Save up for 980Ti or get 390X?

[hiralovesgiita]

Im building a new pc as the old one had a water damage... Was pretty bad anyways but it's hard to live without one especially as an IT student, but thats off-topic.

Anyways, is it worth saving up for 980Ti instead of getting 390X?
Im planning on getting an Acer Predator 1440p 144Hz G-Sync monitor too along with it.

The CPU choice was i5-6600K.

390X do not impress me that much on 1440p benchmarks as it's borderline 60 unlike 980Ti, hence why im curious for how long it will last me without having to turn the settings down to get acceptable FPS.

Reason im getting 144Hz G-Sync without hitting 120+ fps most of the titles with neither of the GPU's is because i also play games that do not require high end cards to take advantage of 144Hz, for example CS:GO.

It will be costy but then again it will take me about half a year to save up enough for the whole build to be completed... due to being financially unstable, but PC is something really important to save up for, to me.

Hopefuly by that time the prices will drop too, so maybe it will cost less than estimated.

So, 980Ti or 390X. Which is worth the money?

 

[Gam3r01]

At 1440p the 390X is about 35% behind the 295x2, and non reference 980Tis are 5% ahead of the 295. The Ti is a far better card without a question, and if you have the budget for it I would highly recommend it.

 

[spagalicious]

It really depends on what you mean by "worth the money". PC components are very much pay to play but there are always more price-to-performance oriented solutions. In my opinion, the 290X takes the crown as the best option for maximizing your bang to buck ratio. 390X is nothing but a 290X with a 50MHz bump on the core clock. A custom 290X card can easily match and exceed the performance of a stock 390X with a mild/moderate overclock.

If you decide to purchase an AMD card, you will want to purchase a monitor with Freesync technology rather than G-Sync. G-Sync only works with Nvidia cards and Freesync with AMD.

The 980 Ti is a monster of a card and will not disappoint but if you are looking for the most performance for your money, the 290X is what you are looking for. Of course, you won't be able to touch 144 FPS @ 1440p max settings in modern titles but the 980 Ti won't either. And Freesync will since your refresh rate right up to your FPS giving you a buttery smooth experience.

The Sapphire Tri-X 290X is one of the best performing custom 290Xs out there, I know many people who absolutley love this card. $329 on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202089&cm_re=290x-_-14-202-089-_-Product
Benchmarks and Review:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_290X_Tri-X_OC/

For a 980 Ti, they are all great TBH. Drop the cash on a custom card and don't look back. MSI and EVGA are great choices.

Hope this helps, let me know if you would like monitor suggestions.

 

[hiralovesgiita]

It really depends on what you mean by "worth the money". PC components are very much pay to play but there are always more price-to-performance oriented solutions. In my opinion, the 290X takes the crown as the best option for maximizing your bang to buck ratio. 390X is nothing but a 290X with a 50MHz bump on the core clock. A custom 290X card can easily match and exceed the performance of a stock 390X with a mild/moderate overclock.

If you decide to purchase an AMD card, you will want to purchase a monitor with Freesync technology rather than G-Sync. G-Sync only works with Nvidia cards and Freesync with AMD.

The 980 Ti is a monster of a card and will not disappoint but if you are looking for the most performance for your money, the 290X is what you are looking for. Of course, you won't be able to touch 144 FPS @ 1440p max settings in modern titles but the 980 Ti won't either. And Freesync will since your refresh rate right up to your FPS giving you a buttery smooth experience.

The Sapphire Tri-X 290X is one of the best performing custom 290Xs out there, I know many people who absolutley love this card. $329 on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202089&cm_re=290x-_-14-202-089-_-Product
Benchmarks and Review:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_290X_Tri-X_OC/

For a 980 Ti, they are all great TBH. Drop the cash on a custom card and don't look back. MSI and EVGA are great choices.

Hope this helps, let me know if you would like monitor suggestions.

A single 290x won't be able to handle most titles 1440p@60fps though
Getting 2 290x's straight out of a box would be a waste considering that it's performance would be similar to a single 980ti.

