R7 260x 2gb v.s. R9 270x 4gb, in the long run, for gaming?

sindicomp · Aug 10, 2015

Hi,

First, system specs:
CPU: i7 3770k
Mobo: Sabertooth z77
Ram: Tridentx 16gb 2133MHz

Other relevant info:
Desired Resolution: 1600x900 (1280x720 is also acceptable)
Gaming style/type: Open-world shooters and racing (e.g. Dirt)

SHORT VERSION:
I’d like to know :
1) Will the 260x give me good (not necessarily great) quality gameplay?
a. If not, will the 270x?
2) Will 260x provide decent quality for the next 5 years without lag?
a. If not, will the 270x?
b. If not, how much longer (in terms of years) will the 270x be relevant (recommended requirements) compared to the 260x?

LONG VERSION
So, I’ve been frying my brain trying to figure out what video card to get. I’ve done quite a bit of reading up but am still undecided.

According to all of the reviews I’ve read, the 260x seems to be the card to go with. Mind you, I’ve been reading about budget cards (since I’m on a budget).

The reason I’m now considering the 270x (4gb) is because I’m trying to think long-haul. My current video card has lasted me 6+ years and I’d like this one to give me at least 5, if possible (I know that’s not how the market is built though).

Obviously the 270x is better, but is it better in value consider it's $100 more (I'm not in the U.S.)

For open-world and racing types of games, will I be able to use the 260x for the next 5 years and still get a decent experience/image (not amazing) without lag?
If not, how much more time will the 270x with 4gb vram buy me?

I know this is a pretty subjective question so I’m just looking for educated guesses based on the info I’ve given above and what is predicted to come out (in terms of those game styles) in the future.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Inkiad · Aug 10, 2015

Decent quality for five years in shooters? I don't think you can get that cheap. Where are you from?
Still 270x is better then 260x and 100usd more quite justifiable. Also 4gb for 1600x1200 is not necessary.
You can also check out these two cards. Both are better then 270x -
MSI Radeon R9 380 2GB - http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r93802gd5toc
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X 3GB - http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100363vx3l

velo3100 · Aug 10, 2015

The 270x is worth the extra money in the long run. But it will depend on what open world games and racing games you play and what settings.

sindicomp · Aug 10, 2015

Inkiad :

Wow, even for 'decent' imaging you think both of these will be obsolete within 5 years? Will they at least be able to run the (future) games on 1600 (or 1280) without lag?

If you're saying that 4gb isn't necessary for that resolution (even for future games) or that both cards are going to be obsolete soon, then I might just stick with the 260x. I just realized it's actually $150 more, not $100. I'm in India and that's more than my half of the rent, lol (also it's almost double the price of the 260x - $200 v.s. $350).

But I haven't considered the case closed just yet.

sindicomp · Aug 10, 2015

velo3100 :

Okay, thanks.

I don't want to get into specific titles because I don't want it to be about those games. I've already looked up the minimum and recommended specs of the games I currently play (or are out and am interested in playing) and some of them are fine for either card and some of them recommend an R9 290 (so I'm a bit screwed anyway).

I'm just trying to see if shelling out the extra $150 now (which is a lot for me ATM) will mean I'll get more use out of the card for longer.

So, why would you say the 270x is better in the long run? I get that the specs are better than the 260x but if there are games out now that are already suggesting specs more than the 270x can give (at recommended settings) will either of these cards hold up in the years to come?

Again, I get that this is a loaded question that has a certain fortune-telling aspect to it, so I'll take whatever feedback I can get.

Creme · Aug 10, 2015

At that resolution, the 260X will do fine, the 270X is obviously better and will last longer, but the thing is, by the time the 260X is not capable for your needs anymore, there will be cards that are faster, cooler and cheaper than the 270X.

It's a question of buying a 260X for "X" price now and buying an equivalent card 3 years later and enjoying better performance than a 270X, or spending "X"+100$ now for a 270X that might or might no be overkill for what you need now, but will last a bit longer.

If you really need 5 years without upgrading, a 270X 4GB is the better choice, though I would get a R9 280/7950 3GB then; it has slightly less memory (still fine for 1080p) but is faster.

sindicomp · Aug 10, 2015

Creme :

Yeah, you know what? That's what I'm thinking. I've done a bit more reading on vram and, while the debate is still heated, it looks like 4gb may be the standard now but it's going to be 6gb, or even 8 in the next few years.
So my thinking is that I just go with the lower card now, and in 2-3 years (maybe even 4), I'll have whatever loose change I get from selling this card plus the $150+ I saved by not buying the 270x. And I can put that all, plus a few extra bucks I would've saved, toward whatever the 280 or 290x equivalent is at that time.

Thanks again everyone for your help!

Creme · Aug 11, 2015

2GB will still get you by fine for most games if you stay at 1080p or lower and are responsible with texture settings and don't use MSAA for modern games.

Besides, we're on the cusp of a big hardware jump to a node shrink and HBM powered GPUs so a smaller investment now doesn't feel so bad when there is this big of a leap on the horizon.

sindicomp · Aug 11, 2015

Creme :

Okay, wow. I just read up on HBM and that IS a massive jump (I am so uninformed, lol).

