*sigh* Things change, how's the XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB Black Edition Video Card compare to the 290X?

[Phaewryn]

I'm a slow builder, I'd picked out a XFX Radeon R9 290X DirectX 11.2 R9-290X-8DFD 8GB Black Edition card for my build (a year ago or so), but now they are all gone, so how does the XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB Black Edition Video Card compare? Good drop in replacement? Better? Worse? In any ways different in any inferior manners? Or should I wait for the "next big thing" that is coming soon for the $200-$325 price range?

I'm only interested in XFX brand (because you can convert them to water-cooling without voiding your warranty) AMD cards and they have to be BLACK or minimally colored only orange/amber mostly black (no red, blue, etc accents). I'm aiming for "black edition" components, it's a theme on this build. It's going on a ga-z97x-ud5h-bk (black edition, gigabyte) board (and needs to match pretty). I don't have any specific needs (I don't play the newest games, nor have huge monitors). I do need to do video editing in Movie Maker, and need to be able to stream live. I do want a "respectable" card, even if I don't need it. Something that when people ask what's in it and I tell them, they will think "that's a solid decision and not being a cheapskate".

Opinions appreciated (except opinions telling me to choose NVIDIA). I'm at a set limit of $350 maximum, prefer closer to $300, and would be really happy at $250 (unless it comes with water cooling, in which case I can go a bit higher).

Absolutely no NVIDIA (I have a personal vendetta).

 

[ChristTheGreat]

the 290x is still a good card, except that it consume like twice the RX 480.

the RX 480 will performe somehow better, but your still not bad with the 290x.

 

[GhostRyder]

I'm a slow builder, I'd picked out a XFX Radeon R9 290X DirectX 11.2 R9-290X-8DFD 8GB Black Edition card for my build (a year ago or so), but now they are all gone, so how does the XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB Black Edition Video Card compare? Good drop in replacement? Better? Worse? In any ways different in any inferior manners? Or should I wait for the "next big thing" that is coming soon for the $200-$325 price range?

I'm only interested in XFX brand (because you can convert them to water-cooling without voiding your warranty) AMD cards and they have to be BLACK or minimally colored only orange/amber mostly black (no red, blue, etc accents). I'm aiming for "black edition" components, it's a theme on this build. It's going on a ga-z97x-ud5h-bk (black edition, gigabyte) board (and needs to match pretty). I don't have any specific needs (I don't play the newest games, nor have huge monitors). I do need to do video editing in Movie Maker, and need to be able to stream live. I do want a "respectable" card, even if I don't need it. Something that when people ask what's in it and I tell them, they will think "that's a solid decision and not being a cheapskate".

Opinions appreciated (except opinions telling me to choose NVIDIA). I'm at a set limit of $350 maximum, prefer closer to $300, and would be really happy at $250 (unless it comes with water cooling, in which case I can go a bit higher).

Absolutely no NVIDIA (I have a personal vendetta).

Basically the same. The only advantage will be the extra ram and a slight performance increase though I would say not enough to warrant an upgrade. My advice is to stick it out for now and wait until new higher end GPU's from AMD.

 

[Phaewryn]

Basically the same. The only advantage will be the extra ram and a slight performance increase though I would say not enough to warrant an upgrade. My advice is to stick it out for now and wait until new higher end GPU's from AMD.

Any indication as to when/how soon that will be happening? This isn't an upgrade, it's a new build (well, technically it's being used temporarily as a VM hosting machine by my partner - serving as a good test for the board/cpu), it has no gpu in it at all thus far. I had picked out the 290x for it, but between the time I picked it out and got around to actually buying it (about a year - I'm the world's best dawdler), they seem to have lost availability. I want this machine built by winter as I will be needing it for school (I finally have a solid reason to need to finish building it)(and my partner has a solid excuse to buy another machine for his VMs, lol), how likely is it AMD will have rolled out newer/better options in my price range by then? I assume the next step (for AMD) would be the RX 490, and that's what we're waiting to be released? Somehow I sort of doubt that even if I wait for it, it will be in my under $300 ideal price range.

 

[TRWOV]

The RX 480 is pretty much on par with the 290x up to 1440p. Beyond that the 290x begins to edge over the 480 mainly due to bandwidth and ROP count (290x has twice the ROPs and slightly higher bandwidth).

Overall the RX 480 is the better card due to price and availability.

New cards by AMD aren't expected until the begining of 2017 so I'd suggest you to get a 480.

