RX480 4GB vs HD7970 3GB

[l0t3k]

Was thinking about upgrading my 7970 and getting the rx480. I was just curious if this would be considered a good upgrade compared to what I currently have. The 7970 still performs well however many games are unable to run at high-ultra setting for example to keep a solid 60 for I have to turn off AA and shadows. The rx480 is within my price range I can't afford anything high end like the 1070 or 1080. If you guys have any other recommendations I would appreciate it and thanks for any advice in advance. Also I do not have VR and I game at 1080 resolution.

 

[spdragoo]

For 1080p resolutions, your primary choices are the RX 480 or the GTX 1060. However, normally I wouldn't consider them a "great" upgrade, as they're maybe only a tier higher than your 7970 (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html).

That being said...a) what are the rest of your system specs (CPU, RAM, etc.), & b) what games are causing your 7970 problems (so that we can compare benchmarks)?

 

[cilliers]

In comparison to each other, the RX 480 is effectively 43% quicker than the HD 7970, according to surveys with sample sizes of 17145 and 2467 respectively. Ref: http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-480-vs-AMD-HD-7970/3634vs2163

The feasibility of such an upgrade would highly depend on the cost and the PSU requirements. I would say that for a 43% increase, you should not spend much more than 50% of your HD 7970 second hand (craigslist) value.

If you want a significant increase in your GPU performance, say 100% or more, then you would have to go with a GTX 1070 for around $350. Unfortunately AMD has no competing card at that level. Ref: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

One of the most pointless upgrades I ever did was to upgrade a HD 7950 to a GTX 970. Although the GTX 970 is effectively 70% quicker than the HD 7950, I could not detect the difference that easily with the titles I was playing AT THAT TIME, such as Borderlands 1,2,3, BF4, Farcry 4 and SC2, because of not really being able to push AA and AF to max on either card at 1080p. It therefore highly depends on what you play as well. Not to even mention other constraining factors for consideration, such as the CPU and RAM.

I'm sure that others will argue differently, based on the titles that they play.

EDIT: That HD 7970 is a very good overclocker. Maybe with a good overclock you can squeeze another 7% performance out of it.

 

[l0t3k]

For 1080p resolutions, your primary choices are the RX 480 or the GTX 1060. However, normally I wouldn't consider them a "great" upgrade, as they're maybe only a tier higher than your 7970 (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html).

That being said...a) what are the rest of your system specs (CPU, RAM, etc.), & b) what games are causing your 7970 problems (so that we can compare benchmarks)?

So my currents specs in the tag are up to date minus the operating system. My proscessor is a 3570k (no oc) along with 8gb of ddr3 ram. The game I currently play is gw2 but I cannot play on ultra I have to lower certain settings to get a solid 60 fps. If there is a lot going on like a lot of spell effects it drops to maybe 35-45

 

[spdragoo]

For 1080p resolutions, your primary choices are the RX 480 or the GTX 1060. However, normally I wouldn't consider them a "great" upgrade, as they're maybe only a tier higher than your 7970 (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html).

That being said...a) what are the rest of your system specs (CPU, RAM, etc.), & b) what games are causing your 7970 problems (so that we can compare benchmarks)?

So my currents specs in the tag are up to date minus the operating system. My proscessor is a 3570k (no oc) along with 8gb of ddr3 ram. The game I currently play is gw2 but I cannot play on ultra I have to lower certain settings to get a solid 60 fps. If there is a lot going on like a lot of spell effects it drops to maybe 35-45

Ok, hadn't noticed the signature.

EDIT: Sorry, I mistook "GW2" as being a "gears of war" game, instead of "Guild Wars 2".

However... I would expect that it would perform a lot better, & would allow for higher detail levels to maintain 60FPS.

 

[mlga91]

In comparison to each other, the RX 480 is effectively 43% quicker than the HD 7970......One of the most pointless upgrades I ever did was to upgrade a HD 7950 to a GTX 970. Although the GTX 970 is effectively 70% quicker than the HD 7950
performance out of it.

Those numbers dont add up, a 7970 is marginally better than a 7950, why would a 970 net you that 70% increase while the 480 (which has more power than a 970) only gives you a 43% increase?

 

[cilliers]

In comparison to each other, the RX 480 is effectively 43% quicker than the HD 7970......One of the most pointless upgrades I ever did was to upgrade a HD 7950 to a GTX 970. Although the GTX 970 is effectively 70% quicker than the HD 7950
performance out of it.

Those numbers dont add up, a 7970 is marginally better than a 7950, why would a 970 net you that 70% increase while the 480 (which has more power than a 970) only gives you a 43% increase?

There is a 25% difference between HD 7950 and HD 7970. 43 + 25 = 68% ~ 70%