Push me over the edge: GTX970 or R9 390?

If you play GTA V, consider the vram factor. Without even maxing out all the settings, just mostly very high setting on 1080p, it easily wants more than 3.5GB of vram. I have no doubt more games will follow suit in 2016. Just FYI.
 
If you play GTA V, consider the vram factor. Without even maxing out all the settings, just mostly very high setting on 1080p, it easily wants more than 3.5GB of vram. I have no doubt more games will follow suit in 2016. Just FYI.

He already bought the 390 so he's safe in that regard.
 
If you play GTA V, consider the vram factor. Without even maxing out all the settings, just mostly very high setting on 1080p, it easily wants more than 3.5GB of vram. I have no doubt more games will follow suit in 2016. Just FYI.

Yeah I'm helping a friend build his first PC and GTA V is a major reason he wants to build. Driver issues aside, the 8GB of vram is going to be nice for games down the road.
 
I bought a MSI 970 mainly for GTA V on my HTPC. as Nomas states, with high settings on 1080p it uses more than 3.5gb, I cant even enable high grass or any of the advanced graphics settings without going over 3.5gb. For this reason I am picking up a MSI 390 today, the 970 oc's well and is quiet, however Im hoping the extra 4.5gb of usable ram will actually allow me to max out GTA V. not being able to max GTA V on a brand new card is a dealbreaker for me, so as long as the 390 perfroms, the 970 is getting returned
 
If new, get the 390. If you are ok buying used get 970. They will be cheaper down the line and easier to SLI in the very near future, considering new cards are coming out
 
I had the 970 and it was really amazing. I bought a fury x (I know not what you are talking about) and didn't much care for it. Drivers weren't bad however.
 
If you play GTA V, consider the vram factor. Without even maxing out all the settings, just mostly very high setting on 1080p, it easily wants more than 3.5GB of vram. I have no doubt more games will follow suit in 2016. Just FYI.

It exceeds 3.5 and still works fine, so no problem. 970 and even 980 are not supposed to run GTAV all maxed out with advanced settings on. Hell, even titan X couldn't run all that. People are getting mad about settings these days, especially when there is low visual difference during actual gameplay.
 
^Depth of field in GTA V - makes the game look like shit and less FPS, i never understood that setting.
Other open world games like Watchdogs looked tolerable with that effect but in GTA V i thought something is wrong with my card.
 
So the XFX 390 got to 1085 MHz but at 100% fan speed? link

Doesn't a (good) 970 gain 10% by overclocking with auto fans, 71C?
 
So the XFX 390 got to 1085 MHz but at 100% fan speed? link

Doesn't a (good) 970 gain 10% by overclocking with auto fans, 71C?

That particular XFX card just didn't like to OC. I bet if you looked hard enough you'd find one that could. They listed plenty of examples of other 390's and 290's on that page that did OC just fine. Sometimes that happens. There is another thread on the boards where a guy with an Asus 970 has issues with the fans not coming on and thus crashing his video card driver. So he has to set his fan speed manually to keep his 970 from crashing.

My R9 290 wouldn't go above 1059MHz. Some guys get cards that exceed 1200. That's why it's called overclocking. You never know what you're going to get. Ask the guys with the Gigabyte G1 980ti cards that were having problems last month running at stock speeds. I had one HD 7950 that OC'd to 1200+. I had another that would cry if I went 20MHz over stock.

It is what it is.
 
Yes it's a decision on the edge of going either way. Post above explains owning a 970 and 390, now that's really being neutral.

The 390 is definitely cheaper than the 8GB 290X back in May or something. But those 4GB prices really tumbled.
 
Yeah, look at when I started this thread. I've been hemming and hawing ever since. The two cards both have very good reasons to buy them. They also have drawbacks. Now, I'll have one of each and I'll be able to bitch about both. ;)
 
Yeah, look at when I started this thread. I've been hemming and hawing ever since. The two cards both have very good reasons to buy them. They also have drawbacks. Now, I'll have one of each and I'll be able to bitch about both. ;)

Yeah this thread has definitely helped me out as well with a build for a friend. We decided to go with a Sapphire Nitro R9 390.

Edit: Well now we're back on the fence with the 970 SSC deal right now... FML.
 
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Yeah this thread has definitely helped me out as well with a build for a friend. We decided to go with a Sapphire Nitro R9 390.

Edit: Well now we're back on the fence with the 970 SSC deal right now... FML.

lol get the nitro and never look back....or let your bud build his own:D
 
:)

I've got the R9 390 sitting next to me, shrink-wrapped, and begging to be let out into the world. Before I install it to replace the HD6870, I'm doing some hard-drive swaps and maintenance. The delay is making think about getting another 970, instead!

These two really are very close, from all I've read. I'm going to rip that plastic and commit...any minute.
;)
 
I hope you opened the 390! I love my XFX DD 390, strong OCer to, when I had it running by itself it was set to core 1117 mem 1700 stable just through CCC with the power limit set to +50! Now I have it paired with a MSI Gaming 290X 4GB in Crossfire so I've brought the clocks down to reduce heat. I'm still getting a good everyday OC out of both though, 390 is running at 1100/1580, 290X at 1100/1330. Also if you do decide to go SLI/Crossfire in the future just remember the flexibility Crossfire has over SLI, you can mix & match a lot of AMD cards swinging the pricing of doing a dual GPU setup to AMD.
 
970 simply due to power consumption I think. You can pick up a 970 for pretty reasonable price right now, used and new.
 
970 is a no brainer as you can often find deals on them in the $250 range from EVGA b-stock and the like.
 
Don't Sli Vram limited cards.
If you want SLi go with 980s or higher IMO.
 
If you're going to be buying an AMD card, the best one atm in that price range, is the 8GB 290X, and NOT the 390.

Regardless...all 3 cards are very capable, but if you plan on using 1440 or higher resolutions, you'll want one of the AMD cards with the 8GB vram.
 
I see no reason to force yourself into going with a 290X unless its cheaper. If that's why you said that then I fully agree. If you find them at the same price just go 390 and get the tiny improvements that come along with it.
 
I kinda own both. I have an EVGA GTX970 SSC+ and an XFX R9-290@1100mhz/1500mhz(same as Factory OC'd 390s) and can definitively say that the 390 would be the wiser choice. SLI/CFX isn't always 100%, as you stated, so I wouldn't recommend going that route. The heat and power issue I feel is overblown. Even with the GTX970 you would want a good quality PSU (I went with the Corsair RM650), and that same PSU will power an R9-390 just fine. In respect to heat, I really don't have any issues, even when overclocked. I believe most 390s have a custom HSF on it that are quiet and efficient at keeping the card cool.

If you're looking in the $330 price range, really, the R9-390 is the only logical choice(baring used amazing deals on 290x's). However, if you want to save a bit, you can always check out EVGA B-Stock. I picked up my GTX970 there for $240. For almost $100 less than you're looking to spend, that is a great way to get a GTX970. If you're dead-set on new in that price-range, like I said, the 390 is the only logical choice.
 
Based on the longevity seen with the 7970, I'd lean towards the 390. Just seems a more robust card as a single-card solution.
 
I'm in the same boat here, leaning towards the 390 myself, watching for a deal.
 
These cards trade blows on perf, with stock speed 390 winning almost always. But it comes down to finding a better deal, if you can find a better deal on either one, i am sure you will be happier with that.
If you had to buy for the same price, i would slightly lean towards the 390, unless the 390 has to make you upgrade your PSU (that is an added cost and then i'd go towards the 970).
 
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