R9 380 2GB or 4GB

J

JeffC

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
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76
I am looking to buy my wife a new GPU. She wants to be able to play new heavier demanding games like Witcher 3. Don't mind playing at 30 FPS on average. Will be playing in 1080p.

I am liking what I am seeing so far of the R9 380. What I don't know is if, in this case, the extra 2GB is worth $30. I know that at resolutions of 1440p and higher 2GB VRAM is not enough. However, sense she will be only gaming at 1080p is there a need for the extra VRAM? Or should we save the $30 and put it toward adding an extra 8GB of RAM so she is running 16GB?
 
4GB, no question about it. It's easy to go over 2GB in games at 1080p today.
 
Just get a 280 for $50 cheaper. 3 GB VRAM. XFX DD is on-sale for $150 right now, lifetime warranty. Hot stuff.
4 GB 380 is what, $230? Lame... At that price just get a 290.

Unless you absolutely need GCN 1.2.
 
What I really wanted to get was a 290X but seeing they are more then the new 390 that's not happening. I was looking at the XFX DD 280 and DD BE 280. Is the 280 really equal to the 380? If so I might go with the XFX DD BE R9 280 as from the benchmarks I found it seemed to get 20 FPS or more over the standard XFX DD 280.
 
It's an overclocked 285 so it will be faster than the 280 out of the box.
Assuming you can manage your own overclocking then the 380 won't be noticably faster than the 280 since the 280 vs 285 were already very similar in terms of performance.

Certainly not worth an extra $50+ or more.
If you're going to spend $200ish then just get a 280X or spend a little more for the 290.

If you want Nvidia then look into finding a used 770 or 780, maybe? You might be able to get good performance out of the 960 if you can overclock it like a beast but I'm not familiar with Nvidia hardware these days.
 
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If I am reading the benchmarks right the 280 actually out preforms the 285. I have no issue with overclocking it. My main thinking, though, was the 380 would be more future proof as far as GCN 1.2 and DX12.
 
I was looking at the XFX DD 280 and DD BE 280.
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The black edition is same exact card using a bios with higher voltage and higher clocks. The non black edition can be flashed to black very easily for free. At that point the only difference is the sticker;)
 
primetime said:
The black edition is same exact card using a bios with higher voltage and higher clocks. The non black edition can be flashed to black very easily for free. At that point the only difference is the sticker;)
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In that case the non black edition seems to be a no brainer. Can you explain how to do it or link me to more information?
 
OK so the XFX DD BE R9 280 is not worth an extra $50 over the XFX DD R9 280.

Is a R9 280X worth an extra $40 over a 280? If so is PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X 3GBD5-T2DHE/OC a good card?
 
I would really recommend going for a 290 if you can. 4GB, and they are a whole different class of performance versus the 280/280X. I've seen them on sale for around $220-230 if you look hard and get rebates, and I think you would be happier longer with a 290 vs any 280 series.
 
Rizen said:
I would really recommend going for a 290 if you can. 4GB, and they are a whole different class of performance versus the 280/280X. I've seen them on sale for around $220-230 if you look hard and get rebates, and I think you would be happier longer with a 290 vs any 280 series.
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I would love to get a 290 or 290X. Problem is ever since the 300 launch they have been going up in price. The lowest I have seen them lately is for around $280 for the 290 and $310 for the 290X. At those prices I would just buy a 390. Sadly that just is not in the budget.
 
JeffC said:
I would love to get a 290 or 290X. Problem is ever since the 300 launch they have been going up in price.
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I thought I was going crazy when I also noticed this. Superbiiz has an overclocked 290 pcs+ going for 280 right now. You can get it for 275 with their coupon code for $5 off. Comes with dirt rally too. I would have pulled, but i'm waiting a bit.
 
Honestly for the price i really like the R9 380 4GB ....The xfx one at newegg looks pretty nice and has more vram than my card...not to mention gcn 1.2....equal performance, smaller card, newertech, more driver options than the 280x.....if i were buying a wife or gf card it be a good choice:) But TaintedSquirrel is right...the 280 with lifetime warranty for 150 is much better deal....just has less geek appeal not that your wife will care

Now just glancing at gpu-z i can see i hit my full vram limit 3gb playing a brand new alpha game by dice.....at only 1080p.....so 4gb might be useful
 
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JeffC said:
OK so the XFX DD BE R9 280 is not worth an extra $50 over the XFX DD R9 280.

Is a R9 280X worth an extra $40 over a 280? If so is PowerColor TurboDuo AXR9 280X 3GBD5-T2DHE/OC a good card?
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the xfx has a lifetime warranty on the 280/280x and is the LAST of any cards to get this. Not only that there customer support/rma is unmatched for the time being. There rep has been a member of this site for years and SHOULD be around if you need him.
 
JeffC said:
I would love to get a 290 or 290X. Problem is ever since the 300 launch they have been going up in price. The lowest I have seen them lately is for around $280 for the 290 and $310 for the 290X. At those prices I would just buy a 390. Sadly that just is not in the budget.
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Try the used market. Just picked up a used Gigabyte Windforce 290X (GV-R929XOC-4GD) for $219 shipped on eBay. I was originally going for a "budget" 750 Ti-class card. Oops...but the power for the $$$ was way too hard to resist. :D
 
Am I the only one who thinks the 380s are a terrible bargain? We've had 280s and 285s at this price for almost a year, and these new cards actually bumped prices up slightly now that we know nothing better's coming out.

Meanwhile, 960s can be had for similar price and performance with them running much cooler.

