R9 390 vs GTX 970

[Alexzz_]

Im thinking about getting a R9 390, however i have heard that the drivers for the 970 are better and most games are optimized for nvidia, so now im asking, which one is better? i know the R9 390 has double the memory but it also uses more power, and if the software is really bad isnt a 970 better?

 

im asking this here as research because i know that you need multiple sources of information.

[ZetZet]

same thing really. software is sketchy for both manufacturers at the moment. 

 

I would get the cheaper one of the two. 

[LynxThe1st]

imo R9 390

[Moonzy]

5 minutes ago, Alexzz_ said:

i have heard that the drivers for the 970 are better and most games are optimized for nvidia,

false for the more stable driver, amd and nvidia is shttin themselves with their drivers now

 

as for nvidia optimized games, no one should turn on the Gameworks features that nvidia put in the games

reason:

Spoiler

 

 

i would go with the r9 390 if power consumption isnt an issue

it performs slightly better than the 970 in DX11 games averagely

and it performs much better in DX12 games, a lot better

[IanDrexP]

I saw Digital Foundry's videos on DX12 games and see AMD pulling ahead now especially on Day 1 driver releases and performance. So I would give it to the R9 390 but still both have their PROs and CONs.

 

If you think of recording game video then Nvidia Shadowplay is awesome (from what I heard, it gives negligible or no performance hit at all). Maybe you are thinking of getting a 144 Hz monitor with adaptive refresh rate technology? AMD FreeSync monitors are cheaper than G-SYNC ones. Just some thoughts to consider.

[ZetZet]

7 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

and it performs much better in DX12 games, a lot better

there are none 

 

 

 

1:1

 

not to mention this game runs generally like shit so what good is the comparison.

 

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, IanDrexP said:

it gives negligible or no performance hit at all

if you have extra cpu horsepower, obs is a great alternative

but if you're cpu bounded (like using an i5 not an i7), then shadowplay is a great asset for game recording

 

also @Alexzz_

i forgot to mention that the R9 390 have more cpu overhead than the 970, so if your cpu isnt that powerful, the 970 would do you better

watch this video to learn more about it

Spoiler

 

 

4 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

there are none 

there are a few, and more are to come

if you buy gpu based on things we have today, then you're gonna have a bad time

[ZetZet]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

there are a few, and more are to come

if you buy gpu based on things we have today, then you're gonna have a bad time

I already did and I'm having a good time.

[Moonzy]

Just now, ZetZet said:

I already did and I'm having a good time.

good for you `-`

[Nacho Marco Segui]

The 390 does not use a lot more power, if you compare to a 970 at 1100 mhz, yes the difference is big, but most 970s run at 1400 Mhz and above. At those speeds, the difference is less noticeable, maybe 50 watts

[Moonzy]

9 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

 

 

well its never great to compare games with locked frames

 

basically speaking, DX12 games arent that popular yet and some optimization have to be done

but AMD's hardware does perform better in DX12 for the same price range

[ZetZet]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

well its never great to compare games with locked frames

 

basically speaking, DX12 games arent that popular yet and some optimization have to be done

but AMD's hardware does perform better in DX12 for the same price range

well you don't know which is broken. the game or nvidia.

[yackson]

18 minutes ago, Alexzz_ said:

Im thinking about getting a R9 390, however i have heard that the drivers for the 970 are better and most games are optimized for nvidia, so now im asking, which one is better? i know the R9 390 has double the memory but it also uses more power, and if the software is really bad isnt a 970 better?

 

im asking this here as research because i know that you need multiple sources of information.

I have an MSI R9 390 and I couldn't be happier. The software is NOT bad. That's what nvidia fanboys keep saying and they have absolutely no idea. Just don't install all of the junk that comes on the CD like AMD Gaming Evolved and shit. It's useless (for me at least). All you need is the display driver. That's it. I've never had any problems with the driver itself.

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, ZetZet said:

well you don't know which is broken. the game or nvidia.

based on the average DX12 performance, the r9 390 does stand out quite a lot,

and nvidia had plenty of time to improve for dx12 anyway, if they arent then there're other questionable things there

 

ps: im a 970 user if you didnt notice, definitely not taking sides here

[SteveGrabowski0]

I wouldn't buy either with new gpu launches looking like a real possibility at the end of next month.

[Nena Trinity]

With all the Nvidia issues lately I vote for 390 but I have not had a AMD GPU yet...

[don_svetlio]

R9 390 - currently having a VRAM memory leak on my laptop (860M) due to "better drivers"