GTX 970 vs 390. Or save money and buy R9 380 (Done homework on reading all Benchmarks already)

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sr2002

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So I'm posting yet another thread to get some inputs on my confusion.
1080p Gaming only at this point.
My current setup: E3-1225v3 + 20GB DDR3 + EVGA SuperNova 550GS + DELL Cabinet.
My size constraints: GPU length : upto 10.5Inches (Riveted HDD Cage in the way beyond that)

I did quite a lot of reading and I'm ending up at the same point when it comes to GPU choice.

Buy the 970 SSC EVGA: Limited support to DX12, 3.5GB RAM, Price:~270$ (Jet.com/Newegg)

Buy R9 390: Only choice (Size limits) - Gigabyte G1 or MSI 8G Gaming, Power consumption, Price: ~300$
G1 Gaming: Ton of bad reviews over cooler quality
MSI 8G: Length is 10.9Inches (doubts about if it can fit, might fit with the shroud removed)

Buy R9 380: Sapphire Nitro or XFX DD 4GB: Hardware support DX12, 4GB RAM, Price: ~200$

So what are ya'lls thoughts, should I get the R9 380 for the lower price and support for DX12 or spend approx 70$ more on the 970 (which has questionable performance passed 1080p anyway and sketchy press releases for DX12 support for Async)

Will the 380 be good enough for 1080p on ultra? Or is the 970 still a better choice as of November 2015?
I will most likely upgrade in a year if the new 14nm/HBM based cared come out. So does it still make sense to buy the 970 which is already more than a year old ...

Would appreciate some inputs.
 
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AreH
Well, I own r9 380. First, I wanted to buy r9 390 or gtx 970 but because of budget I went with 380. It is hard to compare 380 with 970. 970 is a higher class gpu and if you are searching for more performance go with 970. I wouldn't go with 390 because of power consumption and heat. About 380 I can only say it is really grateful card. For a reasonable money you can play the most demanding games at almost maximum detail in 1080p and it isn't all, it is practically dead silent, and personally I had zero issues with drivers. There is only one issue I noticed and this is cooling technology on the card which pushes the heat in to the case, but the same technology is on the other today cards as well, so I cannot complain about it. At the end...
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clutchc

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At 1080p, it is hard to pass up the GTX 970. I went through a similar ordeal with my system below when I already had a R9-290X in it. Heat was always an issue. And fan noise as a result. OC'ing the CPU and GPU made my room hotter than hell when intense gaming. The VRAM "issue" turns out to be a non-issue for me at 1080p. And I now have a cool, quiet room again. I'm not going back to AMD for high-end cards until they come up with a lower wattage solution. My frame rates are the same or better than with the 290X, and I got PhysX back too. http://www.3dmark.com/compare/fs/5781191/fs/5723807
(The scores improved a tiny bit with Win10, but I didn't have Win10 with the R9-290X, so I used the Win7 comparison)

Well, anyway... that's one man's opinion...
 
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sr2002

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Yes I agree that the R9 200 series had some serious issues with consumption. But based on the benchmarks I saw, the R9 380 is not too much more power hungry than the 970 also the temperatures on the R9 390 and 380 are about the same as the 970.

My dilemma is that since AMD is working closely with Microsoft on DX12 and the fact that both mainstream console have a AMD APU, would mean games would be native to the AMD toolchain, with support for Nvidia. And the DX12 demo seems to show the performance benefits of Async processing on the AMD cores over Nvidia (I know that a lot of people are speculating that the demo DX12 Game was more AMD biased, but, results are results, you can't deny them).

Also, as I mentioned I'm open to an upgrade around mid 2016 when the new Gen GPUs come out. But till then, is it still worth spend 70$ someting on the 970 or just go for a 380.

How bad is the 380 at 1080p ?
 
