[SOLVED] rx480 to rx580 worth it?

[Gzr]

Hello everyone.

I'm currently running an rx480 8gb nitro+. The card's fine for what it is, it's stable at 1306 with the latest available bios and doesn't really overclock very well. Undervolting (not significantly) does make it a tad more efficient and a tad cooler running but that's about it. I have no real gripes with the gpu apart from the fact that it tends to get pretty hot when pushed, to about 82C max with stock voltage, the fans at 60% and the case closed (haven't got the best airflow nor enough case fans yet). Card's working fine, BUT...

I'm thinking about selling it and getting a 580 for about 50 euros more. Same brand, it's gonna be a nitro+ or a LE. My understanding is they have better coolers and higher stable clocks than the 480 and, since thermals are kind of a pet peeve of mine, I'm thinking a 50 extra for better thermals and a 10-15% increase is fine. I would love to be able to get a 1660 super but can't afford it since I can only get it new and it'd be at least 120 extra and I'd be without a GPU (and a functioning PC) for quite some time.

Rest of the system is a b450, a r5 2600 and 16gb ram @3200mhz.

I don't play esports or fps style games at all, mostly it's titles like the witcher 3, re2 (remake), rdr2, AC Odyssey, sottr etc. Monitor's a 75hz 24" @1080p, don't plan on upgrading in the foreseeable future, nor do I care too much for 144hz or 1440p right now.

So, question is. Should I sell the 480 at a very good price right now and upgrade to a 580 mainly to get better thermals and a small performance increase or wait until I can afford a 1660 super but probably take a hit on the 480's selling price, thus have to pay more later?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Phaaze88]

RX 580 is basically an overclocked RX 480, with some small refinements here and there.

If you have a case with poor airflow, what good does a slightly faster, higher power consuming = more heat, gpu with a bigger cooler do when it's also being starved for air?
It will run just as hot.

Fix the airflow issue in the case.

 

[Gzr]

RX 580 is basically an overclocked RX 480, with some small refinements here and there.

If you have a case with poor airflow, what good does a slightly faster, higher power consuming = more heat, gpu with a bigger cooler do when it's also being starved for air?
It will run just as hot.

Fix the airflow issue in the case.

That's a non issue, fans have already been ordered, I'm just waiting for them. Very, very patiently...
Question is, won't the 580 be a more efficient card, both when it comes to thermals as well as performance? Or should I wait and get a 1660s instead?

I've also considered the 5500xt but the 8gb variant is priced at lower end 1660s and I'm not paying that much for a comparatively worse (than the 1660s) gpu.

 

[Phaaze88]

1)Performance, yes. Thermals, no. The 580 is an overclocked version of the 480, just like the RX 590 is an overclocked version of the 580, and it runs just as hot, if not hotter.

2)The Nvidia equivalent to the RX 580 is the GTX 1650 Super.
Some 1660 Super models can pull just as much power as an RX 580, so you'd be back to square one.

3)AMD really slipped up on the 5500XT. It is priced too high for what it offers.

 

[Gzr]

Ok, so from what I've seen and extensively searched around the internetz, the 580/90 are just plain bad choices when it comes to thermals and power consumption, and while the latter I care very little about, the former is a big thing for me. I'd certainly like something that runs cool.

So, with that in mind, I'm in a bit of a bind. I've upped my max budget quite a bit, where I can afford a 1660 super. However, I'm thinking that I'm probably gonna be fine with a 1650 super as well, albeit compromising in some titles.

Thing is, prices and availability is a strange issue over here and I woudn't like to be a month without a PC. So, my choices are overpriced 5500xt's, both 4 and 8 gig variants, quite affordable 1650 supers, a few way overpriced 1660's and a quite ok 1660 super (palit gaming OC version).

The 1660 I find middle of the road but I'd rather have something more recent with GDDR6, however the 6 gigs of VRAM and somewhat better performance than the 1650s are enticing.

The 1650 super is the most affordable and quite a plunky little card for what it costs.

The 5500xt's I find pointless at those prices but I do like AMD, hence my still sorta considering them.

Finally, the 1660 super would probably be my first choice but it is the most expensive of all and, considering I'll be capping my fps at 75 in everything, I don't know whether it's worth it or not.

Opinions...?

 

[Phaaze88]

While not too many people personally care about power consumption, it does affect the kinds of power supplies one can reasonably use.
Dedicated gpus are the most stressful part of a gaming PC for a psu to deal with.
Nvidia's gpus are simply more power efficient than AMD's - at least in the same performance tiers - and are less likely to 'complain' when paired with lower quality power supplies.

5500XT: Poor pricing for what they offer. All they have going for them is better power efficiency(compared to RX 580) and driver support later down the road. They will essentially replace the RX 580.
GTX 1650 Super: It's in the same performance tier as your current gpu and only has 4GBs of Vram - this may not matter too much, as games aren't too hard on Vram at 1080p.
There is a soon to be released GDDR6 version: https://www.youtube(dot)com/watch?v=7Go1NCKmo0A

GTX 1660 Super: 1660-like pricing while delivering 1660Ti-like performance, essentially making both rather pointless...
GTX 1660: Cheaper than a 1660 Super sometimes, but even the cheapest Super variant isn't too far in price.

GTX 1660 Super is the strongest option, IMO.