I'm just curious as to the community's opinion of what I should get. I sold my gtx 760 on here because it didn't have enough vram. So like everyone else I'm waiting for the newest generation of GPUs. My needs are primarily gaming and really light applications.
In case it's relevant; here's my computer spec: i7 4770k oc'd to 4.6ghz 16gb of DDR3 2400 ram PNY ssd Asus Z87 pro (2) Acer 25" 1440p 60hz
My question is for a non vr gamer, is the new generation of GPUs necessary (gtx1080) for a guy like me that is a casual gamer on his best day. Or should I save some money and just get the 980 Ti for around $400?
They take like 2-3 days to release game optimization drivers, but after that because they've used the same GCN architecture for years their cards seem to age better, like the 7970 vs 780ti
not sure on GNU/Linux support, I think the nvidia drivers run games better, but AMD just did a thing to open source their drivers or something
Otherwise you also save some cash should you get an adaptive sync display
Won't know until official benchmarks but it looks like the 480 is 390x/980-lite tier with decent overclocking headroom
it would be probably 70-80% of the 980ti, but with A-sync support for DX12, so then a bit less than that for a 1070 under DX12
AMD actually has better support long term when compared with Nvidia. Most people complained about horrible support and even nerfing of performance with Nvidia's 7xx series cards.
If you're a casual gamer I honestly don't see why you're considering flagship cards in the first place, but a 980 ti will be adequate for 1440p and cost significantly less than a 1080, I like the MSI 980 ti for $409 after $30 MIR on newegg, but have no need to purchase a GPU atm. AMDs cards sound promising, but I highly doubt their $400 tier card is going to beat a 980 ti by much.
If you want Linux support, go nvidia. If you don't care go amd. Actually either way support on Linux for the 480 might be better. I remember there is a new AMDGPU pro driver for gcn 1.3 cards or some thing.
If you're casual I'd get the 480 and call it a day.
I was considering the 1080 because I felt it could push both my monitors with a nominal overclock at medium to high settings. I unfortunately did not hit the silicone lottery with my 760, wouldn't overclock at all and it had a acx 2.0 cooler on it.
I will look into the 480....sounds like a happy medium. Maybe. I just like to grow into my tech and have it exceed my needs rather than have to sell it and throw my own money in for an upgrade later on.