MSI R9 390X or Sapphire R9 390

[Steve-man]

Hey Forum,

I'm hoping for some help. I have to replace a faulty card and I'm caught between two.
I can get either a Sapphire R9 390 from a vendor which I know and have used before or MSI Gaming R9 390X from another which I have not used but haven't seen any bad reviews, this is for only fifty dollars (Australian) more.

I've seen some benchmarks suggesting that the difference between 390 and 390X is no more than a few frames but nothing which compares the particular models with their factory overclocks, etc.

So what I want to know is whether the difference between those particular models would be worth paying more or not.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[rolli59]

Performance difference is only about 10% so really a question if you want to spend the extra money. Both cards are good.

 

[jimmysmitty]

The main difference between a R9 390 and R9 390X is the shader count (2560 vs 2816) and TMUs (160 vs 174). This results in a slightly lower texture and pixel fill rate for the R9 390 resulting in slightly less performance.

Most companies will not compare the two models you are looking at but a R9 390 and R9 390X at the same clock speeds will perform the same as at stock, with the 390X performing better in more demanding games.

 

[Dulith1118]

as for companies msi overclock it more than sapphire but still not a huge difference ...

 

[Neur0nauT]

I recently bought an MSI R9 390X and it's so far, a great buy. I since heard about some problems with the Sapphire 390 series. Although I hold both brands in a high regard. You won't regret the MSI purchase. It is OC'ed out of the box, so you kinda have the company guarantee that it's fan system is good quality. Mine idles at 66C and never goes over 77C on load at 1100Mhz core clock.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I recently bought an MSI R9 390X and it's so far, a great buy. I since heard about some problems with the Sapphire 390 series. Although I hold both brands in a high regard. You won't regret the MSI purchase. It is OC'ed out of the box, so you kinda have the company guarantee that it's fan system is good quality. Mine idles at 66C and never goes over 77C on load at 1100Mhz core clock.

Just because a GPU is overclocked does not mean the fan system is good quality. I had plenty of MSI Twin Frozers fans fail within a year of use.

 

[Neur0nauT]

I recently bought an MSI R9 390X and it's so far, a great buy. I since heard about some problems with the Sapphire 390 series. Although I hold both brands in a high regard. You won't regret the MSI purchase. It is OC'ed out of the box, so you kinda have the company guarantee that it's fan system is good quality. Mine idles at 66C and never goes over 77C on load at 1100Mhz core clock.

Just because a GPU is overclocked does not mean the fan system is good quality. I had plenty of MSI Twin Frozers fans fail within a year of use.

I know that. However if it is OCed out of the box, then it is up to their standards under the manufacturers warranty, therefore....they can't blame you for killing the card by OCing it manually, and void your warranty should anything go wrong.. that's all I meant.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I recently bought an MSI R9 390X and it's so far, a great buy. I since heard about some problems with the Sapphire 390 series. Although I hold both brands in a high regard. You won't regret the MSI purchase. It is OC'ed out of the box, so you kinda have the company guarantee that it's fan system is good quality. Mine idles at 66C and never goes over 77C on load at 1100Mhz core clock.

Just because a GPU is overclocked does not mean the fan system is good quality. I had plenty of MSI Twin Frozers fans fail within a year of use.

I know that. However if it is OCed out of the box, then it is up to their standards under the manufacturers warranty, therefore....they can't blame you for killing the card by OCing it manually, and void your warranty should anything go wrong.. that's all I meant.

Actually they can void your warranty if you overclock it beyond their set specifications. All the standard overclock means is that they were able to get it stable and guarantee that it will run for at least the warranty period at that specific specification. If you overclock it beyond that and it dies it is outside of their set specification and therefore no longer under warranty.

Much like say a Intel K series CPU. Yes you can overclock them but Intel only warranties that those CPUs will run at their specified voltage and speed they set them at. Anything beyond that is outside of their warranty (although you can buy a overclocking protection plan for Intel CPUs).

 

[Dulith1118]

so allthough msi cards come oc out of the box there cooling systems fail a bit where as sapphire is a reliable company...Id go for the 290x but u will be gambling if u wanna play it safe 290 is okay and u won't even feel the difference between them so for u 290 might be a good deal in this case

 

[rolli59]

Both brands are top tier and the only question here is if the 390X is worth the more price over the 390. It is if the price gap is less than 10%!
No matter what brand is selected they can all fail and the fans are the most sensitive thing on a GPU but most last the useful life of the card if regular cleaning is done.

 

[Neur0nauT]

Actually they can void your warranty if you overclock it beyond their set specifications. All the standard overclock means is that they were able to get it stable and guarantee that it will run for at least the warranty period at that specific specification. If you overclock it beyond that and it dies it is outside of their set specification and therefore no longer under warranty.

The MSI gaming app that comes with the card gives you three settings: Silent, Gaming, and OC mode. If using this app to overclock their card voids the warranty, I'd be contacting a lawyer!

It goes without saying that if you start to push it past these settings then you are playing with fire.