Which GPU for this build?

[BrisoX]

Bought almost every part of PC except GPU. Currently playing at 1080p, but will upgrade to 1440p in the future. No need for ultra native settings. High is enough. 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nbP2pg

This is my build. Would you recommend R9 390 or GTX 970? I know R9 has double the VRAM size of 970, but 970 has a newer chip and it's faster... I can't decide really... Also 970 is more power efficent than R9 even tho that doesn't affect much...

[Vivilacqua1]

390.

 

More vram and slightly faster with better drivers slowly coming along.

[givegomezthegun]

If those are your 2 options you're choosing from, and you are going to 1440 in the future I would get the 390.

 

*Disclaimer: there is no brand loyalty here, I am currently using a 970

[stealth80]

Discussed a thousand times:

 

 

 

[i_build_nanosuits]

2 minutes ago, BrisoX said:

Bought almost every part of PC except GPU. Currently playing at 1080p, but will upgrade to 1440p in the future. No need for ultra native settings. High is enough. 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nbP2pg

This is my build. Would you recommend R9 390 or GTX 970? I know R9 has double the VRAM size of 970, but 970 has a newer chip and it's faster... I can't decide really... Also 970 is more power efficent than R9 even tho that doesn't affect much...

get the R9 390 that way you can buy a freesync 1440p monitor upgrade later...Gsync monitors cary a 200$ premium over freesync ones, and the 390 perform better than the 970 at 1440p...so might as well go with that!

[BrisoX]

Just now, givegomezthegun said:

If those are your 2 options you're choosing from, and you are going to 1440 in the future I would get the 390.

 

*Disclaimer: there is no brand loyalty here, I am currently using a 970

Okay haha no problem.. thanks for advice

[App4that]

If you play mostly ports and open world games, the 970. If you don't, the 390. 

[BrisoX]

Just now, i_build_nanosuits said:

get the R9 390 that way you can buy a freesync 1440p monitor upgrade later...Gsync monitors cary a 200$ premium over freesync ones, and the 390 perform better than the 970 at 1440p...so might as well go with that!

you mean sth like this?

https://www.asus.com/Monitors/MG279Q/

[BrisoX]

Just now, App4that said:

If you play mostly ports and open world games, the 970. If you don't, the 390. 

FPS a lot and action games like Just cause and crysis etc...

[i_build_nanosuits]

5 minutes ago, BrisoX said:

you mean sth like this?

https://www.asus.com/Monitors/MG279Q/

yes that's a hell of a monitor right there...

 

Look, here...this is the list of monitors that are 2560x1440 with FREESYNC, as you can see you can get one for 400$

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/monitor/#r=256001440&A=2&sort=a8&page=1

 

And THIS is the list of monitors with similar specs but with a GSYNC module instead...cheapest one...600$

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/monitor/#r=256001440&sort=a8&page=1&A=1

 

That's IMHO a deal breaker if you do not already own a variable refresh monitor and a GPU to go along yet, the AMD route is tempting because in the end it'll be a lot cheaper when all things are considered. Just saying hope this help.

[App4that]

Just now, BrisoX said:

FPS a lot and action games like Just cause and crysis etc...

Just Cause plays like ass on a AMD card. AMD has higher driver overhead so ports like Just Cause run poorly. 

 

FPS like Battlefront with nothing much to load play better on the 390. Games like The Division that are a combination of the two play equal on both. 

 

390

Better compute

more VRAM 

 

970

Nvidia features

better day one drivers

 

If you're still caught buy based on price.

 

390

Sapphire

MSI

Powercolor

XFX

 

970

EVGA

MSI

ZOTAC

[Chirag Borawake]

For 1080p, GTX 970, For more than that, R9 390 will definitely prove useful in the near future with its more Vram.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

47 minutes ago, BrisoX said:

Bought almost every part of PC except GPU. Currently playing at 1080p, but will upgrade to 1440p in the future. No need for ultra native settings. High is enough. 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nbP2pg

This is my build. Would you recommend R9 390 or GTX 970? I know R9 has double the VRAM size of 970, but 970 has a newer chip and it's faster... I can't decide really... Also 970 is more power efficent than R9 even tho that doesn't affect much...

 

I think this video is very reflective. The dude is also running an i5 6600K

 

 

 

[BrisoX]

1 hour ago, Pohernori said:

 

I think this video is very reflective. The dude is also running an i5 6600K

 

 

 

so actually r9 390 is better haha even tho in some games 970 gets 1-3 fps more, but negligible

would go for sapphire r9 390 then for future profits 

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

2 minutes ago, BrisoX said:

so actually r9 390 is better haha even tho in some games 970 gets 1-3 fps more, but negligible

would go for sapphire r9 390 then for future profits 

 

About the same. Can't go wrong with either 

[BrisoX]

11 minutes ago, Pohernori said:

 

About the same. Can't go wrong with either 

yea, but don't know about DX12 and future profits haha i want to card to use me at least 4-5 years

[SteveGrabowski0]

The 390 over 970 is a no brainer at 1440p.

[App4that]

1 hour ago, BrisoX said:

yea, but don't know about DX12 and future profits haha i want to card to use me at least 4-5 years

With the changes coming to both Pascal and Polaris, nether has any protection from being obsolete in a year or two. Especially if you're looking at resolutions over 1080p. Sorry, but if you're looking at wanting to get 4-5 years out of the card, you're much better off waiting for the new architectures. 

[VG Docs]

The 3.5GB VRAM (w/ 512MB 1/7 speed VRAM) will not be an issue for a single card at 1080p or 1440p. As reflected in the video I'll link, it doesn't even bottleneck with 2 970s at those resolutions.

The 970 will likely be the better buy if you're looking for stable performance instead of just high fps performance. There are simply more games that perform better (in terms of stability) on Nvidia cards. Even with just one GPU with much more VRAM, the 390 tends to perform more poorly in those minimum frame times.

Here's a video that further explores single 970, single 390x, and dual GPU configs with both.

 

 

 

Your primary considerations should then be price, software, and compute considerations.