Gigabyte R9 390X or Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition?

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i'd recommend the r9 390x over the GTX 980...why? because it's more DX 12 future proof and the DX 12 api benchmarks are very high add to that that the 390x's vram is 8GB while the GTX is only 4GB of vram but the GTX is better in power wattage consume and more efficient than the 390x since it's a hungry power card so if you intend to get the 390x you should get or have high wattage power supply....good luck mate and enjoy :)
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ChumP

ChumP

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For 1080p/1440p the GTX 970 should be plenty. Also the amp extreme is hugely factory overclocked so it will give better performance.
The R9 390X sould be worth for a 4K monitor setup and the power consumption of this AMD card is enormous.
 
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Rogue Leader

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Depends what you're doing and future plans. The GTX 970 is faster at 1080p, but the 3.5 gb memory issue is showing up in some games (Basically 4 GB cards are limited to 3.5gb fast memory, and causes slowdown on some games). The R9 390X doesn't have that problem even if it is around the same speed or a little slower, BUT at 1440p and 4K the 390X is markedly faster. So for future reasons IMO the 390X is usually the way to go.

However 1 thing to keep in mind as well is you're current setup PSU, the GTX 970 you can get away with a solid 430-500w PSU, the 390X needs more.
 
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B

Bloodstorm

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I want it to be more "future proof". So I'd go with the Gigabyte r9 390x since the Sapphire r9 390x doesn't have backplate. I'd go for the 980 if their difference isn't 108-214 USD here in my country.
 
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Hassan Ahmed95

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i'd recommend the r9 390x over the GTX 980...why? because it's more DX 12 future proof and the DX 12 api benchmarks are very high add to that that the 390x's vram is 8GB while the GTX is only 4GB of vram but the GTX is better in power wattage consume and more efficient than the 390x since it's a hungry power card so if you intend to get the 390x you should get or have high wattage power supply....good luck mate and enjoy :)
 
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Hassan Ahmed95

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why is the 390 is not a competitor to the gtx 970! :D i think it's better.....perhaps the 8GB vram wasn't necessary because any way i think the r9 390's processor can't handle 8GB of graphics data so it won't beat up the gtx 970 in high resolutions but it can still a competitor to the gtx 970 although it's high power consumption and high heat....right?
 
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turkey3_scratch

turkey3_scratch

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I said it is a competitor, the 390 competes with the 970 and the 390X competes with the GTX 980. The R9 390 draws in 255W of power under gaming load, and the GTX 970 draws in 164W under gaming load. In terms of heat, yes, the 390 has more heat produced because heat is directly proportional to electricity. However, when they design graphics cards the OEMs (such as MSI, EVGA, Asus), they design the cooling systems to cool that amount of electricity. They are not going to release a card that has insufficient cooling - it just won't happen. Hotter cards may have better cooling systems remember, too.

For electricity, if you game 3 hours a day and have an electricity price of 20 cents per kilowatt hour (about average in the U.S.) you will save $24.96 yearly with the 970 over the 390. Chances are you won't game that long, and your electric bill could surely be cheaper than that. That was also calculated with a power supply at 80% efficiency, so higher efficiency also decreases that money saved.

You can find the full specifications of AMD vs Nvidia power consumption and money savings here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2833574/electric-bill-amd-nvidia-mathematics-calculated.html
 
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Hassan Ahmed95

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opssss i read it wrong then.....how ever thanks for the additional information but what is your opinion in what i say...that the 8 vram of the 390 won't be so much different and won't beat the gtx 970 in high resolutions like 4K etc. becuase the 390's processor can't handle 8gbs of graphics?? :D
 
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turkey3_scratch

turkey3_scratch

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I highly disagree. For one thing, the 3.5GB fast vRAM + .5GB slow vRAM on the 970 is not going to be able to handle upcoming games as well as the 8GB on the 390. People said the same thing before, "Oh, you won't ever need more than 1GB" - then it went to 2GB, and so forth. 8GB will become the next standard, and cards like the 970 may struggle down the road.

vRAM doesn't mean it all has to actually be "processes" every frame. vRAM stores other stuff, too. 8GB vRAM can store a ton of textures that won't have to be reloaded every time you enter a new area of the game. This reloading strains the CPU and hard drive. In addition, it all depends on how the game developers utilize vRAM. It can be used to store more than data currently being used, just like actual RAM on a PC does.
 
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Hassan Ahmed95

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aha...thank you now i understand how the vram works :) i got my gtx 970 from one month but i regret that i didn't search for the 390 and see it's benchmarks :S i wanted to sell my gtx and get 390 but people here told me that it does not worth it so idk maybe i will wait until the next pascal architecture
 
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Hassan Ahmed95

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you are right thanks mate :)
 
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