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Callsign Zulu

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For 1080p gaming all of them are solid at ultra, gaming wise expect about 50 FPS on games like metro last light and BF4 on the 380. The 390 and 970 are almost identical in performance so it depends on size really because I am pretty sure both have the same amount of VRAM ik the 390x has 8GB tho. I would personally recommend a 390x but it is pricey and probably more than you need, but great card. The 970 would be my first choice here, the 390 may not fit and the 380 is just to underpowered for me personally. If I were you the 970, from the top 3, would be my choice.
 
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JUICEhunter

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I'd rule out 380 in less you're planning on getting that and jumping on Pascal next year but who wants to buy a new GPU every year?

Go with the 970, my 780ti only has 3gb of VRAM and it's really not an issue for demanding games like GTA5 and Witcher 3.
 
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AreH

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Well, I own r9 380. First, I wanted to buy r9 390 or gtx 970 but because of budget I went with 380. It is hard to compare 380 with 970. 970 is a higher class gpu and if you are searching for more performance go with 970. I wouldn't go with 390 because of power consumption and heat. About 380 I can only say it is really grateful card. For a reasonable money you can play the most demanding games at almost maximum detail in 1080p and it isn't all, it is practically dead silent, and personally I had zero issues with drivers. There is only one issue I noticed and this is cooling technology on the card which pushes the heat in to the case, but the same technology is on the other today cards as well, so I cannot complain about it. At the end, all is about budget, if you have it go with 970 and you will not make mistake, but if you haven't it you can go with 380 with all chances to be fully satisfied.

Best luck whatever you choose!
 
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sr2002

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Thanks a lot guys for the helpful feedback, I really appreciate it.

Does anyone have any clues as to any upcoming games in the next year that will employ Directx 12 or rumored to?

I'm just wondering will the Async support from the R9 380/390 provide some kind of a hidden surprise in DX12 games?

If there arent any good DX12 games coming out in the next year, then its obvious that I will go for the GTX 970, which everyone knows for sure satisfies the requirements for current generation games.
 
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Callsign Zulu

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DirectX 12 will not see major use is 2016 at all so I wouldn't worry. Remember when DirectX 11 came out in 2009? It wasn't till around 2011 that it was actually implemented into games and made them perform better. Developers are not going to make a huge title that users only with the latest GPU and OS can use, that would drop sales and they would loose money. Rather they are going to release the product and let the consumers gradually upgrade as developers start to plan for big titles. So if your worried about, "Oh everybody is going to be using Directx12 and I am not, damn Nividia!" I wouldn't worry at all we have a year or two. Also Nividia will most likely release a driver to fix compatibility issues, I mean not everyone has the ching to buy top teir nividia cards so if they don't make a driver they will lose sales to AMD. So expect a driver lol.

And your question about Async can be answered here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-dx12-asynchronous-shaders-gcn,28844.html

Hope that helps! :)
 
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sr2002

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So, I have good news! After 11 pain staking rivets and some brute force, I no longer have the 10.5inch restriction on the card length :)
Seems like Dell really didnt want anyone messing with that cage. It was so crazy re-enfored and mounted at 15-16 points with rivets and punched in fittings.

2015-11-03%2023.28.50.jpg


So now I think the XFX 390 should easily fit in my case .. Although the MSI Gaming 390 seems a little too thick, I might have to sacrifice front panel USB 3.0 and two SATA ports if I get it.

Anyone have experience with XFX ?
 
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sr2002

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Just to bring the thread back on the front page:

I've decided to go for a 390 or 390x (If I can find one ~300$). If I get a 980 for under 400$ (which seems unlikely) I might go for that too.
Any thoughts on which board partner is good for AMD ?

I really liked the XFX DD models. But heard the Sapphire Nitros are good with heat dissipation?

My current case has one 90mm fan blowing air inwards, the chassis is a mid tower (14x17x7inches) with the front panel vented.
Will the 390 or 390x be good? Or will I need to install another fan ?
Since the drive cage is now gone, I have the whole lower part of the chassis empty till the front.

Heres a link to the spec page: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t20/pd
 
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maxalge

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a 650w power supply is really minimum for a 390

unless you upgrade stick to a gtx 970
 
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Creme

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390 is the best of the three, but also the most power hungry and you need to measure your needs. The 380 is just fine for 1080p if you're responsible with the settings aka not enabling ultra for the sake of ultra even if you don't notice the difference from high.