 

[GhostRyder]

Any indication as to when/how soon that will be happening? This isn't an upgrade, it's a new build (well, technically it's being used temporarily as a VM hosting machine by my partner - serving as a good test for the board/cpu), it has no gpu in it at all thus far. I had picked out the 290x for it, but between the time I picked it out and got around to actually buying it (about a year - I'm the world's best dawdler), they seem to have lost availability. I want this machine built by winter as I will be needing it for school (I finally have a solid reason to need to finish building it)(and my partner has a solid excuse to buy another machine for his VMs, lol), how likely is it AMD will have rolled out newer/better options in my price range by then? I assume the next step (for AMD) would be the RX 490, and that's what we're waiting to be released? Somehow I sort of doubt that even if I wait for it, it will be in my under $300 ideal price range.

Not until the beginning of 2017, if your really wanting an upgrade or something to tide you over from AMD's camp then the only option would probably be a Fury X or Nano. I would not recommend them unless you got them for a good price but that would be the highest AMD option at the moment.

 

[Flow]

Well, op, getting a 290x might be tough, on the other hand, a 390 would be easier to get instead.
The 480 gets close to a 390, and that wont change with dx12 or vulcan or whatever.

So basically it's between a 390(x) and a 480.
The 480 will be slightly cheaper (although not in my country) and perform roughly the same, plus it's newer tech.
Then again, you could always wait some more for the rx490, which will probably be more expensive but also faster.

Maybe a used card?

 

[Phaewryn]

Thanks, everyone. I'll just go with the 480 then. I never bought the 290x, I'd just spec'd it out and it had all I needed and was at the right price point. Since the 480 fits those same specs more or less, I'll just go with that. Now to await availability.

To clarify, I want XFX brand due to the cooler removal issue. I want AMD because I hate NVIDIA ever since the stupid updatususer profile issue I had several years ago. I'm very obsessive, and phantom user accounts can't exist, my ocd wont allow it. Additionally, in the entire time I have owned my current NVIDIA card, their update service has never once worked. On top of that, it likes to respawn itself, even though it is broken/unfunctional, and having an icon to a program that is broken always in my taskbar really annoys me. NVIDIA has just caused me too many annoyances. I'm done with them, and ready to try an alternative. It might solve all my problems (problems being minor annoyances that tweak my ocd).

 

[arbiter]

since you are running only 1080p, 480 is better option then a 390. Lower draw and heat, but if you plan to go to higher rez soon then 390 starts to become better option cause memory banwidth as said comes in to play. Its not slight number its 256GB/s vs 384GB/s

 

[rtwjunkie]

After reading some of the posts in this thread, I am befuddled and amazed that the tinfoil hat is such a popular piece of headgear. I understand preferences for one or the other, but holding a grudge for years, and missing out on some good hardware in the process simply because of drivers calling home (like every other program and OS is want to do) is just beyond my ken. Privacy only exists online if you aren't.

 

[R-T-B]

Privacy only exists online if you aren't.

I wish this wasn't true, but you are right. The cat is way out of the bag there.

 

[yogurt_21]

lol "no nvidia" and suddenly several users take it upon themselves to convince the OP otherwise. That'd be like someone on a car forum saying "Mercedes only, no BMW" and instead of respecting that, everyone on the car forum spends the rest of the thread trying to convince the op to buy BMW.

Not only is it disrespectful, it's just plain dumb. We live in free societies where everyone is allowed to have their own opinions and favorites. Respect that and move on.

Anyway.

What about Fury (X) ?

It should have come down in price and is an upgrade from the 290X. The Egg in the US has a non-X for 350$. Depending on where you are you might be able to find it for the same or cheaper. Plus if you can manage to sell your 290X for 100-150$ It would soften the price jump over the 480.

 

[rtwjunkie]

lol "no nvidia" and suddenly several users take it upon themselves to convince the OP otherwise

"Several"? I actually only see one borderline, maybe trying to change his mind, and definitely not 3.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

What about Fury (X) ?

It should have come down in price and is an upgrade from the 290X. The Egg in the US has a non-X for 350$. Depending on where you are you might be able to find it for the same or cheaper. Plus if you can manage to sell your 290X for 100-150$ It would soften the price jump over the 480.

she doesn't have a 290X, he was going to purchase one when he planned out his build a year ago.

I have an RX 480 8GB and i am very happy with it, Crimson drivers on the other hand..... still running 16.7.2 as 7.3 crashes my system and causes the fan to spin at high rpms for no reason. 16.8.1 were running alright, but Overwatch kept giving me crashes saying my driver was out of date and to update it... LOL

 

[AlienIsGOD]

why does it matter so much that OP choose to go with an AMD card? leave the personal preferences aside and recommend an AMD card.

