The December Steam hardware survey shows that the GeForce GTX 970 is now the most popular GPU

[hitbox]

Welp, that's a lot of people that can't play Star Citizen then...

Also...

3.5

who cares?

 

[CaptainTom]

Welp, that's a lot of people that can't play Star Citizen then...

Also...

3.5

So ridiculous. There isn't an issue with DX12 performance and the GTX 970 makes out fine with 3.5GB of VRAM, it would be more useless to load it up with an 8GB buffer and charge $100 more.

For 1080p gaming the GTX 970 delivers the best bang for your buck, especially with lower end processors and I assume this is why it is the most popular graphics card.

That said the Radeon R9 390 is really just as good at the same price so you could go either way and get much the same result.

The 390 is stronger, cheaper, performs FAR better in DX12, and has over double the VRAM. Imo it is pathetic that the 970 sold so much better.

 

[cliffordcooley]

The 390 is stronger, cheaper, performs FAR better in DX12, and has over double the VRAM. Imo it is pathetic that the 970 sold so much better.

Don't forget the power usage, it's nearly double as well.

 

[Steve]

The 390 is stronger, cheaper, performs FAR better in DX12, and has over double the VRAM. Imo it is pathetic that the 970 sold so much better.

Like physically stronger? I am not really sure what makes it stronger.

FAR better in DX12 you say, I am shocked I missed the first DX12 title to be released. Hook me up with the link/evidence please.

Double the VRAM, yep so far that has proven to be a worthwhile justification for replacing the 290 and charging $50 - $100 more.

 

[dividebyzero]

Like physically stronger? I am not really sure what makes it stronger.

Presumably CaptainTom is basing the whole of PC gaming on a pre-beta of a single game, where the game developer has worked with AMD and its GCN arch for more than two years since the original engine was a benchmark showcase for Mantle....or...

FAR better in DX12 you say, I am shocked I missed the first DX12 title to be released. Hook me up with the link/evidence please.

...CaptainTom owns a time machine, or is maybe a seer? I'd also like for CaptainTom to show his workings, since over half of the announced DX12 games for 2016 (and the less than interesting and already released Caffeine) will/do use Unreal Engine 4 which has close developmental ties with Nvidia...and of the rest, most are either patched games for specific effects, or will be less than taxing GPU horsepower-wise (I.e The Division's Snowdrop engine).

 

[RoosterFish2]

The 390 is stronger, cheaper, performs FAR better in DX12, and has over double the VRAM. Imo it is pathetic that the 970 sold so much better.

Like physically stronger? I am not really sure what makes it stronger.

I have access to a hardness tester for metals. Send me all the cards I'll let you know how they score.

 

[erickmendes]

[/QUOTE] ... and whatever Islands code names AMD comes up with after Arctic/Polaris arch :[/QUOTE]
Let's hope it be something cool, like Caribean Islands...

 

[dividebyzero]

Let's hope it be something cool, like Caribean Islands...

How about TV islands? Fantasy...Gilligan's....Redneck...Mysterious

 

[cliffordcooley]

Here is a list of potentials.

Mount Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Mount St. Helens, Mount Tambora, Mauna Loa, Eyjafjallajokull, Mount Pelée, Thera, Nevado del Ruiz, or Mount Pinatubo

 

[dividebyzero]

Here is a list of potentials.

Mount Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Mount St. Helens, Mount Tambora, Mauna Loa, Eyjafjallajokull, Mount Pelée, Thera, Nevado del Ruiz, or Mount Pinatubo

You missed Santorini (and Vesuvius has already been used as a code name for the Hawaii chips used in the R9 295X2)
On a less flippant note, it looks like AMD are abandoning the "islands" theme and going with stars (as AMD with their 10h processors) and galaxies as their naming convention.

 

[Matti]

This site looks more and more like a marketing channel for Nvidia products.What's next, housewives taking the floor praising Nvidia?!! Come on, guys!

Freaking fangirls crying all the time. You post 6 AMD favoring articles and its all good. You post one that favors nvidia and then "This site is biased against teh AMDEE !!!".

 

[NightAntilli]

and that is... ?

They lied about the RAM, and they lied about it being fully DX12 compliant.

 

[Steve]

They lied about the RAM, and they lied about it being fully DX12 compliant.

They are both lying to you at the moment. “Hey get the 390 with 8GB of VRAM” because it is A needed and B can use it. This isn’t a marketing ploy; these are the RAMs you are looking for.

 

[NightAntilli]

They are both lying to you at the moment. “Hey get the 390 with 8GB of VRAM” because it is A needed and B can use it. This isn’t a marketing ploy; these are the RAMs you are looking for.

The 8GB is hardly an issue if the price is not significantly higher than the similar performing nVidia equivalent. Besides, selling excess RAM as being a good thing is nowhere near as bad as selling less RAM than advertised.

 

[Steve]

The 8GB is hardly an issue if the price is not significantly higher than the similar performing nVidia equivalent. Besides, selling excess RAM as being a good thing is nowhere near as bad as selling less RAM than advertised.

Yeah it was meant more of a joke. That said I would have preferred to keep the 290 which was selling for as little as $250, the 390 is slightly better at around $300 now but the $330 MSRP sucked. Nvidia aren't selling a card with less RAM than advertised, the GTX 970 does come with 4GB of VRAM. The fact that 512MB's of it is partitioned off and much slower to access is the issue but that isn't false advertising.

If they advertised the GTX 970 as having "4GB of non-partitioned VRAM" then you might have a point.

 

[ExiledWolf]

Two summers ago I built a computer and put in a gtx 760; my first graphics card. A year later I came upon some cash and I upgraded to the gtx 970. Both were/are fantastic values considering their power. I can certainly understand why both of these cards are first and third.

 

[Forebode]

They lied about the RAM, and they lied about it being fully DX12 compliant.

Right, but you're an informed customer now. It's still a good card. I don't remember reading that any of them said it was "fully dx12 compliant", maybe compatible. How could it be 100% if dx12 wasn't even done/fully-available atm.

Not buying a better card because they lied about stats, while their benchmarks were good, only hurts you.

 

[HardReset]

Nvidia aren't selling a card with less RAM than advertised, the GTX 970 does come with 4GB of VRAM. The fact that 512MB's of it is partitioned off and much slower to access is the issue but that isn't false advertising.

If they advertised the GTX 970 as having "4GB of non-partitioned VRAM" then you might have a point.

I cannot see anything about that slower ram: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/specifications

(full specs screenshot) http://s29.postimg.org/9uff4jt3b/nvidia3.jpg

So that is false advertising then?

 

[Steve]

I cannot see anything about that slower ram: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/specifications

(full specs screenshot) http://s29.postimg.org/9uff4jt3b/nvidia3.jpg

So that is false advertising then?

Maybe, I mean the card does have 4GB of GDDR5 memory, it is clocked at 1750MHz and the 256-bit wide bus does allow for 224GB/s.

 

[HardReset]

Maybe, I mean the card does have 4GB of GDDR5 memory, it is clocked at 1750MHz and the 256-bit wide bus does allow for 224GB/s.

True, if all those specs are considered separately. Then again card does not have 4GB GDDR5 with 256-bit bus...