GTX 970 or R9 390?

[Sovek]

As the title says. I'm continuing my build research for my $1K ITX build. The case is a non-factor as it has plenty of room. I think I've narrowed it down to either of these two cards, and according to PCPartpicker.com I need a 450w PSU to give me some room, the PSU I'll be using is the SeaSonic M12 520w, so no problem there even with the 390.

 

I can go either or, or whichever I can find cheaper at the time.

[Cpt Buzzkill]

1080p gaming - go with gtx 970

Higher resolution - r9 390

 

If you have any brand loyalty, go with that. 2 cards are VERY similar and get 5-10 fps difference, depending which game u play

[Guest]

970 for power and heat reasons. 

 

I wouldn't be eager to run a 390 on 520w as a daily. 

[Sovek]

Yeah, this is higher res as I'm looking at a 34" monitor, possibly ultra-wide.

[Guuhan]

390 draws more power. 970 is more efficient with power. Price/Performance I think you should go with the R9 390

[HKZeroFive]

Whichever is cheaper.

[mapegl]

If it has enough room, I would definitely take the r9 390. Just try to get the Nitro version due to the great cooling capacity of it. 

Also more vram is nice to have and dx12 might just give the 390 even more of an advantage....might.

[Penny5837]

4 minutes ago, Sovek said:

Yeah, this is higher res as I'm looking at a 34" monitor, possibly ultra-wide.

You could get a free sync ultra wide with the 390

[johnny5c]

Just now, Sovek said:

Yeah, this is higher res as I'm looking at a 34" monitor, possibly ultra-wide.

Definitely a 390 then, I'm running two 980's and 4GB of vram is easy to max out at 3440x1440.

[ivan134]

51 minutes ago, Sovek said:

Yeah, this is higher res as I'm looking at a 34" monitor, possibly ultra-wide.

390.

[don_svetlio]

2 hours ago, Sovek said:

Yeah, this is higher res as I'm looking at a 34" monitor, possibly ultra-wide.

Definitely the 390.

 

2 hours ago, Alexokan said:

970 for power and heat reasons. 

 

I wouldn't be eager to run a 390 on 520w as a daily. 

M12II EVO is a fantastic quality PSU. It can easily handle a OCed 390 considering the 390 uses only about 280W. A Typical 970 uses 170-200W. Not that much of a difference really. No, TDP is not power draw, we've discussed that already. TDP is also measured at 1000MHz for a 970, not the 1300MHz most come clocked at.

[Prolapser]

ultra wide with casual crap like 390?

[Sovek]

25 minutes ago, Prolapser said:

ultra wide with casual crap like 390?

please explain why a 390 is 1: casual, 2: crap?

 

The 390 is one of the most powerful cards on the market, only slightly below a 390X, and then R9 Nano, 980, 980Ti, and TitanX. thats 4 cards that are better than it, and even then its not a wide margin. You don't need $500 card to run a 1440-2K monitor unless playing Atilla Total War... and to be fair, that game takes alot out of anything

[Nena Trinity]

I guess 390 if performance is your only worry!

[Prolapser]

11 minutes ago, Sovek said:

please explain why a 390 is 1: casual, 2: crap?

 

The 390 is one of the most powerful cards on the market, only slightly below a 390X, and then R9 Nano, 980, 980Ti, and TitanX. thats 4 cards that are better than it, and even then its not a wide margin. You don't need $500 card to run a 1440-2K monitor unless playing Atilla Total War... and to be fair, that game takes alot out of anything

it is casual shit that's why. not high end by my supreme standards.

[Sovek]

sorry, but I'm not spending the same amount of all my other components combined on a GPU just to have 100 FPS at 4k res... some of us dont make $100k year...

[terminal2]

2 minutes ago, Sovek said:

sorry, but I'm not spending the same amount of all my other components combined on a GPU just to have 100 FPS at 4k res... some of us dont make $100k year...

Very true.  This is what a lot of people don't get right now is that the 980ti really has no application with current display standards to justify its 200-300 price point over the 390, Fury, 970, etc.  It just slightly misses the consistentcy mark needed to call it a 4K card, and there really isn't too many 1440p 120 or 144hz displays out there to justify the additional frames in 1440p.  

Max end cards are usually a because we can niche that have very little practicability for extra overhead cost.  At least the 390 and 970 are very solid 1440p 60 FPS cards, a true niche. 

[ivan134]

10 minutes ago, Sovek said:

sorry, but I'm not spending the same amount of all my other components combined on a GPU just to have 100 FPS at 4k res... some of us dont make $100k year...

People like that are not worth wasting time on. They feed off attention.

[App4that]

5 minutes ago, terminal2 said:

Very true.  This is what a lot of people don't get right now is that the 980ti really has no application with current display standards to justify its 200-300 price point over the 390, Fury, 970, etc.  It just slightly misses the consistentcy mark needed to call it a 4K card, and there really isn't too many 1440p 120 or 144hz displays out there to justify the additional frames in 1440p.  

Max end cards are usually a because we can niche that have very little practicability for extra overhead cost.  At least the 390 and 970 are very solid 1440p 60 FPS cards, a true niche. 

