MSI GTX 970 vs MSI R9 390X

[Fazzyy]

Hi All

I wanted just going to purchase the GTX 970 and saw the 390x card for sale too now, theres not really a huge price difference.

Which would be the better buy?

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/msi-radeon-r9-390x-gaming-8g-oc-review,1.html

 

[HCSn]

thanks guys, how bigs the difference between 390 and 390x?

In my opinion, not enough to justify $100. If you were considering a 970, and that suits your needs, a 390 will be great. It performs similarly, probably slightly better, than a 970 and has the 8GB of vram for the same price. The only downside is that it probably runs a little hotter and consumes a lot more power than a 970. If you have a good power supply, it's a clear choice for the 390 in my opinion.

 

[mcnumpty23]

thanks guys, how bigs the difference between 390 and 390x?

not big enough to justify the price difference in my opinion

especially since the 390 is also packing 8gb of ram

 

[Fazzyy]

Yeh I've got a CM V1000, so PSU is not a problem

 

[HCSn]

Yeh I've got a CM V1000, so PSU is not a problem

Then I would highly recommend a 390. It will have great performance for the dollar, and with a 1000W psu, you could add on another later. 2 390's with 8GB of vram each will crush games.

 

[Fazzyy]

All, I have managed to get the MSI GTX 970 for £230 with a discount, which is £40 cheaper then the 390 and £120 cheaper then the 390x.

I don't mind paying extra if the other cards are better, given the differences is the MSI 970 the better buy?

 

[HCSn]

All, I have managed to get the MSI GTX 970 for £230 with a discount, which is £40 cheaper then the 390 and £120 cheaper then the 390x.

I don't mind paying extra if the other cards are better, given the differences is the MSI 970 the better buy?

Yeah I would say if you're getting it that much cheaper then the 970 is the way to go. They're all good cards, but if you're getting a 970 for that much less you're making a good choice.

 

[VedranMik]

Onus does have a point here, it's up to you to either get a stronger, power hungry card over a bit weaker card with less 4/4.5GB less VRAM(Which can help in some games, at QHD and UHD)

My advice is to either get a 970 now or wait for Fury/Fury X/Nano, Nano shouldn't be any more expensive than 390x and should have the same performance at a much lower power consumption and size.

from what little i have found nano is more likely to throttle

probably due to its tiny size

maybe watercooled nano is next for AMD ?

Thing is, it will have a really low TDP, half of 290x so maybe that one cooler design could work, lets say it'll give out max 125-150W.

 

[dorsai]

390x over 970 any day...twice the memory...wider memory bus...faster GPU. 970 is not a bad card...just slower than 390x.

The comments posted above about AMD Fury Nano are just nonsense...the card isn't out, and wont be for some time, so nobody has any business making statements about throttling or stating any other opinions about the cards capabilities...it's completely unknown at this point.

 

[dorsai]

Yeh I've got a CM V1000, so PSU is not a problem

Then I would highly recommend a 390. It will have great performance for the dollar, and with a 1000W psu, you could add on another later. 2 390's with 8GB of vram each will crush games.

+1 on this.

 

[Fazzyy]

as the 390x has been out for a while now, which one would be recommended for 1080p at max settings?

 

[dorsai]

as the 390x has been out for a while now, which one would be recommended for 1080p at max settings?

The 390x would be a better choice even @ 1080p...the 970 is a decent card but not the equal of the 390x

 

[tomspice3]

The amd is Much faster not slightly. This is the only choice

 

[gravesmeister]

Hi All

I wanted just going to purchase the GTX 970 and saw the 390x card for sale too now, theres not really a huge price difference.

Which would be the better buy?

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/msi-radeon-r9-390x-gaming-8g-oc-review,1.html

Go 390X all the way. The 390X outperforms the 970 in 1080P and will stomp it in 4K. It is much more future proof if that's a concern at all.

 

[Rexer]

I've seen benchmarks that say the 390x performs a few frames slower than the 980 in some games, and slightly better than the 980 in other games. And when I say slightly I mean about 3-5fps difference in 4k.

Think of what this is saying though about the card efficiency, an 8gb 390x is just barely matching or just barely beating a 4gb 980 and at the cost of additional heat/power to do so. Yes, there is an economics question here which is where the whole thing becomes subjective.

I seen the benchmarks, too. They bobble around 3 to 5 fps respectively. However, they all seem to have trouble with certain games (Whctr3) producing constant dips (to 40 to 60 fps) on ultra.. . . which seems no gpu likes it.