R9 390 vs GTX 970 - Fight!

fs123 · 27 Oct 2015 at 13:22

The 390 makes sense over any 3-4gb in the same price range. You can buy a new one now for around £240 and if/when you need extra power in a yewars time you can easily buy another 390/X used for probably £150 and have a system that beats a single TitanX in 4K for a total of less than £400. Arguably the best financial decision right now for those on a budget.
The 970 has 3.5GB useable so will not really be any use for SLI and would need to be upgraded when the memory is not enough.

My current 7970 crossfire was basically bought using the same methodology and currently is faster than a 980/390X for performance and comes close to a 980Ti when overclocked. If anything is limiting it, it's the 3GB VRAM in games such as GTA5 and dying Light where stutter can occur when settings are maxed.

Ian Evey · 27 Oct 2015 at 13:34

fs123 said:
The 390 makes sense over any 3-4gb in the same price range. You can buy a new one now for around £240 and if/when you need extra power in a yewars time you can easily buy another 390/X used for probably £150 and have a system that beats a single TitanX in 4K for a total of less than £400. Arguably the best financial decision right now for those on a budget.
The 970 has 3.5GB useable so will not really be any use for SLI and would need to be upgraded when the memory is not enough.

My current 7970 crossfire was basically bought using the same methodology and currently is faster than a 980/390X for performance and comes close to a 980Ti when overclocked. If anything is limiting it, it's the 3GB VRAM in games such as GTA5 and dying Light where stutter can occur when settings are maxed.

Your saying that 2 970's is pointless yet you are using 2x7970's which would have cost you approximately the same as 2x 970's and praising them?....give over.

Lokken86 · 27 Oct 2015 at 13:42

Ian Evey said:
Your saying that 2 970's is pointless yet you are using 2x7970's which would have cost you approximately the same as 2x 970's and praising them?....give over.

They are currently faster but won't be for much longer.

fs123 · 27 Oct 2015 at 13:58

Ian Evey said:
Your saying that 2 970's is pointless yet you are using 2x7970's which would have cost you approximately the same as 2x 970's and praising them?....give over.

Your forgetting that I have had the original 7950 for 4 years now. I simply crossfired last year with a used 7970 which I bought for £50 and is now faster than a 980. I also payed less than £300 overall. Would it make sense for me now to buy a 980ti for £500 when my current setup is fast enough for now? The VRAM on my setup is not enough for some games as mentioned. I will upgrade next year when cards come out that give me decent upgrade.

The thread and the debate is about anyone who is buying a card now. You can buy a 970 but I know it probably won't be viable in 3 years time like my 7970 has been due to memory restraints.

Ian Evey · 27 Oct 2015 at 14:23

fs123 said:
Your forgetting that I have had the original 7950 for over 3 years now. I simply crossfired last year with a used 7970 which I bought for £50 and is now faster than a 980. I also payed less than £300 overall. Would it make sense for me now to buy a 980ti for £500 when my current setup is fast enough for now? The VRAM on my setup is not enough for some games as mentioned. I will upgrade next year when cards come out that give me decent upgrade.

The thread and the debate is about anyone who is buying a card now. You can buy a 970 but I know it probably won't be viable in 3 years time like my 7970 has been due to memory restraints.

With dx12 coming and more console ports coming how do you know 3gb wont be enough let alone 4gb, we could have memory stacking on sli/xfire then you would have 7gb of useable memory on 970 sli.

Although you brought the xfire agument up again it still remains that anyone not using 2 cards should not buy a 4gb card because the 8gb one is better because of vram.

I was going to sli my 670. Then i was going to sli my 780, but i dont see the point for me as the 780 and 3gb is perfectly matched for the games i play at decent fps.

Everyones different but i would not buy a card solely that performs the same because it had more vram i wint use, because its amd or nvidia then yes thats a different story.

TNA · 27 Oct 2015 at 14:31

Gregster said:
I have been avoiding this thread because of earlier garbage but I always get miffed when VRAM gets mentioned and wrongly. I have debated this for the last 5+ years lol

In essence, assuming Crossfire is working well and whoever is going to run 4 cards and very high resolutions, I would tell them to grab the 390s every day but for one GPU, that extra VRAM is pointless.

heh. I understand

In the case of if you knew 100% you was not going to add another GPU then yeah it does make it less useful. But I would not say pointless as not everyone's threshold for minimum fps is 60. Some are happy with 30 or even less just to get the best textures or graphics switched on. I know I was for Crysis when it first came out when playing it on my heavily overclocked 8800 GTS. I played and enjoyed it on average low 20's in fps and it was very playable. It was not buttery, but not stuttery either.

In such instances the extra vram can come in handy to have the best textures etc. Then you got mods and stuff which may need the extra vram and it does not always mean you won't have the grunt needed. Again as I said, very limited instances, but they are non the less there. Better to have the extra vram than not I say, if it does not cost you more why not?

It may even have higher chance of selling in the future too. I have seen people asking if the 680 which was on sale was the 4 or 2gb version for example, losing interest when the person said 2gb. So many small things, all add up.

