Gtx 970 or 390/390x

[Gohan77]

My current rig:

Cpu: Fx 8370
Cpu cooler: CM hyper 212 EVO
Motherboard: Asrock 970 Performance Fatality
RAM: G skills ripjaws x 8gb ddr3 1866 mhrz
Gpu: evga gtx 480
Psu: thermaltake tr2 600 watt
SSD: kingston v300 240 gb
Case: rosewill stealth

I am in the market for a new gpu and have considered everything under the sun. It has been an up and down struggle but i have narrowed down my choices to a gtx 970 (msi gaming or evga ftw+) or a 390/390x. I am currently gaming at 1080p but in the future i might decide to try 1440. I love how quiet and power efficient the 970 is but the 3.5+.5 gb ram is a concern. As of now not many games utilize 4 gb of ram but in a few years thatll change. So is the 8 gb on the 390s worth it for a slightly higher temp and wattage? I know in the grand scheme of things amd doesnt use THAT much more power than nvidia but there is a difference.

Id prefer to not have to get a new psu but if i have to i will. If the 8 gb of the amd will benefit me more 3 or 4 years down the road then perhaps its worth it? Or are the 8 gb 390s just marketing tools to sell cards?? I have flip flopped so many time between cards and im tired of researching this lol its been MONTHS!!! I wanna decide and stick to it. So please someone help me and give me UNBIASED opinions. No fanboys please.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The 390 and 390X are rebrands of the 290/290X down to the same BIOS. They have 4GB more of slightly faster VRAM that helps nothing in gaming and a slight factory overclock to the tune of 10%. So get a 290X for a hundred bucks less and overclock it. Also that overclock pushes up power requirements from an already high 600w for a single 290 or 290X to a staggering 700 watts for a single 390 or 290X. TweakTown pulled a full 805 watts from the wall with 390X Crossfire. Meaning a minimum 1100 watts for 2 cards is necessary.

You already have a power supply I would recommend replacing ASAP because of low quality. I certainly wouldn't push it by adding a card with more draw than that GTX 480 already has and it was a power hog. You want 1440p with high settings then the 980 Ti or Fury X ( probably ) are your choices. 1080p and the GTX 970 is the best choice.

 

[Piccolo55]

The 390 and 390X are rebrands of the 290/290X down to the same BIOS. They have 4GB more of slightly faster VRAM that helps nothing in gaming and a slight factory overclock to the tune of 10%. So get a 290X for a hundred bucks less and overclock it. Also that overclock pushes up power requirements from an already high 600w for a single 290 or 290X to a staggering 700 watts for a single 390 or 290X. TweakTown pulled a full 805 watts from the wall with 390X Crossfire. Meaning a minimum 1100 watts for 2 cards is necessary.

You already have a power supply I would recommend replacing ASAP because of low quality. I certainly wouldn't push it by adding a card with more draw than that GTX 480 already has and it was a power hog. You want 1440p with high settings then the 980 Ti or Fury X ( probably ) are your choices. 1080p and the GTX 970 is the best choice.



how will those nvidia 970/980 cards be in 2.5 years though with 3.5 gb of the fast vram?

The last thing I'm sure he would want to do then is get a new gpu/

 

[Deleted member 217926]

noob,is not only thing in VRAM... 300 GPUs have NEW technology,like ASR (if you know what is this),is better for 4K gaming,DirectX12 and much,much other things... educate a little bit before you start talking nonsense

Sure they have the same Direct X 12 support that the 2xx series has. API level support. They do not support the full DX 12.1 features Nvidia's cards do.

Also you are the one who needs to spend some time reading something other than AMD press junkets. Clock for clock the 290X and 390X are identical. No difference.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/18/msi_r9_390x_gaming_8g_video_card_review/9#.VYn1wkYe1p0

^ Proof.

 

[17seconds]

noob,is not only thing in VRAM... 300 GPUs have NEW technology,like ASR (if you know what is this),is better for 4K gaming,DirectX12 and much,much other things... educate a little bit before you start talking nonsense

Oh really? What "NEW technology and much, much, other things..." does the 300 series offer that the 200 series doesn't?

You see the "educate a little bit before you start talking nonsense" statements can be a bit of a double edged sword if you aren't prepared yourself with the same.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

WOOOOW!!!! 12.1!!!! THIS REALLY BIG DUFFERENCE 😀 Nvidia have a ASR Technology??? NOOOOO... (this only ONE advantage) YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IS THIS??? GO CHECK ON NET WHAT IS THIS 😀 😀

You are the one that said DX 12 support is new. It's not. It's the same API level DX 12 support the 2xx cards have. And I recommend being polite. You will be a member here longer if you do 😉

 

[17seconds]

like I said,educate!!! new 300 have a lot new features what makes them better than all the cards so far.. learn what is ASR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tell you what, why don't you tell us what "ASR" is? You see, I'm holding a trump card here, I actually do know what you're talking about, but I don't think you do. Check back in with the answer, or I'll have to assume that you're spreading misinformation.

 

[17seconds]

Here's the performance chart. Keep in mind, you get a free copy of Batman Arkham Knight with the GTX 970 to help with the value proposition.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_980_Ti_SC_Plus/30.html

You mentioned that the 390/390x don't use that much more power than a GTX 970. How about more than twice as much? More than a 7990, one of the all-time power hogs.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_390X_Gaming/31.html

Making the 390/390x some of the least efficient video cards ever made.

And then in the end, after using up all that power, you would still have to live within the AMD ecosystem, with its driver support and lack of unique game enhancements. Granted you do get VSR with your AMD card.


Worried about the VRAM? Here's what HardOCP has to say:
"The 8GB of VRAM on this video card won't show its true potential and benefits until you install two of these video cards in a CrossFire configuration and run games at 4K. That is what it will take to experience the benefits of having 8GB of VRAM on this video card versus 4GB on the 290X. It will take multiple cards, running at 4K with high in-game settings to show us how smooth performance can be when we aren't bottlenecked by memory. Therefore, as a single video card, 8GB is a bit overkill for 1440p gaming, but if you plan to go CrossFire for 4K gaming that is where the 8GB will be welcomed."
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/18/msi_r9_390x_gaming_8g_video_card_review/11#.VYolDvlVhBc

 

[rcald2000]

I was too lazy to read the whole thread.
Buy the GTX 970. BUT if you want AMD then get the 290X. Don't spend the money for the 390X as it's just an overclocked 290X with extra memory. No offense to AMD fans. I'm not trying to start anything.