What graphics card is better for gaming?



The problem with such a simplistic approach is that the R9's come very aggressively clocked right outta the box with the 7xx don't and have much more headroom. So for example, when overclocked, each of the 7xx series is capable of moving up a notch.

The 290x in uber beats the 780 by 10% when both are taken outta the box....but if you are not going to use them that way, the information is irrelevant. With both overclocked "bawlz to the wall", there is a reversal of the positions. Benchies at 8:40 mark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djvZaHHU4I8

The 280 is to my mind is the apple of AMD's eye as it's the one that manages to maintain a lead when both are overclocked and frankly I'm shocked at why the things are not selling better.

 

clutchc

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+1 inre the R9-280. I put one in my old(er) machine (Phenom II X4 @ 4GHz) and was amazed. And I haven't even started OC'ing it yet.
 

lozzahh_XD

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it looks like the 770 got its arse kicked
 

clutchc

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Keep in mind those are stock cards. If you OC, the difference may narrow.
 
Id love to see a breakdown of sales by card ... right now Steam still lists all 6 cards as "All R9's" and sales of all six cards combined are in the same ballpark as the 780 Ti by itself .... beshonk's post may shed some light as if they are selling so cheap on ebay, that would hurt new card sales but then again, what are people replacing them with when they are sold ?
 

lozzahh_XD

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you know the 770 is already OC when you buy it so it narrows?
 


All R9 series cards are very aggressively overclocked. The 7xx series cards have moderate OCs.

For example:

Reference 780: Core Clock = 863
Asus 780 DCII: Core Clock = 889

That's a puny 3% factory OC. The card has no problem at 1089 (26% OC) ... that's 23% headroom.

The reference R9's are already very aggressively overclocked....as such the available headroom is much smaller.

I like the approach .... If for example Asus were to overclock that card to say 990 ..... most peeps would still be content getting it up to 1089 for a 10+% OC. But a certain amount of cards will fail to hold stable at 990 in which case they'd have to deal w/ RMAs..... at 889, they can still let reviewers blab about how far they got it to OC but when someone can't match it, they just gotta say, "well it is only guaranteed for 889". With the aggressive OC, the AMD has to guarantee the advertised speed which is better for that "1 in who knows how many " customer who gets less than he / she expected.

 

beshonk

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Bit coin mining with gfx cards has dried up. It's no longer lucrative so miners are selling their amd cards at bargain prices to try and cut their investment losses. They aren't replacing they're liquidating which is good for us gamers. Check out a r9 290 on eBay for 250 if you're buying in that range.