R9 390 vs. GTX 970 vs. GTX 980TI

[CC268]

I am sure you looked at the title and went "wtf?" - the point of this wasn't to compare them directly as it is quite clear what card is the best. I am having a tough time deciding whether or not it is worth spending almost $700 on the 980TI.

 

What games will the R9 390 not run on high/ultra settings at decent frame rates? Is there a big difference between the 390 and the 970? (seems like most people say to get the 390 over the 970)

 

I guess I just feel like you can get a lot out of a $300 dollar card like the 970 or 390. I could upgrade every year at that price, but I don't want to upgrade every year with the price tag of the 980TI.

 

What are your guys' thoughts?

[OAcesync]

If you get a 980Ti you're not meant to upgrade it for a while lol

[Aytex]

980 ti

 

[spoiler=lol] WTF TITLE ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

[Guest]

390 will run pratically everything on ultra 1080p and maybe 1440p

Yes big difference between 970 and 390.

980Ti will last 3+ years assuming games don't become extremely demanding for some reason 

[Wingfan]

If you can afford a 980Ti, get it....simple

[Tommy59375]

In terms of price-to-performance, the 970 is a little worse compared to the 390.

But neither card can realistically play games in 4k.  They can kinda do 1440p maybe and in this case the 390 is also better -> more VRAM.

 

The 980 Ti on the other hand is a 4k card, although you won't be able to run everything at ultra with just one of them.

 

As you can tell, it's not about "what's worth it", simply about "what do I need to do with it?"

 

Upgrade wise, whatever you choose, when it becomes not good enough, just buy a second and SLI/Crossfire them.  This is much better value than simply replacing it.  But the 970 might not deal with this well as a result of the quite low VRAM.

[Kirky2k15]

980ti then sli it in a few years when they are like <$300

[CC268]

I hate you guys haha...but in all honestly...the 390 is still a good card right?

[Sakkura]

I hate you guys haha...but in all honestly...the 390 is still a good card right?

 

Great for 1080p and pretty good for 1440p.

[CC268]

Great for 1080p and pretty good for 1440p.

 

Yea I have a 1800p ASUS monitor right now anyways...I think I may go with the 390 and then look at the 980TI if I get some 1440 monitors.

[Rolling Potatoe]

I am sure you looked at the title and went "wtf?" - the point of this wasn't to compare them directly as it is quite clear what card is the best. I am having a tough time deciding whether or not it is worth spending almost $700 on the 980TI.

 

What games will the R9 390 not run on high/ultra settings at decent frame rates? Is there a big difference between the 390 and the 970? (seems like most people say to get the 390 over the 970)

 

I guess I just feel like you can get a lot out of a $300 dollar card like the 970 or 390. I could upgrade every year at that price, but I don't want to upgrade every year with the price tag of the 980TI.

 

What are your guys' thoughts?

Well, if you are going for price/performance dont get the most expensive consumer card.

The 780ti is where the 980 ti will be in 1-2 years, it costs around 300 used and performs like a card that cost around 400 new.

 

If your card isnt the best one around they value will always be determined by price/$ -20-25% or so if its been used for a while.

While a 980ti actually doesnt have all that bad price/performance for a card in that range you obviosly pay 100% + more for 40/50% more performance.

 

The cheapest option to stay up to date with your gpu is pretty much to get a high end last gen card for 200$ used, bounce that after 1-2 years for about 120-150$ and

get the next one for 200$ used.

 

 

But anyway, only get the 980ti if you really want/need that performance now, gpus advance too fast for future proofing.

[CC268]

Yea I feel like the R9 390 is a great card for the price and I would be able to afford upgrading every year if need be...

 

What would you say is the best card for the money at this time other than the 980TI?
 

[MichaelGavel]

The 970 and 

 

Yea I feel like the R9 390 is a great card for the price and I would be able to afford upgrading every year if need be...

 

What would you say is the best card for the money at this time other than the 980TI?
 

The R9 390 and the GTX 970 are almost dead even cards with the R9 390 barely edging ahead of the GTX 970 on some games. Both are the same price, so really it can be a matter of preference. The R9 390 takes a lot more power under load so if you don't have a large power supply that could an issue.

