R9 390 or Gtx970??????

[dillbob97]

Hey guys!

I have about £300 to spend on a gpu and i didn't know if i should go with the R9 390 o the GTX 970.. i have asked firends that have built pc's and ive looked at loads of benchmark videos on the both and the R9 390 has done better in all the bench marking videos for gaming and stuff (I will be using my pc for gaming!) but everone has said amd are not great and navidia is the boss! so i really don't know whats the best to go with.... i know that the 970 has a 4gb Vram witch is restricted to like 3.5 or something like that?? and the 390 has a full 8gb Vram so i know its sort of more future compatible as games are starting to rely on that more these days... i was just trying to ask for advice on what to buy! I hope someone can help me respectively

The setup will be;

MB: msi h170a
cpu; i5 6600k 3.5ghz
memory; hiperx fury 8gb
storage; 1tb hdd
120gb kingstone ssd
psu;superNOVA nex 650w 80+ Gold

Also if you know anything thats better for maybe just alittle bit more or less expensive please let me know!!!!

Thank you!!!

 

[mudpuppet]

I have an EVGA 970 FTW and love it. That said, if I had stayed AMD with this build I would look at a Sapphire r9 390. This comparison has been coming up a lot lately. I can't talk bad about my 970 because it handles everything thrown at it thus far, but there seems to be some more hype building about the r9. It probably comes down to fandom but either would be great for your build.

 

[clutchc]

If you are gaming at 1080p, you'll never use more than 4GB VRAM. I was in the same boat and decided on the GTX 970 FTW+. The GTX 970 trades wins with the R9-390 and does it at half the watts and much less heat. Plus (IMO) Nvidia drivers are more refined with less overhead.

 

[jerdle]

Look at the front page of tomshardware and you'll see an article which compares the sapphire r9 390 to the 970 superclocked.

 

[norseman4]

The 390 comes out ahead of the 970 in nearly every metric with the closest between them being at 1080p monitor resolution. Except for power efficiency, since AMD uses much more power, especially under load.

nVidia has very good cards and the highest performance, single GPU cards are NVidia. There are also some developer technologies (Hairworks, specifically, but there may be others) that AMD sees very poor results with them turned on, but they can be turned off, so no big deal.

Choosing between the two, I'd go for the 390.

As for your build: If you are going to use the H170a motherboard, then get a non-K CPU. Paying extra for an unlocked CPU for a board that cannot utilize CPU overclock is a waste and could be used elsewhere.

 

[dillbob97]

I have an EVGA 970 FTW and love it. That said, if I had stayed AMD with this build I would look at a Sapphire r9 390. This comparison has been coming up a lot lately. I can't talk bad about my 970 because it handles everything thrown at it thus far, but there seems to be some more hype building about the r9. It probably comes down to fandom but either would be great for your build.

Thanks for the reply man stil dont know whitch to buy XD But ill see what everyone else says i know they are both amazing cards! so i dont mind witch i just one one thats the most future compatable XD so i can still play the top games in a couple of years at ok settings!!!

 

[dillbob97]

If you are gaming at 1080p, you'll never use more than 4GB VRAM. I was in the same boat and decided on the GTX 970 FTW+. The GTX 970 trades wins with the R9-390 and does it at half the watts and much less heat. Plus (IMO) Nvidia drivers are more refined with less overhead.

Thanks for the reply!
And i know i wont use that much as of right now and probably not for a year or so but when the new games come out with better graphics and more demanding ill need more Vram and i know i wont need much more... but games today take up like 3.5-4gb of vram and would it not be smart to plan for the future and go with the one with more vram??

 

[clutchc]

... but games today take up like 3.5-4gb of vram and would it not be smart to plan for the future and go with the one with more vram??

I suppose. But how long do you plan on keeping the same card? By the time you need that much more VRAM, you'll have an obsolete card.
...or maybe I just change cards too often.

 

[dillbob97]

The 390 comes out ahead of the 970 in nearly every metric with the closest between them being at 1080p monitor resolution. Except for power efficiency, since AMD uses much more power, especially under load.

nVidia has very good cards and the highest performance, single GPU cards are NVidia. There are also some developer technologies (Hairworks, specifically, but there may be others) that AMD sees very poor results with them turned on, but they can be turned off, so no big deal.

