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Radeon HD 7970 More Than Twice As Fast As NVIDIA’s GTX 680 in DOOM Eternal ---[fine wine]

https://wccftech.com/amds-fine-wine-in-action-gcn-radeon-gpus-decimate-nvidia-kepler-maxwell-cards/

Id Software's latest Doom title, Doom Eternal, released a couple of days ago and is definitely one of the best FPS titles in a long time, reinventing the fast-paced shooter genre & doing so while looking spectacular thanks to the new id tech 7 engine. The title has phenomenal optimization on current-generation cards as we reported in our testing but it looks like AMD has a huge advantage with its older Radeon graphics cards compared to NVIDIA's GeForce lineup of the past.

AMD's First Gen GCN Radeon Graphics Cards Decimate NVIDIA's GeForce Kepler & Maxwell in Doom Eternal - HD 7970 More Than 2X Faster Than GeForce GTX 680
Steve from Hardware Unboxed published a new video where he benchmarks several old graphics cards based on AMD's GCN (1st, 2nd, 3rd Gen) and NVIDIA's Kepler & Maxwell architecture. These graphics cards might be old but there's a large number of gamers out there who are on a budget and sometimes, these older but cheaper graphics cards are a highly valuable purchase. But that also depends on how long a GPU vendor keeps adding support for these graphics cards in the latest gaming titles.

While NVIDIA still supports its Fermi-based graphics cards, AMD had shifted its Pre-GCN lineup to legacy status. But that doesn't mean that you still get the same level of driver optimization for the Fermi cards like the ones based on the Turing GPU. Support is one thing and the optimization is another, and that is shown in Hardware Unboxed's video where two rivals of the past, the GCN based Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition and the Kepler based GeForce GTX 680, who were once out in the field, battling for the graphics throne are now in a different league.


In the performance tests which were done at 1080p resolution using low settings, AMD's first-gen GCN architecture completely decimates Kepler GPUs. The Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition, for example, is 124% faster than the GeForce GTX 680 and 75% faster than the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. Both cards, the HD 7970 GHz edition and the GTX 680 launched at $499 US with NVIDIA keeping the front lead in terms of efficiency while AMD focused on raw performance. But AMD's Fine Wine has worked and it shows that you can play a modern title, albeit at low settings, at a smooth 60 FPS with AMD's card while NVIDIA's cards fail to produce a playable environment.
Even the newer Maxwell-based GeForce GTX 970 stumbles against the Radeon R9 390 which is up to 15% faster than its Maxwell-based opponent. The same goes for the GeForce GTX 960 which falls against the Radeon R9 280X which is 43% faster, even the R9 270X is a good 6% faster than the mid-range Maxwell card.

With that said, AMD always had the upper hand in Vulkan and DirectX 12 APIs with its GCN architecture with NVIDIA only strengthening its feature set when Pascal GPUs arrived. We've also seen similar performance trends with older id titles such as Doom 2016 and Wolfenstein: The New Colussus where NVIDIA cards perform exceptionally well and far ahead of AMD's Radeon lineup but those with older cards would expect decent playable performance versus NVIDIA's older GPU lineup.

AMD-Radeon-NVIDIA-GeForce-Graphics-Performance-Benchmarks_Doom-Eternal_3-1480x833.png

It's an interesting article. Basically, it just shows how Nvidia does a bad job of supporting their older cards.
 

AGRacing

Gold Member
Yeah Vulkan in particular is not something nvidia was on top of until recently.

At one point I did own a 970.... there does seem to be a quicker cut off with nvidia support which isn’t great for the folks keeping their graphics cards for a “long” time. That being said I’ve only owned a 5700 XT for a few weeks.. it has been great for me.... but the poor folks who bought it earlier than I did seemed to have a lot of trouble with the early drivers.

Sometimes the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long ;)
 

AGRacing

Gold Member
GCN architecture was replaced just recently, so no wonder AMD still offer good drivers support even for 7970.


“Fine wine” was something AMD talked about when these cards were released. They delivered on that promise... the cards have aged relatively well. It’s disingenuous to try and explain that away as a result of their lack of innovation especially when they made a point of saying it would happen from day 1. Let’s give the credit where it’s due... it’s rare when a company delivers on a long term promise. My PlayStation 3 never did end up talking to my refrigerator.
 
So I shouldn't bother buying this and trying to run with my 980ti?
Depends on what resolution you plan on running the game, but I think you can play on a mixture of medium and high on 1080p with that card. 60 fps.
And it has that adaptive resolution on by default, so you'll maintain 60fps no matter what.
 
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pawel86ck

Banned
“Fine wine” was something AMD talked about when these cards were released. They delivered on that promise... the cards have aged relatively well. It’s disingenuous to try and explain that away as a result of their lack of innovation especially when they made a point of saying it would happen from day 1. Let’s give the credit where it’s due... it’s rare when a company delivers on a long term promise. My PlayStation 3 never did end up talking to my refrigerator.
So do you think radeon cards after 7970 were innovative and performing really well against Nvidia GPUs?
 