In this case, does it just make sense to hold out a little longer? Are prices supposed to drop in the next 3 months or so, especially with the holidays around the corner - well, not corner, but coming soon? If so, how much more of a performance boost can I expect for the same amount of money (~US$200-350) in 3 months?

Creme · Aug 11, 2015

Well, in 2016 we can expect a truly new GPU series from AMD, which will bring HBM to more cards than just the high end hopefully. The most important thing will be power consumption and features.

Usually, a 200$ card will launch to replace the previous one, but the 300$ card from the year before will drop to 200$ and be faster still than the 200$ card from the current year, for a very short time until it disappears, kind of like the R9 280X is better than the 380 and can be found for as much money. You lose on power consumption and more modern hardware though.

So, in 3 months you will probably see the release of the R7 370X, GTX 950 (and its Ti version) and the R9 Nano (GTX 980 competitor) For 200-350$ your best choice will most likely still be the R9 390/GTX 970 at the high end of your budget or the R7 370X/950Ti at the lower end. The real evolution will come in 2016.

The 260X will still be relevant, it can compete with the PS4 in most games. If you can get a used R7 265 (or 2GB 7850 as they're the same card), it will be an improvement on the 260X, but don't bother paying more than 20$ more for it on top of a 260X.

Don't expect that big jump I mentioned before, possibly, mid 2016. If you just want a card to carry you over until then for cheap, the 260X will fit the bill (or a 265/370/7850 for a little more oomph), but if you don't want to wait, the R9 390 8GB is a great bang for the buck, but does come with high power consumption.

Again, it depends on the games you want to play and the timeframe until your next upgrade. I have a 7850 and it's perfect for all the games I want to play, but I mostly play TF2, Resident Evil, Alien Isolation and some other stuff that's not too demanding.

sindicomp · Aug 12, 2015

Creme :

I think the R9 390 would work quite well for me (long-term relevance). But I definitely can’t afford it now (and don’t want it at that price anyway). The other cards you mentioned (r7 265 and 7850 are more expensive so I won’t worry about those).

The 390 is actually twice as expensive as the 270x here (and 1.5 times in the U.S.).

So, I have two more questions (hopefully the last ones for this topic):
1. Considering the 390 costs so much more than the 270x now (~US$530 v.s. ~US$260), would you still say that the price of the 390 will drop to that of the 270x in 3 months (I understand, of course, that there are no guarantees).
2. If I can make myself wait until mid-2016 (or even September, if that helps), what kind of advantage am I looking at? Obviously the high-end HBM cards will be out of my price range, but will I get something even better than a 390 for ~$350 (and by extension last me longer than the 390 will)?
a. Even if the specs are better, will the quality be better? What I mean is that the 260x and 270x seem to have a lot of complaints (30% plus) of system freezes and such because of the card but the 390 doesn’t have any (according to newegg user reviews). I’m thinking that’s because the 390 is a higher-end card. So, would it just be better for me to get the 390 in three months (if it’s affordable) rather than wait until next year, despite the major tech advancement?

Creme · Aug 12, 2015

I don't think the 390 will drop that much in price, and the 270X will be replaced with the 370X (same card). Telling us where you are is helpful.

If you wait until mid 2016 you can get a discounted R9 390 or even a R9 Nano (doubt they will release 8GB versions of those though), or you can buy a hypothetical R9 480 with new technology.

I still think that if you don't need more than a 260X now, get that and wait to see how 2016 rolls out. We've been on 28nm since 2012 and the shift to 14/16nm with HBM will be huge and will net efficiency gains. When the 260X is no longer capable, you then see what card meets your expectations, it might be a 390, a 470, a 480, a Nano, a discounted Fury, who knows?

As for system freezes, it's luck of the draw, I don't think it's tied to a particular series.

Inkiad · Aug 12, 2015

There will be always better, faster, stronger graphics cards launching in the next season or year. Buy what you need now, you don't know you will live tomorrow.
I am from bangladesh, and graphics card prices don't change that much from launch price here. You have amazon on india.

sindicomp · Aug 15, 2015

Creme :

Just FYI, I mentioned I was in India in my response to Inkiad.

Alright, with everything that you’ve told me, coupled with what else I’m finding online, I think it’ll be prudent for me to just wait another year (I’ve waited this long). I do need a newer card to play some of the games I want (hence this search to begin with) but I have enough fun with the games that are compatible with my current card that I can wait. There are people literally sleeping on the street here (despite working 60 hours a week) and so I just can’t justify buying not just one but 2 $200-$300 cards within a year or so to myself :S.

Crème, I want to thank you so much for all your help; I really appreciate it and it’s helped me in making my decision quite a bit.

Creme · Aug 17, 2015

No problem. Just out of curiosity, what is your current card?

sindicomp · Aug 18, 2015

Creme :

You sure you want to know

...

It's a Gigabyte 1GB HD 4650. I know, may as well be in the mesozoic era, right?

Creme · Aug 20, 2015

Well it can play DX9 games fine, but yeah it's getting long in the tooth.

Are you getting the 260X?

sindicomp · Aug 22, 2015

Creme :

No, I'm going to hold off for now (at least a few months). I may even wait till fall of next year. It seems like the wait will be well rewarded.

R7 260x 2gb v.s. R9 270x 4gb, in the long run, for gaming?

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