[SOLVED] RX 470 or GTX 970 ?

ukLz

Distinguished
Hi everyone.

Before explanation, here's my rig:

i5-4460
x2 8gb 1600mhz ddr3
rog strix rx 470 4gb
asus h81m-r
corsair vs550w 80+

In August last year, I decided to sell my GTX 750 Ti because I didn't like how it ran the games I was playing the most... Once I finally sold my GTX 750 Ti, the best quality/price ratio second-hand video card was ASUS ROG STRIX RX 470 4GB for only 65€. The GPU itself is still working properly, with no visible physical damage before my purchase, plus the previous owner was smart enough to replace the thermal paste on the GPU so now the temperatures are cooler than what I expected in the first place.

But then I realized how bad software AMD has got for recording/streaming/whatever else. I got used to Nvidia's high-quality Shadowplay software that offers better overall quality, as well as overlay UI and more functions to it. Other than that, I started noticing some very unusual fps drops in certain games that drove me so mad, and now I'm thinking of another upgrade.

Yes, I know most of you would recommend me to buy a whole new rig and get over outdated 4th gen Intel i5 CPU that runs poorly on newer games titles, but currently, I have no cash to afford a new rig.

After checking bids on second-hand gpus , I came across GTX 970 which costs just 25€ more compared to RX 470 that I previously got for only 65€ and looks like a good deal to me. Ofc, I would sell this one first and add a few more cash and buy any GTX 970 for about ~100€ price. I spoke to some friends who are more experienced in this and they told me that 970 would bottleneck my 4460 cpu quite a bit in certain games which require more cpu rather than gpu power.

When we talk about head-to-head comparison between these two gpus, RX 470 is obviously one year newer and does have few advantages over Nvidia, like max resolution, perhaps better driver support, etc. But in terms of raw performance in games, Nvidia seems to outperform AMD by 10% which sounds like worthy replace over RX 470.

So, what is your opinion on this? Thanks.
 
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Solution
Nah mate i wouldnt buy it.
for 1080p rx 470 can still play any title atleast on low,but a 4 core 4 thread cpu will suffer.
If you cant afford a newer system,at least upgrade to i7 4770 (4790 has a bit higher clock speeds,but if you cant afford it then go for 4770),which has higher clock speeds than 4460 with 4 more threads,which will give you a much bigger diffence than changing the GPU.
Nah mate i wouldnt buy it.
for 1080p rx 470 can still play any title atleast on low,but a 4 core 4 thread cpu will suffer.
If you cant afford a newer system,at least upgrade to i7 4770 (4790 has a bit higher clock speeds,but if you cant afford it then go for 4770),which has higher clock speeds than 4460 with 4 more threads,which will give you a much bigger diffence than changing the GPU.
 
Solution

punkncat

Champion
Ambassador
You can get a new RX580 which is slightly faster still for about that same price if you look around. Better models will cost a bit more. Just the same, I wouldn't do it.

Personally would either save for a NEW CPU/Mobo/RAM combo OR purchase a new GPU with the prior upgrade in mind.
 

ukLz

Distinguished
Nah mate i wouldnt buy it.
for 1080p rx 470 can still play any title atleast on low,but a 4 core 4 thread cpu will suffer.
If you cant afford a newer system,at least upgrade to i7 4770 (4790 has a bit higher clock speeds,but if you cant afford it then go for 4770),which has higher clock speeds than 4460 with 4 more threads,which will give you a much bigger diffence than changing the GPU.

Okay, I think you're right. Perhaps it's a better idea to go for a better cpu because I've been experiencing a lot of bottlenecks since I got this RX 470 gpu.
The strongest cpu that would fit my motherboard is i7-4790k , but I'd go for a non-K version since my mobo is entry level one which doesn't really support any OC capabilities.

I found one i7-4790 for exactly 100€ which is a pretty good deal , imo. I just wonder if I am going to need a better cpu cooler for it because I've been using this stock 4th gen i5 cpu cooler ever since I got this computer (4 years ago).
 

ukLz

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You can get a new RX580 which is slightly faster still for about that same price if you look around. Better models will cost a bit more. Just the same, I wouldn't do it.

Yes, RX 580 is a good gpu but I'm already kinda sick of AMD gpus for some reason and I want to return back to Nvidia again, so that's why I thought of getting a GTX 970.

