First Gaming Build. GTX 970 4GB or R9 390 8GB?

[TRambo]

So this is my first gaming build. Ive set in stone all the parts I'm going to use, except for my graphics card. Which graphics card performs better, the GTX 970 4GB or R9 390 8GB?

[The Pizza Thief]

390 for "futureproofness"

[ace_cheaply]

There are so many threads on this very topic, haha.

 

The 970 can be overclocked (usually) to beat the 390.  The 390 is generally faster out of the box, and has more than double the usable Vram.  That isn't really a factor for single card systems, because the gpu will be maxed out far before it can take advantage of those 8gb.  However, some games already use close to the 3.5 fast Vram limit of the 970 (GTA IV, Far Cry 4, witcher 3) at 1080p, so it's possible that future games will go over that threshold, limiting the future potential slightly of the 970.  

 

The 8gb is a benefit if you were to crossfire, as then you would have more than enough horsepower to take advantage of most of that ram, and you would only need to add a single card to stay relevant in the future if you want to move to 1440p, 4k, or if games become too demanding. 

 

 

I vote 390, but you can't go wrong either way. 

[TRambo]

1080p or 1440p

1080p

[TRambo]

390 for "futureproofness"

What do you mean? Are u saying that the 390 will last longer?

[TRambo]

390 for "futureproofness"

nevermind i understand what you are saying now.

[TRambo]

There are so many threads on this very topic, haha.

The 970 can be overclocked (usually) to beat the 390. The 390 is generally faster out of the box, and has more than double the usable Vram. That isn't really a factor for single card systems, because the gpu will be maxed out far before it can take advantage of those 8gb. However, some games already use close to the 3.5 fast Vram limit of the 970 (GTA IV, Far Cry 4, witcher 3) at 1080p, so it's possible that future games will go over that threshold, limiting the future potential slightly of the 970.

The 8gb is a benefit if you were to crossfire, as then you would have more than enough horsepower to take advantage of most of that ram, and you would only need to add a single card to stay relevant in the future if you want to move to 1440p, 4k, or if games become too demanding.

I vote 390, but you can't go wrong either way.

Alright, thanks. Very helpful comment. Helped me make my choice, which is to stick with the 390. Could you tell me what you think about my build overall though?

[TRambo]

970 then, but both perform equally really

Okay

[Hieb]

For 1920x1080 they are relatively close in performance, though the R9 390 does outperform it in most games. Additionally the R9 390 has twice the VRAM... right now this isn't a big deal as 4GB (or 3.5 depending how you look at it) is still plenty for 1080P gaming.

 

For 1440P and 4K the R9 390 pulls ahead even further and wins by a pretty healthy margin.

 

So really it's going to come down to price and your other priorities. Note that the R9 390 will draw around 80 watts more power under load, so it will pump out some more heat than the GTX 970 into your room. So if you have really bad airflow in your room you might want to avoid the 390.

 

But neglecting the power draw/heat topic, the R9 390 is the better card.

[TRambo]

For 1920x1080 they are relatively close in performance, though the R9 390 does outperform it in most games. Additionally the R9 390 has twice the VRAM... right now this isn't a big deal as 4GB (or 3.5 depending how you look at it) is still plenty for 1080P gaming.

For 1440P and 4K the R9 390 pulls ahead even further and wins by a pretty healthy margin.

So really it's going to come down to price and your other priorities. Note that the R9 390 will draw around 80 watts more power under load, so it will pump out some more heat than the GTX 970 into your room. So if you have really bad airflow in your room you might want to avoid the 390.

But neglecting the power draw/heat topic, the R9 390 is the better card.

Very helpful comment. Thanks!

[ace_cheaply]

Alright, thanks. Very helpful comment. Helped me make my choice, which is to stick with the 390. Could you tell me what you think about my build overall though?

Sorry, not seeing a link to the full build. Did you post it?

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Alright, thanks. Very helpful comment. Helped me make my choice, which is to stick with the 390. Could you tell me what you think about my build overall though?

 

Pretty balanced. A standard build with all the essentials covered. And that 750w G2 will power both the 970 and the 390. So you can't really go wrong with either cards

as they're both pretty much equal in performance. I may just toss out the H60 and grab a better air cooler like the dark rock 3. 

 

I notice loads of people saying card A will out perform card B when overclocked. It can be true but its not advisable to listen to that since you need silicon lottery to be nice to you. For all you know you might just end up with a 1400mhz 970 or a 1100mhz 390. 

[ace_cheaply]

Pretty balanced. A standard build with all the essentials covered. And that 750w G2 will power both the 970 and the 390. So you can't really go wrong with either cards

as they're both pretty much equal in performance. I may just toss out the H60 and grab a better air cooler like the dark rock 3. 

 

I notice loads of people saying card A will out perform card B when overclocked. It can be true but its not advisable to listen to that since you need silicon lottery to be nice to you. For all you know you might just end up with a 1400mhz 970 or a 1100mhz 390. 

That's why I threw in the caveat "usually"  

 

It is a pretty good build, I think I'd buy a little bit cheaper motherboard and a 480 or 500gb ssd, and probably a WD drive instead of the seagate. Also, don't forget about an OS, unless you already have one, TRambo. 

[TRambo]

That's why I threw in the caveat "usually"

It is a pretty good build, I think I'd buy a little bit cheaper motherboard and a 480 or 500gb ssd, and probably a WD drive instead of the seagate. Also, don't forget about an OS, unless you already have one, TRambo.

Could you link me to a good 2TB WD drive?

[ace_cheaply]

Could you link me to a good 2TB WD drive?

Sure.  This one is pretty great, albeit $30 more than the seagate.  

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236624

 

 

 

I've had two barracuda drives fail in a year, but that's anecdotal. All drives fail some time, i just got burnt hard enough to stay away from that particular fire. 

 

 

Edit:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0046TTBJW/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136874

[Whorax]

1080p

390.

 

People that say 970 for 1080p because the 390 is "overpowered" or something are daft.

[MarkoP]

I have an MSI 390 overclocked to 1180 on the core and 1575 on the memor without any problems on Valley. It is a solid card, and if you let the app optimize games that you play, you can run GTA V at 60 FPS no problem.