290/390 crossfire

[App4that]

Sorry to start a new topic but the one I had yesterday was answered.

 

I currently have a Sapphire 290 and I'm going to be getting a second card possibly in the next few hours. My two choices are a Tri-x 290x, or a Nitro 390. I'm leaning towards the 390 as the new card will be my primary GPU and I'll only enable crossfire to play demanding games like Fallout 4 when it arrives. Both cards "should" crossfire with my 290, the latest drivers support 290/390 crossfire. I'm stuck because the 390 is newer and has more VRAM, but the 290x has more stream processors. No idea how ether will effect scaling other than both will be held back by the 290. But it will still be better than the single card so say la vie. Both cards are the same price, the 390 has a backplate and the 290x does not.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, little stressed out

[TheRandomness]

Or you could get another Vapour-X and call it a day. (Technically that's the 290x option...)

[AresKrieger]

Well the 390 seems to have been optimized really well, runs cooler uses less power, and as you said has more vram, so I really would lean towards the 390 if they are the same price, as performance wise they're fairly similar with the 390 a little ahead from what I've seen (at least in games).

[vectorx5000]

I wouldn't get the 390 for the VRAM, as Xfire only uses the smaller amount of RAM. It uses only 4GB if you have a 290. 290X is my choice.

[App4that]

Or you could get another Vapour-X and call it a day. (Technically that's the 290x option...)

Tried, 75usd more than ether of them. Funny you say the same though as all the benchmarks for the Tri-x 290x and my Vapor-x 290 are the same.

[thekeemo]

The 390 will down clock to match the 290. But on its own it will match a 290x with twice the gram so go with a 390

[i_build_nanosuits]

The R9 290X would shut down some of it's stream processors in order to match the specs of the 290...so no gains there, on the other hand the 390 has more VRAM which can be used for workstation applications if you do any and also it is said that DX12 might manage VRAM differently for both crossfire and SLI in the future so there are ''some'' chances you ''might'' be able to use the extra VRAM in SOME future titles (big maybe but who knows, nothing to loose) also the 390 is more efficient than the 290X.

390 gets my vote.

[Morgan MLGman]

In terms of performance, the 290X is superior to the 390, provided you're fine with having 4GB of VRAM and your cooling can deal with heat output, the 290X is better.

[i_build_nanosuits]

In terms of performance, the 290X is superior to the 390, provided you're fine with having 4GB of VRAM and your cooling can deal with heat output, the 290X is better.

in crossfire it wont perform better than even another R9 290, because the card will shut down from 2816 SP to 2560 SP...

[Morgan MLGman]

in crossfire it wont perform better than even a R9 290 since the card will shut down from 2816 SP to 2560 SP...

I have no experience with Crossfire, especially if someone wants to crossfire two different cards...

What I meant is, if he's going to use one card most of the time, the 290X is more powerful, no doubt, and if he's only going to enable crossfire for very demanding titles, even if the FPS would be lower by 2-3 compared to the 390/290 xfire, considering he said he's going to use a single card most of the time it seems logical that he'd benefit more from the 290X

[i_build_nanosuits]

I have no experience with Crossfire, especially if someone wants to crossfire two different cards...

What I meant is, if he's going to use one card most of the time, the 290X is more powerful, no doubt, and if he's only going to enable crossfire for very demanding titles, even if the FPS would be lower by 2-3 compared to the 390/290 xfire, considering he said he's going to use a single card most of the time it seems logical that he'd benefit more from the 290X

yeah maybe you're right...it would depend on price and cooling solutions available though...i'd pick the card with the better price or the one with the better cooling on it since it will be of good use...two of these bad boys next to one another like that is guaranteed to get very hot at times.

[AresKrieger]

I think it's sad how we came here to help you decide but are completely divided

[App4that]

in crossfire it wont perform better than even another R9 290, because the card will shut down from 2816 SP to 2560 SP...

I get conflicting reports on this, I've seen that only the memory is effected during crossfire. I admit to being a bit of a test subject on this.

 

Not going to be overclocking, and heat "shouldn't" be an issue as I have 8 case fans LOL and a C70 case.

[App4that]

I think it's sad how we came here to help you decide but are completely divided

It's all good, I'm completelt devided LOL. I can't find a solid comparison of the Tri-x and the Nitro. That would seal the deal. But everything is comparing the 390x to the 290x, not the 390 to 290x.

