Same price range as EVGA 970 with better output

[TheSpudWhacker]

I am going to be building my first pc, I have gotten everything except the I7 4790k 4.0 GHz CPU. I want to know which GPU I should get; I am looking at this one:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Super-Clocked-Graphics/dp/B00NVODXR4

Is there any other GPU around the same price range
Note: I might get a second one down the road to work in SLI. Also plan to record videos and/ or stream. Want at least 1080p, thanks for any info

 

[MarkW]

The following is the price list comparison for both AMD and Nvidia for the summer...

 

[TheSpudWhacker]

I think the 970 is better then the 390, am I right?

 

[MarkW]

very similar performance, and the price on the R9 390 came down a little bit a few weeks ago.

 

[TheSpudWhacker]

Then which one would be more loud and produce more heat? In dual GPU mode?

 

[MarkW]

R9 390, hands down. But it also has 8GB of video ram, which is going to become important next year.

The GTX 970 is limited to the 4GB, of which the last 0.5GB operates at 1/7th the speed of the rest of the memory.

So both have their so-called flaws. And both have their strengths.

Personally, if I had to choose between the two today, I would go with the R9 390, unless I had cash piled high somewhere, and I could afford to buy the GTX 970 this year, and a new video card again next year when both AMD and Nvidia will be releasing new 16nm based GPU's with HBM2 (high bandwidth memory).

 

[TheSpudWhacker]

Well, I never plan on gaming over 1920x1080 res. I do YouTube and the sound factor would be important but the most demanding game I plan on playing for right now is probably dead rising 3 or skyrim... Maybe witcher 3. Are two gtx 970s or two 390s better then the 980?

 

[Componentgirl90]

I think at stock speeds the 390 and 970 are basically very similar and if I remember correctly, the 390 performed slightly better. I wouldn't get too excited about the 8gb of VRAM vs the 3.5 in the 970 as it is more than enough for the vast majority of titles even at 1440p. At stock speeds the 390x and the 980 outperform each other on different games. The 390x is also slightly cheaper than the 980. I just bought a 390x for £300 from Ebuyer so that is a pretty good deal. I read a lot of reviews on it.

However, I didn't read too much about the overclocking potential although I was aware that the 970 and the 980 has greater overclocking potential than the 390x and 390. So much so in fact that the 980 performs a lot better than the 390x once overclocked according to one of the rare reviews I could find on this. I would be interested to see if the 970 could match the 390x once overclocked and would probably outperform the 390 once both cards were overclocked I would guess.

The 390x does actually have many areas of hardware that are superior to the 980 and certainly the 970. It has more of everything apart from clock speed and one other thing I cannot remember. I would be not suprised if the 390x was somewhat better when only considering optimised games as many of the stronger performances from the 980 and 970 came in older titles.

They are all great cards. I chose the 390x because it was only £300 which was close to the price of a 390. The 980 was a little too expensive for me and on balance I thought the 390x might turn out to be a better card in a years time for less money, although I didn't consider the overclocking headroom on the 980 which changes the equation considerably. I would also consider the 970 as a serious option compared to the 390 and 390x due to price and overclocking headroom. I am not 100% sure that the 390 and 390x will actually perform better when games are optimised for it but I think I read that.

All in all I wouldn't be unhappy with any of the 4 cards.

 

[MarkW]

I do believe I said that the 8GB would become important next year after most of the new video cards get 8GB or more of HBM2. At that point, as they games come out that need that, the R9 will have it, and the 970 will not, and you cannot simply upgrade the video memory.

And last time I checked, most of us do not like upgrading video cards every year. So looking ahead a couple of years is normally a good thing.

 

[TheSpudWhacker]

Alright, I've got some thinking to do... I mean when all is said and done I am going to be getting a starting monitor that is 60hz so I can't see anything over 60fps... I honestly only care about having a clean 60fps at high - ultrahigh graphics. I'm thinking one 970 right now, then next year adding another. Will that allow me to get 60 fps on high - ultrahigh settings on newer games? or will two 970s be the same output as a gtx 980 or will it be lower/better?
This computer is going to be a BIG stepup from the current one I have:
Processor: AMD 220 Dual core 2.8GHz
GPU: Sapphire radeon HD6450 1GB

Yeah... Can't wait.

 

[MarkW]

The FPS (or Hz) is not a factor in how much memory a video card needs.

Let me put it this way... Lets say your budget today is $xx. What you can buy today will be about 60% less than what that same money will buy a year from now.

So think about what you are buying now as short term. The good stuff will be here in about a year.