Leonidas

Member
3 architectures back for Nvidia, since Kepler there has been Maxwell, Pascal and now Turing. GCN, the oldest architecture from AMD in the chart is only going back one. That is the only benefit of having a stagnant architecture. Where's the chart for Terrascale vs. Fermi?
If they go that far back in arch. for Nvidia, why did they stop at only one for AMD?

GCN was heavily optimized for years because it's the only GPU architecture AMD had until last year, where Kepler was still 3 architectures in the past for Nvidia. Ancient history.

Going forward both GCN and RDNA(2019) will age like milk since they have no next-gen features.

So I shouldn't bother buying this and trying to run with my 980ti?

Only ancient Kepler GPUs are affected in the GPUs they chose for their chart. 980 Ti runs the game fine, especially so if you overclock it.
 

Mhmmm 2077

Member
I bought HD 7970 GHz Edition back then in 2012, it was and still is the best gpu I ever had in my life. I only didn't go for 680, because Nvidia was bunch of dicks when they blocked Hybrid PhysX possibility (AMD + Nvidia cards in one system, nvidia one being purely for PhysX calculations). I'm planning to build a new PC this year, gonna go fully #TeamRed again, I will make sure that my current GPU will be used well by someone else, as it is still really good card, outperforming 1050ti and shit.
 

Xdrive05

Member
Interesting!

I run it on high settings, 1080p 66hz, on an overclocked GTX 980 (1465 on core), but with resolution scaling turned on, because there are some scenes where it will fall under 66 fps without it.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
3 architectures back for Nvidia, since Kepler there has been Maxwell, Pascal and now Turing. GCN, the oldest architecture from AMD in the chart is only going back one. That is the only benefit of having a stagnant architecture. Where's the chart for Terrascale vs. Fermi?
If they go that far back in arch. for Nvidia, why did they stop at only one for AMD?

GCN was heavily optimized for years because it's the only GPU architecture AMD had until last year, where Kepler was still 3 architectures in the past for Nvidia. Ancient history.

Going forward both GCN and RDNA(2019) will age like milk since they have no next-gen features.



Only ancient Kepler GPUs are affected in the GPUs they chose for their chart. 980 Ti runs the game fine, especially so if you overclock it.
GCN had plenty of revision, not that I expect you to know much about AMD’s roadmap for obvious reasons ;).
 
3 architectures back for Nvidia, since Kepler there has been Maxwell, Pascal and now Turing. GCN, the oldest architecture from AMD in the chart is only going back one. That is the only benefit of having a stagnant architecture. Where's the chart for Terrascale vs. Fermi?
If they go that far back in arch. for Nvidia, why did they stop at only one for AMD?

GCN was heavily optimized for years because it's the only GPU architecture AMD had until last year, where Kepler was still 3 architectures in the past for Nvidia. Ancient history.
Well, that's not true. GCN had many revisions through out the years. I think that's a far better strategy then new architecture every year like Nvidia does. Having one architecture and constantly improving it.
 

Shin

Banned
That was a great card for it's time IMO, I had the HD 7970M in my Alienware M17x R4.
Best gaming laptop I've had, performance, sound, support, durability, OC, misc. features, etc etc.
 

AGRacing

Gold Member
So do you think radeon cards after 7970 were innovative and performing really well against Nvidia GPUs?

In general? No not at all... I’ve owned quite a few nvidia and amd GPUs since the 7950 I owned during that era.... some were great cards and others weren’t. I don’t have a horse in the race.

But we’re talking about the 7970 and AMD did deliver on that card.
 
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10000

Banned
the problem is that this is almost 8 years old videocard, do videocard last that long? to those who still on this card it is absolutely a best buy
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
7970 was a beast, my last card before my GTX 1080 and I could have kept it even longer (also AMD driver issues are a myth, shit happens on Nvidia about as frequently and I know from using both at various times, both my X800XL and 7970 were fine throughout those years, as was my GeForce before and GTX after). I only had major troubles with stuff like The Witcher 3 pushing me to upgrade (and in retrospect I hated the gameplay so I should have waited lol). Folks can upgrade sensibly and you don't need to spend that much for great PC gaming (sans online fees, great sales around every corner on multiple stores, oldies to revisit in full remaster fashion for free with or without mods, etc.). Every 2 generations, but not at the start or end, instead mid-generation, get a mid/high CPU and every mid-generation get a mid/high GPU and you're all set. Maybe you'll struggle for a bit just before the next mid-generation as in my The Witcher 3 example but whatever, there are too many games to play, ignore the few demanding ones until you upgrade and destroy everything. Unless you're rich and upgrade yearly of course, also viable if you use trade in schemes or sell stuff.
 
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Kenpachii

Member
Seems to run any game still at 30 fps so its fine for such old card. These cards stay valid for so long because consoles where utter shit this generation.

