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GTX 970 or R9 390

sombaht

sombaht

sombaht

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Joined
16 Nov 2008
Posts
14
Ok,
Looking to upgrade from a GTX 460 so whatever of the above I choose, I realise it will be a big upgrade. Just wondering is the 390 overkill, since I only ever game at 1920 * 1080 on a single monitor?
Is there a need for 8GB of ram now or even 12/18 months down the line?

I like the idea of lower power reqs for the 970, but the 512-bit memory interface of the 390 is also tempting.
CPU is an AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz, and the PSU is a Corsair HX 650W.

Any advice lads?

Cheers,
sombaht
 
Look at R9 390 reviews for the games you play at 1080. If the 970 is clearly ahead in all of them then get a 970. If it's close or the 390 is ahead then get the 390.

General answer would be 390
Ignore the memory differences between these cards
The MSI Gaming version of both cards are highly recommended
 
If you don't mind missing the Nvidia stuff, then the MSI 390 8GB is the better buy.
 
The 390 is the better card. Slightly. However AMD cards are more cpu limited so id say unless you upgrade the CPU as well the 970 is the better choice here.
 
DAnDan said:
You're going to have to expand on that point, as it makes no sense!
Click to expand...

What I mean is the cpu is more of a limiting factor (bottleneck) on AMD graphics cards due to the high overhead.

This is an old document but it tells the story. At the time these gpus were roughly equal. They are also basically a 970 and 390;

http://www.overclock.net/t/1495236/amd-vs-nvidia-cpu-overhead

The AMD card lost a further 9% more performance vs the 780ti using the slower AMD CPU. Bare in mind OP's CPU is lesser than the one they used still.
 
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Used: 970 or 290x.

New: 390 as it might be slightly better value than the 970, especially if you get a good clocker (not that I think the 390/970 are worth buying new).
 
Lokken86 said:
What I mean is the cpu is more of a limiting factor (bottleneck) on AMD graphics cards due to the high overhead.

This is an old document but it tells the story. At the time these gpus were roughly equal. They are also basically a 970 and 390;

http://www.overclock.net/t/1495236/amd-vs-nvidia-cpu-overhead

The AMD card lost a further 9% more performance vs the 780ti using the slower AMD CPU. Bare in mind OP's CPU is lesser than the one they used still.
Click to expand...
Ancient and not really relevant anymore, AMD have improved their Driver overheads a lot since then, 15.5 improved it a little. 15.6 some more and now 15.7 a lot :)

MSI 390 is the one to go for.

 
Assuming 390 behaves exactly like the 290 it's based on then I would only go for the 970. I have a 290 and 970 and the Nvidia card plays games far smoother, it's something I could only notice when testing both one after another, plus pretty sure an overclocked 970 at 1500mhz wont be beaten by a 390 in pretty much anything.

Only reason I can see for a 390 is 8GB vram, which isn't much worth having unless you're qt 1440p or 4k etc.
 
SouthEastBlue said:
Assuming 390 behaves exactly like the 290 it's based on then I would only go for the 970. I have a 290 and 970 and the Nvidia card plays games far smoother, it's something I could only notice when testing both one after another, plus pretty sure an overclocked 970 at 1500mhz wont be beaten by a 390 in pretty much anything.

Only reason I can see for a 390 is 8GB vram, which isn't much worth having unless you're qt 1440p or 4k etc.
Click to expand...

They don't and reviews show that the 390 is usually faster; same with OCs also....390 is the card to get at that price
 
SouthEastBlue said:
Assuming 390 behaves exactly like the 290 it's based on then I would only go for the 970. I have a 290 and 970 and the Nvidia card plays games far smoother, it's something I could only notice when testing both one after another, plus pretty sure an overclocked 970 at 1500mhz wont be beaten by a 390 in pretty much anything.

Only reason I can see for a 390 is 8GB vram, which isn't much worth having unless you're qt 1440p or 4k etc.
Click to expand...

The 970 is pretty good but i think the 290 has more real muscle, for smoothness it depends, there are instances where it does feel a bit more fluid than the 290 but there are also instances where the 970 micro-stutters, its hitching a little.
neither one of them are completely faultless, 'Nothing is' they are different and behave differently in different situations.

They are both great cards, really, personally the one i would recommend is a good 390, like the MSI 390 Gaming. but both cards are equally good.
 
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I'd say the 390 is the better card, more VRAM for the same price which means should you decide to go above 1080p, you will be ready.
 
meldarthx said:
They don't and reviews show that the 390 is usually faster; same with OCs also....390 is the card to get at that price
Click to expand...

Well I've seen benchmarks of 290 and 390 at the same clock speeds putting out identical frames per second so the actual chip itself is identical, 390 bios has also been modded for 290 too over on another forum.

As for 290 having more muscle, it certainly didn't when I benched it on the latest drivers running 1100/1400. It performed worse in Witcher, World of warcraft and GTA 5 by a few frames, most notable was what I assume is a difference in frame times rather than pure fps.

It was enough to put me off any AMD gpu for now at least. If anyone knows a cure for this jerkiness I would love to know the fix... I'm not a fan boy by any means, ans would happily use my AMD card in my own PC rather than my daughters if I thought it gave a better experience.
 
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