What is raw power?

[Icedwhisper]

I keep seeing things like this AMD GPU has more raw power than the Nvidia GPU etc. But I don't really understand what it means. Is having more raw power better in the future? Currently I was going to buy a GTX 960 until my eyes fell upon the R9 280x which happens to be cheaper than the 960 and gives more FPS in games, sometimes up to 20 FPS more! But I really don't want to sacrifice the drivers updates and better support from NVIDIA. What do you guys think, which is better? The GTX OR R9 for 720p gaming at ultra for as long as possible? Thanks!

[_I_]

amd and nvidia gpus do the same work, but get it done thru different methods
no way to compare them directly by core counts/speeds and ram speed/bandwidth

you can get a good juged for gaming here
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

but it does not account for physx or video encoding ect..

in games, gtx 960 and r9 280 will be fairly close
280x will be a slight upgrade, but not worht it

imho, save up for a gtx 970+ or r9 390+

gtx x60 or r9 270-80 will be good for 720p gaming
gtx 970 or r9 x90 will be better for 1080p

[Alexalmighty502]

Originally posted by _I_:

amd and nvidia gpus do the same work, but get it done thru different methods
no way to compare them directly by core counts/speeds and ram speed/bandwidth

you can get a good juged for gaming here
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

but it does not account for physx or video encoding ect..

in games, gtx 960 and r9 280 will be fairly close
280x will be a slight upgrade, but not worht it

imho, save up for a gtx 970+ or r9 390+

gtx x60 or r9 270-80 will be good for 720p gaming
gtx 970 or r9 x90 will be better for 1080p

to continue with what this guy said (he is right btw) it would be better to wait a month or 2 and take a look at nvidias pascal gpus when they come out

[initiaLiSeD]

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_Waterforce/23.html

Across a variety of games the 7970/280X is about 19% faster than the GTX 960 on top of that the 280X is more future proof with 3GB VRAM and more complete DX12 support.

[SundownKid]

For one, the 280x is now called the R9 380.

It really depends on what features you want. If you dont care about having any of the Nvidia features then the R9 380 is a bit stronger. It also requires a larger power supply.

[23154615]

Originally posted by initiaLiSeD:

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_Waterforce/23.html

Across a variety of games the 7970/280X is about 19% faster than the GTX 960 on top of that the 280X is more future proof with 3GB VRAM and more complete DX12 support.

AMD 7k = GNC 1.0 = Support DX12

+1080p on medium/low is better than 720p on Ultra.

1280*720=921600 Pixels

1920*1080=2073600 Pixels

More pixels = better quality of frame/image.

mini example http://gallery.greedykidz.net/get/613290/HD_Test_1080p_vs_720p_vs_DVD_1.JPG?g2_serialNumber=1

[upcoast]

Originally posted by SundownKid:

For one, the 280x is now called the R9 380.

It really depends on what features you want. If you dont care about having any of the Nvidia features then the R9 380 is a bit stronger. It also requires a larger power supply.

No, the 280x is now called the 380x, the 380/285/280/7950boost all lump together

http://www.techspot.com/review/1093-amd-radeon-380x/page3.html

There's all the hair splitting ^.

[Alexalmighty502]

Originally posted by upcoast:

Originally posted by SundownKid:

For one, the 280x is now called the R9 380.

It really depends on what features you want. If you dont care about having any of the Nvidia features then the R9 380 is a bit stronger. It also requires a larger power supply.

No, the 280x is now called the 380x, the 380/285/280/7950boost all lump together

this is why i hate amds new tiering so damn confusing

[Spider Pig]

Originally posted by Alexalmighty502:

this is why i hate amds new tiering so damn confusing

It's intentional. They tier like that because they've rebranded the same GPU for the past several years.

Their Fury series of GPU was the first real new GPU they've had in a while. And it didn't exactly knock peoples socks off.

[Icedwhisper]

Ok, so far I know that the R9 280x is better than the GTX 960, but usn't better than the 970, but is called R9 380x, although it has worse performance than it. So I should buy the GTX 970, otherwise the R9 280x is better.
Thanks for clearing that much out. But I still have one question, what is raw power in GPUs?

[Revelene]

Originally posted by Icedwhisper:

Ok, so far I know that the R9 280x is better than the GTX 960, but usn't better than the 970, but is called R9 380x, although it has worse performance than it. So I should buy the GTX 970, otherwise the R9 280x is better.
Thanks for clearing that much out. But I still have one question, what is raw power in GPUs?

"Raw power" does not actually mean anything. Merely an artificial word added by someone that has nothing to do with the development or productization of said GPU's.

Some people might say that as AMD GPU's tend to use more power (electricity) than Nvidia at the same performance bracket.

It has nothing to do with actual specs, as you cannot directly compare the hardware... you can only compare the performance.

[Icedwhisper]

Originally posted by Revelene:

"Raw power" does not actually mean anything. Merely an artificial word added by someone that has nothing to do with the development or productization of said GPU's.

Some people might say that as AMD GPU's tend to use more power (electricity) than Nvidia at the same performance bracket.

It has nothing to do with actual specs, as you cannot directly compare the hardware... you can only compare the performance.

Thanks! So I guess if I can save up for GTX 970, I should buy that, otherwise the R9 is my best bet. btw, do you think the GTX 970 is good for dx12 or not? Thanks

[Revelene]

Originally posted by Icedwhisper:

Originally posted by Revelene:

"Raw power" does not actually mean anything. Merely an artificial word added by someone that has nothing to do with the development or productization of said GPU's.

Some people might say that as AMD GPU's tend to use more power (electricity) than Nvidia at the same performance bracket.

It has nothing to do with actual specs, as you cannot directly compare the hardware... you can only compare the performance.

Thanks! So I guess if I can save up for GTX 970, I should buy that, otherwise the R9 is my best bet. btw, do you think the GTX 970 is good for dx12 or not? Thanks

No one knows what will be good for DX12.

I can definitely tell you this, none of the current GPUs will fully support DX12, only the first tier.

The next line of GPUs are being designed for DX12.

[Alexalmighty502]

http://wccftech.com/directx-12-support-explained-maxwells-feature-level-12-1-gcns-resource-binding-tier-3-intels-rov/

[Γαῖα]

Raw power means - not controlled or limited.

[Samadhi]

It means little.
Nvidia GPUs are on average superior to AMD GPUs.
If you like out of the box enjoyment, pick Nvidia.
If you like to complain you are always behind the 8-ball, pick AMD.