GTX 970 Or R9 390

[Coolslammer]

Power and heat aren't a problem surprisingly becuase my setups in the basement. Even in the summer I will have to turn on a heater. The 390 has more vram, and even though I'm playing at 1080p wtf right? The 970 though has better drivers and updates and features. I don't really know which one to pick please help with no biased opinions.

[PlayStation 2]

You'd be surprised at the state of Nvidia's current drivers and AMD's current drivers. 390.

[Aytex]

what do you mean better drivers.. fucking faboys m8ty

[Zayzo]

Power and heat aren't a problem surprisingly becuase my setups in the basement. Even in the summer I will have to turn on a heater. The 390 has more vram, and even though I'm playing at 1080p wtf right? The 970 though has better drivers and updates and features. I don't really know which one to pick please help with no biased opinions.

For 1080p i prefer the 970. For 1440p i prefer the 390. Most games won't use over 3GB of ram on 1080p. MOST games. Overclocking on the 970 is also amazing. If you get lucky you can get near 980 performance easy.

[Coolslammer]

For 1080p i prefer the 970. For 1440p i prefer the 390. Most games won't use over 3GB of ram on 1080p. MOST games. Overclocking on the 970 is also amazing. If you get lucky you can get near 980 performance easy.

OK cool thanks.

[Tim Drake]

For 1080p i prefer the 970. For 1440p i prefer the 390. Most games won't use over 3GB of ram on 1080p. MOST games. Overclocking on the 970 is also amazing. If you get lucky you can get near 980 performance easy.

Nope. 390 performs better in all cases.

 

[Zayzo]

Nope. 390 performs better in all cases.

 

They are basically identical @1080p w/ stock clocks. You have much more headroom on the 970. For 1080p i would just get it because it runs cooler and has a better software package. I prefer shadowplay and DSR to the AMD offering. Drivers suck for both AMD and Nvidia atm. People keep linking this ONE video.

[Brandonberg]

 People keep linking this ONE video.

 

This one video represents every single GTX970 and R9 390 in the world. Its on youchoobe so it must be 110% factually correct. 

 

 

 

/sarcasm.

[Zayzo]

This one video represents every single GTX970 and R9 390 in the world. Its on youchoobe so it must be 110% factually correct. 

 

 

 

/sarcasm.

Kappa

[-iSynthesis]

They are basically identical @1080p w/ stock clocks. You have much more headroom on the 970. For 1080p i would just get it because it runs cooler and has a better software package. I prefer shadowplay and DSR to the AMD offering. Drivers suck for both AMD and Nvidia atm. People keep linking this ONE video.

AMD Drivers are excellent ATM. I've only had problems with stretching in cs:go in Windows 10. AMDs offering to shadowplay works just fine; have you even used it ever?

[Zayzo]

AMD Drivers are excellent ATM. I've only had problems with stretching in cs:go in Windows 10. AMDs offering to shadowplay works just fine; have you even used it ever?

I have an r9 290 and 7970... so yes i'm experienced with both red and green.

[-iSynthesis]

I have an r9 290 and 7970... so yes i'm experienced with both red and green.

Then how are drivers for both trash? I've had experience with both and have not experienced a single problem. 

[Zayzo]

Then how are drivers for both trash? I've had experience with both and have not experienced a single problem. 

Stability issues on newer games. Newer drivers causing crashes/bsods. Performance hits on NEWER drivers. Some people aren't having problems, sure, that doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist.

[Tim Drake]

They are basically identical @1080p w/ stock clocks. You have much more headroom on the 970. For 1080p i would just get it because it runs cooler and has a better software package. I prefer shadowplay and DSR to the AMD offering. Drivers suck for both AMD and Nvidia atm. People keep linking this ONE video.

Because it shows that the 390 is better?!?!?!?

[Tim Drake]

This one video represents every single GTX970 and R9 390 in the world. Its on youchoobe so it must be 110% factually correct. 

 

 

 

/sarcasm.

Because it's a trustworthy video, do you not understand life orr?

[Coolslammer]

Holy shit guys calm down. I just heard that nvidia drivers are better, does not mean you need to get all pissy.

[MEC-777]

Power and heat aren't a problem surprisingly becuase my setups in the basement. Even in the summer I will have to turn on a heater. The 390 has more vram, and even though I'm playing at 1080p wtf right? The 970 though has better drivers and updates and features. I don't really know which one to pick please help with no biased opinions.

 

The 390 is the better choice, IMO. 

 

Everyone's already mentioned about the drivers, so I won't repeat. 

 

However, I will say this; a lot of people seem to be still unaware of the DSR/VSR feature which allows the GPU to actually render the game at a higher resolution and then downsamples it to your native resolution of your display. The result/benefit of this is you don't have to run as much (or any) anti aliasing (AA) and you get a higher/sharper image quality - even better than with using full AA at 1080p native. AA is one of the more taxing effects on a graphics card to handle, so if you could have the same performance with better/sharper image quality, then why not? I have an R9 290 and run almost all my games with VSR at 1440p on my 1080p display. Games look more beautiful and still run fast and smooth. Plus the [full] 4GB of memory comes in handy when using VSR as it requires more Vram. 

