Looking for some input. I currently am running a 2GB Radeon R9 270 (factory OC). I am looking to upgrade but am budget limited so no, I can't afford the latest and greatest, unfortunately. Anyway, I have really only $250 CAD to invest (or thereabouts - and that is a bit of a stretch)...and for that price point I am steered towards 4GB Radeon R9 380 and R9 380x. I run windows 7 and don't plan on playing anything higher than 1920x1080 on my monitor.

I found the following that I can pick up in store (local NCIX).

MSI Radeon R9 380 4GD5T OC 980MHZ 4GB 5.5GHZ GDDR5 ($249 CAD) -- mail in rebate of $20 on top of it
GIGABYTE Radeon R9 380X Windforce 980MHZ 4GB 5.7GHZ GDDR5 ($265 CAD)
XFX Radeon R9 380X DD XXX OC 990MHZ 4GB ($270 CAD)

...the last 2 are stretching the budget. Anyway, looking for thoughts on which is the best and does this seem reasonable? Is it worth paying the extra for the 380x over the 380? ...and won't that MSI overclocked 380 run very close to that Gigabyte 380x (same clock speeds)? ...and is it worth paying $5 more for the XFX for 10MHZ? is one manufacturer far better than the other? idk.

Thoughts? (and thank you so much in advance).

All of those should be cheaper online and the normal re-tailers (NewEgg, etc)

R9-380s should be Sub 200 now.

I am listing Canadian dollars, mate. NCIX is an online retailer and is pretty major here in Canada usually beating NewEgg, etc...I happen to have an outlet store not far from me.

...and I see I can get an RX 470 (4GB) for the same price ($269 CAD) as those R9 380x's so I suppose it is a no-brain'er to choose it over an R9 380x.

...but $20 on top of that gets me a GTX 1060...but 3GB (not sure if I should shy away from it cuz of that???).

Uggh, the problem is it is too easy to nickel and dime your way up and up! LOL

After a few years of ATI I switched back to NVidia last year. For me, a used GTX970 would be the sweet spot to move from a R270. Depending on the game it will usually slightly outperform a 4GB 380X, but run cooler with less power draw and in my opinion NVidia has just the better control panel/driver settings. Not sure if a 1060 is faster than a 970.

Ya, I have gone back and forth through the years between NVidia and ATI (and for quite a while it was one upgrade Nvidia, the next ATI, then rinse and repeat LOL ). Yes, I know the GTX970 is a good card. Just out of price range for me though (and ya, the 1060 is faster).

Well I couldn't justify buying the R9 380x for the same price as the RX470 and I went ahead and ordered a Radeon RX470 (it is close to the equivalent of the 970 -- bettering it in some games, falling a bit behind in others)...but it greatly outperforms the R9 380X for the same price...and certainly worth paying $20 more over the lower end R9 380 for it I think. Would have liked a 1060, but I am priced out. Anyway, thanks for the input and best wishes.

Let us know how the RX470 does in real life. Seems to be quite a shift in architecture, where the 2xx and 3xx relied more on brute force (heat and power) the newer AMD cars are supposedly cooler?

Here's the same article I linked in an earlier post. It compares cards in a "best bang per buck" way. AMD RX480 4GB wins in the $225 US range. I have the 8GB model -- the extra 4GB are meaningless.

Thing is, prices are up right now on all the new 14nm cards by Nvidia and AMD. The RX480 4GB should sell for $200 (I paid $244 delivered for my 8GB -- it plays all my games on max settings at 1440p). The Nvidia 1060 is about equal to the RX480.

Older Nvidia 28nm models do not handle DX12 games well. Older AMD 28nm models do handle DX12 -- so if you can get a 380X on sale under $200 US, it may be the most cost effective as it will handle DX12 and Vulcan games.

Tom's Best for the Dollar GPUs

Yes, looked at the RX480...but up here in Canada (at least where I have seen), it is 20% more than the RX470 and that priced me out (and considering I am spending more already than planned, that was a no no ) ...and with the RX470 costing the same as the 380X, that decision was easy.

And yes, I will let you know how it goes. Should be a monster improvement over my R9 270 2GB at the very least, so good times ahead (...I hope...).

I'm in the US or I would sell you my 970 to fund my 1070 upgrade. I know it's a big hassle, though, and you're better off going local.




The Jedi Master

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RX-470 is pretty much a Die Shrink of the R9-380X,
RX-470 vs R9-380X

Die Construct: 470 = 14nm, 380X = 28nm
Die Size: 470 = 232mm^2, 380X = 366mm^2
GPU Clocks: 470 = 1200MHz Avg, 380X = 1000MHz AVG
MEM Clocks: 470 = 1750/7000MHz Avg, 380X = 1500/6000MHz Avg
TDP: 470 = 100w, 380X = 190w

Both Have 2048 SP, 32 ROPs, 128 TMUs, 4096MB of GDDR5 on a 256Bit Interface.

RX-470 easily beats the 380X by avg margins of 10-25 fps in most benches and games.