Which GPU

[xHadrian]

I think you can make the arguement for either a non-reference 980 or a non-reference 390, reference coolers are only good when you are watercooling the card right away and they are cheaper, simply put, they perform considerably worst, louder and hotter. What models you have available for each card? (MSI, EVGA, Saphire, Asus, etc)

MSI, EVGA, ASUS. ASUS is more expensive though.

[xHadrian]

And PNY, but I don't trust them.

[tomas710]

And PNY, but I don't trust them.

PNY is an odd brand, i would only buy a card from them if it was a quadro, both EVGA and MSI are great, no need to get the ASUS, I would get the MSI 390X, solid card, solid cooler, and even if the 390X wasn't cheaper, it edges the 980 in most games, i would say in most cases they are very close to each other, but a 4gig frame buffer will get scarce in higher resolutions, so right now my vote goes to the 390X, not by a lot tho, but that's what i would get.

[xHadrian]

PNY is an odd brand, i would only buy a card from them if it was a quadro, both EVGA and MSI are great, no need to get the ASUS, I would get the MSI 390X, solid card, solid cooler, and even if the 390X wasn't cheaper, it edges the 980 in most games, i would say in most cases they are very close to each other, but a 4gig frame buffer will get scarce in higher resolutions, so right now my vote goes to the 390X, not by a lot tho, but that's what i would get.

The problem is, it's hard to water cool it. There are not many companies making water blocks for it. Although I saw in some benchmarks the 980 beats it in most games at every resolution.

[TheModMonster]

EVGA GTX 980 4GB SUPERCLOCKED ACX 2.0 (reference)

OR

MSI R9 390X

Considering the 390X because if the 8G and it's cheaper. I want a GPU that will last 2-3 years.

980. 

[xHadrian]

I'm getting mixed replies here.

[tomas710]

I'm getting mixed replies here.

Factoring in the fact that you really want to watercool the card, and in particular there isn't any indication of a waterblock for the MSI 390, you may choose the 980 since it's a reference PCB and there are many waterblocks available for it. Sometimes raw performance  or vram are not the only factors and that's ok, the fact is in your particular situation IF you want to watercool your card in the near future, the EVGA 980 would be the better choice. 

 

PS, if someone simply answers '390' or '980' dismiss them, if they don't have time to type more than 3 characters they are not worthy of being considered for advice.

Good luck!