MSI R9 380 or Sapphire R9 290 ?

[Silver2]

Hi, currently I have a Sapphire R9 270 2GB (non X). Not enough grunt for new games.

I`d like to upgrade for better 1080p gaming.

My two choices are:

SAPPHIRE R9 290 4GB (UEFI new edition)
MSI Radeon R9 380 Gaming 4GB

The R9 290 will cost $418 from Newegg U.S. (I`m in Australia, local stocks sold out)

The R9 380 will cost $380 locally.

If I purchased the 290 and I need to RMA it`s going to be a headache sending it back to the USA not to mention the costs it will incur and maybe many weeks without a card. Though this is the card that will have the grunt I`m looking for.

If I purchase the 380 I`m not sure if its a good enough upgrade like the 290, essentially the 380 is basically a R9 285 from what I have been reading. Though the extra 2GB would be a bonus and would be nice to have a latest Gen card. Also no issues to RMA.

The price difference between the two cards is not a deciding factor for me.

Although there are other R9 290 brands here in Oz its the Sapphire 290 (new edition has a few tweaks) I really like, and for the new 380`s the MSI seems the better card.

So I`m not sure which card to pull the trigger on, and I`m not sure if buying a GPU from the other side of the planet is a wise move. I don`t want to spend over $500 for a R9 390.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great, thanks for reading.

i5 2500K
Asus P8H67
250GB SSD
8 GB Ram

 

[andreaszero]

Clearly r9 290.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-380-vs-Radeon-R9-290

Sapphire is the best brand making AMD cards atm.

 

[Primegaming10]

Hi, currently I have a Sapphire R9 270 2GB (non X). Not enough grunt for new games.

I`d like to upgrade for better 1080p gaming.

My two choices are:

SAPPHIRE R9 290 4GB (UEFI new edition)
MSI Radeon R9 380 Gaming 4GB

The R9 290 will cost $418 from Newegg U.S. (I`m in Australia, local stocks sold out)

The R9 380 will cost $380 locally.

If I purchased the 290 and I need to RMA it`s going to be a headache sending it back to the USA not to mention the costs it will incur and maybe many weeks without a card. Though this is the card that will have the grunt I`m looking for.

If I purchase the 380 I`m not sure if its a good enough upgrade like the 290, essentially the 380 is basically a R9 285 from what I have been reading. Though the extra 2GB would be a bonus and would be nice to have a latest Gen card. Also no issues to RMA.

The price difference between the two cards is not a deciding factor for me.

Although there are other R9 290 brands here in Oz its the Sapphire 290 (new edition has a few tweaks) I really like, and for the new 380`s the MSI seems the better card.

So I`m not sure which card to pull the trigger on, and I`m not sure if buying a GPU from the other side of the planet is a wise move. I don`t want to spend over $500 for a R9 390.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great, thanks for reading.

i5 2500K
Asus P8H67
250GB SSD
8 GB Ram

Depends bro i live in Australia Melbourne and they seem not to stock the r9 290 anymore because of the 390 but i have found the r9 380 for a cheaper price but if you don't live in Melbourne there is kinda some trouble but here is the link -----> http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=32279&cPath=877

 

[guanyu210379]

I would not order from Newegg, if I were to live in Australia.
RMA process with such distance will not be pretty at all.

 

[Silver2]

OK then.
As andreas pointed out, grab a r9 290.

Thanks for the better price Primegaming10.

guanyu210379 confirms my worst fear...

I have found a Gigabyte R9 290 locally...though I remember reading somewhere it had a few minor problems....

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[andreaszero]

Everything can have problems because it's technology. Basically it's quality control. Popular card makers produce a lot of cards in their factories everyday therefore sometimes they cannot control the quality of their products. So you need to be lucky enough and get a good product.

 

[guanyu210379]

You must count always about around 5% of the products are always defective and must go for RMA process.
It does not matter which brand.
This is common issue in mass production, nothing can really stop this issue.
Nobody can QC 100%.

 

[Silver2]

So a 1 in 20 chance I get a defective card from newegg...

Those are actually good odds

 

[guanyu210379]

good odds as long as you do not get the 5%.
If you do, have fun with RMA process across the sea.

 

[EEEPonthemove]

Clearly r9 290.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-380-vs-Radeon-R9-290

Sapphire is the best brand making AMD cards atm.

Fuck outta here with the gpu boss, link him some benchmarks and not just the specs of it. any xBoss site is bullshit.