Test Hardware And Software
| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processors | Intel Core i7-4960X (Ivy Bridge-E) 3.6 GHz Base Clock Rate, Overclocked to 4.3 GHz, LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled |
| Motherboard | ASRock X79 Extreme6 (LGA 2011) X79 Express Chipset, BIOS 2.50 |
| Memory | G.Skill 32 GB (8 x 4 GB) DDR3-2133, F3-17000CL9Q-16GBXM x2 @ 9-11-10-28 and 1.65 V |
| Hard Drive | Samsung 840 Pro SSD 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon R9 280X 3 GB |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X 2 GB | |
| AMD Radeon R7 260X 2 GB | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3 GB | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2 GB | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 2 GB | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2 GB | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2 GB | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2 GB | |
| Power Supply | Corsair AX860i 860 W |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 8 Professional 64-bit |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta 1 (All AMD cards) |
| Nvidia GeForce 331.40 Beta (All Nvidia cards) | |
| Benchmarks And Settings | |
|---|---|
| Battlefield 3 | Ultra Quality Preset, v-sync off, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, DirectX 11, Going Hunting, 90-Second playback, Fraps |
| Arma 3 | Very High Detail Preset, DirectX 11, 2x FSAA, v-sync off, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, Infantry Showcase, 30-Second playback, Fraps |
| Grid 2 | Ultra Quality Preset, 4x MSAA, v-sync off, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, Built-In Benchmark, Fraps |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Ultra Quality Preset, FXAA Disabled, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, Custom Run-Through, 25-Second playback, Fraps |
| BioShock Infinite | Ultra Quality Settings with Diffusion Depth of Field, DirectX 11, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, Built-in Benchmark Sequence, 75-Second playback, Fraps |
| Crysis 3 | High System Spec, SMAA Low (1x), High Texture Resolution, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, Custom Run-Through, 60-Second Sequence, Fraps |
| Tomb Raider | Ultra Quality Preset, FXAA Enabled, 16x Anisotropic Filtering, TressFX Hair, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, Custom Run-Through, 45-Second playback, Fraps |
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Summary
- Tahiti, Pitcairn, And Bonaire Show Up For An Encore
- R9 280X: The Tahiti GPU’s Second (Or Third?) Lease On Life
- R9 270X: Pitcairn Gets A Little Boost
- R7 260X: TrueAudio’s First Outing On The Back Of Bonaire
- TrueAudio: Dedicated Resources For Sound Processing
- Display Technology
- Test Setup And Software
- Results: Arma III
- Results: Battlefield 3
- Results: BioShock Infinite
- Results: Crysis 3
- Results: Grid 2
- Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Results: Tomb Raider
- CAD: AutoCAD 2013 And Inventor 2013
- OpenGL: Maya 2013 And LightWave
- OpenCL: Bitmining, OpenCL, And RatGPU
- Power Consumption
- Clock Rate And Temperature
- Fan Speed And Noise
- Old GPUs Ride Again, But That’s Not A Bad Thing
Ask a Category Expert
I wrote one of the least flattering GTX 780 stories out there. I only identified a couple of situations where a Titan made any sense at all. And although the 760 *did* change the balance at $250, that card still didn't get an award. I liked the 770 for the simple fact that it delivered better-than-680 performance for close to $100 less.
The rest of AMD's new line-up is a lot like what exists already. Again, the 7870 is a better value than 270X. So what are you getting worked up over? The fact that I'm pointing out these aren't new GPUs? They're not.
Best to hold out till the reviews on the R9-290X I guess. But considering the specs I hope for at least 20% performance increases over a 7970.
The MSI R9 280X Gaming at $299 appears to outperform the GTX 770 at 1600P and is within margin of error at 1080P according to Techpowerup. Not a bad value at $100 less and still overclocks well:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_280X_Gaming/26.html
Best to hold out till the reviews on the R9-290X I guess. But considering the specs I hope for at least 20% performance increases over a 7970.
Are the days of (nearly) annual simultaneous full line GPU launches from $100-500 with a dual GPU chip to follow at $750-1000 really over?
I wrote one of the least flattering GTX 780 stories out there. I only identified a couple of situations where a Titan made any sense at all. And although the 760 *did* change the balance at $250, that card still didn't get an award. I liked the 770 for the simple fact that it delivered better-than-680 performance for close to $100 less.
The rest of AMD's new line-up is a lot like what exists already. Again, the 7870 is a better value than 270X. So what are you getting worked up over? The fact that I'm pointing out these aren't new GPUs? They're not.
That goes to you too Mr. NVIDIA
you won't want to. the 260 is more expensive, and you'll only get 1gb of it's memory in a xfire with a 7790. (in xfire/sli, the video memory is duplicated on both cards... not shared... so the total memory of the xfire/sli setup is equal to the smallest total mememory on each of the cards. so a 2gb + 1 gb gpu in xfire will have basically 1gb of vram for the xfire setup.
you won't want to. the 260 is more expensive, and you'll only get 1gb of it's memory in a xfire with a 7790. (in xfire/sli, the video memory is duplicated on both cards... not shared... so the total memory of the xfire/sli setup is equal to the smallest total mememory on each of the cards. so a 2gb + 1 gb gpu in xfire will have basically 1gb of vram for the xfire setup.
the true audio thing is still a mystery. We have to see if this thing really takes off or not. If this thing is at least has a just small success like physyx, I guess I wont mind shelling out just extra $10-20 for it.
the 7970/r9-280x is not competing in the 770's price bracket anymore. the 770 is 400 min... until that price comes down reviewing it against the 7970 would make as much sense as reviewing a 7950 against a gtx 650.
What retailer is doing this deal? I've been holding out to upgrade my 5850 for a while now and a pair of these would be a nice little (gigantic) upgrade
It feels like the price per pixel (in games at a given setting) has stayed the same for a while despite the increase in average display resolutions. Which would equate to gaming getting more and more expensive if you like to max the settings. I don't know if this is AMD/NVidia's fault or the game developers fault or both but it's kind of annoying.