Radeon R9 390 (No, not the 390X, but the 390!)

[Juan Snow]

I'm making my first PC build (I'll type it down bellow) and I don't know if im going with the GTX 970 or the R9 390! There has been a lot of talk about the 390X but about the 390... not really. Because of that, I barely see any reviews or benchmarks of the GPU so I don't know if it is really worth it. So, I'm asking you guys (that probably understand a lot more of the subject than me) what do you think about the GPU!

Probable specs:
i5 4460
GTX970/R9 390
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze
Western Digital Blue 1TB
NZXT S340 (case)

 

[clutchc]

They are both comparable gfx cards. Both good. The GTX 970 will do what the R9-390 will do, but take half the wattage to do it. And stay a whole lot cooler. Personally, I'd probably opt for the GTX 970 because of the above, and because Nvidia drivers are more mature and have less overhead... imo.

 

[kellemdros]

I just picked the GTX 970 with the same doubt.
For 1080 the GTX is better, for 1440 they are close (around 2fps depending on the game).
GTX its cooler and less power hungry.

Both are good choices.

For GTX the best is the gigabyte g1 gaming, for 390 the sapphire try-x nitro

 

[Juan Snow]

Power consuption isn't really a problem for me, but I found some benchmarks and the GTX and the R9 are really close. And, as the R9 was only release a week or two ago (I think), it really isn't optimized. If i'm right, on the mid-long term the R9 will be superior to the GTX, after it is optimized and updated with the adequate drivers. That's why I think I'm going for the R9 390, and the 8GB will probably be more "future-proof" than the 4GB on the GTX 970, as it will be useful for UHD gaming and stuff (although I don't plan to use 4K on short term, I don't know if I'll want it a 2 or 3 years from now).

 

[kellemdros]

If you consider that you can't nearly overclock the 390 and you really can OC the 970 to nearly the 980 performance...

In the end they are in the same level, trading blows depending on the game, both are good choices.