Can a £100 PC graphics card match next-gen console?

Released just a month before the Xbox One and PS4 hit UK retail, the Radeon R7 260X is a value-focused graphics card that brings stiff competition to both next-gen platforms. In essence, we're promised a card that can deliver true, next-gen calibre results at under a third of the cost of a new console - the price-tag being just south of £100 at the time of writing. But just how does such a card stack up to the console experience when playing Battlefield 4 or Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag? And indeed, can we go one further in the visual stakes - while still hitting the same performance targets?

[_QQ_]

Aren't ps4 and xboxone's GPUs pretty much 100$ cards?

[thorstein]

Plus everything else. You can't just plug a graphics card into a monitor and viola, GAMEZ!

The RAM, CPU, Mobo, GPU, power supply, drives, cables, controllers, wireless, etc make up the rest of the cost. (I'm pretty sure you know this, but others might not.)

So it is easy to say, Graphics Card X is better than consoles when standalone. But OEMs don't work without other parts.

[Oh_Yeah]

You can build a pc with a gtx 760 which is 250$ With free games, Add in cheap cpu (amd 6300) mobo ram psu case and you'll be right around 500, and it'll run circles around both consoles. Hook it right up to your tv, throw it in steam big picture mode, sit on your couch, use your old 360 controller, voalla, just like a console that does a ton more on the side with ridiculous discounts.

[ShinMaster]

^ PC fans have a complex.
Always trying so hard to beat consoles. "Get a PC" they say. Yeah? Just any PC will do? "PC's are more powerful" they say. Whose PC? I didn’t realize all PCs were built equally and at comparable console (launch)prices.
It’s always amusing to see the minority speaking as if they were a majority. Intel HD GPUs make up almost 80% of all market PCs.

A console will outperform a PC with the same exact specs. They're more efficient and games are better optimized. Developers get new tools yearly and optimization updates making performance gains on console hardware 50% better than on PCs.
PC fanboys hate it when someone brings that up.

Choosing Consoles over PC is easy if you enjoy console exclusive games from both first and third-party studios.
If you like a complete gaming package for a lower price and the overall simplicity and ease of use of a dedicated system designed for gaming from the ground up which allowing developers to optimize games better than on PC.

Consoles have more of an identity than PCs and provide more unique experiences. I don't expect the PC elite to understand that since everyone that builds/Frankenstein's a PC ends up with the same exact Windows experience used for work. Which is why specs aren't the end-all be-all for some people.

And consoles have fanbases and communities attached to them, including friends. I'm sure this is similar for PC fans, which makes their silly attempts to convert/humiliate console gamers pointless. You're not gonna convince each other.

[Oh_Yeah]

@ShinMaster I have no complex, I own ps4 wii U and a gaming pc. I'm just saying bro, a powerful pc can be had for around 5-6 hundred. It's got free online play and REALLY good discounts on games with steam and you can get all your games free (if you really want to) Laying out facts, and since the consoles use x86 architechture this time around I feel pc optimization might be a lot better than in the past. So that 250$ gtx 760 may just last the whole console generation putting up medium-high quality @1080p 30-60 fps. Overall pc is the way to go for multiplats I feel...you can't deny sony and Nintendo exclusives though.

[Somebody]

@ShinMaster

Are PC gamers really a minority? What's with all those whispers about millions of MMO players? It's strange to hear console fans celebrating the millionth CoD sold when WoW have 18 million active subscribers for a good decade.

I'm not sure if I have the nameless complex but I do know that I'm not an elitist. My desktop kicked the bucket recently so now I'm relying on my gaming laptop to play games. It has a GTX660M chip, a small fry compared to its desktop brethren but it does the job well. Some elitists might scorn at the idea of a gaming laptop but wherever I go I can still play Metro Dead Light, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell Black List and a lot more. Speaking of Metro Dead Light, man that games is greatly optimized for the PC!

Remember in PC vs consoles debates/comments the console fans always scream about gameplay over graphics when the PC have the clear advantage? Well, let's not forget that console fans always pointed out that the majority of PCs are not high end pixel crunching beasts from hell. Which is strange.

