R9 390x doubts

[Leolun]

Hello guys, I have started this topic as I'm about to upgrade my PC and I want to buy a 1440p 144Hz G-sync/Freesync monitor and of course I would need to buy a Gpu that is capable of either. I have already chosen a monitor for either, but choosing a GPU has been a great problem.

I'm located in Ireland and the best website to buy from is Amazon.co.uk (always use your bookmark) I have 4 options to choose from but I need an unbiased recommendation.

 

- Sapphire r9 390 Nitro                        265 GBP

- Zotac GTX 970 Amp Extreme core   304 GBP

- Asus Strix r9 390                               302 GBP

- Asus Strix r9 390x                             340-350 GBP (not available ATM)

 

So from long hours of reading and comparing benchmarks, a well OCed 970 is as good as the 390 in most cases at 1440p. And even in some reviews they go to compare the 970 with the 390x.

I am not a fanboy, I have no preference over Nvidia or Amd, please don't comment if you biased by what you have or not. Wattage is not a problem for me or heat. I want the best experience and future proof card. I will never SLI or CF. I will not play heavy games like Shadow of Mordor or the Witcher 4. I'm more RTS and shooter oriented. I'm not interested on AA or AAx2,x3, etc. I would want to have Graphics on high/Ultra.

I was about to buy the 390x because on paper the stats look amazing, as it could beat the 980 on all tests and it's about 100+ pounds cheaper in amazon ATM. But when I started checking benchmarks it would only outperform the 980 in a couple of games and the minimun FPS would be lower than the 980 in all games. Based on those benchmarks I saw I would love to buy a 980 but it's beyond my budget (420+ GBP).

These are my main doubts:

 

How can the 390x with double the memory bus, double the memory be matched in some benchmarks by the 970?

Will the 390x be better on windows 10 and with Directx 12? (I will upgrade to 10 once I get all my parts together)

 

These are the monitors I'm planning to buy:

- MG279Q IPS 144hz 1440p Freesync

- Asus Swift PG278Q TN 144hz 1440p G-sync (waiting for the PG279Q is not an option as all ROG items in Amazon UK are overpriced and upon launch it will be like 800 GBP that's 300 over the 278Q)

 

Thank you for reading!

Need more Moving VLogs!!!

[Lolzious]

Honestly, that 390 nitro is probably your best bet for 1440p. It's also the cheapest, and has the beefiest cooler

[Arcanekitten]

Hello guys, I have started this topic as I'm about to upgrade my PC and I want to buy a 1440p 144Hz G-sync/Freesync monitor and of course I would need to buy a Gpu that is capable of either. I have already chosen a monitor for either, but choosing a GPU has been a great problem.

I'm located in Ireland and the best website to buy from is Amazon.co.uk (always use your bookmark) I have 4 options to choose from but I need an unbiased recommendation.

 

- Sapphire r9 390 Nitro                        265 GBP

- Zotac GTX 970 Amp Extreme core   304 GBP

- Asus Strix r9 390                               302 GBP

- Asus Strix r9 390x                             340-350 GBP (not available ATM)

 

So from long hours of reading and comparing benchmarks, a well OCed 970 is as good as the 390 in most cases at 1440p. And even in some reviews they go to compare the 970 with the 390x.

I am not a fanboy, I have no preference over Nvidia or Amd, please don't comment if you biased by what you have or not. Wattage is not a problem for me or heat. I want the best experience and future proof card. I will never SLI or CF. I will not play heavy games like Shadow of Mordor or the Witcher 4. I'm more RTS and shooter oriented. I'm not interested on AA or AAx2,x3, etc. I would want to have Graphics on high/Ultra.

I was about to buy the 390x because on paper the stats look amazing, as it could beat the 980 on all tests and it's about 100+ pounds cheaper in amazon ATM. But when I started checking benchmarks it would only outperform the 980 in a couple of games and the minimun FPS would be lower than the 980 in all games. Based on those benchmarks I saw I would love to buy a 980 but it's beyond my budget (420+ GBP).

