R9 290 vs. R9 390 vs. GTX970

[peppowest]

If you have to choose among one of this GPU:
a) R9 290 Vapor-x (267€)
b) R9 290X Tri-x 8Gb (339€)
c) R9 390 HIS (305€)
d) GTX 970 Palit (295€)
Considering my PSU is 850W ...so no limitation, which one is better for buck??

 

[Grimwinder]

What resolutions are you gaming at?

 

[peppowest]

1080 today,
but if i found the right deal...

 

[DrSandwich]

For 1080p, it doesn't really matter. For 1440p, I would go r9 390, because it has more v-ram, and better performance (not much.) The r9 290 and gtx 970 I believe are on par with each other, (they have same performance.) If im wrong here, be free to correct!

 

[Grimwinder]

As Dr. S indicates, at 1080p you're not going to notice much difference between them. At 1440, or if you go with multiple monitors, I'd give the 8gb cards an edge.

 

[peppowest]

So an old r9 290 vaporX at lower price is the best solution (atm), but looking forward r9 390 would be better.
Isn't it?

 

[peppowest]

So for 1080p R9 290 (cheapest) is a better deal than gtx 970 , with similar performance.
For 1440p R9 390 vs. R9 290x 8 Gb which one is better?

 

[Gavin10]

At 1080, all will perform without a stutter. But if you plan on upgrading to 1440p, the 970 and 390 would definitely pull ahead the 290. For 4k, you won't max anything out with any of these cards but the 390 will benefit with the full speed 8gb v-ram.

 

[Grimwinder]

Is that a 290 or a 290x? I thought only the X chip cards had 8gb. If it is a 290X (not just a base 290, and ignore the x in "vapor-x"), then the 290X is actually a slightly better core chip than the base non-X 390 (more shaders, texture maps, compute units).

 

[geofelt]

The benchmark performance of all 4 cards are similar.

How to choose?
If one vendor has better support where you live, favor that one.
Look for their customer support forum, for example.

Do you have a preference for Nvidia or AMD drivers?

I have a method to pick between equally performing products.
Go to Newegg and find the candidates.
Filter on the reviews by verified buyers.
Then look at what percent of the reviews have zero or one eggs indicating some sort of a problem.
In particular, look at the reasons for a bad review. Some are not very valid, so exclude those.

 

[peppowest]

The 290 cost 267€ and is a 4 Gb card from sapphire called Vapor-x.
The 290x is the most expensive card at 339€ but is 8 Gb.

The other 2 are the cheapest R9 390 (from HIS) and the cheapest gtx970 (from Palit).

 

[Gavin10]

The 970 and the 290 have 4gb.
290x and 390 have 8gb.

Honestly, if you are at 1080p now, I would just go with the cheapest card.

I currently have a 970 and it blasts 1440p while being cool and quiet.

 

[xiekLORD]

i personally like the gtx 970 better because im a part of the team nvdia, however, the r9 390 is about 10% faster than the gtx 970 while gaming, Its your choice since there isn't that much difference between those two card but i will definitely not go for the r9 290.

 

[Grimwinder]

Okay, I'd go with the 970 if you plan to stay at 1080p, the performance there will be the same and, frankly, these days Nvidia's driver support is far better than AMD's due to money (and I'm not an Nvidia fanboy, I've owned more ATI/AMD over the years than Nvidia).

If you plan to update to 1440 in the near future, then the 290x or the 390 are your best options with the 8gb. In my opinion, the very slightly better core chip of the 290x over the 390 non-x against the fact that the 390 is cheaper, makes those 2 a coin toss for me. I'm not familiar with HIS and Palit personally so I'd research which has the better reputation and service and go with that.

 

[peppowest]

The benchmark performance of all 4 cards are similar.

How to choose?
If one vendor has better support where you live, favor that one.
Look for their customer support forum, for example.

Do you have a preference for Nvidia or AMD drivers?

I have a method to pick between equally performing products.
Go to Newegg and find the candidates.
Filter on the reviews by verified buyers.
Then look at what percent of the reviews have zero or one eggs indicating some sort of a problem.
In particular, look at the reasons for a bad review. Some are not very valid, so exclude those.

So the old 2 from sapphire (290 e 290x) are better supported...
HIS as only one assistance center in UE and Palit have no review at all...
So sapphire is better , but we are judging the suppliers not the cards...

 

[XiPH3R]

For 1440p get the r9 290x. better chip than the r9 390(more shades and stuff) but a little more power hunger but you will be fine. Overclock the r9 290x 8 gb and BOOM, you have a r9 390x(which is somewhat on par with the gtx 980 at 1440p and above)

1080p: r9 290
1440p: r9 290x 8 gb

 

[peppowest]

I go cheapest...
Less is better
Thank you all