R9 290X Vs R9 390

Lither · 13 Nov 2015 at 14:59

I'm considering getting either the R9 290X or R9 390 when it goes on sale however in terms of performance, is the R9 390 better than the R9 290X?

If I were to get the R9 390, which is the best brand to get as I will be overclocking the card which I heard MSI and Sapphire are good for that?

Gregster · 13 Nov 2015 at 15:02

Well they are basically similar cards but one has 8GB and the other has 4GB. Go with whatever your budget wants and if it was me, I would go for the cheaper 290X (so long as it is much cheaper)

r7slayer · 13 Nov 2015 at 15:09

MSI 290x lightning is a beast of a overclocker other than that all other MSI cards are average. Saphire have some great coolers which allows for some good over-clocks on air. I run 1200 on my 290x on the core most of the time with odd games i have a second over clock profile where it drops to 1180 to maintain stability. Could get more if i added more volts but id rather keep temps down and noise.

My card is a Sapphire Tri-x btw.

arc@css · 13 Nov 2015 at 15:41

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-390-vs-AMD-R9-290X/3481vs2166

Lither · 13 Nov 2015 at 17:26

R9 290X seems to be around £180-200 used where I can get the R9 390 for £30-40 more brand new as well but the main question is whether to get the MSI or Sapphire?

Dave2150 · 13 Nov 2015 at 17:37

Lither said:
I'm considering getting either the R9 290X or R9 390 when it goes on sale however in terms of performance, is the R9 390 better than the R9 290X?

If I were to get the R9 390, which is the best brand to get as I will be overclocking the card which I heard MSI and Sapphire are good for that?

I'd personally go for the MSI 390 - then you get a full 3 year warranty and double the VRAM for the future, aswell as a cooler running card (new 390 series coolers are awesome, especially the MSI/Sapphire ones)

nashathedog · 13 Nov 2015 at 18:19

Lither said:
R9 290X seems to be around £180-200 used where I can get the R9 390 for £30-40 more brand new as well but the main question is whether to get the MSI or Sapphire?

Do not risk getting an Asus or MSI 200 series. Temps are bad due to using heatsinks that are too thin. Personally I'd go with the Grenada card but if you get a good clocking 290x it should be a little faster than the 390.

nails666 · 13 Nov 2015 at 20:32

I'm in a similar position myself, I think if I could pick up a decent brand 2nd hand 290x for under £140 then I'll go for it but as you say, they seem to go for near £200 and at that price point I might as well just spend that little extra and get a brand new card. There's also the possibility that there might be a good deal on a 390 in the Black Friday sales. If one of them comes below £200 then I'll probably grab one.

BluD · 14 Nov 2015 at 07:22

Lither said:
R9 290X seems to be around £180-200 used where I can get the R9 390 for £30-40 more brand new as well but the main question is whether to get the MSI or Sapphire?

Its a shame that ya cant use MM, i picked up a pair with ek coolers for 340 and ive seen a pair sell for as low as 300, a 295x2 sold for 310 the other day. Im guessing the bay is selling them for a lot more.

TheMorningStar · 14 Nov 2015 at 09:47

In some scenarios the 290X is the better card and in others the 390. 390 is probably best over all with the 8gb of vram but the 290 will win out in sheer horsepower but only marginally. I believe the 390s are cooler than 290s also, with all the pros and cons I'd go for the 390.

nashathedog · 14 Nov 2015 at 10:11

TheMorningStar said:
In some scenarios the 290X is the better card and in others the 390. 390 is probably best over all with the 8gb of vram but the 290 will win out in sheer horsepower but only marginally. I believe the 390s are cooler than 290s also, with all the pros and cons I'd go for the 390.

+1

This sums it up.

nails666 · 14 Nov 2015 at 21:58

BluD said:
Its a shame that ya cant use MM, i picked up a pair with ek coolers for 340 and ive seen a pair sell for as low as 300, a 295x2 sold for 310 the other day. Im guessing the bay is selling them for a lot more.

Ah, all these tales of wonder from the MM, I'm so close now I can almost smell it

Hopefully I'll get access soon enough so I can sell my 295x2 through there rather than the bay.

Lither · 18 Nov 2015 at 22:26

Found a Sapphire R9 290X Vapor-X Tri-X which is used for 4 months for £190, should I take it?

anthony566 · 18 Nov 2015 at 23:14

I went for the MSI 390 and i am glad i did as it is so quiet in windows the fans hardly ever run and its keeps very cool.

JediFragger · 18 Nov 2015 at 23:16

Lither said:
Found a Sapphire R9 290X Vapor-X Tri-X which is used for 4 months for £190, should I take it?

Bit high for a s/h 290X (usually 150-160) BUT the Vapor-X was the top of the line 290X. See if he'll take less if possible? The 290X is still a good solid card :cool:

Unless it's an 8GB version...

sneakysnail · 18 Nov 2015 at 23:59

yeah an 8gb version would really be worth it. i regret not getting a 8GB card, now I'm going xfire for 4k and have to ditch a 4GB 290x for a 390...

new boy · 19 Nov 2015 at 00:02

then your going to regret them when the 14nm GPUs come out, and the cycle continues

sneakysnail · 19 Nov 2015 at 07:10

new boy said:
then your going to regret them when the 14nm GPUs come out, and the cycle continues

well that's how it goes, always a better card coming out but 390 xfire and a freesync monitor should manage 4k gaming for a good while, until the new cards come down in price anyway.

Lither · 19 Nov 2015 at 13:36

What's the performance percentage difference between 290 and 290X at stock or overclocked?

Lither · 19 Nov 2015 at 17:06

Lither said:
What's the performance percentage difference between 290 and 290X at stock or overclocked?

If the difference isn't much then I might go for a used R9 290 instead of the 290X as I only play games on 1080p@60FPS and don't plan on upgrading to 1440p or 4k