So, as the title suggests, I've been testing my new rig with two popular mid/high end GPU's, the gtx770 and the r9 290. Just to clarify, the games I wanted to run without issue was BF4/BF3/wow.
My setup: i7 4790k @ 4.0ghz, 8gb kingston hyperx 1600mhz, samsung 840 evo ssd, asus maximus hero vii, lg 1920x1200 60hz native monitor, win 7.
Why this thread? Because the system performance confuses me when I compare my experiences with all that I`ve read in forums and from sites that provide benchmarking statistics. I first bought the 770 because I`d read benchmarks and people commenting it would pull bf3 easily, but I don't agree (see below). Next I tried the r9 290 because its benchmarks and peoples comments were all that much more convincing - but I`m not yet satisfied - hence this thread.
With all games I`ve tested turning on/off intel speedstep, core parking, increasing minimum fanspeed to 50% (r9 290), no oc's on gpu or cpu, ram running at correct speeds, pci-e powersaving disabled in win 7. All GPU driver up to date.
So, here goes:
BF3:
GTX 770: Aiming for everything "ultra" with vsync. Fps: Generally 60's with slight dips down to mid 50s/50s and even the rare high 40's. Very disappointing indeed, but not an issue unless you need ultrastable 60fps gaming (which I do). The dips were very unfrequent and I could basically enjoy myself most of the time. Sometimes, but rarely, the fps would drop with alot of smoke/fire/explosions and it would be noticable. All in all, the gtx 770 ran bf3 ok but not without effort.
R9 290: Still everything "ultra" with vsync. Fps: Almost without exception this card keeps my fps at 60. I remember maybe one or two incidents with fpsdrops to high 50's but in my humble opinion - this card can pull BF3 at 60fps "ultrastable".
BF4:
Gtx 770: Ultra/vsync on. Fps: I'd say an average of 50fps with dips down to low 40s. Just running around with not much happening the gtx770 will be able to pull a stable 60fps on some maps, but on others even running around mouselooking drops the fps to mid40s. Very unstable performance. Sometimes u can engage in combat with lots of things happening and still be in the high 50s even stable 60, but in general the gtx 770 stumbles very frequently and I was seeing lots of red numbers. Never blow 40 though. I was able to achieve more stable fps by turning off AA and post processing + ambient occlusion set to ssao, but I would still see massive drops. Even at high settings this card just isnt up to the task (still dropping to 40s).
R9 290: Not really sure where to put it compared to the gtx 770. Much of the same fps problems, lack of stability, but in general around 5fps more than the gtx 770. Still not at all able to pull bf4 at stable 60fps. Even when turning down to high, turning off AA and ambient occ. I would get drops into the 40s, especially on demanding maps like "flood zone". Im my opinion the r9 290 is not able to pull bf4 on ultra teamed with the i7 4690k.
* Just a sidenote. When running performancegraph I was noticing that the cpu-line was always higher than gpu, both cards.
Wow:
Gtx770: Stable 60's at ultra as one would expect.
R9 290: Massive problems on ultra, with dips into 40's just standing still watching "stuff happen" in different zones. Turning down viewdistance from very high to good fixes the issue, so this is a wierd software-driver-related issue. If you google it you will find that alot of people using 290/290x have these problems with wow - just as a warning if you do play alot of wow and are thinking about going amd. I still haven't found a solution to the problem.
Thoughts on the matter:
First off I gotta say I spent alot of time reading reviews, forums and benchmarks before buying the gtx 770 and later the r9 290. But none of the cards, to my experience, can deliver the kind of performance ppl write about and that benchmarks suggests. So, am I the problem?`Or are ppl in general just anxious to brag about their systems performance? Because in my humble opinion, none of these cards are able to run BF4, which naturally is the most demanding game of the three, yet I've read tenfolds of comments and reviews of cards and games stating the opposite. Ive read ppl saying that both the 770 and the 290 pulls BF4 on ultra like a dream, some saying it rarely dips under 80fps but those numbers are obscene! By the way, some benchmarks seem pretty fair to me, though I still have a problem with "minimums", where f.ex I*ve seen benchmarks showing 55fps as minimum on bf4 ultra with the 290, yet it drops to 40's on my rig. And the gtx as in the 50's minimum on bf3, yet on my rig ive seen red numbers even on that game. So, how do I sum this up? Could there be something wrong with my bios-settings? Could there be something about my hardware (unlucky with my exact copy)? I`m dying to read what you guys think about this, and maybe I`m just beeing spoiled here, but none of my experiences with these two cards amout to the experiences and benchmarks that are out there.
