R9 390 (300.00) vs GTX 970 (250.00)?

[Kickflapper]

What should I buy? I am looking at Sapphire Nitro R9 390 with backplate for 300.00 or MSI GTX 970 with sli bridge included 250.00. I would rather have the 390, but is it worth the extra 50.00usd? 

[HKZeroFive]

No way in hell is it worth an extra $50. Are there cheaper variants of the R9 390 (except for ASUS and Gigabyte)? Otherwise, I'd go for the GTX 970.

[Kickflapper]

Is it worth 280.00? I was going to see if the guy will come down in price.

[HKZeroFive]

3 minutes ago, Kickflapper said:

Is it worth 280.00? I was going to see if the guy will come down in price.

Still not worth the extra $30. The performance difference between the GTX 970 and R9 390 is pretty much nothing. They both trade blows.

[jbslayer]

If you're able to get the 390 at $280, I would say it would be worth it over a $250 970 because the 390 will have better value in the future (better dx12 support, 8GB VRAM, overall better performance). But if you can't get it for $280, then just go with the 970.

[Moonzy]

16 minutes ago, Kickflapper said:

What should I buy? I am looking at Sapphire Nitro R9 390 with backplate for 300.00 or MSI GTX 970 with sli bridge included 250.00. I would rather have the 390, but is it worth the extra 50.00usd? 

unless you're going above 1080p, the 970 is totally worth it at this price point

[That Norwegian Guy]

11 minutes ago, jbslayer said:

If you're able to get the 390 at $280, I would say it would be worth it over a $250 970 because the 390 will have better value in the future (better dx12 support, 8GB VRAM, overall better performance). But if you can't get it for $280, then just go with the 970.

Pretty much, also an extra 4.5GB of (full speed) VRAM may not sound like much if you're playing at 1080p, but it's for example the difference between VR ready and not.

Also I would personally still choose the 390 even at $50 more, just because in the future if I wanted to add a second card I'd rather have crossfire 390 than SLi 970. Especially now that Freesync works in crossfire.

[BurblingBarbacoa]

At a $50 difference, go for the 970. At a smaller price gap I would still say 970 but use your better judgement on whether you will use the extra preformance that 390 has to offer. Notably that 8gb vram. 

[xAcid9]

Not worth the extra $30 if it's against MSI 970 Gaming but if it's the lower end variant then sure, get the 390.

[TheGingaBreadMan]

If you could deal with a compromise, the R9 380x is quite a bit cheaper, and will provide almost just as much performance as the 970. If anything I'd say just go for the R9 390 to get the most out of your money.

[Citadelen]

The 390 is worth $30 more than a 970, the 390 wins in almost anything you through at it, and it exceeds a 980 in DX12.