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390 now or wait for new cards?

chivs688

chivs688

chivs688

Associate
Joined
27 Nov 2010
Posts
706
Looking to upgrade to a 390, but as always don't know whether I should buy now (Black Friday deal hopefully) or wait until new cards come out next year and get one of them.

Any advice? Think it will be worth it performance and/or cost wise to wait?

What's the current plans for when/what new cards are released next year?
 
You haven't mentioned what you are upgrading from. The 390 is a great card which will last a while and due to its 8GB could be crossfired in future for 4K if needed.
 
Sorry. I have:
i5 2500k @4.5
Gigabyte Z77-D3H
Asus 7970 Matrix Platinum
Samsung 840 EVO SSD
SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W PSU

I play at 1080p but my monitor is 144Hz (set at 120Hz currently), and I'd like to get better framerates to make the most of my monitor, and I'm very sensitive to low framerates unfortunately.
 
It is good upgrade you will definitely see a difference. I had a 290X then a stopgap 7950, now a 390, and its a much faster card.
 
Go for it, I don't think you are going to be disappointed too much when the new cards do arrive. I have a sneaking suspicion we are going to see power savings for the most part. Rather than raw performance, at least for first year on a new node.
 
Basically you've got a 280x so I'd wait, You can lower some settings if frame rates are a concern in the meantime. At least wait for the 380x to release so you can see how it compares to the 390 and your card. Neither are a massive step up and the improvement will be inconsistent at best, Some games will show good performance leaps and some will show next to nothing, That's what I found with my 290x to Fury move.
 
For a temporary upgrade you could buy a 7950/70 for about £70.

I crossfired my 7970 and the boost was very good. I'd say it's as fast as a gtx 980. Obviously there is a risk of some strange issues with crossfire but I've personally had no problems.
 
nashathedog said:
Basically you've got a 280x so I'd wait, You can lower some settings if frame rates are a concern in the meantime. At least wait for the 380x to release so you can see how it compares to the 390 and your card. Neither are a massive step up and the improvement will be inconsistent at best, Some games will show good performance leaps and some will show next to nothing, That's what I found with my 290x to Fury move.
Click to expand...

290x to fury yes inconsistent improvement.
280x to 390 not inconsistent at all...in every game it is ~35-40% faster

In the end he need to decide if its worth it or not, i changed the 7950 to 390 paying £150 extra, def worth it.
 
Mtom said:
290x to fury yes inconsistent improvement.
280x to 390 not inconsistent at all...in every game it is ~35-40% faster

In the end he need to decide if its worth it or not, i changed the 7950 to 390 paying £150 extra, def worth it.
Click to expand...

The best case sure but I'd say a 15 to 20 % improvement at worst so you're right it is better than the Hawaii to Fiji leap. Still worth waiting in my opinion though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMewm-CjYdk

For example Advanced Warfare at 1080p shows the 390 at 15% faster (That's the worst one). Most seem to sit between 20 and 30, Closer to 30 I think. Some more so it is a decent performance leap.
 
chivs688 said:
Looking to upgrade to a 390, but as always don't know whether I should buy now (Black Friday deal hopefully) or wait until new cards come out next year and get one of them.

Any advice? Think it will be worth it performance and/or cost wise to wait?

What's the current plans for when/what new cards are released next year?
Click to expand...

worth it yes.
next generation wont be showing up anytime soon.
 
get it now, dont wait for next gen, it is still long way to go.

When you have more coin get yourself a freesync monitor as well then you can still get very smooth experience with 40fps.
 
I'd wait for next gen, or buy another 7970 second hand for crossfire

The upgrade from 7970 to 390 isn't all that great... the 390 is just a rebadged 290X, essentially.
 
When next gen comes out the prices will be the standard release premium prices, so you don't really get any bang for buck by waiting. People might even say, wait for the prices to go down before buying. 6 months later and the prices go down a tad then people recommend waiting for the next gen.

If you want/need an upgrade, can afford it and want it immediately buy now. If the current gens will do the job, get them, a release of another product wont make the older gens work any worse than they did prior to the new products release.

390 is dirt cheap imo for the card you get. Yes it is similar to the older gens flagship cards but then again, they were 440 on release and these are almost half that.
 
I would do it. The 390 has a much better chance of being good in DX12 than the 7970.

Avoid Crossfire like a dose of the clap IMO.
 
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