No, don't go the other way now. I've got a 980ti and it was worth every penny, and I've had a 290 and a 390 as well. The 390 is a awesome card though. It comes down to your needs. If you just want to pop in a game and have some fun the 390 is perfect.

[Sovek]

8 minutes ago, terminal2 said:

Very true.  This is what a lot of people don't get right now is that the 980ti really has no application with current display standards to justify its 200-300 price point over the 390, Fury, 970, etc.  It just slightly misses the consistentcy mark needed to call it a 4K card, and there really isn't too many 1440p 120 or 144hz displays out there to justify the additional frames in 1440p.  

Max end cards are usually a because we can niche that have very little practicability for extra overhead cost.  At least the 390 and 970 are very solid 1440p 60 FPS cards, a true niche. 

pretty much this. This is a build that will last me the next 5-8 years, and I can probably get away with doing that on a 390, while yes a 980 will last a while longer, I could always upgrade to a used 980 in a few years when everyone starts selling their cards for the newest card, at about $300... and my 390 could still be had for $200, so in total, my cost comes out to about $400 vs $650. A 980Ti does not have double the performance to justify its double the price.

 

And a Titan? HAHAHA... NO!

 

Another thing to keep in mind @Prolapser Is that my games? old or not that demanding graphics wise. The reason for the 390 over the 380 is down to future-proofing or if a game comes out where I'm going to want that extra power to get 30 FPS on an ultra-wide screen.

[terminal2]

12 minutes ago, App4that said:

No, don't go the other way now. I've got a 980ti and it was worth every penny, and I've had a 290 and a 390 as well. The 390 is a awesome card though. It comes down to your needs. If you just want to pop in a game and have some fun the 390 is perfect.

Come on man, you're gonna tell me that some extra frames that won't even been seen on a 60Hz 1440p monitor, is worth double the money?  For some applications, maybe, but not for OP

OP is better off taking the 300 bucks he saves and putting it towards a Polaris or Pascal GPU in the future, which will be specifically geared toward 4k instead of this intermediary BS.  

[App4that]

1 minute ago, terminal2 said:

Come on man, you're gonna tell me that some extra frames that won't even been seen on a 60Hz 1440p monitor, is worth double the money?  For some applications, maybe, but not for OP

OP is better off taking the 300 bucks he saves and putting it towards a Polaris or Pascal GPU in the future, which will be specifically geared toward 4k instead of this intermediary BS.  

What unseen frames? I run a 1080p monitor and have been able to dip below 60fps. It depends on your use of the product. I'm extremely demanding of my rig and therefore make use of the 980ti and it is therefore worth it, to me. That does not mean you should run out and get one, if YOU don't need one.

 

 

[terminal2]

1 minute ago, App4that said:

What unseen frames? I run a 1080p monitor and have been able to dip below 60fps. It depends on your use of the product. I'm extremely demanding of my rig and therefore make use of the 980ti and it is therefore worth it, to me. That does not mean you should run out and get one, if YOU don't need one.

 

 

Yeah man, I can't imagine a game that would bring a 980ti to 60FPS in 1080 except for a split second.  But yeah if you see the benefit then great.  However OP would be better served allocating that 300 bucks elsewhere in the budget for 1440p, then making the jump to Polaris/Pascal when he/she jumps to a 4K display.  And that was my overall point.  More in response to the guy thumbing his nose at people who would dare consider price/performance 

[App4that]

Just now, terminal2 said:

Yeah man, I can't imagine a game that would bring a 980ti to 60FPS in 1080 except for a split second.  But yeah if you see the benefit then great.  However OP would be better served allocating that 300 bucks elsewhere in the budget for 1440p, then making the jump to Polaris/Pascal when he/she jumps to a 4K display.  And that was my overall point.  More in response to the guy thumbing his nose at people who would dare consider price/performance 

Our goal should not be to emulate those who's actions bother us.

 

ROTTR, The Division, Fallout 4, hell even the New Hitman game that looks like ass takes a enthusiast card to max. If I wasn't modding games I'd just lower a few settings that make little difference to the appearance of the game to get the fps I want. But modding is fun and expensive

[terminal2]

7 minutes ago, App4that said:

Our goal should not be to emulate those who's actions bother us.

 

ROTTR, The Division, Fallout 4, hell even the New Hitman game that looks like ass takes a enthusiast card to max. If I wasn't modding games I'd just lower a few settings that make little difference to the appearance of the game to get the fps I want. But modding is fun and expensive

The Fallout 4 one I'm not getting.  I've heard it can be hard to run but I maxed it with an i3-4160 and a R9 270.  Granted I hit the silicon lottery with the 270 and got it all the way to 1125 Core and 1575 Memory, but still.  The 270 is down to economy sweet-spot at best.  And I can still get 38-50 FPS @1080p with a factory limit OC of 1050/1500

But I pushed the memory to hard on it, so now I stuck in the same position as OP.  Except, I already have a 4K 30Hz TV that runs 1080 @ 120FPS.  And my next purchase will be 4k 60Hz.  And I only have $340 bucks for a GPU.  So yeah.  I'm choosing between a 390 or GTX 970.  Or  getting a 380/960 and putting the $100 towards a next gen GPU.