AMD or Nvidia GPU?

[Amario130]

Pretty simple question but for Dolphin specifically which type of graphics card should I get?
I plan on using OpenGL rather than Direct3D. Any suggestions?

[MayImilae]

What's your budget?

[TheLastCat]

Depends. I read that Nvidia cards are more compatible and faster on Linux, correct me if im wrong. In my experience the GTX 560 works just fine with an Internal Res of 3x and 4x on some games.

[chaosblade02]

I know 4x native works fine for every game I've tried when using a Radeon 6970, and gives me no slow downs. I check my GPU usage in MSI afterburder, and it never goes above 60% and normally hovers around 35%.

So any AMD GPU = to or better than a Radeon 6970 is more than enough for Dolphin. A Radeon 7850 is basically = to a 6970, and you can buy one of those for $180-$200.

For high end GPUs, don't go AMD right now, because the price on them is heavily inflated due to Bitcoin/Litecoin farmers driving up the demand. Because Nvidia cards suck for coin mining. So right now, Nvidia is definitely the best price to performance ratio on the higher end GPU models. For example, AMD has nothing in a similar price range to the 770, which would be the R9 280, which is more expensive than a 770, and not hardly any better for gaming. Same thing applies when comparing the R9 290 to a 780.

A Radeon 7970 ghz model is still a very good GPU if you can get one, and its basically = to a R9 280, and its also cheaper.

[kinkinkijkin]

Eh, no, 7970s aren't cheaper. They're the exact same price as the 280xs, since they're the exact same card. It's just that one has a different name.

Also, take into consideration the differences in prices across different regions. In Canada, a 280X costs as much as the 290X did at launch in the US. That's REALLY expensive. It's getting in to the price territory that was once only occupied by the best of the best, and pro cards.

I'd say, unless you're running a massive budget and have nothing else you could spend that money on, get something with better current value, like the R9 270, R9 270x, GTX 760, GTX 660, etc.

Oh, but you want to know whether to get AMD or nVidia?

Apparently, current AMD cards have phenomenally better performance than nVidia cards in dolphin or something like that, due to integer performance or whatnot. Though, I'm not sure if this little quirk is still present in newer cards, but a good amount of the HD 5000 series cards had issues with their memory clocks being different from stock, at all. Like how my current card blanks the screen as soon as PowerPlay applies, and the computer stops responding to anything, and the only way to make sure it doesn't happen, ever, is to make sure my card is overclocked on startup, with AMD's unofficial overclocking interface. But, that's just my card aging horribly, and I think they fixed those by now.

EDIT: I mention memory because it's the massive difference-maker in dolphin. Nothing else, unless you use a GPU that's too slow.

[MayImilae]

kinkinkijkin Wrote:Apparently, current AMD cards have phenomenally better performance than nVidia cards in dolphin or something like that, due to integer performance or whatnot.

That is incorrect. SOON integer performance will matter, but not yet. And I wouldn't call it "phenomenally" either.

Amario130 Wrote:I plan on using OpenGL rather than Direct3D. Any suggestions?

Curiously, some recent performance testing showed that D3D has gotten a LOT faster in recent dev builds. Granted, all of dolphin has gotten faster, but D3D has gotten so fast it beat OpenGL in every test. This is all still pretty bleeding edge stuff, but either way, don't put all your eggs into one basket.

[Amario130]

It says here that Amd is Mediocre and that Nvidia is Excellent in this article.

https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2013/09/26/dolphin-emulator-and-opengl-drivers-hall-fameshame/

I just want even the high demanding games played at 4x internal resolution without affecting it's performance. Nuff said.

[kinkinkijkin]

The twenty-sixth of September, 2013. Also, that's OGL drivers. Basically, until AMD gets kicked in the shins by the Steambox*, it'll be better to use D3D with AMD GPUs, and OGL with NVidia GPUs.

* = AMD's trying to take the console market, but they'll never do that if the Steambox becomes popular and their OGL/Linux support stays worse than it should be.

[Amario130]

Then I "guess" I can choose either GPUs in respect to their APIs. Suppose I already have an Intel Core i7-4820K. What kind of GPU (for both AMD & Nvidia) would compliment this CPU?

[kinkinkijkin]

280x or higher for AMD (4x IR and max AA), and I have no idea for NVidia. Follow your gut, and wait for someone who knows NVidia GPUs to come along?