Wouldn't that make PC gamers care more about gameplay than console gamers since they are still using medium to low spec PCs? They are elitists out there but the statistics that console fans love to quote suggest that there are more PC gamers who prefer gameplay than looking at pretty pixels. I have Metro Dead Light and yet currently I'm more engrossed with the less shiny State of Decay and X-Com. Gameplay over graphic: it's not exclusively for console fans.

[TekoIie]

How come everyone's so focused on the initial price of PC's? It becomes MUCH cheaper once you add up how much you save through sales.

Here's an example: http://www.kinguin.co.uk/ca...

Also if anyones wondering Kinguin is legit.

This was a little cheaper the other day; I bought Thief and Hitman: Absolution for £14. Thats a brilliant deal by anyone's standards.

[Volkama]

If you're looking to spend <$500 and you want some graphical punch (ie not DOTA/LoL/WoW) then you buy a console. Unless you have a simple upgrade path on an existing PC.

Don't try and build a competitive PC for that amount, just buy a console. If you have more money to throw at it then consider a PC.

Later in the console lifecycle that scenario shifts in favour of the $500 PC.

[Kleptic]

^exactly...

the only time PC is truly a bargain, is when its just a series of simple upgrades...in which case you can get results that aren't even comparable to either new console on a performance level...

I you have a SSD/HDD, good power supply, monitor decent case, fans, peripherals, an OS, etc...and only need a main board, cpu, gpu, and some memory...you're in pretty good shape to make a fantastic system for around the price of an XBox One...

If you have to buy everything listed above...and are trying to get console like results at $500...don't even bother...every single thing you purchase will be budget oriented and quickly just piss you off...

I'm PC only right now, haven't found a reason to get a PS4 yet...and not even considering an xbox one...and I still say the consoles offer a lot of value for the money...In terms of raw performance, my PC has over 3x that of the PS4 (i know some of that gets wasted in poor PC optimaztion/development, but w/e)...and guess how much it cost?...about 3x that of the PS4...mind blowing...i know...

[ShinMaster]

@ Volkama

Exactly!
____

@ Somebody

I didn't say PC gamers were a minority. I meant gamers with HIGH-END gaming PCs are a minority. Big difference.

[Kayant]

Not exactly the GPUs do have power equivalent to that price range. Estimated cost for the APU's is $110 & $100 for the Xb1 and PS4 respectively and that includes the CPU + GPU.

[Irishguy95]

Realistically, if you wanted a PC that was reasonably superior to the consoles right now, it'd be about 700 euro, less that around 700 is just having something bad in one area. Whoever lives in the US you guys are lucky because building a PC is cheap as **** for yous compared to us.

The difference is if you wait a year, the same PC would be 550 euro, and a 700 euro PC this time next year would put the consoles to shame. However that is unneccary, thats just to keep your experience top quality if you want it to be. The myth is that PC gamers need to upgrade every few years. It's just not true. I kept a 8800GTX(bought for 100 euro) for the entire last generation. And it ran all multiplats better than the consoles did. Other than that as PC games came out, while I couldn't max them, they still had better graphics than the console games even on lower settings.

Also -

X1 gpu -> ~ 130 dollars
PS4 gpu -> ~ 150 dollars

So yeah 100 pounds certainly covers it

[kwyjibo]

Did the same thing as you last gen. Built a PC with a Geforce 8800GT to beat last gen consoles.

Will do the same this gen. I'll spend a similar price as a console in about a year's time, and it should beat the X1 and PS4 too.

I'm not buying now, because I'm waiting to see if Mantle makes any impact, and to see what Nvidia have up their sleeve. The Broadwell chips coming out later this year will be interesting too.

[HammadTheBeast]

Exactly, right there.

You could make a PC for ~$500. But if you're going through the trouble of it anyways, $700-$1000 is a much better range.

[Eonjay]

Yes and no. And technically this is the GPU inside of the Xbox One as Eurogamer states:

"First things first, let's address a few salient points on the card itself. The 260X is a through-and-through rebrand of the Radeon HD 7790 we reviewed last year, complete with the very same 28nm processed Bonaire XT chipset (in itself, the basis for the Xbox One GPU)"

The PS4 GPU is based off of 7970M i believe which seems to be substantially more expensive.

[frostypants]

No. Eonjay is correct. The PS4's GPU is along the lines of a Radeon 7870 or 7970...i.e., $200+.

