Nvidia GTX 970 vs AMD 390

[Nick Pop]

Hey guys, Two months ago I upgraded my PC (mobo,CPU, ram) and now it has come the time to upgrade my GPU. The problem is that I'm undecided on which card to buy. Yes, I did read reviews and benchmarks but i'm still undecided. * Current setup:
Mobo: Asus Rampage 5
CPU: i7-5820k
16 GB of ram @ 3000
Monitor: 1080p 60 Hz
PSU: Xilence 600W 80+ bronze
1 SSD + 1 HDD
Case: home/custom made, very good airflow.

I didn't upgraded the GPU at the time because I was playing only Dota 2 and just started streaming so my GTX 560 handled it just fine but now I just want to play some newer games (GTA 5, Shadow of Mordor etc) I'm planning to upgrade the monitor to a 1440p 120/144 Hz in the near future but my question remains the same.
Which card would be better for me? Green or red? 970 or 390 Or should I wait another one/two months and get the 980/390x? My budget right now: ~$380-400


Thanks in advance and sorry for crappy english.

*Edit: i'm looking to overclock too.

 

[HCSn]

Well, none of the above will give you 100+ FPS at 1440p. But you could add on a second 970 or 390 later on and it would be pretty powerful. I would say the 390, but when it launched the drivers for it were awful and people couldn't even get their computers into windows. That may have since changed, but I'm not sure, I haven't heard anything. If you can find out whether that has been fixed, I would make a decision based on that. 970 SLI or 390 XFire will give you great framerates at 1440p if your PSU/Motherboard support that. It looks like your mobo will, but your PSU probably won't. It may be worth either saving and getting something like a 980 Ti or getting a 970/390 then saving and later getting another 970/390 if you want 100+ FPS for that 144Hz monitor.

In terms of overclocking, the 390 will maybe go 100 Mhz above the stock speed, the 970 can go 400+ MHz above stock.

 

[kellemdros]

They are trading blows which each other, in 1440 the 390 its performing a bit better (we are talking about 3 fps difference...

Still, the GTX970... if you OC it it will perform a bit better...

In the case of the 390x vs 980 the 980 is better at 1080, they are close to even at 1440 and the 390x is a little bit better at 4k...

I just picked a 970 (tomorrow arrives) cause i prefer the nvidia drivers... (but 980 here is 550€ so... XD).

Btw, Gigabyte g1 gaming followed by MSI for the 970/80
Saphire Nitro for the 390/x.

(are the best ones XD)

 

[kellemdros]

Hey, hold on there, avoid the 390/x, your psu isn't enought... A 650W is the recommended one...

On the other hand, its enought for both the GTX (they are more energy efficient.

 

[HCSn]

Hey, hold on there, avoid the 390/x, your psu isn't enought... A 650W is the recommended one...

On the other hand, its enought for both the GTX (they are more energy efficient.

It's probably fine for a 390. Recommended is usually a bit over what you need, a quality 600W is more than likely fine.

 

[Bossyfins]

Hey, hold on there, avoid the 390/x, your psu isn't enought... A 650W is the recommended one...

On the other hand, its enought for both the GTX (they are more energy efficient.

It's probably fine for a 390. Recommended is usually a bit over what you need, a quality 600W is more than likely fine.

Except he doesn't have a quality PSU.

 

[kellemdros]

Well, your choice, i preffer to be sure, since they both perform nearly the same i will take the 970/980 for that...
Still, your choice obviously XD

 

[Nick Pop]

Thank you all for the answers.

BTW, what you think about the 3.5+0.5 VRAM of the 970?

 

[HCSn]

Thank you all for the answers.

BTW, what you think about the 3.5+0.5 VRAM of the 970?

It's unfortunate, but 500MB of Vram isn't going to matter in 90% of games. Although Shadow of Mordor with the high-quality texture pack tends to eat up Vram. The 970 is a great card regardless.

 

[kellemdros]

Agree, for me the problem is that they didn't specify it, which is a bit outrageous.
Still, even going for 1440 its still on pair with the r9 390 so isn't a problem.

 

[Bossyfins]

People blow the entire deal out of proportion. As HCSn said, alsmost anygame doesn't matter except games like shador of mordor.

 

[kellemdros]

Bossyfins... sorry man, i need to say it... but everytime i see your avatar i read your posts like an angry man.

 

[Bossyfins]

Heheh 😛 The glorious grumpy cat.

 

[AS118]

I say get an AMD 390. Nvidia has enough marketshare to the point where if people buy it any more and AMD any less, AMD will go out of business and Nvidia will be a monopoly.

Think of how terrible things'll be if that happens. I say always buy AMD when you can. Intel / Nvidia are bad enough as they are now, if AMD goes out of business, they will BOTH be monopolies.

 

[Bossyfins]

I say get an AMD 390. Nvidia has enough marketshare to the point where if people buy it any more and AMD any less, AMD will go out of business and Nvidia will be a monopoly.

Think of how terrible things'll be if that happens. I say always buy AMD when you can. Intel / Nvidia are bad enough as they are now, if AMD goes out of business, they will BOTH be monopolies.

Except, the consumer doesn't care if a company goes out of buisiness. If It cannot compete with the other, than the consumer will buy what is working the best. 980/970 destroyed AMD's market share. It is not as simple as saying oh buy amd and hope they come back, AMD is low on money, laying off employees, and does not have money for R&D. As I said in the end, consumers buys what works. Currently, NVIDIA is working and has stable drivers in terms of games. While AMD does come with drivers, they are a little later.