Also pretty sure doom is extremely well optimized for AMD low end gpu's. I remember the original doom also having that doing for it.
 
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Real

Member
People, man. I bet there's people in rural places across the globe who care.
But it's not about that. Going by your logic, people shouldn't make ps1 and ps2 threads just because these are "old consoles and who cares meng?"

Consoles are a whole different category.
Antiquated and outdated PC hardware beating other old antiquated and outdated hardware is a mundane and dumb conversation.
"Fine Wine" is a joke.
 
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Leonidas

Member
So I shouldn't bother buying this and trying to run with my 980ti?

980 Ti is a beast in this game given the fact that it's 5 years old. 1080p Ultra at over 90 FPS, 1440p Ultra at over 60 FPS. Other than the Titan X (Maxwell) no GPU from 2015 comes close to these numbers.

OP benchmarks turns the game all the way down to low because most old GPUs only have 4 GB (or less) VRAM and can't even run this game at Ultra, but the 980 Ti can, as it has 6 GB.

OP is on some fanboy nonsense, as usual.
 
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Bolivar687

Banned
That's the thing with Nvidia, you pay a premium up front if you buy the cards early, but you also a pay a price down the road and if you buy it late, as AMD equivalents start to outpace them.
 

Leonidas

Member
That's the thing with Nvidia, you pay a premium up front if you buy the cards early, but you also a pay a price down the road and if you buy it late, as AMD equivalents start to outpace them.

Take 2015 flagships from AMD and Nvidia. Fury X vs. 980 Ti.

Doom Eternal 1080p Ultra

Fury X = 0 (not capable)
980 Ti = 90+

Doom Eternal 1440p Ultra

Fury X = 0 (not possible)
980 Ti = 60+

Your argument has already failed.
 

Bolivar687

Banned
Take 2015 flagships from AMD and Nvidia. Fury X vs. 980 Ti.

Doom Eternal 1080p Ultra

Fury X = 0 (not capable)
980 Ti = 90+

Doom Eternal 1440p Ultra

Fury X = 0 (not possible)
980 Ti = 60+

Your argument has already failed.

Surely you must recognize how absurd it is to make a comparison by using a memory threshold which one of the cards does not meet.

The OP has the R9 390 besting the GTX 980. The Hawaii GPU it uses came out a full year before Maxwell. The 390 was also positioned to compete against the 970, but here it is, edging out the Nvidia card a full tier up.
 

Leonidas

Member
Surely you must recognize how absurd it is to make a comparison by using a memory threshold which one of the cards does not meet.

Less absurd than using 8 year old GPUs and setting the graphics all to low.

The OP has the R9 390 besting the GTX 980. The Hawaii GPU it uses came out a full year before Maxwell. The 390 was also positioned to compete against the 970, but here it is, edging out the Nvidia card a full tier up.

390 is 10% faster than 290. 290 is not beating GTX 980 in this game. Throw in overclocking and it isn't even close and 980 is still using less power, a much more sound purchase all the way back in 2014.

And these are still "Low" benchmarks, worthless.
 
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1. Consoles are a whole different category.
2. Antiquated and outdated PC hardware beating other old antiquated and outdated hardware is a mundane and dumb conversation.
3. "Fine Wine" is a joke.
1. No, they're not. People like old and retro hardware. That doesn't apply just to peasantry machines, it applies to pc tech as well.
2. Again, it's not. I find it interesting.
3. You're the joke, bruv.
 

Real

Member
1. No, they're not. People like old and retro hardware. That doesn't apply just to peasantry machines, it applies to pc tech as well.
2. Again, it's not. I find it interesting.
3. You're the joke, bruv.

You're telling me there are people out there who like running a 7970 in 2020?

17c.png
 
You're telling me there are people out there who like running a 7970 in 2020?

17c.png
Sure. Not liking it, but they run it out of necesity.



Real Real
I found 7 people still using 7xxx cards in 2020 and I didn't even scroll through the entire discussion.
 
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StormCell

Member
I can't believe my old Radeon card (HD 7870) is still on a chart. I bought it forever ago. I have to admit that it has run everything I've ever tried to run, and I haven't felt like I need a new card. I don't game a lot on my computer anymore though.
 
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StormCell

Member
You shouldn't be waiting 10 years to do anything.

Normally, I would agree with you, but let's look at my case where I'm still running the build I did in 2013. I'm running a Core i7-3770k with 16 GB of RAM and an HD 7870 GPU. I've only just reached the point where upgrading the CPU could make sense, but I still have CPU to spare as I haven't even overclocked it much. The only reason I don't upgrade the main components is because there's nothing I need or want to run that demands more.

I am approaching the point, though, where I'm having to replace fans, and the thought is crossing my mind to look at potential new builds. I'm holding out for that next gen of graphics hardware hoping to hit the sweet spot where RTX and/or VR runs really smoothly and is an amazing new experience for me.
 
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