[xTheMercenary_]

not the 7970, if the ps4 had that kind of power it would manage to get higher frame rates and play games at a higher resolution. you've probably just made a mistake. the ps4's gpu is pretty much an overclocked 7850 which is close to the performance of a 7870

[ABizzel1]

@xTheMercenary

He meant 7970m, not 7970.

PS4 is based off the 7870 / R9 270.
XBO is based off the 7790 / R9 260X.
Both are under-clocked versions of those cards.

[SprigganN4G]

@ABizzel1

Exactly, those are the GPU's

2014 LOW END cards

Next Gen indeed!

[kopicha]

@Sprig

if you prefer PC gaming then just do your PC gaming. No one here needs your trolling message on people who prefer consoles. There is no right or wrong to liking PCs or Consoles. That is an individual preference to every individual. While your comments ain't constructive at all

[ABizzel1]

This is kind of skewed in favor of the PC. As they said right now the R7 260X is on par with consoles, simply because they're comparing proven PC tech (even if the GPU is fairly new as well) to launch titles (which don't get any good optimizations).

That being said the XBO should be right on par with the R7 260X considering it's designed from that series of GPU (7790 / R7 260X hybrid). The PS4; however, will surpass it and the HD 7850 considering it's based on the next level up (7870 / R9 270).

The XBO might struggle a bit along the way comparing to this desktop, because it has 16GB vs 8GB, and it the R7 260X has it's 2GB GDDR5 (104 GB/s) while the XBO has 32MB eSRAM (204 GB/s), and the i7-3770k is around 4x more powerful than the PS4/XBO CPU, so getting the XBO up to those results could be a struggle.

The PS4 however, should eventually overcome all those obstacles except CPU performance.

[ProjectVulcan]

If anything it is skewed in favour of the consoles. Namely because the fastest £100 class GPU you can buy right now is a Radeon 7850. http://www.dabs.com/product... this one is less than £110 with a couple of free games. This deal also includes Thief which is brand new and not yet out! That's worth 25 quid right there.

The article instead uses the R7 260X when that is effectively a rebadged Radeon 7790- quite a bit slower than a 7850 then!

Xbox One's GPU performance is only about the same as a Radeon 7770.

PS4's GPU performance is basically a 7850.

I find it unlikely Xbox One will EVER be able to outperform a Radeon 7850 attached to a decent CPU even with heavy optimisation.

PS4 will, but not hugely more. The consoles are not massively fast relative to modest PC hardware anymore, because they have been designed on much tighter budgets.

This article just illustrates that. Even choosing the wrong £100 graphics card, it sticks to the consoles impressively.

Building a PC outright will cost more but pay money back in the long run on cheaper games. However upgrading a reasonable PC with a £100 graphics card is a pretty smart play. £100 buys a fair old chunk of GPU performance these days.

[ABizzel1]

@vulcanproject

I meant it's skewed towards PCs, because these are lauch games for consoles which don't take advantage of the hardware at all.

That being said it could be looked upon as fair for the PC since PC doesn't get the same levels of optimizations.

But as I said I agree the XBO might struggle getting past the 260X. It really depends on if they an get the eSRAM to boost the 8GB of DDR3 up to speeds of 120GB/s - 140GB/s like they claimed to have internally (yet not even first party devs. claim to be using the eSRAM to that degree).

Also they're going to have to remove the under-clocks they've put on the GPU, and CPU if they ever hope to reach the 7850. I completely agree right now they're around HD 7770 performance levels with all the cutbacks. But again consoles can squeeze out around 40% more performance out of the hardware than a spec. for spec. PC can (generally exclusives will only try to squeeze that much out, 3rd parties maybe 20% - 30%), so if they can safely remove the under-clocking it's possible they could achieve performance equivalent to the 7850.

The problem is that's a lot of if's and a lot of things they need to change to hit that goal, and even then it's still under the PS4, who could also do the same unlocks and reach 7870 levels of performance.

That's why I've been worried about the XBO hardware. It's just not up to par with where it needs to be competition wise. It's not bad, but it's not great either. It's just acceptable. The PS4 is solid, but I wish they had went for something a little higher like the 7950, that would have been PERFECT.

