The R9 390 vs RX 480. Why should I buy the RX 480?

[jamspls]

I am soon to build my first PC, staying under a $1000 (AUD, so ≈ $750 USD) and as such, my theoretical build has come to this (caseless, I know, but that's irrelevant). I have been looking at various comparisons and benchmarks, such as:
1 - http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-480-vs-AMD-R9-390/3634vs3481
2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj5uWvylz9Y
3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozATbV11rBA (this is mostly in favour of the R9 390)

But there are also conflicting comparisons such as this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj4qIHLSn_0
And there are comment sections praising the RX 480 over the R9 390, as well as one of my school friends insisting with his life that the RX 480 is substantially better.

Problem is, the cheapest R9 390 I can find at my local store is $350 while the RX 480 is at $420, and I see no value in that extra $70 spent.

Is the RX 480 much more future proof and better, or is it all just one big lie? Which should I go with?

 

[burgessanthony]

480 - much less power, as quick, both as future proof as both good for dx12 etc.

 

[burgessanthony]

At those prices 390 better. Both perform on average the same.

 

[Professur]

Get the 390 if your power supply can hold... speaking of which, you probably need a 620W or 650W PSU if you use a 390.

I honestly think the term "future proof" is a faux. The future of gaming is 1440p 144 Hz. How much future do you expect from a card that can give you 40 fps at medium 1440p?

 

[burgessanthony]

^agree. Future proofing is ridiculous. From what I have seen, the 390 and 480 are equals depending on game. The 390 on paper way outperforms the 480 (processors, bus etc) but in reality the Polaris architecture wins out. Just.

If the 390 is cheap, get it. I love mine and Oc'd it'll match a 390x for less power and money. But the 480 at its RRP is a winner.

 

[KDiggityDog76]

Thinking about future proofing, I was comparing my MSI R9 390x to the XFX RX 480, and one thing that gives me some buyer's remorse is that the revisions to the display connectors are more recent on the RX 480 card (not sure how much this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer). For example:

XFX RX 480 HDMI is version 2.0b per Newegg, compared to 1.4a for my MSI R9 390x card. So the RX 480 could theoretically push 4K at 60 Hz via HDMI while I would be limited to 30 Hz.

XFX RX 480 Displayport is version 1.4 per Newegg, compared to version 1.2 for my MSI R9 390x. So the RX 480 could theoretically push 4K at 120 Hz via Displayport while I would be limited to 60 Hz.

Should I even be concerned by this? Is it going to depend on the manufacturer?