But main one, if you have a change of heart and want to go multiple gpu's in the future, you are covered. Therefore no point in limiting yourself if no extra cost is involved. Hope that helps you or anyone not understanding what I am trying to say here

Gregster · 27 Oct 2015 at 14:53

TNA said:
heh. I understand

In the case of if you knew 100% you was not going to add another GPU then yeah it does make it less useful. But I would not say pointless as not everyone's threshold for minimum fps is 60. Some are happy with 30 or even less just to get the best textures or graphics switched on. I know I was for Crysis when it first came out when playing it on my heavily overclocked 8800 GTS. I played and enjoyed it on average low 20's in fps and it was very playable. It was not buttery, but not stuttery either.

In such instances the extra vram can come in handy to have the best textures etc. Then you got mods and stuff which may need the extra vram and it does not always mean you won't have the grunt needed. Again as I said, very limited instances, but they are non the less there. Better to have the extra vram than not I say, if it does not cost you more why not?

It may even have higher chance of selling in the future too. I have seen people asking if the 680 which was on sale was the 4 or 2gb version for example, losing interest when the person said 2gb. So many small things, all add up.

But main one, if you have a change of heart and want to go multiple gpu's in the future, you are covered. Therefore no point in limiting yourself if no extra cost is involved. Hope that helps you or anyone not understanding what I am trying to say here

The MGPU market is so small, it would be rare that someone goes multi GPU. Other factors like power, heat, noise, compatibility, PSU and game issues need to be considered and with all of those considered, I will find it tough to go MGPU again. My last 2 builds haven't been the best for scaling and smoothness with pretty evident microstutter being the biggest issue I had in pretty much most of my library.

But if they were thinking of going 4K or higher and needing the grunt to run out of VRAM, I would say grab 4 390s. 2 or under I don't see it as an issue really having been a 4K and MGPU user.

Edit:

And to add, a single card choice would come down to many options as well, with the software suite being a factor in my decision, as well as fps (avg and lows being my main concern). Not forgetting that certain GameTitles will have specific effects for its customers that the competition can't run.

TNA · 27 Oct 2015 at 15:03

Gregster said:
My last 2 builds haven't been the best for scaling and smoothness with pretty evident microstutter being the biggest issue I had in pretty much most of my library.

Interesting. From people that I have spoken to and seen online it seemed SLI worked on most things very well. Maybe I have been too harsh on CrossFire as I have found that when it works it works in most cases. Just that in a few cases it does not work at all. Like right now Elite Dangerous for me

I will be going single gpu for my next graphics card for sure when 14/16nm stuff appears. A single 14/16nm gpu should have the grunt I require for my needs.

TonyTurbo78 · 27 Oct 2015 at 15:16

All I can say is, the 390 is a brilliant card for the price it is, but we know the 970 is also a very good card, I'd say the big deciding factor is that res you intend to use that card on. I'm incredibly impressed by these cards in crossfire, they do laugh at anything you throw at them. At 1440p and a FreeSync screen, to me it feels godly for the money I spent. I jumped the 270,280,290 series but when the 3x series cards came out at the price they were, it seemed like the more sensible cards to get rather than the 970.

Gregster · 27 Oct 2015 at 16:00

TNA said:
Interesting. From people that I have spoken to and seen online it seemed SLI worked on most things very well. Maybe I have been too harsh on CrossFire as I have found that when it works it works in most cases. Just that in a few cases it does not work at all. Like right now Elite Dangerous for me

I will be going single gpu for my next graphics card for sure when 14/16nm stuff appears. A single 14/16nm gpu should have the grunt I require for my needs.

I never noticed till going G-Sync if that makes sense. Everything on a single card is super smooth but when there is microstutter, it sticks out like a sore thumb, whereas previous, I doubt I ever noticed it.

easyrider · 27 Oct 2015 at 16:08

Stop arguing and play some games.

Gregster · 27 Oct 2015 at 16:25

easyrider said:
Stop arguing and play some games.

I am actually playing ED

Ian Evey · 27 Oct 2015 at 16:29

easyrider said:
Stop arguing and play some games.

Huh, fallout 4 and battlefront and ashes of the singularity are not out yet.

In the meantime co-op 7 days to die is all i enjoy atm

TNA · 27 Oct 2015 at 16:32

Gregster said:
I am actually playing ED

I uninstalled it again after getting bored and being frustrated with crossfire not working on it. But I am really looking forward to playing it in VR soon, but likely it won't be in crossfire mode

Gregster · 27 Oct 2015 at 16:55

TNA said:
I uninstalled it again after getting bored and being frustrated with crossfire not working on it. But I am really looking forward to playing it in VR soon, but likely it won't be in crossfire mode

lol, I had a 2 month break where my X52 broke and I played other games but right back into it now and also really looking forward to playing it on the OR.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Oct 2015 at 17:03

Asus R9 390X for £299.99:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-373-as.html

This never ends well · 27 Oct 2015 at 18:00

Ohh my, your still going on about this.

chrcoluk · 27 Oct 2015 at 18:02

I think when DX12 matures amd will regain market share.

My opinion is the amd hardware is superior but the nvidia software is superior aka drivers. With DX12 it seems the dev's can optimise themselves more instead of the drivers and amd will catch up.

So for dx9/11 the 970 is better but for dx12 the 390 is better.

KoM · 27 Oct 2015 at 18:47

gtx 970 all the way. Nvidia cards just can't be beaten, be that on performance, price, or quality.

Amatsubu · 27 Oct 2015 at 19:15

KoM said:
gtx 970 all the way. Nvidia cards just can't be beaten, be that on performance, price, or quality.