r9 390 crossfire vs 980ti

[Diceair]

Hi there

 

Me posting once again

 

So I can get a 980ti for a little bit over  2x r9 390 non x versions. I'm just planning on getting 2x r9 390 if i decide to upgrade but I have a few concerns. I can get powercolor for a little bit less than the msi versions but not sure if i should get it or rather wait for the next big thing. My current rig as follows

 

4790k @ 4.6GHz

Windows 10 64 bit

16GB 2400mhz ram

1 ssd for os and 1 for games

2x HDD's

Corsair air 540

MSI z97 gaming 5

Corsair ax850w

r9 280x crossfire

Qnix qx 2710 2560x1440

 

I will most probably wait for what comes next but i just wanted to know if I really wanted to upgrade now what should I get. I play lot's of FPS shooters and some racing games like project cars and both actually runs okish on my system. Can do BF4 on high with aa, post aa off and get 96FPS pretty much all the time with 0 drops. 

 

The few things that worries me is the fact that the cards do run hot and the fact that my mobo is only 8x/8x when running multi gpu. Seeing as this card doesn't use crossfire bridge and rely on the pci-e bus I get the feeling 8x/8x might not be enough bandwidth for these cards. So what do you guys think is it a smart choice or should i wait for the next big card to come out? something like the next 980ti (pascal version if you know what I mean)

[xTrekStorex]

x8 is enough. I would recommend to get the 980Ti or wait but you didnt list your current GPU so I dont really know about waiting..

CrossFire and SLI are not worth it from my experience. Single more powerful card is always better. Ofc SLIing the most powerful card is still better but that is out of the question and in most cases way overkill.

[ybriK]

I always thought PCI-e bandwidth is nearly non-relevant in terms of GPU since there's not a lot of information that's actually being transferred over the PCI-e lane, only when you're talking about storage mediums. I highly doubt a graphics card is communicating 1GB/s more or less of information over a PCI-e lane. I'd prefer 980 Ti > 2 390s, less power, less heat, better game compatibility and utilization.

[Duskie]

 

8x/8x Is fine, I run my 290X + 290 at 16x/4x and it works well enough. Going to upgrade when I get the opportunity though.

[Diceair]

x8 is enough. I would recommend to get the 980Ti or wait but you didnt list your current GPU so I dont really know about waiting..

CrossFire and SLI are not worth it from my experience. Single more powerful card is always better. Ofc SLIing the most powerful card is still better but that is out of the question and in most cases way overkill.

 

LOL forgot to post the most important thing 

[lxyfutures]

 I​ think if one can use one powerful card , then why use two not that powerful cards instead? One card is steady and can save you some time and spaces

[alphaman]

if you want to wait,just wait until pascal,maybe 1 year from now,if you want now you should go with 980ti

[PDArm]

Personally, although I have a R9 390, if I had to choose over 2 x 390s or a 980 ti, i'd choose the 980 ti.

In honesty I haven't got a clue which would perform better, 390 in crossfire or a ti. I'd hazard a guess at the crossfire slightly pulling in the lead.

Though with the 2 x 390s, you've got to think about the heat, the fact they are bulky cards and as far as I'm aware there are no full cover waterblocks for them. The power draw since AMD is power hungry. Then you have driver/crossfire issues and the list goes on.... they aren't that good at overclocking either. 

As someone else said, it's better to have one really powerful card vs 2 semi powerful cards. Unless you can get two really powerful cards.  :lol: 

It's really upto you to be honest. If it's alot cheaper to get the 2 x 390s and cost is an issue, got for it. I'm sure you could iron out all the issues. Though I'd probs just settle for the ti. 

 

[xTrekStorex]

oh 280X, well I dont know.. you could wait. depends on why you want to upgrade. if you just want to upgrade because of having better gear it is meaningless so wait. but if you upgrade because you are not happy with the performance you are getting then get the 980Ti.

[Diceair]

oh 280X, well I dont know.. you could wait. depends on why you want to upgrade. if you just want to upgrade because of having better gear it is meaningless so wait. but if you upgrade because you are not happy with the performance you are getting then get the 980Ti.

 

I want to upgrade to get something better performance wise and so on but I also don't want to overspend for a fraction of a performance upgrade. I keep on geting this feeling that I should wait for the next gpu's like the follow up to the 980ti or whatever comes next for AMD. I'm kinda leading towards Nvidia cause I'm not 100% happy with AMD ATM but the games I play runs sorta okish. It's only a few games where I struggle but those games doesn't run flawlessly  on any pc.

[skline00]

Here are the specs of my two gaming rigs:

5960x-4.4|AsusRE5|16g DDR4-2133|EVGA GTX980TI SC-EK Block|2Smsng 850 EVO 500gb ssds Raid0|2Tb WD Blk|Win10-64|PC P&C 1200W|Thrmltake X9|Custom H20 cooling|BenQ BL3200PT

 

4790k-4.6|AsusMxVIIH|16g DDR3-2133|2Sphr Tri-X R9-290s in CF-EKBlocks|Cru M500-240g ssd:500g WD Blk|Win10-64|PC P&C 950W|HAF932Adv|Custom H20 cooling|Achiva Shimian

 

As you can see, I have a single gtx980ti sc in the 5960x and 2 290s in the 4790k. The 290s are Sapphire Tri-Xs at 1000 core/1300 mem. Your 390 is a bit faster but my observation is the 980Ti is smoother. Even accounting for the cpu difference, the dual 290s are slightly faster in synthetics and in overall fps but the 980ti "feels" smoother. It's a close call.

[Diceair]

Here are the specs of my two gaming rigs:

5960x-4.4|AsusRE5|16g DDR4-2133|EVGA GTX980TI SC-EK Block|2Smsng 850 EVO 500gb ssds Raid0|2Tb WD Blk|Win10-64|PC P&C 1200W|Thrmltake X9|Custom H20 cooling|BenQ BL3200PT

 

4790k-4.6|AsusMxVIIH|16g DDR3-2133|2Sphr Tri-X R9-290s in CF-EKBlocks|Cru M500-240g ssd:500g WD Blk|Win10-64|PC P&C 950W|HAF932Adv|Custom H20 cooling|Achiva Shimian

 

As you can see, I have a single gtx980ti sc in the 5960x and 2 290s in the 4790k. The 290s are Sapphire Tri-Xs at 1000 core/1300 mem. Your 390 is a bit faster but my observation is the 980Ti is smoother. Even accounting for the cpu difference, the dual 290s are slightly faster in synthetics and in overall fps but the 980ti "feels" smoother. It's a close call.

 

 

The one pc running non multi gpu setup and faster cpu so that might be the reason for it being smoother