 

[rtwjunkie]

RX-480 will be just fine. If you want a bigger jump up in money, (which you don't) without waiting, then there is Fury X or even Fury. I'm perfectly comfortable recommending the RX-480 to you though. It should be solid for a couple years at 1080p, maybe less time at 1440p.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

It should be solid for a couple years at 1080p, maybe less time at 1440p.

since 480 are cheap ($250 isnt that cheap but still) crossfire for 1440P is an option down the road

 

[AlienIsGOD]

Moderator in 3....2....1.....

 

[Mindweaver]

I want to remind members to play nice or I'll put you into your corner.

 

[Phaewryn]

I'm just here for advice. Not to make friends or enemies. Which is why I only show up once or twice every few years.

 

[Mindweaver]

I'm just here for advice. Not to make friends or enemies. Which is why I only show up once or twice every few years.

I don't care how often you come around as long as you follow the rules while you are here.

 

[RCoon]

The RX 490 will be here by 2017. Then we shall see. (it's out of my price range, so I'm not bothering to wait for it, but it may be your answer)

I feel more "sane" after your response, so thanks! Yeah, I am a very nit-picky sort of user. To most people, my system seems "stupid" (my partner cannot do even the most basic functions on my system, it is so "different"), but to me, it allows me to flow through my functionality fluidly and without having to make any adjustments. Plus, I get bored. With boredom comes tinkering, and with tinkering, comes perfection (or a crash, but that is always fixable, lol). I feel my system is nearly perfect for me (especially visually/aesthetically). Anything that disturbs the peace of my system needs to either be made to conform to my system or be replaced with something that functionally does the same job while conforming. While I'm open to the possibility that nvidia is the best I can do, I'm not going to NOT TRY the alternatives simply because nvidia has a superior marketing scheme. For my use, the 480 will be plenty sufficient. I'm not gaming at 4k, nor am I a hobbyist overclocker. I play one game, and I want to be able to play it at max settings. The 480 will allow me to do that. It's not logical for me to "settle" on accepting nvidia as the only option, when there are alternatives that are suitable for my purposes.

Well, I expected that, to be honest. But I still had to say it, or else I would not have gotten a SINGLE response other than "just get the nvidia whatever, it's way better". Interestingly enough, my partner is looking to buy a similar or slightly better nvidia card at the same time, and he's a hardcode "no AMD" guy. He's probably going to get the 1070. I'm sure it will outperform my 480, but then, he's playing DOOM. I'm only playing Rising World.

The Fury is generally a little above my price point, and there's very little XFX stock at newegg. There is one at newegg in my price range, and it's liquid cooled, but it's really low-end. If you know of a source for them that have better features at similar price points as the RX 480, do post the links,a s far as I can tell, to get a Fury better than the RX 480, you'd have to spend about $500.

That's what's being recommended, I believe, just stay at 16.7.2.

16.7.2 is stable, right?

I'm just here for advice.

Then take my advice and use the edit button instead of triple posting.

 

[Mindweaver]

Guys drop it... Last time I'm saying it. Next person to go off topic gets a vacation.

 

[HD64G]

RX480, especially the Sapphire Nitro+ which has the feature needed (removable fans) from the OP is a great buy atm, and it has all the features needed and will be used in the next 2-3 years (H265 hw encoder & decoder, HDR output) and it is pretty close in performance to 980/1060. Especially if found at a normal price (<$290 or ~250GBP) it is the best vfm GPU now.

 

[erocker]

Thanks, everyone. I'll just go with the 480 then. I never bought the 290x, I'd just spec'd it out and it had all I needed and was at the right price point. Since the 480 fits those same specs more or less, I'll just go with that. Now to await availability.

To clarify, I want XFX brand due to the cooler removal issue. I want AMD because I hate NVIDIA ever since the stupid updatususer profile issue I had several years ago. I'm very obsessive, and phantom user accounts can't exist, my ocd wont allow it. Additionally, in the entire time I have owned my current NVIDIA card, their update service has never once worked. On top of that, it likes to respawn itself, even though it is broken/unfunctional, and having an icon to a program that is broken always in my taskbar really annoys me. NVIDIA has just caused me too many annoyances. I'm done with them, and ready to try an alternative. It might solve all my problems (problems being minor annoyances that tweak my ocd).

Thread should of ended here.