Ofc I'd love to get a 1060 instead of 970 , because it's obviously a newer and better gpu, but 1060's are still kinda pricey in my country.
 

okjak808

Honorable
Feb 23, 2018
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Okay, I think you're right. Perhaps it's a better idea to go for a better cpu because I've been experiencing a lot of bottlenecks since I got this RX 470 gpu.
The strongest cpu that would fit my motherboard is i7-4790k , but I'd go for a non-K version since my mobo is entry level one which doesn't really support any OC capabilities.

I found one i7-4790 for exactly 100€ which is a pretty good deal , imo. I just wonder if I am going to need a better cpu cooler for it because I've been using this stock 4th gen i5 cpu cooler ever since I got this computer (4 years ago).

Well you said you’ve been experiencing frame drops on games, but what games are you playing. It’s true that now says 4 cores and 4 threads is not enough for newer games of today but a bit old titles would be okay since I had a i5 3570 though in my case it was enough since the games I played isn’t demanding.

If you were to upgrade to that i7 4790 it’s still a good CPU unless you’re getting it at a good price. The GTX 970 is still a good GPU today but newer games like Cold War or cyber punk you might have to lower settings down, but you still get respectable frames as I have one today.

But it’s better to save for a gtx 1660 ti or non ti version since it’s newer, or maybe one of the RTX 20 series card. The 1060 is similar to the 970 while the 1060 6gb is a bit better since it has more vram, it also has a bit better support. I would say performance difference still isn’t much even upgrading to 580 won’t be much as well, so it’s best to wait, or upgrade your cpu if bottleneck is serve.
 

ukLz

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Well you said you’ve been experiencing frame drops on games, but what games are you playing. It’s true that now says 4 cores and 4 threads is not enough for newer games of today but a bit old titles would be okay since I had a i5 3570 though in my case it was enough since the games I played isn’t demanding.

If you were to upgrade to that i7 4790 it’s still a good CPU unless you’re getting it at a good price. The GTX 970 is still a good GPU today but newer games like Cold War or cyber punk you might have to lower settings down, but you still get respectable frames as I have one today.

But it’s better to save for a gtx 1660 ti or non ti version since it’s newer, or maybe one of the RTX 20 series card. The 1060 is similar to the 970 while the 1060 6gb is a bit better since it has more vram, it also has a bit better support. I would say performance difference still isn’t much even upgrading to 580 won’t be much as well, so it’s best to wait, or upgrade your cpu if bottleneck is serve.

The games I noticed the cpu was suffering the most are usually Gta 5 online , Watch dogs 2 , Assassin's Creed Unity , Hitman , even Csgo sometimes (when running discord and few other apps in the background)

Tbh I wouldn't even think of playing games like Cyberpunk because I'm not really into that kind of games.. but still I feel like I need more cpu power although I haven't thought of it before.


If you were to upgrade to that i7 4790 it’s still a good CPU unless you’re getting it at a good price.

Does 100€ seem like a good deal for that cpu? That's the lowest price that I've found so far
 
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The games I noticed the cpu was suffering the most are usually Gta 5 online , Watch dogs 2 , Assassin's Creed Unity , Hitman , even Csgo sometimes (when running discord and few other apps in the background)

Tbh I wouldn't even think of playing games like Cyberpunk because I'm not really into that kind of games.. but still I feel like I need more cpu power although I haven't thought of it before.




Does 100€ seem like a good deal for that cpu? That's the lowest price that I've found so far
Thats a perfect deal.
Those cpu's can go up to 150€
Link?
 

Zerk2012

Titan
Ambassador
Hi everyone.

Before explanation, here's my rig:

i5-4460
x2 8gb 1600mhz ddr3
rog strix rx 470 4gb
asus h81m-r
corsair vs550w 80+

In August last year, I decided to sell my GTX 750 Ti because I didn't like how it ran the games I was playing the most... Once I finally sold my GTX 750 Ti, the best quality/price ratio second-hand video card was ASUS ROG STRIX RX 470 4GB for only 65€. The GPU itself is still working properly, with no visible physical damage before my purchase, plus the previous owner was smart enough to replace the thermal paste on the GPU so now the temperatures are cooler than what I expected at first.

But then I realized how bad software AMD has got for recording/streaming/whatever else. I got used to Nvidia's high-quality Shadowplay software that had overall offers better overlay UI and more functions to it. Other than that, I started noticing some very unusual fps drops in certain games that drove me so mad, and now I'm thinking of another upgrade.