 

[spagalicious]

A single 290x won't be able to handle most titles 1440p@60fps though
Getting 2 290x's straight out of a box would be a waste considering that it's performance would be similar to a single 980ti.

A single 290X will absolutely handle most titles at 60FPS, but it will not handle the most DEMANDING titles at 60GPS. Benchmark titles like Witcher 3, GTA V, Metro: LL represent a very small portion of the most played games on steams most played list. If you find that you can justify spending the money in order to play a small population of demanding games, than by all means do it. I myself bought a Ti, however, a 290X is a much better buy for the cash. Plus, freesync will take care of any games that dip below 60 FPS. A 6600K paired with a 1050+MHz 290X is going to be a powerful weapon at 1440p. Then again, a 980 Ti boosted to 1450+Mhz is going to be a more powerful one, albeit a more expensive one.

Just food for thought.

 

[hiralovesgiita]

A single 290x won't be able to handle most titles 1440p@60fps though
Getting 2 290x's straight out of a box would be a waste considering that it's performance would be similar to a single 980ti.

A single 290X will absolutely handle most titles at 60FPS, but it will not handle the most DEMANDING titles at 60GPS. Benchmark titles like Witcher 3, GTA V, Metro: LL represent a very small portion of the most played games on steams most played list. If you find that you can justify spending the money in order to play a small population of demanding games, than by all means do it. I myself bought a Ti, however, a 290X is a much better buy for the cash. Plus, freesync will take care of any games that dip below 60 FPS. A 6600K paired with a 1050+MHz 290X is going to be a powerful weapon at 1440p. Then again, a 980 Ti boosted to 1450+Mhz is going to be a more powerful one, albeit a more expensive one.

Just food for thought.

Does freesync and g-sync work the same way?
And more demanding games will come out in future... The games are demanding because they're new and are graphically beautiful, with new games coming out 290x will not suffice... And getting another one, again, would be a waste, a good advice but i guess i wouldn't choose a card that will not give me enough performance for games i play... Which are, GTA5, FC4, Witcher3. Thanks for your input nonethless

 

[spagalicious]

If the 290x does not offer enough performance for you, neither will the 390x. The 980 Ti is the best option then. Freesync and G-Sync are both adaptive sync technologies. At face value, they are pretty much identical in function. Below 40 FPS, you may notice more judder and skipping with freesync. G-sync is good till 35ish FPS. If you are buying a card for future titles, you will probably want to wait until q2 2016 when pascal and artic islands come to market. These cards are based on an entirely new node, 16nm finfet. Has the capacity for 16 billion transistors and will likely have 8-16Gb of HBM2 vram. A big jump in performance over this generations 28nm gddr5 cards.

Cheers

 

[KenAyugi]

It really depends on what you mean by "worth the money". PC components are very much pay to play but there are always more price-to-performance oriented solutions. In my opinion, the 290X takes the crown as the best option for maximizing your bang to buck ratio. 390X is nothing but a 290X with a 50MHz bump on the core clock. A custom 290X card can easily match and exceed the performance of a stock 390X with a mild/moderate overclock.

If you decide to purchase an AMD card, you will want to purchase a monitor with Freesync technology rather than G-Sync. G-Sync only works with Nvidia cards and Freesync with AMD.

The 980 Ti is a monster of a card and will not disappoint but if you are looking for the most performance for your money, the 290X is what you are looking for. Of course, you won't be able to touch 144 FPS @ 1440p max settings in modern titles but the 980 Ti won't either. And Freesync will since your refresh rate right up to your FPS giving you a buttery smooth experience.

The Sapphire Tri-X 290X is one of the best performing custom 290Xs out there, I know many people who absolutley love this card. $329 on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202089&cm_re=290x-_-14-202-089-_-Product
Benchmarks and Review:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_290X_Tri-X_OC/

For a 980 Ti, they are all great TBH. Drop the cash on a custom card and don't look back. MSI and EVGA are great choices.

Hope this helps, let me know if you would like monitor suggestions.

A single 290x won't be able to handle most titles 1440p@60fps though
Getting 2 290x's straight out of a box would be a waste considering that it's performance would be similar to a single 980ti.

I'd love to hear your monitor suggestions