is there a big diffirence? 970 or 390

[Revine20]

Hi Guys

I've been working my ass off at work to get a reasonably beast pc and next Thursday, I will be buying the parts to build it.

Would 8gb VRAM make a difference? i could get a 390x for the good price but id suffer with the electric bill. (kinda expensive were I am).

I'm sitting about £750 for the 970 build.
with the 390x build I am sitting £850.

that 100 would go a long way but i wanna know if i should put it into the PC if there a noticeable difference if there isn't. into the pocket the money goes

I can get a 390x but id be a poor man until the next wage. if I get the GTX 970 would there be a noticeable difference in 1440p? or should I go with the non x version r9 390?

ill be playing new AAA titles and GTAV, Fallout4, Metal Gear Solid V and a bunch of older titles like diablo 2 GTA San Andreas.

the build is currently
I5 6600 non k. im not overclocking
ASRock H170A-X1
Corsair DDR4 16GB 2400mhz
Seasonic 620w
nzxt s340
1tb WD Green

Not looking for part list only want to know about the graphic cards please

Thanks in advance

 

[Alan Caldwell]

Get a GTX 970, or wait for Pascal. Nvidia is the way to go in my opinion.
Better for your PSU n bills too

 

[sizzling]

For 1440p I'd take the 390. The only downside is AMD take a little longer to release bug fixed drivers for the latest games but 390 does a little better at 1440p

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

What do you actually need? We can talk about which is better all day long, and mark my words, topics like these create flame wars, meaning more opinion than facts. I'm personally good with a R9 380 gaming at 1080p. I had to choose between the R9 380, and the GTX 960, the problem was the VRAM. I'm a VFX artist, and I needed the extra 2 GB of VRAM (4 GB total), so that I could fit more 3d particle models, etc. So for that reason, the choice was simple. Performance wise, they literally trade depending on game and driver used. There is no noticeable difference between the R9 390 and the GTX 970, some would say buy a better PSU for the R9 390, but really, most people are buying 500-650W PSU's anyways, so it's really not an issue, or worth pointing out. With that said, there's more to a PSU than max watt output.

 

[Dunlop0078]

They are very similar in terms of performance. the 390 and 970 trade blows at 1080p but I would say the 970 is generally a bit better, but at 1440p the 390 will start to pull ahead in most titles. As for power consumption the 390 does not use so much more power that it would be noticeable on your electricity bill, I would guess less than a pound extra every month vs the 970 even with high energy costs. Personally if I was looking for a card in that price range it would be the 390 but you cant go wrong with 970 either.

 

[RobCrezz]

Eithers fine at 1440p if you don't mind not maxing all the settings. I play games at 1440p on a 3gb 780 no problem.

 

[sizzling]

I've hit 3gb @ 1080p in 3 games now with my 780, ok it's easily fixed by dropping a couple of settings but 3gb feels low these days. The 970 is superior to the 780 in every way, I couldn't recommend it unless really cheaper

 

[RobCrezz]

I've hit 3gb @ 1080p in 3 games now with my 780, ok it's easily fixed by dropping a couple of settings but 3gb feels low these days. The 970 is superior to the 780 in every way, I couldn't recommend it unless really cheaper

I rarely even bother monitoring the vram usage, I tend to just let geforce experience set the settings and I always tend to get smooth 60+fps.

I agree about getting a 970.

 

[mamasan2000]

Heres some numbers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-N337-y7vI

Some games work better with Nvidia, others with AMD. At 1440p and up it's pretty much 390 all the way.

 

[Revine20]

all i need is the best for my money Graphics card

I dont wanna get the 970 and think what if i got the 390x

the price of a 390 is basically the same for a 390X.


Thanks guys.

 

[Revine20]

sorry, I am overthinking this i guess haha

 

[Dunlop0078]

all i need is the best for my money Graphics card

I dont wanna get the 970 and think what if i got the 390x

the price of a 390 is basically the same for a 390X.


Thanks guys.

Nobody is going to definitively tell you which is the best because there isn't a clear answer, if they do they are probably jaded for some reason. They are both great options you wont be dissapointed with either.

 

[littleleo]

Well the 390 and the 970 are very close the 390 does a little better in the 1440p, but if power is a big issue the 970 use less power and runs cooler.

 

[RobCrezz]

Heres some numbers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-N337-y7vI

Some games work better with Nvidia, others with AMD. At 1440p and up it's pretty much 390 all the way.

Looked to me like they traded blows or went even at 1440p, wasnt the walkover for the 390 I expected... Just shows both cards are fine at 1440p.

