Is it time to buy that new GPU?
Testing commissioned by AMD. This means that AMD paid us for our time, but had no say in the results or presentation of them.
Earlier this week Bethesda and Arkane Studios released Prey, a first-person shooter that is a re-imaging of the 2006 game of the same name. Fans of System Shock will find a lot to love about this new title and I have found myself enamored with the game…in the name of science of course.
While doing my due diligence and performing some preliminary testing to see if we would utilize Prey for graphics testing going forward, AMD approached me to discuss this exact title. With the release of the Radeon RX 580 in April, one of the key storylines is that the card offers a reasonably priced upgrade path for users of 2+ year old hardware. With that upgrade you should see some substantial performance improvements and as I will show you here, the new Prey is a perfect example of that.
Targeting the Radeon R9 380, a graphics card that was originally released back in May of 2015, the RX 580 offers substantially better performance at a very similar launch price. The same is true for the GeForce GTX 960: launched in January of 2015, it is slightly longer in the tooth. AMD’s data shows that 80% of the users on Steam are running on R9 380X or slower graphics cards and that only 10% of them upgraded in 2016. Considering the great GPUs that were available then (including the RX 480 and the GTX 10-series), it seems more and more likely that we going to hit an upgrade inflection point in the market.
A simple experiment was setup: does the new Radeon RX 580 offer a worthwhile upgrade path for those many users of R9 380 or GTX 960 classifications of graphics cards (or older)?
| Radeon RX 580 | Radeon R9 380 | GeForce GTX 960 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPU | Polaris 20 | Tonga Pro | GM206 |
| GPU Cores | 2304 | 1792 | 1024 |
| Rated Clock | 1340 MHz | 918 MHz | 1127 MHz |
| Memory | 4GB 8GB |
4GB | 2GB 4GB |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit | 256-bit | 128-bit |
| TDP | 185 watts | 190 watts | 120 watts |
| MSRP (at launch) | $199 (4GB) $239 (8GB) |
$219 | $199 |
Even the coffee cups might make you Prey
Subject: General Tech | May 10, 2017 - 05:16 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, prey
Ars Technica is exploring Talos I, the setting of the game Prey and are having a great time. Similar to the other reviews below this is a quick look at the beginning of the game for Bethesda did not provide any reviewers with an advanced copy. After the introduction you find yourself equipped with nothing but a wrench and a "Gloo gun", in a station filled with alien Typhon Mimics which can turn into any inanimate object and lay in wait for you. If you are undecided if this game is worth picking up then read through the article and decide for yourself.
"Owing to Bethesda's recently enacted policy of withholding review copies until just before release, we've barely had five hours of in-game time with Prey prior to the game's launch today. Consider these impressions a review-in-progress as we work toward the game's conclusion. This piece includes spoilers for some very early portions of the game."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Prey’s opening hours show that the setting is the star @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Prey Performance Analysis @ techPowerUp
- Prey devs: use Steam refunds in lieu of a demo on PC @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade Review @ OCC
- Quake Champions open tech test starts on Friday @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
Introduction, PCPer Hardware Workshop
The third and final day drew thousands of gamers and curious people to Quakecon's exhibition hall and Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) area. Some gamers were pretty weary from all-night gaming sessions, while others continued to press on by playing Tribes: Ascend, Rage, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. Others took time out from gaming to make the rounds to various panel discussions with community managers from Respawn, id Software, Bethesda Softworks, and Insomniac and learn more about first-person gaming from id Software's Tim Willits and other developers in the gaming industry.
Each day started with Ventrilo's Rage Quick Drive drawing that gave gamers an opportunity to win $1,000 and tickets for a chance to win a brand-new 2011 Molten Orange Ford F-150 Raptor SVT, complete with the Hennessey VelociRaptor 600 SC upgrade package. Today's quick drive drawing started with Marty Stratton from id Software crowd surfing at the main stage in the exhibition hall.
Continue reading the final day's coverage from Quakecon 2011!!
Introduction, 20 years of id Software, Skyrim, Prey 2
To commemorate 20 years in the gaming industry, several senior members of id Software came together for a “20 Years of id Software” panel to relive some of the history and mystery surrounding the company. John Carmack, Todd Hollenshead, Kevin Cloud and Tim Willits gave Quakecon gamers a fresh and candid look at id Software's humble beginnings and an in-depth view of their philsophies on PC, console, and mobile gaming.
During the question and answer session, the panel was asked about their advice and opinions on becoming an artist and programmer and their vision of the future of PC and console gaming. At the end of the panel discussion, the id Software team thanked the Quake community for their continued support as well as the Quakecon volunteers for their commitment to making the annual event a success every year.
One pleasant surprise was having G4TV’s Morgan Webb as the panel moderator for the event. Webb was her usual smart and sassy self and helped make the event fun and lively for everyone. Overall, the event was very engaging and we got to see the id Software team in a different light that most gamers don't get to see from today's game developers.
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