[Morgan MLGman]

yeah maybe you're right...it would depend on price and cooling solutions available though...i'd pick the card with the better price or the one with the better cooling on it since it will be of good use...two of these bad boys next to one another like that is guaranteed to get very hot at times.

Indeed, he mentioned that the 290X he can get is the Sapphire Tri-X one, it's better than my MSI Twin Frozr one in terms of cooling, so he might be fine, I guess to crossfire cards that hot you really need to have a good case, the 290X is a better choice IMO but I can be subjective since I own a 290X and I chose it over the 390 fairly recently

 

 

It's all good, I'm completelt devided LOL. I can't find a solid comparison of the Tri-x and the Nitro. That would seal the deal. But everything is comparing the 390x to the 290x, not the 390 to 290x.

Clock for clock the 290X performs almost identically as the 390X. There are benchmarks that compare them like that, google it, I found it somewhere.

[App4that]

Indeed, he mentioned that the 290X he can get is the Sapphire Tri-X one, it's better than my MSI Twin Frozr one in terms of cooling, so he might be fine, I guess to crossfire cards that hot you really need to have a good case, the 290X is a better choice IMO but I can be subjective since I own a 290X and I chose it over the 390 fairly recently

 

 

Clock for clock the 290X performs almost identically as the 390X. There are benchmarks that compare them like that, google it, I found it somewhere.

I found this, but it pits a reference against the Nitro. So you know the Tri-x has to pull ahead but how much isn't clear.

 

[Morgan MLGman]

I found this, but it pits a reference against the Nitro. So you know the Tri-x has to pull ahead but how much isn't clear.

 

Here you go: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/18/msi_r9_390x_gaming_8g_video_card_review/9#.Vi67_WspXPw

[App4that]

Here you go: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/06/18/msi_r9_390x_gaming_8g_video_card_review/9#.Vi67_WspXPw

I appreciate it but that's 390x vs 290x. I have no idea as to the validity of this video, but it shows both cards trading blows across a shit ton of games. Not even consistant to Gameworks games LOL. But if accurate shows they both do better in certain games.

 

[Morgan MLGman]

I appreciate it but that's 390x vs 290x. I have no idea as to the validity of this video, but it shows both cards trading blows across a shit ton of games. Not even consistant to Gameworks games LOL. But if accurate shows they both do better in certain games.

I know it's 390X vs 290X, but 390X > 390 and if the OC'd 290X performs as a stock 390X or even better depending on the overclock then you know the outcome of your question, the 290X is better as a single card but I have no idea how they perform in crossfire with a 290

[App4that]

I know it's 390X vs 290X, but 390X > 390 and if the OC'd 290X performs as a stock 390X or even better depending on the overclock then you know the outcome of your question, the 290X is better as a single card but I have no idea how they perform in crossfire with a 290

Ah, understood. And an update. Gigabyte just requested an RMA of my fucking motherboard, mother fucking fucker. So I'll have the new GPU before I'll be able to see how it works. Time for beer.

[Morgan MLGman]

Ah, understood. And an update. Gigabyte just requested an RMA of my fucking motherboard, mother fucking fucker. So I'll have the new GPU before I'll be able to see how it works. Time for beer.

Whichever one you choose to go for, I'd gladly take a look at the comparison if you'd be willing to make one, the 290X vs 290 or a 390 vs 290, like measure the FPS in several latest titles and make a thread with the results, most benches on the internet are either on old, crappy drivers (when the 2xx series was released) or comparing the 2xx series to the 3xx series (also with shitty drivers cause AMD held back a little with releasing drivers improvement for the 2XX series so the 3xx series notes bigger performance boost in reviews) since the drivers are good for both series right now, I would love to see the real difference between those.

[App4that]

I'm going to make sure to do just that. I can put them through a bunch of games, and then together. Fuck Gigabyte, going to hold onto my board, it's a sound issue anyway (no surround through headphones), off topic I'll never buy Gigabyte again.

[App4that]

Had to make a choice, went Nitro 390. Biggest factor was the lower power consumption and heat. With two GPU's in the case I had to prioritize that. And with the 390 being newer I'll be able to replace the 290 with a 390 when it gets too long in the tooth.

 

I'm going to do a full comparison of the Vapor-x 290, Nitro 390, and them in crossfire. I'll also see what the 390 will do overclocking compared to the 290, MHz to MHz.