Choosing between the two, I'd go for the 390.

As for your build: If you are going to use the H170a motherboard, then get a non-K CPU. Paying extra for an unlocked CPU for a board that cannot utilize CPU overclock is a waste and could be used elsewhere.

Thank you!!!! You have been great help and i think i wil go with the 390!! But about the mb?? You said i wont be able to over clock with this?? (Know nothing about motherboards :|) How do i find out if a mother board is able to over clock and how do i choose a good motherboard?? also do you recommend any good motherboards for around the £100 - 120 range that is able to over clock as it will defiantly be something i look into doing in a year or so when im comfortable with the build and stuf! Thank you!

 

[mudpuppet]

Either will let you play games for the next few years unless there is some major breakthrough in technology... in which case both would be shelved for some fancy new something-or-other. The old AMD i had did run hot, and thus the fans were loud. I have an EVGA gpu, like i mentioned, and it's not just quiet, but i get good temp reads off it and it's cooler than my old AMD could ever dream. Now we're talking a difference in about 6 years between the cards but still, since AMD tends to run hot I opted for nVidia for this build and have no complaints. =)

 

[dillbob97]

... but games today take up like 3.5-4gb of vram and would it not be smart to plan for the future and go with the one with more vram??

I suppose. But how long do you plan on keeping the same card? By the time you need that much more VRAM, you'll have an obsolete card.
...or maybe I just change cards too often.

haha yeah it seems you change cards alot haha but one card, if they are as good as these two would probably last me 2 years.. maybe more if they are still preforming well at that time! then i would invest in upgrading again if it breaks or games demand more... witch i doubt will happen for a good year and a half two years ish haha

 

[dillbob97]

Either will let you play games for the next few years unless there is some major breakthrough in technology... in which case both would be shelved for some fancy new something-or-other. The old AMD i had did run hot, and thus the fans were loud. I have an EVGA gpu, like i mentioned, and it's not just quiet, but i get good temp reads off it and it's cooler than my old AMD could ever dream. Now we're talking a difference in about 6 years between the cards but still, since AMD tends to run hot I opted for nVidia for this build and have no complaints. =)

Tbh tho i am a headphone user and i normally have then soo loud my fiancee cant even get to me uless she punches me haha so i wont be hearing any fans at all!! so i dont mind that and my last pc had like 6 fans on it so i would hope that would be enough for cooling ti alittle hahah

 

[norseman4]

Thank you!!!! You have been great help and i think i wil go with the 390!! But about the mb?? You said i wont be able to over clock with this?? (Know nothing about motherboards :|) How do i find out if a mother board is able to over clock and how do i choose a good motherboard?? also do you recommend any good motherboards for around the £100 - 120 range that is able to over clock as it will defiantly be something i look into doing in a year or so when im comfortable with the build and stuf! Thank you!

Look for the Z prefix for the motherboard chipset. (H170 vs. Z170)
Z is fully overclockable (as is X, but that's a whole different level so don't worry about that yet.)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/
This site will let you dig around for various components, and is quite often fun to just play around in and dream.

 

[dillbob97]

Thank you!!!! You have been great help and i think i wil go with the 390!! But about the mb?? You said i wont be able to over clock with this?? (Know nothing about motherboards :|) How do i find out if a mother board is able to over clock and how do i choose a good motherboard?? also do you recommend any good motherboards for around the £100 - 120 range that is able to over clock as it will defiantly be something i look into doing in a year or so when im comfortable with the build and stuf! Thank you!

Look for the Z prefix for the motherboard chipset. (H170 vs. Z170)
Z is fully overclockable (as is X, but that's a whole different level so don't worry about that yet.)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/
This site will let you dig around for various components, and is quite often fun to just play around in and dream.

yh man this is the site i use to put everything ogether!!! haha and thanks!! Ill start looking for some nice red z mother boards XD haha and i know its fun i once made the top of the top pc on there with 3 GTX titan z gpus hahaahhah