Which GPU to pick.

[MVPernula]

I'm building a PC for my girl, she wants to be able to play casual games like League of Legends and some heavier titles like BF4 and Battlefront. I've been leaning on the R9 390 for the 8GB VRAM since it's such a bang for the buck card atm, but is there anything else I should consider? 

[shadowbyte]

390 390 390 390 390

[DXMember]

290 is even more bang for the buck if you can still find it

[Joegeddon]

The R9 390 is your best bet. Which brand do you plan on going for? I would recommend the MSI TwinFrozr and the Sapphire Nitro cards.

[Ghostay]

I'm building a PC for my girl, she wants to be able to play casual games like League of Legends and some heavier titles like BF4 and Battlefront. I've been leaning on the R9 390 for the 8GB VRAM since it's such a bang for the buck card atm, but is there anything else I should consider? 

I have a MSI 390, no complaints what so ever.

[App4that]

For FPS games the 390 is a pretty good choice. If you want to have the ability to knock out some Gameworks games the 970 is a good choice too. Do you have a budget?

[MVPernula]

290 is even more bang for the buck if you can still find it

Don't wanna get a used one so nah

[MVPernula]

The R9 390 is your best bet. Which brand do you plan on going for? I would recommend the MSI TwinFrozr and the Sapphire Nitro cards.

Most likely leaning towards the TwinFrozr

[MVPernula]

For FPS games the 390 is a pretty good choice. If you want to have the ability to knock out some Gameworks games the 970 is a good choice too. Do you have a budget?

I was thinking of a 970 too, but she mostly plays casually so the 8GB VRAM will help her keep the GPU for a bit longer since games starts to get more demanding.

[DXMember]

Don't wanna get a used one so nah

there should still be new ones around...

 

Most likely leaning towards the TwinFrozr

nitro runs passive and is quiter at load

[App4that]

For the 390 the MSI has on average better overclocking headroom, and the Sapphire has the better cooler. Though the VRM cooling on the Sapphire is horrible.

[MVPernula]

For the 390 the MSI has on average better overclocking headroom, and the Sapphire has the better cooler. Though the VRM cooling on the Sapphire is horrible.

 

 

nitro runs passive and is quiter at load

This is good to know, will most likely go for the coolest more silent card. Sapphire Nitro R9 390, is cooler, more silent and cheaper. Sounds perfect.

[DXMember]

This is good to know, will most likely go for the coolest more silent card. Sapphire Nitro R9 390, is cooler, more silent and cheaper. Sounds perfect.

the perks of being exclusive board partner and working very close with the R&D of Radeon

[AcidicStylez]

970 is one to consider. Best money/performance you can get along with the 980ti right now. Ive owned the MSI Gaming edition. Gotten at least high settings out everything ive played from Skyrim - COD AW with the exception of  Witcher 3, which still runs pretty high with hairworks enabled. This is on a 1080 x 1920p display mind you.

 

The VRAM is nice, but i wouldn't expect you would need more than 4GB for those types of games for a few years.

[Ethan819]

8 GB of VRAM is a little overkill, I don't see games needing more than 3.5gb at ≤1440p for a long enough time that when they do the 380 will be outdated.

So, I would recommend a 970. (Don't forget the controversy around it, advertised as 4gb but 500mb is 7x slower, so just 3.5gb)

[App4that]

The 8g of VRAM on the 390 is overkill but the 3.5g of VRAM on the 970 should be considered when purchasing one. Games use the VRAM available to them, I use over 4g in Fallout 4 where as my 290 used just over 3g. This is because the game detects the addition VRAM and uses it. In some games this might not effect anything, but in others the ability to use more VRAM verses slower memory could impact performance.

[MVPernula]

970 is one to consider. Best money/performance you can get along with the 980ti right now. Ive owned the MSI Gaming edition. Gotten at least high settings out everything ive played from Skyrim - COD AW with the exception of  Witcher 3, which still runs pretty high with hairworks enabled. This is on a 1080 x 1920p display mind you.

 

The VRAM is nice, but i wouldn't expect you would need more than 4GB for those types of games for a few years.

 

 

8 GB of VRAM is a little overkill, I don't see games needing more than 3.5gb at ≤1440p for a long enough time that when they do the 380 will be outdated.

So, I would recommend a 970. (Don't forget the controversy around it, advertised as 4gb but 500mb is 7x slower, so just 3.5gb)

 

 

The 8g of VRAM on the 390 is overkill but the 3.5g of VRAM on the 970 should be considered when purchasing one. Games use the VRAM available to them, I use over 4g in Fallout 4 where as my 290 used just over 3g. This is because the game detects the addition VRAM and uses it. In some games this might not effect anything, but in others the ability to use more VRAM verses slower memory could impact performance.

I'll still probably go for the R9 390 since it's basically better in almost every aspect and by choosing Sapphire Nitro version it'll even be cheaper.

[Crowes]

390 390 390 390 390

 

Are you saying it for each person who was thinking it?

 

 

390/970.

 

Remember the /.

[App4that]

I'll still probably go for the R9 390 since it's basically better in almost every aspect and by choosing Sapphire Nitro version it'll even be cheaper.

The 390 is a great choice, arguably the best choice which is why we have so many colorful discussions about the 390/970 lol. Good news is they're both arguably the best choice and you will be happy with the 390. Make sure you get the Sapphire 390 with a backplate, same price as the one without and the backplate on the Nitro is cool. Had one