GTX 970, R9 390(x)

[syrus123]

Hello.

I currently have an HD7870 which still performs quite well. However I'm looking to upgrade at the end of this summer and am looking at a GTX 970 or an R9 390 (perhaps even a 390x as money isn't a huge issue). I will also buy a new PSU.

I play FarCry 4, The Forest, Minecraft, GTA and may get the latest Witcher game. My PC case is the airy Antec 900 and my CPU is a 3570k at standard clock.

I'm aware that the 970 is more efficient as the 390 uses more power and emits more heat but does the extra power usage add a noticeable cost to bills and does the extra heat have that much of an effect in a case like mine?

Does the extra VRAM of the 390 give it an advantage over the 970 (with its 3.5Gb issue)? For how much longer will 4Gb of VRAM satisfy games? I may plan on going 1440p soon. Will the 390 with its larger memory be a better choice for this?

Will both cards FULLY support DX12 rather than merely support certain features of it?

In the future will we see more games optimised purely for Nvidia cards (such as FarCry 4)?

So which card would you buy?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Ezo Legendz]

R9 390 and GTX 970 perform pretty much the same some fanboys will say otherwise but i would say get the r9 390 if youre going to 1440p anytime soon in like 1 year if not go with the GTX 970 and both cards will fully support DX12

 

[BigBadBeef]

If you would axe ( ) me the same question last year I would say "hell yes, overkill!", but starting with the release of shadow of mordor HD texture pack, my 3GB VRAM card experienced a near meltdown when running on ultra settings.

So my answer is - the more the merrier!

 

[FreshPineApples]

Depends on the game you can't go wrong with either right now. After driver updates the r9 390x might be better than the gtx 970 in more games.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,4178-6.html take a look at these benchmarks really hard to say which one is better at 1080p but at 1440p the 390x comes ontop more often.

 

[johnnyb105]

Why not go with the r 290 better buy then the rebranded r 390 save a few bucks but the 970 and 390 are on par with each other in terms of performance.

 

[BigBadBeef]

Why not go with the r 290 better buy then the rebranded r 390 save a few bucks but the 970 and 390 are on par with each other in terms of performance.

The reason sir, is the need to upgrade power supply. You must consider the fact that the upgrade will not incur additional costs alongside the card itself!

 

[johnnyb105]

Why not go with the r 290 better buy then the rebranded r 390 save a few bucks but the 970 and 390 are on par with each other in terms of performance.

The reason sir, is the need to upgrade power supply. You must consider the fact that the upgrade will not incur additional costs alongside the card itself!

I currently have an HD7870 which still performs quite well. However I'm looking to upgrade at the end of this summer and am looking at a GTX 970 or an R9 390 (perhaps even a 390x as money isn't a huge issue). I will also buy a new PSU.
- See more at: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2698844/gtx-970-390.html#xtor=EPR-8809

 

[17seconds]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/69682-amd-r9-fury-x-review-fiji-arrives-5.html

 

[BigBadBeef]

I currently have an HD7870 which still performs quite well. However I'm looking to upgrade at the end of this summer and am looking at a GTX 970 or an R9 390 (perhaps even a 390x as money isn't a huge issue). I will also buy a new PSU.
- See more at: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2698844/gtx-970-390.html#xtor=EPR-8809

And have you considered that the OP might be disinclined to spend more money on a power supply which could have been avoided?

With all due respect, I am not interested in what you might have to say about it, this is off topic, my point has been made, and I will drop the matter before we clutter him.

 

[quicksterdnb]

Both are good

 

[syrus123]

Thanks for the comments so far but can anyone answer the specifics in my question (relevance of power consumption and heat of AMD, future VRAM needs of games etc)?

Thanks.

 

[quicksterdnb]

Thanks for the comments so far but can anyone answer the specifics in my question (relevance of power consumption and heat of AMD, future VRAM needs of games etc)?

Thanks.

970 if you play on 1080p. 390 if you play on higher resolution.

 

[syrus123]

It's a conundrum! The power consumption and heat of the 390x card make me lean towards Nvidia's GTX 980 but the VRAM and price make me sway back towards AMD. Decisions, decisions.

 

[17seconds]

The power consumption is a no-go. These numbers are obscene. More power than the 7990, one of the all time power hogs. Almost a full 100 watts more than a 290x, which is the exact same GPU. And you still won't be able to play PhysX games.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_390X_Gaming/28.html

 

[wh3resmycar]

what 17 seconds said.

 

[syrus123]

WOW! I see from the graph that my current 7870 consumes only an average of 110w. I've also noticed that none of the 390X seem to exhaust their heat straight out the back of the card either. It just gets blown around the case and at those consumption figures i can guess there's going to be a lot of heat!

 

[syrus123]

I think i'll be plumping for a GTX 980.

Thanks for the help everyone.