Shame.
 
primetime said:
the xfx has a lifetime warranty on the 280/280x and is the LAST of any cards to get this. Not only that there customer support/rma is unmatched for the time being. There rep has been a member of this site for years and SHOULD be around if you need him.
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I would get the XFX 280X, however, it is $35 more then the PowerColor :(

sk3tch said:
Try the used market. Just picked up a used Gigabyte Windforce 290X (GV-R929XOC-4GD) for $219 shipped on eBay. I was originally going for a "budget" 750 Ti-class card. Oops...but the power for the $$$ was way too hard to resist. :D
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I have always been hesitant to buy used components. Had a really bad experience doing that many years ago. Though at this point I might look into it.
 
As long as people don't abuse them (I recognize this can be a big "if") video cards will last many, many years. 290X cards are less than 2 years old, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Find someone with reputable feedback, there are a lot of video cards for sale in the FS/FT forum here on the H.
 
Rizen said:
As long as people don't abuse them (I recognize this can be a big "if") video cards will last many, many years. 290X cards are less than 2 years old, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Find someone with reputable feedback, there are a lot of video cards for sale in the FS/FT forum here on the H.
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Sadly I am 40 posts/comments short of being able to comment on any of the FS/FT post :(
 
The HD7950 or 7970 is still R9-280/285/280X performance level if you can find one used as I use to crossfire a 280 and 7950 together ..the set up was faster then a 780Ti or 290X at the time which was before 980GTX release but it's in that ballpark..

The 280 ran a much higher voltage then the 7950 did but also overclocked to 1200Mhz core and 1580 ram which made it 280x performance and it'S faster then my 770GTX 4Gb card... I still own the 280 as it's LIVING LIFE in my HTPC.
 
JeffC said:
Sadly I am 40 posts/comments short of being able to comment on any of the FS/FT post :(
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Just send kyle a pm as to what your wanting to do. Since you have been here 4 years, he Might make an exception for you. He would rather that, then people spamming posts just to get there post count up. Now if you were trying to sell something that be different for sure
 
Does anyone know what the performance increase is running 2 6950 cards in crossfire over a single 6950? I might just go that rout if it will run Witcher 3 until the 290/290X stabilize.
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
What do you mean "stabilize"? 290 and 290X prices are only going to go up.
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I don't see the prices of the 290 & 290X to continue going up. As is they are already well above the 390 which is a better card. But, if I am wrong and they do then I will just pick up a 390 down the road.

Either way just wondering if picking up a second 6950 will give enough of a performance boost to work now as a stop gap until we decide what to do in the future.
 
290 and 290X are EoL which means their prices will skysocket and supply will dry up.
They are the same GPU as the 390 and 390X, I doubt AMD wants to make both series simultaneously.
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
290 and 290X are EoL which means their prices will skysocket and supply will dry up.
They are the same GPU as the 390 and 390X, I doubt AMD wants to make both series simultaneously.
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Not necessarily. If they're clearing the channel of the new parts we could see prices drop again (for a brief time) - happened before with the 780.

The used market will continue to be a toilet for AMD. Which is great for us. You can get cards for around $200 used that outperform $350+ new cards.

I just don't think people should be "snatching up" 290/290X parts (new) because they're everywhere...even if temporarily higher prices give the impression of scarcity. They made too many due to mining - remember. So we will at least have used to go for.
 
The 285/380 is a better choice over the aging 280/280x, it seems most modern games, or games with heavy tessellation will perform better on the 285/380 vs the 280/280x.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
The 285/380 is a better choice over the aging 280/280x, it seems most modern games, or games with heavy tessellation will perform better on the 285/380 vs the 280/280x.
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Tonga has much faster tessellation performance than Tahiti and Hawaii.
 
4Gb over 2Gb...every day.

I bought a GTX670...4Gb... 2 years ago (or more). That thing is still going gangbusters. 1080p gaming; the 4Gb makes a difference. Glad I paid the extra couple of bucks.

I was looking at similar cards to the ones you're looking at. My thought was the 380 4Gb. (I wouldn't buy a 2Gb card. That's just me.)

Good luck.
 
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your help. We ended up getting an XFX BE DD 280X off eBay for only $165. I am sure that down the road we will be upgrading to a 380 4GB but for now we need to save up so I can get a 390 in the next couple of months.
 
Remember if you need any customer service for the XFX card try spamming the Support user on these forums. They're picky about receipts but if you nag him enough I'm sure he'll cave.
 
JeffC said:
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your help. We ended up getting an XFX BE DD 280X off eBay for only $165. I am sure that down the road we will be upgrading to a 380 4GB but for now we need to save up so I can get a 390 in the next couple of months.
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Let me know if you run into any issues since i'm running the DD edition flashed to black edition. Honestly i actually raised the clock a small amount further to 1100 mhz instead of 1080 the black uses. Only issue i have right now is when using chrome i have to keep Hardware Acceleration turned off or the driver will eventually error out. Probably do to the fact win 10 driver still needs some work. Aside from that, it's a very solid card.
 
primetime said:
Let me know if you run into any issues since i'm running the DD edition flashed to black edition. Honestly i actually raised the clock a small amount further to 1100 mhz instead of 1080 the black uses. Only issue i have right now is when using chrome i have to keep Hardware Acceleration turned off or the driver will eventually error out. Probably do to the fact win 10 driver still needs some work. Aside from that, it's a very solid card.
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and with win7/8.1 you will also have issues with chrome and hardware acceleration, the screen flicker is a thing that AMD never solved with these old cards in chrome.
 
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