Enlighten me, PLEASE!
My setup: i7 4790k @ 4.0ghz, 8gb kingston hyperx 1600mhz, samsung 840 evo ssd, asus maximus hero vii, lg 1920x1200 60hz native monitor, win 7.
Why this thread? Because the system performance confuses me when I compare my experiences with all that I`ve read in forums and from sites that provide benchmarking statistics. I first bought the 770 because I`d read benchmarks and people commenting it would pull bf3 easily, but I don't agree (see below). Next I tried the r9 290 because its benchmarks and peoples comments were all that much more convincing - but I`m not yet satisfied - hence this thread.
With all games I`ve tested turning on/off intel speedstep, core parking, increasing minimum fanspeed to 50% (r9 290), no oc's on gpu or cpu, ram running at correct speeds, pci-e powersaving disabled in win 7. All GPU driver up to date.
So, here goes:
BF3:
GTX 770: Aiming for everything "ultra" with vsync. Fps: Generally 60's with slight dips down to mid 50s/50s and even the rare high 40's. Very disappointing indeed, but not an issue unless you need ultrastable 60fps gaming (which I do). The dips were very unfrequent and I could basically enjoy myself most of the time. Sometimes, but rarely, the fps would drop with alot of smoke/fire/explosions and it would be noticable. All in all, the gtx 770 ran bf3 ok but not without effort.
R9 290: Still everything "ultra" with vsync. Fps: Almost without exception this card keeps my fps at 60. I remember maybe one or two incidents with fpsdrops to high 50's but in my humble opinion - this card can pull BF3 at 60fps "ultrastable".
BF4:
Gtx 770: Ultra/vsync on. Fps: I'd say an average of 50fps with dips down to low 40s. Just running around with not much happening the gtx770 will be able to pull a stable 60fps on some maps, but on others even running around mouselooking drops the fps to mid40s. Very unstable performance. Sometimes u can engage in combat with lots of things happening and still be in the high 50s even stable 60, but in general the gtx 770 stumbles very frequently and I was seeing lots of red numbers. Never blow 40 though. I was able to achieve more stable fps by turning off AA and post processing + ambient occlusion set to ssao, but I would still see massive drops. Even at high settings this card just isnt up to the task (still dropping to 40s).
R9 290: Not really sure where to put it compared to the gtx 770. Much of the same fps problems, lack of stability, but in general around 5fps more than the gtx 770. Still not at all able to pull bf4 at stable 60fps. Even when turning down to high, turning off AA and ambient occ. I would get drops into the 40s, especially on demanding maps like "flood zone". Im my opinion the r9 290 is not able to pull bf4 on ultra teamed with the i7 4690k.
* Just a sidenote. When running performancegraph I was noticing that the cpu-line was always higher than gpu, both cards.
Wow:
Gtx770: Stable 60's at ultra as one would expect.
R9 290: Massive problems on ultra, with dips into 40's just standing still watching "stuff happen" in different zones. Turning down viewdistance from very high to good fixes the issue, so this is a wierd software-driver-related issue. If you google it you will find that alot of people using 290/290x have these problems with wow - just as a warning if you do play alot of wow and are thinking about going amd. I still haven't found a solution to the problem.
Thoughts on the matter:
First off I gotta say I spent alot of time reading reviews, forums and benchmarks before buying the gtx 770 and later the r9 290. But none of the cards, to my experience, can deliver the kind of performance ppl write about and that benchmarks suggests. So, am I the problem?`Or are ppl in general just anxious to brag about their systems performance? Because in my humble opinion, none of these cards are able to run BF4, which naturally is the most demanding game of the three, yet I've read tenfolds of comments and reviews of cards and games stating the opposite. Ive read ppl saying that both the 770 and the 290 pulls BF4 on ultra like a dream, some saying it rarely dips under 80fps but those numbers are obscene! By the way, some benchmarks seem pretty fair to me, though I still have a problem with "minimums", where f.ex I*ve seen benchmarks showing 55fps as minimum on bf4 ultra with the 290, yet it drops to 40's on my rig. And the gtx as in the 50's minimum on bf3, yet on my rig ive seen red numbers even on that game. So, how do I sum this up? Could there be something wrong with my bios-settings? Could there be something about my hardware (unlucky with my exact copy)? I`m dying to read what you guys think about this, and maybe I`m just beeing spoiled here, but none of my experiences with these two cards amout to the experiences and benchmarks that are out there.
Enlighten me, PLEASE!
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