 

Personally at 1080p gaming I think those are the current best for you dollar cards. I currently have a Gigabyte G1 970 (No additional overclocking) and it plays everything I throw at it maxed no problem.

 

If you're thinking of getting into 1440p or above then I would really consider the GTX 980ti. For its price its the most affordable way to game at those resolutions on modern titles. 

[CC268]

I am more of an Nvidia guy, but do you think it is worth going with the 390 over the 970?

[Dinkleberg]

The 970 and 

 

The R9 390 and the GTX 970 are almost dead even cards with the R9 390 barely edging ahead of the GTX 970 on some games. Both are the same price, so really it can be a matter of preference. The R9 390 takes a lot more power under load so if you don't have a large power supply that could an issue.

 

Personally at 1080p gaming I think those are the current best for you dollar cards. I currently have a Gigabyte G1 970 (No additional overclocking) and it plays everything I throw at it maxed no problem.

 

If you're thinking of getting into 1440p or above then I would really consider the GTX 980ti. For its price its the most affordable way to game at those resolutions on modern titles.

I wouldn't say "barely edging", it's ahead of the GTX 970 by 3-10FPS in most games, barely edging would mean a difference of 1FPS. The R9 390 doesn't need a larger PSU, a single-GPU PC should have a 520-650W PSU, the R9 390 can easily run on a 520W PSU as long as it's a good quality one.

[Dinkleberg]

I am more of an Nvidia guy, but do you think it is worth going with the 390 over the 970?

Do you intend to use applications that use CUDA cores? Then go with the GTX 970. Do you intend to do anything that doesn't use CUDA cores? Go with the R9 390. It's that simple.

[MichaelGavel]

I am more of an Nvidia guy, but do you think it is worth going with the 390 over the 970?

 

I would say go with the GTX 970 since that is your preference then.

[CC268]

I don't even know what CUDA cores are lol - from the benchmarks I have seen the 390 is the better option, but your right it isn't by a ton

[CC268]

I actually ordered an EVGA G2 850W PSU so I could do SLI 980TI or Crossfire R9 390s...so I am good there.

[Mahigan]

As things stand, I'd likely lean towards an R9 390. Why?

Asynchronous Compute. That's really what pushes me to recommend the 390 over the 970 because of the DX12 games on the horizon.

Type in a game title releasing soon plus Asynchronous Compute in Google.

You'll see why.

http://gearnuke.com/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-uses-async-compute-to-render-breathtaking-volumetric-lighting-on-xbox-one/

http://wccftech.com/gears-war-ultimate-unlocked-frame-rate-devs-explain-dx12-async-compute/

http://gearnuke.com/mirrors-edge-catalyst-reach-new-levels-gpu-optimizations-via-async-compute/

http://wccftech.com/dx12-will-allow-game-code-to-run-faster-for-pcxbox-one-better-post-processing-effects/

check out E3 2015 AMD presentation for Fable Legends using async compute.

Check out frostbite 3 Async compute as well as UE4.

Even the new hitman and deus ex games.

Ark is like the only one so far

Why does it matter?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1572716/directx-12-asynchronous-compute-an-exercise-in-crowd-sourcing

[CC268]

Thanks man I appreciate the info. Is there a specific R9 390 I should go for? (MSI, Gigabyte, Saphire, etc?)

[Mahigan]

Thanks man I appreciate the info. Is there a specific R9 390 I should go for? (MSI, Gigabyte, Saphire, etc?)

Asus Radeon R9 390 Strix OC (only because I've run several brands as part of my Bitcoin mining operation and the ASUS cards are the only ones that never died).

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Thanks man I appreciate the info. Is there a specific R9 390 I should go for? (MSI, Gigabyte, Saphire, etc?)

 

What would you prefer? Overclocking? Noise? temps? Water cooling? 

[CC268]

What would you prefer? Overclocking? Noise? temps? Water cooling? 

 

I don't care to be honest but a good mix of overclocking and noise would be nice...I think the ASUS Strix would be a good combination

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

I don't care to be honest but a good mix of overclocking and noise would be nice...I think the ASUS Strix would be a good combination

The best overclockers come from Msi. Look up the 390/x owners club in ocn and you'll have much more information regarding those cards.