How is amd still in the competition?

max_payne32

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Hello guys :) ..i want to make it very clear that i did not post this thread to thrash amd...i just want to get some information ...my question is..do AMD gpus provide special benefits that i am unaware of? if not then how is amd still in competition? with nvidia DSR technology , you do not need to spend 500$ on a 1440p monitor any more, you can easily play games at 1440p or even at 4k on ur old 1080p monitor....nvidia then added MFAA, which is far better than Msaa... and doesnt cause much fps drops , if i buy r9 290x which is costlier than a 970, not only do i need to upgrade my psu ( i own 550 watt bronze rated) , i also need to get a monitor with a higher native resolution to fully utilize the gpu...it is also needless to say, that to properly use r9 380x and r9 390x ( not yet released) one must own a WOHD monitor which alone costs a fortune in my country...mantle is already a fail...so in short...nvidia is making power efficient, more powerful ..less costly gpus...allowing you to play at higher resolutions on ur old full hd monitor...so why should anyone buy AMD..or is there something that i am missing?
 
It is impossible no matter what GPU you have to play at a higher resolution than your monitor is. What you are referencing is basically an antialiasing method where the card generates an image based on the higher resolution then scales it back to the display resolution. This too can actually be done on any card but Nvidia has refined it a bit.

290x are actually cheaper than 970s with a price point around $300 vs $330, right on needing much more power though.

I wouldnt necessarily call mantle a fail it works well in the few applications and circumstances its meant for. it was never really expected to be a huge game changer.

PRICE is how AMD is competitive in both CPU and GPU markets right now, once they release their 3xx series we will see if they are back to competing performance wise with Nvidia.

 

cklaubur

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It's basically what a small 720p HDTV will do with a 1080p signal, it just rescales the image to a lower resolution.

Casey
 

max_payne32

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in my country 290x costs around 150 usd more than 970
....mantle works well only in bf4 and thief?...and i have seen my friend gaming on a 27 inch wqhd monitor...and i when use dsr on my 27" 1080p monitor ((i can only SEE LOL..cant play at that reso, 760 cannot handle 1440p)) the difference is hardly noticeable?? even if u compare them side by side...the difference will be marginal...so why spend extra 500$ for that slight improvement??

and thanks for your reply :)
 
Generally amd cards are cheaper than their nvidia counterparts & in the same price range tend to be slightly more powerful.

Points in case
R9 270 vs gtx 750ti
R9 280 vs gtx 760
R9 280x vs gtx 770.

Nothing wrong with amd cards imo generally.
The release of the 970 though ,as stated on a lot of reviews,is an absolute game changer - would like to see amd respond in kind with something comparable as it can only be good for the gaming market.
I dont see it happening though - the 970s performance to power/temps ratios is almost magical.then they went & released it at a decent price point for a change (I have always found nvidia cards to be overpriced at launch in the past)
It tempted me (& I've had amd cards for the last 10 years or so) into buying even though I had no plans to upgrade before it was released.
If the 970 is cheaper in your country then its a no brained to buy it IMO.
 

max_payne32

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yes even keeping aside pure horsepower....the MFAA and DSR are both gamechangers...by the way do u know if its possible to generate an image based on a higher resolution and then downsample it to the monitor reso on amd?? i mean dsr makes it easier to do that in case of nvidia gpus...but since u have been using amd for almost a decade...have u ever tried doing it
 
You can set a custom resolution higher than your physical monitor res in catalyst ,can't diwnsample it back though - never actually tried gaming with it though - I imagine directx would error out to be honest.
I don't find DSR that impressive tbh ,the performance hit is high & while textures etc look a little sharper the tradeoff isn't worth it - this is in new titles - I may have a play with it in some old titles as there may be more of a significant difference.
 

Paul17041993

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SSAA is my main reason for my 290X, along with raw compute power and extreme efficiency while underclocked (~90W max draw, still will max out any game @1080p), to get the equivalent of x8EQSSAA you need a resolution multi of about 300-400%, of which doing so is a multitude less efficient (excess processed pixels), DSR only goes up to 200% from what I see and MFAA is a cheaty technique that has low consistency especially on fast detailed frames (eg; a flash of lightning)
 

Warsam71

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Hello Max_Payne32 (everyone) :)

I just wanted to share some information with you. Specifically addressing the AMD GPU benefits question you've posted. We have just released a brand new driver we call Catalyst Omega, which offers numerous benefits and improvements for AMD Radeon Graphic Cards customers.

I just created a post announcing the availability of the driver today, take a look:
AMD Special Edition Driver: Catalyst Omega


Hope you'll find the above link/post helpful as it offers lots of information about our newest driver. (Make sure to read the Blog too ;) )


 

max_payne32

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thank you for your reply sir...i see you have introduced this "upsampling which is guess is similar to DSR? which means i can get almost 4k resolution graphics quality on a 1080p monitor? Or am i mistaken?
 

max_payne32

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@jameson Clark...i know its not possible to get exact 4k quality display on 1080p monitor..but nvidia's dsr provides the next best option right?? And now AMD allows gamers to do the same with their "VSR" enabling catalyst omega driver...a 4k monitor running on native resolution will definitely provide better image quality...but if, after using DSR you play on 4k...or if you have supersampled by 400% , the difference will be hard to notice