On a side note I just bought a HD 7850 today for $75 brand new from a local store. Can you said "Incredible Deal". :D

[ProjectVulcan]

I have found that a 40 percent estimate for console optimisation is optimistic. I seriously doubt Xbox One will ever be able to match a 7850, merely because it hasn't got remotely enough memory bandwidth.

Even badly coded PC games seem to run easily better on a Radeon 7850 than they do on Xbox One.

We have to remember here that COD and BF4 are still only 720p, something a 7850 will do on ANY game with lots of performance to spare. I have already made a bet with someone Titanfall will look/run better on a £110 7850 OC than his Xbox One.

I believe the focus for performance this generation will also be on PS4, which could prevent many games exploiting Xbox One's hardware very well much as few games exploited PS3 well last generation.

I fully expect then a 7850 to ALWAYS beat Xbox One, and a 7970ghz to ALWAYS beat PS4.

7970ghz is much more serious hardware, but not forever.

The trump card for PC this generation could very well be Xbox One.

Any game that is written for it and that is multiformat is going to have to run on it's pretty weak hardware isn't it?

That virtually guarantees the performance of midrange PC hardware matching the consoles into the future.

In some ways it is good, in some ways it is bad for the technical advancement of games.

[ABizzel1]

@vulcan

Y U so mean to Sony ;(

A 7970 GHz, really. That's not fair at all. That's the price of a whole PS4 after taxes :D

On a serious note. I don't think the XBO is going to compete with the 7850 anytime soon, if ever but there's still a chance there. All the stars have to align in the sky, and arctic cooling must grace the fans of the console, and the speed of lightning must strike the eSRAM, and then maybe they'll make it. Otherwise, they're stuck trying to fight 260X's / 7790's and losing.

[ProjectVulcan]

Thing is, even a 7970ghz is not going to be better than midrange 9 months from now. That was only really my observation.

RE: Xbox One, I'm fairly confident of my Titanfall bet lets just say that.

If it only runs 720p/60FPs on Xbox One, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if Radeon 7850 can do the same sort of settings @ 1080p

[ABizzel1]

@vulcan

7970 GHz ranking depends on just how good Maxwell is. Supposedly NVIDIA is having a bit of trouble with Maxwell, and it might not be where they want it to be. But if that rumors false then yeah the 7970 GHz is going to drop down to mid-range at best, and the PS4 / 7800 series GPU's will be low-end at best. That XBO would drop to entry level. That's why I can't wait for Volta and the next-gen consoles, performance is going to JUMP.

I can't see why the 7850 would struggle with TitanFall. Source Engine isn't demanding at all, and to be honest I don't really get why XBO is struggling. I understand the hardware isn't quite there, but this is Source Engine.

[Up_N_U]

in 2 years the ps4 and xbox one games are going to look like ps2 you guys are calling these consoles next gen but are just a step up from there predecessors. all the features in the world cant hide that.

[assdan]

Ps4 is about a 180 and the xbox one is about 100.

[Studio-YaMi]

100$ cards that does DOUBLE the work if it's the same range of card on PC.

Even John Carmack says so :
http://img836.imageshack.us...

So the short answer is NO,equal PC hardware won't run the game better than consoles,you'd need better hardware since PCs do much more than play & render games.

That being said,the steam machines COULD be the answer to consoles VS PCs.

And OF COURSE a better more powerful PC card can outdo the PS4/XboxOne in graphics & physics.

[Gamer1982]

You can buy this card and the rest of the PC you can buy for £200 easy. Unless you want SSD etc.. Thats a total of £300 CHEAPER than a PS4.. Hell if you get pre-owned parts you can get your other parts for around £120.. I'm talking ivy core intel here and 6-8 core AMD cpus.

[BenqMagician]

Around that I guess but tech is moving so fast in terms of video cards it's crazy.

[ABizzel1]

Actually it's been kind of still on the PC side of things for the last couple years. Maxwell is suppose to change that, but the real cards aren't hitting until later this year, and supposedly NVIDIA's having trouble with them.

The PS4, and hopefully the XBO will stay strong until Volta launches, and that's when they're going to be completely outclassed by PC on all fronts (Low-end to High-end Performance wise).

As of now the XBO should function as a Low-High gaming PC that's having some problems, and performing below it's true power. The PS4 is a mid-range gaming PC doing just find, and picking up it's momentum.

[jay2]

Yes they're about that. they're slightly tweaked being bespoke, though.

