I currently have an XFX R9 290X (4GB), which performs just fine. However, I like to sell my cards when they still hold some value and make an upgrade. Is the RX 480 (8GB) going to offer anything over the 290X or will it be about the same? I can't find many reviews that directly compare the two.
From what i see in recent game benchmarks the rx 480 is either on par or worse(in most cases) than the r9 390x with is essentially a 290x with 4 more gigs of vram.
hmm trick one that, in long term your better of with the RX480(8gb) IMHO. for example : the gtx 680 out performs the 7970 in older games that does not hold true for modern games. weather you will notice any performance benefits is highly debatable, if you want an noticeable performance gain with up to date features/tech etc then atm I would say the gtx1070 as an min.
What a month and see if we get a peek at Vega if you can. I know you want some value for your 290x, but if you are playing 1080p, other than power use.. it is a sideways upgrade.
It's a complete sidegrade from the 290X to a 480. The only benefit is the power reductions, otherwise, your options are 1070 and above from nVidia or Fury range from AMD or, wait for Vega from AMD.
Yeah total sidegrade. And I'm not too sure about long term benefits either, compared to your current card. It wont get any faster while future games no doubt will require faster cards. You may get some value in return by selling it, but you have to put some more money alongside for roughly the same performance.
The 290x vs the 480 easy to just search on. The 480 does better for the most part as in newer games. As it does better in a few games vs the 390x. If one was going to buy one.. 480 is the better choice. If you want faster then NV 1070/1080 is better WAY less hotter. And unless you get a awesome deal for under $200 for a 290x.. its not worth it.
The 290X he already has, the question is whether the RX 480 is worth the expense of the upgrade. This all depends on the price of the RX 480 and what he can get for the R9 290X. If the cost is minimal the upgrade would be worth it. You also need to take into account forward saleability, which is very much based on assumptions of future value. To put this into perspective, I'll use dollar values which are hyptothetical, they are only loosely based on actual prices before anyone comments! If the RX 480 8 GB costs you US$300, and you can sell your R9-290X for around US$200 (seems about right on US Ebay), the cost to you is US$100 (not taking into account Ebay fees). When the RX 580 comes out, let's say that too is around US$300. At that point you might get US$210 for your RX 480, but by then your R9-290X will be worth less, you might only get US$130 for it. So if you waited the upgrade would cost you US$170. However, if you upgraded your RX 480 then, it would only cost you US$90 effectively for the upgrade. So, the total cost of upgrading to the RX 580 if you wait is US$170, the cost if you buy the RX 480 now is US$190. Again like I was saying, not taking into account Ebay fees. That said, it's a US$20 difference in assumed prices. I guess in another way of looking at it, is the upgrade worth an effective price of US$20 (excluding sale fees)? It could be US$60 for example, or free, depending on the way prices move.
Not that I need to, but I will mimic the general feeling- Its a sideways upgrade. Wait a bit and see what comes down the pipeline. Your card is still plenty fast. Having said that, the longer you wait to sell your card and the more new cards come out, the less you will be able to sell your current card for. You are in a tough spot right now, the only card that would be worth an upgrade to is a gtx1070.
Nice analysis--thanks. It seems an (XFX, the brand I prefer) 8GB RX 480 can be had for about $225-$275 pretty easily right now and eBay would probably net me between $150-$200 for the 290x. I'll probably hang in there with my current card unless I sport a nice deal somewhere. Black Friday and onwards can be a good time to buy videocards, as well as a good time to sell on eBay.
Well the last one I saw was a test playing the new Titanfall 2 where the 470 beat the 290X and the 480 beat the 390X. I would say that could be considered real world.
if you play at 1080 the card would be close to 390x performance while using 1/2 power but at 1440 performance is around 290x/390 performance(10-8% lower) and at 4k it is around a r9 290x if you want to get 100w lower power consumption and slighly better performance on DX11,better tessellation and slighly better frame pacing then get the rx 480 but if you dont need it and you will keep it because the performance difference isnt worth it then save for GTX 1070 or Vega