These are my main doubts:

 

How can the 390x with double the memory bus, double the memory be matched in some benchmarks by the 970?

Will the 390x be better on windows 10 and with Directx 12? (I will upgrade to 10 once I get all my parts together)

 

These are the monitors I'm planning to buy:

- MG279Q IPS 144hz 1440p Freesync

- Asus Swift PG278Q TN 144hz 1440p G-sync (waiting for the PG279Q is not an option as all ROG items in Amazon UK are overpriced and upon launch it will be like 800 GBP that's 300 over the 278Q)

 

Thank you for reading!

Need more Moving VLogs!!!

for 1440p go for the r9 390x. (and the r9 390 btw outperforms the gtx 970 just saying) so i would go for the r9 390x since 8 gb of ram seems to much (it is for that gpu core) but for 1440p with high settings and developers using more and more vram with the years it can come in handy for the "Future" also please don't but the 980 it has no place in the market and yeah its a good card but there are better option out there.

 

also r9 390x nitro (sapphire) for the manufacturer question 

 

and also yes it will beform better in dx 12 and if you follow the news in singularity, ALOT but we will see in metal gear solid if its Bs or true (dx 12 will give amd better performance but nvidia has the same things but apparently not a great of a boost)

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Welp, considering how much more a GSync monitor costs over a FreeSync one. A more budget friendly choice would be going with AMD. Though if you have an option to go with a Msi 390/x series, that'll be better.

[Leolun]

Thank you for the quick answers guys. I was reading this article. the 390x is only a couple of FPS behind 980TI in DX 12 in that new benchmark.

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/08/directx-12-tested-an-early-win-for-amd-and-disappointment-for-nvidia/

 

I think for looks and more future proof I will go for a 390x.

[Shark With A Laser]

I don't have considerable experience with any of the recent AMD hardware but from reviews and benchmark videos I have seen I think an R9 390x with a freesync monitor is a better option for you at 1440p.

My own personal rig is two EVGA 970 SSC 2.0+s in SLI with a Swift ROG moinitor and I can feel it struggle with GTA V at max settings. Most of the other games I play (WoW raiding with a bunch of mods, SC2, D3) handle just fine. I'm actually in the process of stepping up both 970s SD ince I feel its inadequate for my personal tastes at 1440p and 144 mhzz Swift.

[Leolun]

Welp, considering how much more a GSync monitor costs over a FreeSync one. A more budget friendly choice would be going with AMD. Though if you have an option to go with a Msi 390/x series, that'll be better.

Yeah the Freesync Asus is 100GBP cheaper than the ROG Swift and it's an IPS panel. For that money difference is why I can afford the 390x.

I saw Luke's review of the Strix 390x and I like the looks, but right now it's not available on amazon.uk and in Overclockers.co.uk is at the same price of a gtx 980 (400 GBP)

 

Never owned a MSI part, always Gigabyte or Asus. I'm a bit worried 2 fans will not be enough to cool down the 390x and make too much noise. Do you own one? My room temperature in ireland is always between 15 to 18 degrees so the high temp is not a problem. I just really hate noise.

[Leolun]

I don't have considerable experience with any of the recent AMD hardware but from reviews and benchmark videos I have seen I think an R9 390x with a freesync monitor is a better option for you at 1440p.

My own personal rig is two EVGA 970 SSC 2.0+s in SLI with a Swift ROG moinitor and I can feel it struggle with GTA V at max settings. Most of the other games I play (WoW raiding with a bunch of mods, SC2, D3) handle just fine. I'm actually in the process of stepping up both 970s SD ince I feel its inadequate for my personal tastes at 1440p and 144 mhzz Swift.

Thank you for reply.

I saw the awesome reviews on the 970 and really wanted to own one, even considered staying at 1080p. I did though at 1440p fall a bit short. Specially on high settings.

Just needed the experience of owners at that resolution with those GPUs

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Yeah the Freesync Asus is 100GBP cheaper than the ROG Swift and it's an IPS panel. For that money difference is why I can afford the 390x.