 

[coozie7]

At 1440 the R9 390/390X usually has an edge: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_390_Nitro/ at 1080 the GTX970 is usually better or at least much closer.
In the above review you can see the 'X' version has a small advantage over its non 'X' smaller sibling but the cost penalty is significant, the non 'X' cards are available at prices very similar to those of the GTX970 while the R9 390X is <>£80 more expensive.
Me, I'd go for the R9 390 in your situation, if you were on a 1080 60Hz screen, I'd recommend the GTX970 in an instant, though.

 

[RobCrezz]

At 1440 the R9 390/390X usually has an edge: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_390_Nitro/ at 1080 the GTX970 is usually better or at least much closer.
In the above review you can see the 'X' version has a small advantage over its non 'X' smaller sibling but the cost penalty is significant, the non 'X' cards are available at prices very similar to those of the GTX970 while the R9 390X is <>£80 more expensive.
Me, I'd go for the R9 390 in your situation, if you were on a 1080 60Hz screen, I'd recommend the GTX970 in an instant, though.

It really is a tiny advantage at 1440p though.

The question is the small performance increase at 1440p of the 390 worth more than the cooler running and lower power consumption of the 970.

edit: had read the other 390 as 970 derp.

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

11%?

Anyways, we should let OP keep up, heh. I love threads like these, so many replies in a short amount of time.

 

[coozie7]

Always the case, Suzuki.
@ Robcrezz: The performance gain is small, as is the price premium, the current AMD cards don't suffer as much as the earlier r9 2XX ones for noise/heat/power but I'll freely admit the GTX970 is better on all 3 points, so it's up to the OP to decide what he wants more: A little more performance or a little quieter/cooler/power saving running.

Oh, and off topic: Revine20: There's no SSD in the build, you may want to think about swapping to a motherboard that supports M2 like this:https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-h170-pro4s-intel-h170-s-1151-ddr4-satae-m2-(pcie-sata)-2-way-crossfire-intel-gigabit-lan-usb- and adding a 120 or 240Gb SSD into the mix.
Just an idea, if you wish to persue it further, please start another thread, mate.

 

[mamasan2000]

At 1440 the R9 390/390X usually has an edge: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_390_Nitro/ at 1080 the GTX970 is usually better or at least much closer.
In the above review you can see the 'X' version has a small advantage over its non 'X' smaller sibling but the cost penalty is significant, the non 'X' cards are available at prices very similar to those of the GTX970 while the R9 390X is <>£80 more expensive.
Me, I'd go for the R9 390 in your situation, if you were on a 1080 60Hz screen, I'd recommend the GTX970 in an instant, though.

It really is a tiny advantage at 1440p though.

The question is the small performance increase (3%?) at 1440p of the 390 worth more than the cooler running and lower power consumption of the 970.

http://youtu.be/Q-N337-y7vI?t=2m50s

Exact same temps.

 

[coozie7]

EDITED FOR THE OOPS!

Nice temps on the R9 390.

 

[Revine20]

Ok there is no clear winner of the 2 cards.

Does Vram matter in my case?
oh yes. forgot to mention ill might be playing skyrim with mods not a ludacris amount like logan from tek syndicate.

 

[AreH]

Well revine,

Wrote the same number of times, 390 probably has better potential than 970, specifically for 1440p but on the other side it's more power hungry and will probably produce more heat. I had the same problem in deciding between these two cards last summer and because of budget finally went with 380. To be honest but completely honest, in your place I wouldn't go with any of those cards but would wait for pascal or polaris as a complete new technology from Nvidia and Amd. Judging by Internet they are pretty close for release. During summer. So if you have some older card use it for now and don't buy 970 nor 390.

Best luck anyway!

 

[coozie7]

@ Revine20: Yep, seldom have two fighters been so evenly matched!
Some Skyrim mods ARE memory heavy, it'll depend on which ones you'll be using but unless you're going to be really extreme I doubt the extra 4Gb on the R9 390 will make any difference.
My advice: I'd still look for the R9 390, it is slightly faster at 1440, but if you can find either at a good discount ( shop around, keep an eye out for specials ) don't hesitate to grab it, after all we're only talking small differences here and either is an excellent choice for a new build.
A few points: Warranty, it varies, you may use the length as a deciding factor.
Shadowplay, we've had a few decide on Nvidia because they're running YouTube channels and Shadowplay has a low FPS impact when recording gameplay.
Size, the R9 390 needs a bigger cooler, some have opted for Nvidia because the cooler is aesthetically better to their eyes.

 

[Revine20]

thanks guys for all the advice

found a good deal with a 390 so ill grab that

 

[17seconds]

Your games list is comprised of almost all Nvidia leaning titles. That includes Fallout 4 featuring PhysX weapon effects that would be unavailable with a 390/x. Get the GTX 970 for maximum game compatibility and full graphics settings.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e340suIiXtg"][/video]