• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Need a graphics card upgrade

Associate
Joined
28 Jul 2014
Posts
694
Location
Liverpool
I have been away from the PC gaming scene for a while and recently wanted to get back into it. I am also a games development student at university and need a new graphics card to cope with the 3D modelling/animation work.

I roughly have a budget of £200 and would want something that will be good for gaming/rendering etc...

My current specs are:

XFX Radeon HD 6850
AMD FX 8350: Black Edition (@4.00GHz)
ASUS 970 Pro Gaming/Aura mobo
HyperX Fury 8GB DDR3
Corsair CX550M

Thanks in advance.
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Nov 2008
Posts
28,997
I use Adobe software, AutoDesk software such as 3Ds Max and I also use Unreal Engine a fair bit too.

Over a period of time, I've noticed that general playback performance/especially performance during playback of certain transitions when using Premiere Pro has definitely gotten steadily worse (I'm using a 980Ti). It's not at the point where I can't make a simple YouTube video, but it was much smoother when testing my old 7970 some weeks/months back.

The way it stands at the moment, if I was buying a new card then AMD would currently be a strong consideration as far as Adobe is concerned. Hopefully, performance for Nvidia products will improve further down the line.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Jul 2014
Posts
694
Location
Liverpool
Over a period of time, I've noticed that the playback performance/applying of transitions when using Premiere Pro has definitely gotten steadily worse (I'm using a 980Ti). It's not at the point where I can't make a simple YouTube video, but it was much smoother when testing my old 7970 some weeks/months back.

The way it stands at the moment, if I was buying a new card then AMD would currently be a strong consideration as far as Adobe is concerned. Hopefully, performance for Nvidia products will improve further down the line.
Thanks for the advice, I use Premiere Pro also and could do with a good solid card for rendering etc...

I think I will go for an AMD card tbh, just not sure which one at the moment, the RX 480 seems promising upto now for the price.
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Nov 2008
Posts
28,997
Thanks for the advice, I use Premiere Pro also and could do with a good solid card for rendering etc...

I think I will go for an AMD card tbh, just not sure which one at the moment, the RX 480 seems promising upto now for the price.

I don't keep up with the latest tech info, but I believe AMD are releasing some new cards quite soon, so it might be a good time to wait. If you need it right now, then the 480 8GB is the way to go. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Feb 2008
Posts
3,374
Location
Birmingham
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Jul 2014
Posts
694
Location
Liverpool
Yeh I would also echo the 8GB RX480.

These are the two I personally would opt for atm;

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-18d-gi.html

or

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-40h-as.html

With regards to new gpus, the RX580 should be coming out within the next few weeks or so. I don't know if you can wait till then, although they might be more pricier than the £200 you're willing to spend.
I may go for the RX480 considering it would be a nice upgrade from my current card, especially for the price. I am in no rush for a new card but I also would like to stick to around the £200 budget, splashing out on a more expensive card is something Im not willing to do just yet.

Which brand of the RX480 is the more reliable?
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Nov 2008
Posts
28,997
Good examples above of what to consider, though I also would throw these into the mix (just to make life complicated :D):

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-188-pc.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-...s-graphics-card-with-backplate-gx-23b-xf.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-...s-graphics-card-with-backplate-gx-23i-xf.html

I usually forget whether it's the XFX GTR or the RS which get the most recommendations out of the XFX cards, though I think it's the GTR, though that starts to get a bit more costly.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Feb 2008
Posts
3,374
Location
Birmingham
Good examples above of what to consider, though I also would throw these into the mix (just to make life complicated :D):

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-188-pc.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-...s-graphics-card-with-backplate-gx-23b-xf.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-...s-graphics-card-with-backplate-gx-23i-xf.html

I usually forget whether it's the XFX GTR or the RS which get the most recommendations, though I think it's the GTR, however that starts to get a bit more costly.

The XFX GTR is the best 480 out there, however it's a lot more expensive. I wouldn't go for the XFX RS you've listed, it's got a smaller heatsink I believe.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Feb 2008
Posts
3,374
Location
Birmingham
I may go for the RX480 considering it would be a nice upgrade from my current card, especially for the price. I am in no rush for a new card but I also would like to stick to around the £200 budget, splashing out on a more expensive card is something Im not willing to do just yet.

Which brand of the RX480 is the more reliable?

Tough really, although considering the small-ish difference I would go for the strix, without checking I think it has a larger overclock, flashier lights :D and probably has a better re-sale value as well.
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Nov 2008
Posts
28,997
My preferences would narrow it down to the Powercolor, Gigabyte or XFX GTR cards. I've read good things about those on here, especially concerning the Devil and GTR models.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Jul 2014
Posts
694
Location
Liverpool
Is the ASUS RX480 Dual card a reliable card though? TerrorFirmer posted above to stay clear of the ASUS dual cards, hence why they are so cheap.

Upto now I'm looking at the Strix, Devil or possibly the ASUS duel card mentioned.

*Thinking about it now, I may wait around a bit longer to see how much the RX570/580s are, I understand they are out around April 11th?
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
23 Mar 2011
Posts
16,745
Location
West Side
The ASUS RX480 Dual is as reliable as any other card and i would be intrested to know where he got his information about failure rates compared to other models.

The powercoler is an awesome card and runs very quiet at load, like you im holding out till the release of the rx580.
 
Back
Top Bottom