I saw Luke's review of the Strix 390x and I like the looks, but right now it's not available on amazon.uk and in Overclockers.co.uk is at the same price of a gtx 980 (400 GBP)

 

Never owned a MSI part, always Gigabyte or Asus. I'm a bit worried 2 fans will not be enough to cool down the 390x and make too much noise. Do you own one? My room temperature in ireland is always between 15 to 18 degrees so the high temp is not a problem. I just really hate noise.

 

The strix 390x is kinda like what happened to the 290/x DCUII series where the cooler on those cards did not cool the card well. 

 

 

However Asus did fix cooling issues for the DCUII 390/x series cards and they cool better than the strix series unexpectedly. The reason for the Msi variant because it is observed that Msi 390/x cards achieve higher overclocks as compared to the other brands. Here's what the 390/x club in OCN observed about the different brands.

 

 

 

XFX= Full cover waterblock available. Good clockers usually, and cooling is sufficient for core, but not stellar, and VRM's tend to get hot

Sapphire= No water block available, but has excellent air cooling. Require 8+8 pin connectors versus 8+6. Some would prefer that, in hopes of obtaining higher OC results, but unfortunately OC results so far on the Nitro and Tri-X are only mediocre-good

Gigabyte= No waterblocks. Well built card, decent cooling, but the voltage is hard locked, so expect clock ceiling to be very limited... most likely 1100 or less.

PowerColor= Offers full cover waterblocks, and also has excellent air cooling, but so far there have only been weak-mediocre-ish overclocking results. 1150 or less on the core seems to be the norm, with most landing between 1130-1140, even despite it's excellent cooling.

MSI= No full cover waterblocks available. Stock air cooling is good but not great with regards to the core temps, but seems to be very good for the VRM temps. So far, these seem to have the best overclocking results. Most poeople hitting 1160-1200

Asus= (DCU2) Full cover block available. Not much info on these, but theyappears to use the same cooler as the 290 series, which was a poor performing cooler. I have seen very few purchasing the Asus card. Overclock results seem to be average so far, but have very little data to make a general claim.

Asus= (Strix) Unsure on waterblocks with these... stock cooling is good. Very little OC information, but from what I have seen, they are average. Probably in line with Sapphire when it comes to binning.

 

The Msi card cools well for only having 2 fans as well

 

Spoiler

 

Those temps from guru3D are OC temps btw.

[Leolun]

for 1440p go for the r9 390x. (and the r9 390 btw outperforms the gtx 970 just saying) so i would go for the r9 390x since 8 gb of ram seems to much (it is for that gpu core) but for 1440p with high settings and developers using more and more vram with the years it can come in handy for the "Future" also please don't but the 980 it has no place in the market and yeah its a good card but there are better option out there.

 

also r9 390x nitro (sapphire) for the manufacturer question 

 

and also yes it will beform better in dx 12 and if you follow the news in singularity, ALOT but we will see in metal gear solid if its Bs or true (dx 12 will give amd better performance but nvidia has the same things but apparently not a great of a boost)

Yeah I like the price on the 390x Nitro. I've had good experience with sapphire cards. But the color does not match my build, that damn yellow line ruins it

[Leolun]

The strix 390x is kinda like what happened to the 290/x DCUII series where the cooler on those cards did not cool the card well. 

 

 

However Asus did fix cooling issues for the DCUII 390/x series cards and they cool better than the strix series unexpectedly. The reason for the Msi variant because it is observed that Msi 390/x cards achieve higher overclocks as compared to the other brands. Here's what the 390/x club in OCN observed about the different brands.

 

 

The Msi card cools well for only having 2 fans as well

 

Spoiler

 

Those temps from guru3D are OC temps btw.

Oh thanks so much for this info, will definitely consider the MSI. I have read very good reviews about Afterburner. The price in amazon.uk is great atm only 20gbp higher than the average 970. And it does match my build. And the backplate in one of the best looking ones out there in my opion. 

Thanks a lot!