. In the long run, the 480 will probably end up outperforming the 1060 IF AMD continues to optimize for a longer period of time (note: the reason the 7000 series aged so well compared to the GTX6/700 series is because the 7000 series is VERY similar to the R9 300 series, so any optimizations for the 300 series also apply to the 7000 series....so future AMD architectures will likely affect how well Polaris ages). Anyway, I digress....

 

Back on topic. A 480 and 390 perform very similarly, however a 480 pulls about half the power (and is a bit ahead). 

 

Anyway, I'd vote for a 6gb 1060 or an 8gb 480 (480 if you think AMD will continue to optimize for older cards, 1060 if you don't -- tbh, it's a crapshoot). Although the 480 does look to be better in DX12/Vulkan -- HOWEVER it's important to know that's because most implementations of DX12 have used VERY deep ASYNC queues -- which aren't actually necessary to get better ASYNC performance (and end up hurting nvidia). So AMD has an advantage in DX12/Vulkan IF DX12 development continues the way it has been (which it likely won't since Nvidia will help push developers to develop a code path for Nvidia GPUs -- which would benefit from a shallower ASYNC queue).

 

 

Have I mentioned that it's kind of a crapshoot? 

[The Oddball]

Well, 1060 (6gb) > 480 / 390. In the long run, the 480 will probably end up outperforming the 1060 IF AMD continues to optimize for a longer period of time (note: the reason the 7000 series aged so well compared to the GTX6/700 series is because the 7000 series is VERY similar to the R9 300 series, so any optimizations for the 300 series also apply to the 7000 series....so future AMD architectures will likely affect how well Polaris ages). Anyway, I digress....

 

Back on topic. A 480 and 390 perform very similarly, however a 480 pulls about half the power (and is a bit ahead). 

 

Anyway, I'd vote for a 6gb 1060 or an 8gb 480 (480 if you think AMD will continue to optimize for older cards, 1060 if you don't -- tbh, it's a crapshoot). Although the 480 does look to be better in DX12/Vulkan -- HOWEVER it's important to know that's because most implementations of DX12 have used VERY deep ASYNC queues -- which aren't actually necessary to get better ASYNC performance (and end up hurting nvidia). So AMD has an advantage in DX12/Vulkan IF DX12 development continues the way it has been (which it likely won't since Nvidia will help push developers to develop a code path for Nvidia GPUs -- which would benefit from a shallower ASYNC queue).

 

 

Have I mentioned that it's kind of a crapshoot? 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/tJyxFT/evga-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-sc-gaming-video-card-06g-p4-6163-krthis would be a good 1060?

[Twins_Mercury]

Cooling is pretty lackluster compared to pretty much anything with two fans. If size isn't an issue then look at other options.

[The Oddball]

Cooling is pretty lackluster compared to pretty much anything with two fans. If size isn't an issue then look at other options.

I saw reviews that it still held its own against a reference design (did better) when it comes to temps

[AwesomeMcCoolName]

I saw reviews that it still held its own against a reference design (did better) when it comes to temps

That's not much of an accomplishment. 

 

I would suggest looking up reviews for the Windforce variant to make sure there are no random issues (significantly louder, or signifncantly higher temps caused by a heatpipe missing the die, etc...)

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7RKhP6/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-windforce-oc-6g-video-card-gv-n1060wf2oc-6gd

[The Oddball]

That's not much of an accomplishment. 

 

I would suggest looking up reviews for the Windforce variant to make sure there are no random issues (significantly louder, or signifncantly higher temps caused by a heatpipe missing the die, etc...)

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7RKhP6/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-windforce-oc-6g-video-card-gv-n1060wf2oc-6gd

For the same price, that looks like a much better card. Will recommend this one to him.