970 is also a great 1080p card, but the 3.5GB issue and DX12 performance being unknown it's uncertain if it will last (compared to the 390).

You can also wait for the 380X, which will be near R9 290 levels with lower power consumption.
 
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sr2002

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Based on what I read, it seems that Nvidia and AMD use peak power ratings as their minimum requirements. That is, when they say 650watts required, they mean low quality PSUs that are capable of a peak of 650watts. Wheres as the actually continuous power requirements is 75% of the peak rating. In case of the 390 the continuous power required will be approx. 487watts.

I also used some of the power calculation tools to check my overall power consumption, my system will not exceed 500watt even with the 390x.

But of course you are right, that ideally a 650watt PSU would provide more headroom, but my PSU (EVGA 550GS Gold) is rated to work at max efficiency up 90% of the rated wattage. Which means it should run at its sweet spot when at 500watts.

But please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm doing this after quite a long time. :)
 
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sr2002

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Hey thanks so much for the promo code, I really appreciate it!
But unfortunately I have a budget of upto 350$ max. So that 980 even with that promo is still out of my budget.

I would be all over the 980 if were for less than 400$ .. fingers crossed for blackfriday! lol

 
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sr2002

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So an update:

I just went ahead and bought a 390 from Bestbuy. Its the XFX DD version.
After running firestrike twice in a row and then playing Bioshock infinite for 15-20min. I'm seeing my CPU T-case temp on Intel XTU floating in 69-72degrees range and the side panel is very hot to touch. The case has a single temp controlled fan which is running at quite audible levels now.

My question is, is this normal ? Will this degrade my CPU's life it is kept running in such a hot enivronment?

Will the GTX 970 provide a significant difference in Heat output ?
 
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Callsign Zulu

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I am sorry I did not respond sooner, I just took a look at your case and the 970 would be best my friend. I use the 390x because my case is a full tower with 6 nocturas in it, so cooling really is not an issue for me . But with the case you have is tiny with I am guessing 1 or maybe 2 fans max. When I said the 390 and 390x ran cooler, which they do, I was referring to how the heat pipes in these models were better situated to key areas making the card cooler. This does not fully fix the problem with heating although because AMD cards are very power hungry, which makes them heat a lot more. And yes keeping temps like that will kill your hardware so bring it back and get a 970 which is still a beast. Again I am sorry.
 
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sr2002

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Hey no worries.

Well since I bought it from bestbuy I still have 2 weeks to take it back. In the mean time I might try to get an additional sata powered 120mm fan and see if it helps. Currently theres only one 90mm fan blowing air inwards. Maybe if I put a 120mm fan blow air out on the opposite side, it might improve things, With the side panel off, the CPU temps remain pretty good though lol ...

But I'll also keep a lookout on GTX 970 deals and pick one up soon and return the r9 if it doesnt work out.
 
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sr2002

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By the way, any suggestion on how I can manage the heat in the current case? I really like the performance I'm getting lol :) ...
Also, I might upgrade to a 1440p monitor soon so I could use the 8GB ram buffer on this card ..
 
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sr2002

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Never mind, AMD just made it super easy for me. I cold started the computer with the case door open to make sure the card isnt heating up. It was at about 79degree while I was playing. I got crashes on BioShock Infinite numerous times, also in Tomb Raider. I was using the latest stable AMD driver from their website. I had test both these games on a GTX 950 and 960 and had no problems what so ever.
I'm gonna take you all's advice and return this card and just go for a GTX 970. :)
 
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The Nvidia's drivers may conflict with Amd drivers, resulting in crashing and so on. You should have removed all before testing the R9 390.
 
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RobCrezz

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oh really? Heres some sources of AMD and NVidia cards working in the same pc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqkI7bOfRkA

http://hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/87554-radeon-geforce-gpus-tested-working-together-dx-12/
 
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