 

Basically what I'm saying is; just because you have a 1080p display doesn't mean you are stuck running all your games at 1080p. You can get a better experience with using VSR/DSR which benefits from having more GPU grunt and Vram on tap - both of which the 390 has a little more of.

[Zayzo]

The 390 is the better choice, IMO. 

 

Everyone's already mentioned about the drivers, so I won't repeat. 

 

However, I will say this; a lot of people seem to be still unaware of the DSR/VSR feature which allows the GPU to actually render the game at a higher resolution and then downsamples it to your native resolution of your display. The result/benefit of this is you don't have to run as much (or any) anti aliasing (AA) and you get a higher/sharper image quality - even better than with using full AA at 1080p native. AA is one of the more taxing effects on a graphics card to handle, so if you could have the same performance with better/sharper image quality, then why not? I have an R9 290 and run almost all my games with VSR at 1440p on my 1080p display. Games look more beautiful and still run fast and smooth. Plus the [full] 4GB of memory comes in handy when using VSR as it requires more Vram. 

 

Basically what I'm saying is; just because you have a 1080p display doesn't mean you are stuck running all your games at 1080p. You can get a better experience with using VSR/DSR which benefits from having more GPU grunt and Vram on tap - both of which the 390 has a little more of.

I play some games at 1440p on my 970. Obviously i'm not maxing them out though.

[MEC-777]

I play some games at 1440p on my 970. Obviously i'm not maxing them out though.

 

Yeah, I'm not absolutely maxing out all my games either, but I find with high or very high settings with VSR @1440 the game still looks as good as or better than at 1080p with high levels of AA. I find that's mainly because the super resolution downsampling process is a much better method of smoothing out the lines and edges of objects compared to any form of AA. It's less demanding and gives a cleaner/sharper image, IMO. 

 

Also some games have poor or limited AA options (or no AA options like Styx: Master of Shadows), where running VSR/DSR can make a huge difference in visual quality and clarity. 

[Zayzo]

Yeah, I'm not absolutely maxing out all my games either, but I find with high or very high settings with VSR @1440 the game still looks as good as or better than at 1080p with high levels of AA. I find that's mainly because the super resolution downsampling process is a much better method of smoothing out the lines and edges of objects compared to any form of AA. It's less demanding and gives a cleaner/sharper image, IMO. 

 

Also some games have poor or limited AA options (or no AA options like Styx: Master of Shadows), where running VSR/DSR can make a huge difference in visual quality and clarity. 

Yeah, i agree. I'd prefer to have a 1440p monitor though. DSR is nice but I've seen 1440p in person and think it looks nicer.

[knotz]

The 390 is the better choice, IMO. 

 

Everyone's already mentioned about the drivers, so I won't repeat. 

 

However, I will say this; a lot of people seem to be still unaware of the DSR/VSR feature which allows the GPU to actually render the game at a higher resolution and then downsamples it to your native resolution of your display. The result/benefit of this is you don't have to run as much (or any) anti aliasing (AA) and you get a higher/sharper image quality - even better than with using full AA at 1080p native. AA is one of the more taxing effects on a graphics card to handle, so if you could have the same performance with better/sharper image quality, then why not? I have an R9 290 and run almost all my games with VSR at 1440p on my 1080p display. Games look more beautiful and still run fast and smooth. Plus the [full] 4GB of memory comes in handy when using VSR as it requires more Vram. 

 

Basically what I'm saying is; just because you have a 1080p display doesn't mean you are stuck running all your games at 1080p. You can get a better experience with using VSR/DSR which benefits from having more GPU grunt and Vram on tap - both of which the 390 has a little more of.

I might be asking too much but is it possible for you to post two 1080p screenshots of a game with no anti-aliasing, but one with DSR/VSR enabled? Is it a very noticeable effect?

[Zayzo]

I might be asking too much but is it possible for you to post two 1080p screenshots of a game with no anti-aliasing, but one with DSR/VSR enabled? Is it a very noticeable effect?

What game?

I can do BF4 if you want.

[knotz]

What game?

I can do BF4 if you want.

That would be perfect, thanks!

[othertomperson]

Power and heat aren't a problem surprisingly becuase my setups in the basement. Even in the summer I will have to turn on a heater. The 390 has more vram, and even though I'm playing at 1080p wtf right? The 970 though has better drivers and updates and features. I don't really know which one to pick please help with no biased opinions.

 

Whichever is cheaper. At 1080p there is no discernible difference.

 

 

I might be asking too much but is it possible for you to post two 1080p screenshots of a game with no anti-aliasing, but one with DSR/VSR enabled? Is it a very noticeable effect?

 

Think of it as full screen (including transparency) anti-aliasing. However the performance hit is extreme. You're basically playing at 4K and displaying it at 1080p. Whichever card you get you will need two in SLI/CF to have a particularly good experience so I don't think it's worth thinking about unless you are playing particularly light games.

[Zayzo]

That would be perfect, thanks!

This is on Ultra.

4K

1440p

1080p