VOTE: Sapphire OR MSI R9 390

[OrrinB]

This is a new build and stuck between these two cards. Please vote which you suggest and give one or two good compelling reasons for your answer. Please don't recommend any other card or start talking about any other card. My budget is limited to the 390 or 970 which is my price point (but we all know the 390 is better than the 970).

[Mattyd7829]

My last two cards have both been Sapphire models and have both worked great.

[007agentHP]

sapphire

/thread

[OAcesync]

Sapphire 

[Atmos]

Sapphire

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Msi 390. Nicely binned. Good VRM temps, alright core temps. And excellent cooler.

[Lolucoca]

Sapphire. They only produce AMD cards, so they know how to do it

[Zackfoo]

it depends on what you want. the 390 club over at overclock.net have kinda verified about the overclokability. Sapphire did kinda bad compare to msi but still not bad, But it's cooling is crazy and good. BUT, to me it is a big big but, sapphire does not offers backplate. Biggest drawback to me. Msi on the other hand is very freaking good at overclocking and like most of us got to overclock well.

 

so basically comes down to few things,

 

Sapphire 390 ---> awesome cooling even cooler than a 970 idle or load. Mid level overclocking. NO backplate. Cheaper by a bit. Blue led on bios switch that cnt be turn off.

Msi 390 ----> Awesome vram cooling, overall cooling lose a bit. Good overclocking ability. Backplate. white led on logo that can be turn off. 

 

http://www.overclock.net/t/1561704/official-amd-r9-390-390x-owners-club

 

read from here will be better.

[TrickyWitcher]

I'd say MSI, but if you can strech it I'd go for the Sapphire R9 Fury(non-X) if you're in the USA. It has a backplate, awesome cooling, and decent OC ability.

[ANewFace]

Saphire

[xAcid9]

The cheaper one.

[Suffokation]

I'd say MSI, but if you can strech it I'd go for the Sapphire R9 Fury(non-X) if you're in the USA. It has a backplate, awesome cooling, and decent OC ability.

"Please don't recommend any other card or start talking about any other card"

Lmao. Read the thread before you post man.

[Curufinwe_wins]

"Please don't recommend any other card or start talking about any other card"

Lmao. Read the thread before you post man.

Relax dude. He gave his recommendation with a side comment.

Big deal.

@op I'd do msi personally. The guys at overclock.net are suggesting the msi 390x is about the best of them available and the tf5 cooler is a beast.

[Blue462]

I have an R9 270x from MSI and it's temps are fine. 

 

However I'd say Sapphire. They only produce cards for AMD so they know what they're doing! 

[Zhuocheng]

Sapphire

[OrrinB]

Judging from the responses it seems a lot of people recommend the sapphire but the reasons to go with an MSI is also equally recommended. Most of you have your minds made up on which to go with but sadly for me I'm still on the fence. Sigh. I'm putting a lot of money into this build and I want to get it right.

Thank you everybody for your responses! Your insight and information is greatly appreciated! But I'm leaning towards the MSI as it stands right now. Mainly for the backplate, OCability, and dependable cooling (if the cooling was horrid then Sapphire would be the obvious choice). But then again Sapphire has outstanding cooling and less expensive by about $20-$30 but that I can deal with. Then again I've always been indecisive and usually walk out of a Blockbuster (when they existed) empty handed. Sigh.

[PsylentFox]

I currently have an MSI R9 390X, so I will say that MSI has a custom PCB on their 390 and 390X series, if i'm wrong feel free to correct me on that. However, I do love that the MSI *does* have a higher clock from the factory, which is great if you are new to overclocking or are having problems getting a stable overclock (like me...). Price wise I don't see any difference, but if you are looking to get into a custom watercooling loop the Sapphire might be a better pick since most of the current 390 and 390X makers are re-using the same PCB from the 290 and 290X cards. That makes it easy to pick up an aftermarket cooler, although I will say both cards are a great buy if you're price per dollar oriented, you can't go wrong with either one.

 

What did it for me was the MSI 390X I purchased had a higher factory clock, a beastly cooler, and a custom PCB that made it feel less of a re-brand and more of a re-fresh. However, now that I'm looking into putting together a parts list for water cooling I'm very sad that no one seems to be willing to make a full cover block for my MSI 390X.

 

Your mileage may vary, but I believe that both are great buys! Also choose one you think matches your aesthetics.

 

If you can answer these questions you will buy once and cry once (for joy! ):

     1.) Needs vs. Wants. (What do I need the card to do? Do I really need a new card? And what do I want the card to do?)

     2.) Budget. (How much pain can my wallet endure in order to get a card that meets my needs and fills my wants?)

     3.) Raw performance. (What can it do?)

     4.) Performance per dollar. (How much will it cost for it to do what it can do? aka Is there anyone who can do the same, cheaper?)

     5.) Cooling performance. (How cool can it be while it's doing what it's doing?)

     6.) Brand. (I'm a loyal person.  Buy a brand you trust and respect.)

     7.) Aesthetics. (Can it do what you need it to do... and still look good doing it?)

 

 

Answer these and it will save you a lot of hassle. Many people regret purchases because they cannot adequately answer question number 1. Needs vs. Wants. I upgraded from my PCS HD 7870 Ghz for two main 'Need' reasons: It was starting to show it's age, as I played through Metro 2033 Redux I started to notice artifacting and stuttering and I'm one of those that doesn't like to back down on my graphical fidelity (yet I still have a 4 year old 1080p monitor. ) so it was really impacting my playing experience. The second reason is I think it was on the decline after years of faithful service, as it was causing non-gaming issues with my monitor; upon replacement my monitor issues ceased. My main 'Want' reason was that I wanted a card with lots of VRAM to keep track of *all* my Skyrim mods. Other reasons were i wanted a card that can play demanding AAA titles at 1080p at respectable frame rates with one card, and when the time comes to upgrade to a 1440P or 4K display i wanted a card that could crossfire easily and produce results: mainly 50-60 FPS on AAA titles when on medium to high settings at 4K.

 

I did this same list when I purchased my MSI R9 390X. It met my needs and wants, budget, had the highest performance of 390Xs from other mfgs, had a beast cooler, was from a brand I trusted, and looked damn good while doing all of it.

 

A month later and I haven't been disappointed!