[mdluffy]

No, you'll also need the rest of the pc.... ^,^

[kevnb]

That's pretty much what the xbox one has.

[frostypants]

Not sure why people are disagreeing. It's the One's main weak point.

[kevnb]

this card is a rebadged 7790, which is what the xbox one is using.

[MadLad]

Well, a 270X more than matches the performance of BF4 played on the PS4, to put things into perspective.
With the extra oomph you normally get out of a console in comparison, you need a GPU with a bit more oomph to surpass that in turn.
That said, it doesn't require all that much more to be competitive, to say the least.

[ABizzel1]

I pretty much expect the PS4 to match the 270X, in the next couple of years performance wise. According to former NVIDIA devs. (FXAA guy), consoles gain about 50% more performance from their hardware than PCs do, simply because you code straight to the hardware, and they receive annual tools and optimization updates.

I would guess it's closer to 30% for 3rd party developers who don't have time to focus on maximizing quality, and around 40% for 1st party. But yeah with that kind of boost the PS4 should be sitting pretty this generation.

[MadLad]

You can't rule out Mantle though. We could see more and more performance pushed from cards down the road, just like with consoles.
Point being, it will take time for consoles to match the performance, if they do. By that time, Mantle, and whatever Nvidia's eventual equivalent may be, could very well be pushing PC tech forward.
Only time will tell though. Both sides can only be spoken for when the time actually comes.

[jacksjus]

So even this new PC Card couldn't run BF4 at 1080p/60fps. How interesting!

[Milruka]

"New"

My current 770 runs bf4 at 3600x2025 at 60fps on high..

And runs it at about 140-150fps on 1080, and yes I run it like that. I have a 144hz monitor and it makes a huge difference.

[jacksjus]

Who asked you about your 770? What does that have to do with this card?

[Milruka]

Its the fact you are calling this card "new".

When its only new in terms of model, its not new, you want new look at Titan Black, 790, or the 290x2

Those are new.

[ABizzel1]

It's a NEW low-end PC card. There's nothing interesting about it. There's 7 of these new PC Cards and from highest to lowest this card ranks 4th, and each card is much more powerful than the last.

The next level up R9 270, can hit 1080p @ 60fps on BF4 with FXAA like the consoles use, and drops to around 50 - 55 fps using MSAA. The R9 280 stomps 1080p @ 60fps MSAA, and the top end R9 290 does 2K @ 60fps MSAA. If anything the PS4 is underperforming due to BF4 being a launch title, because it should be able to hit 1080p @ 60fps as well, considering it's closer to the R9 270 than it is the R7 260.

R9 290 = Top
R9 280 = High = 7950 + 7970 rebrand
R9 270 = Mid (PS4) = 7850 + 7870 rebrand
R7 260 = Low (XBO) = 7790 rebrand
R7 250 = Entry = 7750 + 7770 rebrand
============6670 Budget=============
R7 240 = Bottom
Wii U = Bottom
PS3 = Bottom
360 = Bottom

[jacksjus]

Ok I see. Thanks.

[MadLad]

The $500 ibuypower Steam Machine costs $500, has a 270X and will be able to, considering you throw Windows 7 and 8 into it, run BF4 maxed at just that if not better. I feel, if people give it a chance, it can truly be an excellent entry point into PC gaming. It's a rather great deal, considering the performance.
This is a low-end card. It's not going to play the latest and greatest at 1080p/60fps. It doesn't matter how new a card is, it depends on the card itself. This is particularly low-end, and it's not all that weaker (and I am talking actual benchmarks of games themselves) than the current gen systems.

[Whitey2k]

There forgetting that there £100 card dont share the same aces as like the R290x where the ps4 does

[windblowsagain]

I wouldn't judge PS4/XBOX1 and even PC on BF4.

As great as a game it is, it's filled with bugs. Clipping issues etc.

People comparing Console GPU's to PC are missing a big point. Alot of extra's in PC GPU'S are not there.

I'd also say XBOXONE is more like a 7770+

[pleasuretokill]

This gen of consoles is WEAK! At least when ps3/360 released, they had cutting edge, powerful hardware for the time. The Xbox/PS4 have mid-low end gpus that were aged when they were released.

