New PC Build Involving either 2 x AMD RX 480 8GB or GTX 1080 Founders Edition 8GB

Himajun · Jun 30, 2016

It's got to that stage were my little PC needs a good over-haul, or even just a brand new one.

Now with the release of these new cards im very much tided between the two, I am looking for something that will do 1440p with ease for "gaming" as well as every day use without any sort of adjustments - since i am clueless on overclocking etc..

Just looking for honest advice, I'm not really bothered about price, as long as it falls below £2000 - Hopefully you can help.

greens · Jun 30, 2016

always go with the best single card you can afford within reason.

The 1080 is the better choice.

Himajun · Jun 30, 2016

Is there and sort of backing to that? I've heard both good and bad things especially from the 1080 and of course the RX 480 is cheaper, even with two.

bigpinkdragon286 · Jun 30, 2016

The RX 480 and GTX 1080 are not directly comparable cards, however as long as you know what to expect, both are perfectly fine options.

Tom's review of the RX 480 points out, the reference cards are drawing more than they should from the PCIe bus on their test motherboard, so be aware that overclocking isn't much of an option there, and running a pair of them at high draw could result in motherboard issues.

The GTX 1080 is simply Maxwell on steroids, so doesn't really bring much to the table other than higher clocks, unless you're using VR specific features. Frankly, a GTX 980ti that is clocked high enough is only going to be 3 - 5% behind the GTX 1080, so if you're already sporting a 980ti, it's not worth the upgrade. Also the GTX 1080 runs hot and can have trouble maintaining it's boost state.

greens · Jun 30, 2016

Yeah, just google around.

The GTX 1080 is an absolute beast.

You stated yourself you don't really want to have to mess with it, and that is all you end up doing with xfire systems - trying to figure out how to get your xfire optimized. It really is a pain. Some games just don't work with it. All games require you to play fullscreen, which means no fixed window with youtube on a second monitor, etc. Crossfire is a pain.

Most games aren't optimized for 2 GPUs, then you might as well have one, and if you want great performance in all games, the GTX 1080 is the obvious choice.

bigpinkdragon286 · Jun 30, 2016

The GTX 1080 is a terrible value. It may be able to push some great numbers, but unless your screen is capable of the same high frame rates, you're spending a lot of money for bragging rights, not for usable performance.

A better alternative would be a 390 or 390x. They outperform the 480, have the bandwidth to handle the higher resolutions and anti-aliasing options, and for half the price of the 1080. They may draw a few more watts of power, but that's hardly the bottom line for gamers.

Himajun · Jun 30, 2016

Would you advise waiting then until other variants of the 1080 come out then? or since im not looking to mess around with other settings or what not is it pointless and just purchase a 1080 FE now?

Also are their more benefits going towards cards such as 390 or 390x for long-term or the 1080 since i do wants this build to last a couple of years.

bigpinkdragon286 · Jun 30, 2016

Founder's Edition is just NVIDIA's gimmick to charge $100+ over MSRP for the reference design. Only buy it if you have no choice.

bigpinkdragon286 · Jun 30, 2016

I would personally wait for the aftermarket 1080 cards, if you are going that route. Should be both lower cost and have better cooling.

As for the RX 480, it's point is to bring good performance down in price. It's not meant to compete with anything directly, really. Think of it like getting between GTX 970 - 980 performance at a $200 price point. It may be the new AMD card, but it hardly displaces AMD's higher offerings. Consider it if you're on a budget, but still want to max most settings at 1080p.

Himajun · Jun 30, 2016

Indeed, I understand that. Just very tore between getting the latest and new cards over old cards that might perform better, or is the GTX1080 simple for bragging rights, or is it really the best card to date?

bigpinkdragon286 · Jun 30, 2016

Neither AMD nor NVIDIA have released all new architecture on 14nm or 16nm process nodes. Both are simply sporting a rehash of their old architecture on the new node with a few improvements.

Since the 9xx series NVIDIA boards already had HDMI 2 capable display controllers, the only immediate feature the 10x0 series brings is more speed.

The RX 480 does finally improve AMD's display controller, so you can finally have your 4k@60 over HDMI. I suppose that is compelling for some, but hardly enough reason to compromise on the actual graphics horsepower, as even the GTX 1080 can struggle to produce a fluid 60 FPS in all titles at 4k.

The best card to date is probably a Titan X, which if overclocked can beat a GTX 1080 by almost 10%. But, how much are you wanting to spend for the few extra FPS you're going to see?

17seconds · Jun 30, 2016

RX 480 CrossFire loses out on its overall relative performance big time due to the number of games that don't scale well (6 out of 16).

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/RX_480_CrossFire/19.html

Himajun · Jun 30, 2016

You might have to explain that graph to me better - Since all i see is percentages and numbers

bigpinkdragon286 · Jun 30, 2016

The graph is saying, buying two RX 480 cards and pairing them will result in very little improvement, overall. In some games both cards will work, in some games only one card will be active, and there's little you can do about it. Due to this, the benchmark's average of all games tested only give a pair of cards a 147% performance number vs a single card, rather than a theoretical ideal of 200%.

There are too many games that don't work with crossfire to expect it to always be a benefit.

17seconds · Jun 30, 2016

That chart represents cumulative performance on 16 games, averaged out for a quick look at overall performance. A single GTX 1080 is going to be faster, more consistent from game to game, considerably more power efficient, quieter, cooler, and will allow you to enable unique Nvidia features like PhysX, HBAO+, and some of the new antialiasing modes.

Rather than a pair of RX 480s as an alternative to the GTX 1080, I would also set your sights on a pair of GTX 1060s, to be released on July 7th and available in stores on July 14th. But overall, if you read the conclusion to that linked review, a single card is always better and allows that dual card upgrade path available for the future.

Himajun · Jul 1, 2016

Thanks for your help guys, reading into that review gave me pretty much most of the information I needed. Cheers.

Surferohio · Jul 25, 2016

17seconds :

Unfortunately the 1060's are not SLI capable. Nvidia did this on purpose because they are not promoting SLI as much as single card solutions. Also, at the 1060's price point and performance, people would end up getting two 1060's that would rival or exceed 1080 performance and they are not going to do that to themselves.

Ceo_VetearanGaming · Aug 16, 2016

Surferohio :

17seconds :

actually they do have SLI 1060s' and you noticed how the 980 and 980ti in SLI was not on the sheet! that's because he showed you a sheet comparison of the 490 and not of all the cards in all settings. it is cheaper to run the 980ti in SLi and single than both options and If you really want the 1080 wait till the sc and oc version hit the market to get those. In my opinion founders edition suck balls cause they don't offer sli like the others do
Unfortunately the 1060's are not SLI capable. Nvidia did this on purpose because they are not promoting SLI as much as single card solutions. Also, at the 1060's price point and performance, people would end up getting two 1060's that would rival or exceed 1080 performance and they are not going to do that to themselves.

New PC Build Involving either 2 x AMD RX 480 8GB or GTX 1080 Founders Edition 8GB

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