R9 280x better than hd 7970?

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CptBarbossa

CptBarbossa

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Jan 10, 2014
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My friend has a r9 280x and I am running a hd 7970. We are kinda competing with our builds but when we do firestrike he is killing me in the graphics score (8543 vs 6834). Even when I overclock and use beta drivers I can only get it to 7754. I was under the impression these cards were almost identicle minus a few tweaks. Anyone know whats going on?

My system specs:
CPU - Phenom ii x6 1055t @ 3.43ghz
GPU - xfx hd 7970
MOBO - Gigabyte a97-ud3p
PSU - EVGA 850b2
SSD - 120gb kingston
RAM - 4x2 gb
OS - Windows 7 ultimate 64bit

His system specs:
CPU - FX 6300 @ 3.8ghz
GPU - Gigabyte r9 280x
MOBO - MSI 970A-G46
PSU - Corsair CX600M
SSD - 120gb (brand unknown)
RAM - 4x2gb
OS - Windows 8.1

Before anyone tells me my CPU is holding me back I am winning in the physics score (7265 to 5926).

Thanks all!
 
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cemerian

cemerian

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Jul 29, 2013
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the cards are identical if the hd 7970 would be 1ghz edition(the r9 280x is a rebranded hd7970 ghz edition) its mostly down to some driver optimizations, and the rest of your system specs, and your cpu has higher physics score because you have a real 6 core, against something that would be more accurately described as hybrid between 6/3, while hes got some new instructions, better integer math, it's mostly not gonna change much, ram can also change things
 
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CptBarbossa

CptBarbossa

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Jan 10, 2014
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Thats what I thought. I overclocked my 7970 slightly past ghz specs and it still fell short. Kinda frustrating.

I feel most of my system specs outperform his. The only thing that I think MIGHT be holding me back is my RAM (pretty cheap stuff and currently has to be underclocked for a stable CPU overclock), but I don't think my RAM could affect a graphics score that drastically.
 
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cemerian

cemerian

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Jul 29, 2013
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it shouldn't but it possibly can, but amd are very well know for tweaking drivers for better 3dmark scores, in the old days of hd 2xxx,3xxx series it was very obvious,so best way to compare would be in real gaming situations
 
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CptBarbossa

CptBarbossa

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Jan 10, 2014
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I actually preffer unigine heaven benchmark but my friend doesn't like the "interface" thinks its "ugly". I have heard unigine is actually a better benchmark to measure what you can expect to see in games over firestrike.

I am replacing the RAM before too long so we will see if thats the problem, but I have my doubts. I am also planning on crossfiring my 7970 so if all else fails that will do the trick.

Unfortunately we are using benchmarks as our tool of measurement in our competition. That and the quality of our periferals (the bastard is really beating me there lol).
 
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sincreator

sincreator

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It's your CPU and memory bandwidth that is holding you back. If you want to beat him, grab an i5 4670k, and get faster ram. The old Phenom systems have terrible memory bandwidth compared to sandy bridge chips and newer, and the FX lineup. He also is clocked higher than you, and his chip boosts to 4.2ghz under a load I believe. My next upgrade will be an Intel i5 chip. There isn't enough of an increase from amd's chips compared to my PH II x6 @ 4.0ghz to warrant the upgrade IMO, so Intel it is for me.
 
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CptBarbossa

CptBarbossa

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I am not spending the money to switch to intel. Maybe down the road but right now I am very happy competing AMD vs AMD. His turbo core is turned off so he is sitting at 3.8 ghz, and the thuban perform better clock/clock than even the vishera chips (and you can see that I am beating him in physics score, which is CPU bound).

I do plan to upgrade my ram here soon, but I still doubt that that is what is holding me back.

If you look at those benchmark scores you posted you notice that the deneb 4 core phenom is competing with a 6 core higher clocked vishera, and is not that far behind in the gaming benchmarks. I am runnig a 6 core thuban and our clocks are close.

I will probably get a better cpu overclock with the RAM upgrade because I can go much higher in my overclock when running prime95 small fft, but 3.43 is the highest I can go in blend test.
 
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