All consoles should go the way of the dinosaur. PC gaming is the future. Let US decide how well our games will play. Keep your proprietary exclusive boxes. If everything was released on PC, we wouldn't have to deal with mediocre performance. 1080p has been around for about a decade now... at this point, EVERY game should run at least 1080p/30fps at the very minimum, if not 1080p/60fps.

The Xbone in particular is just facepalmingly terribad. The PS4 is decent for it's price, but in a year or two most mobile cards will be more powerful. My PC built in 2012 is just short of twice as powerful as a PS4, did the hardware cost more? Yes, but I have saved enough money buying games on Steam sales for 50-90% off to pay for my system twice.

Abandon consoles! Build your own upgradable gaming PC and send a message to MS and Sony that their exclusive boxes are outdated and not needed! Join the master race and leave peasantry behind you!

[urwifeminder]

Next gen did not last long tech moves way too slow its good to have a nice pc though to upgrade when big gains are made, its the logical choice for those who like the best possible image.

[mochachino]

Its best to have both PC and a console but personally I feel console has better games (often GOTY) that either never make their way to PC like Red Dead, TLOU, etc. or take too long like GTA5.

Most big PC exclusives don't interest me. Again though, ideally one would have both.

If you don't get a console you miss out on a lot of the best games so I don't get why PC gamers are always putting consoles down.

[Milruka]

Funny enough, the games you say are "GOTY" I tend to find boring and bland.

[mochachino]

Fair is fair, can't knock you for your personal preference. I happy to agree to disagree.

I'm not going to argue that ribs are better than steak or vice versa.

[Tzuno]

the best cards that you can buy price performance friendly from weaker to most powerful - hd7750....hd7790...gtx660...r9 -270...gtx760...over this i see only thrown money.

[pleasuretokill]

You can't max the most demanding games with a 760. Real PC owners want TOP performance, not mediocre, middle of the road crap.

Give me a 780 or a 780ti. I want ALL sliders to max on Crysis 3 @ 1080p or higher with high frame rates. A 760 would get destroyed trying to accomplish that.

[Up_N_U]

what is next gen anymore i get so tired of this next gen xbox one ps4 and then you hear wiiU is not next gen. if that is the case regardless ps4 and xbox one damn sure not next gen i find more interest in the wiiU than the ps4 and xbox one. the only thing ps4 and XBO has going for them is third party the same third party you can get on PC so im not sure what so next gen about ps4 and xbox one.

[ATiElite]

Doesn't matter! Why?

Because if you DO NOT enjoy PC GAMES then there is NO reason for YOU to own a Gaming PC. Using a PC just to Play multiplats on the PC is a waste of time imho.

You buy a Gaming PC for PC EXCLUSIVES!!!!! Playing multiplats on the side is just a Bonus.

(goes back to playing Project Cars sitting in a Hydraulic Racing Simulator, using a G27 wheel on a 4K TV)

*But this does show you just how fast the value to power ratio PC Gaming improves.

*A slight overclock and that card will do 1080p 60fps, PLUS AMD/Nvidia will continue to release driver updates that will IMPROVE performance of their cards.

Run this test again after a driver update or overclock and I guarantee it will do BF4 at 1080p 60fps SOLID.

[pleasuretokill]

Yeah. No. Slight overclock is not going to improve performance night and day and also, as games get more detailed the number that will be 1080p/60fps will dwindle.

That is the problem with consoles. You are stuck with that mid-low end (for 2014) gpu for 6-8 years, while PC gamers have been playing most, if not all games for 2-3 years now @ 1080p/60fps.

Most games are now released on PC that are not exclusive to one platform or the other and that amount will grow as time goes on. Look at Steam online users. The top was 3 mil a day a couple years ago now, it has doubled to 6 mil a day and 3 mil is the low point for the day. PC gaming is growing and more and more people are waking up and realizing that consoles are sub par and SUCK at running games.

What we need is more and more games coming to PC and we will get it as the user base expands. Consoles are old and archaic. Dinosaur tech. You can keep it.

[ATiElite]

More PC Games?

Heck I have way too much to play as is and all I play is PC Exclusives.

Hawken, Firefall, Arma 3, Guild Wars 2, Project Cars, Rome 2, Company of Heroes 2, Chivalry, DayZ have my gaming time FULL and this is not my entire current gaming list.