Yes, I know most of you would recommend me to buy a whole new rig and get over outdated 4th gen Intel i5 CPU that runs poorly on newer games titles, but currently, I have no cash to afford a new rig.

After checking bids on second-hand gpus , I came across GTX 970 which costs 25€ more compared to RX 470 that I previously got for only 65€ and looks like a good deal to me. Ofc, I would sell this one first and add a few more cash and buy any GTX 970 for about ~100€ price. I spoke to some friends who are more experienced in this and they told me that 970 would bottleneck my 4460 cpu quite a bit in certain games which require more cpu rather than gpu power.

When we talk about head-to-head comparison between these two gpus, RX 470 is obviously one year newer and does have few advantages over Nvidia, like max resolution, perhaps better driver support, etc. But in terms of raw performance in games, Nvidia seems to outperform AMD by 10% which sounds like worthy replace over RX 470.

So, what is your opinion on this? Thanks.
The 970 is 10 to 30% better depending on the game.

Don't listen to friends that talk about bottlenecks.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
I think the RX470 actually has a slight edge in general overall performance over the GTX 970. Might not be enough to justify saying it's any more than mostly a tie, though.

The RX470 will support FreeSync, though. The GTX 970 will not. Nvidia didn't start supporting FreeSync until the 10-series cards and later.

The 1060 3GB wouldn't really be much of an upgrade, if any at all. In a few games, it does equal to or worse than the 1050Ti due to the 3GB limitation.

I'm a little concerned about the PSU, though, especially if you go for a CPU that pulls more power. The Corsair VS series is really meant for office machines with integrated or very low end GPUs. The wattage is ok, but the VS isn't going to hold up well for a long time with either the RX 470 or GTX 970.
 

ukLz

Distinguished
I think the RX470 actually has a slight edge in general overall performance over the GTX 970. Might not be enough to justify saying it's any more than mostly a tie, though.

The RX470 will support FreeSync, though. The GTX 970 will not. Nvidia didn't start supporting FreeSync until the 10-series cards and later.

The 1060 3GB wouldn't really be much of an upgrade, if any at all. In a few games, it does equal to or worse than the 1050Ti due to the 3GB limitation.

I'm a little concerned about the PSU, though, especially if you go for a CPU that pulls more power. The Corsair VS series is really meant for office machines with integrated or very low end GPUs. The wattage is ok, but the VS isn't going to hold up well for a long time with either the RX 470 or GTX 970.

Yeah , it does support FreeSync but I don't have a monitor that has FreeSync as an option so I guess it doesn't matter at that point which gpu I go for.

When it comes to PSU, I was in a big dilemma which PSU should I pick this time because I've had some Chinese cheap piece of S that didn't have a single 6-pin cable for my RX 470 and I was in a big hurry to get a new one. I spoke to some friends and they recommended me to go for VS 550 because it cost only 68€ and I was told it's going to be great for the new upgrade that I planned.

So far, I've had zero problems with this PSU, whatsoever, and I hope it'll last for quite some time.
 

ukLz

Distinguished
Nah ur fine with that psu.
Both i5 4460 and i7 4790 have a tdp of 84W.So if you ran your i5 you will be able tu run your i7

Yup, although I notice in my games while playing that cpu wattage doesn't exceed 50 Watts

I'm gonna provide one video of gta 5 gameplay:
View: https://youtu.be/DtmpM6aCCeU


I took gta 5 as reference because it's one of these games where my cpu load stays ~100% pretty much all the time.

Sometimes I thought if there's perhaps something wrong with my cpu OR motherboard because I saw other people's i5-4460 go higher than just 50Watts.

I hope my H81M-R board will not "bottleneck" i7-4790 in any sense possible.
 
Yup, although I notice in my games while playing that cpu wattage doesn't exceed 50 Watts

I'm gonna provide one video of gta 5 gameplay:
View: https://youtu.be/DtmpM6aCCeU


I took gta 5 as reference because it's one of these games where my cpu load stays ~100% pretty much all the time.

Sometimes I thought if there's perhaps something wrong with my cpu OR motherboard because I saw other people's i5-4460 go higher than just 50Watts.

I hope my H81M-R board will not "bottleneck" i7-4790 in any sense possible.
It shouldnt.
Just make sure u updated ur bios to 0208 version