Best GPU Upgrade (For Me)

dgwine · Jan 18, 2016

Current system:

i5 4690k
R7 260x
ASRock z97 Extreme4
EVGA GQ 650w PSU

Hi, I am looking for an enthusiast grade graphics card. budget is 250-350 USD. I was originally looking towards the Sapphire Nitro r9 390, but some people told me against it. What are your guys opinions? I think that my PSU would be good enough for any single card.

I care about noise, but I don't care about power consumption or heat, as long as they are both decent, and wont cause problems. In the end, what I care about most is performance, a quiet card would just be nice to have

Finkledbody · Jan 18, 2016

Your best two options are either. Your PSU is plenty for either route. There are many reviews on these to cards pitting them against each other in various games and they end up being within 10 fps.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Quieter-Graphics-04G-P4-2974-KR/dp/B00NVODXR4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453129174&sr=1-1&keywords=970
or
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-R9-390-GAMING-8G/dp/B00ZGF0UAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453129209&sr=1-1&keywords=r9+390

rolli59 · Jan 18, 2016

For your budget either R9 390 or GTX970, nothing wrong with the Sapphire Nitro if that is the one you like.

dgwine · Jan 18, 2016

Out of the 390 and 970, which one would you say is more future proof? I do not plan to upgrade the GPU again for 4-5 years.

RCFProd · Jan 18, 2016

That's a really sweet build, some great components in there man. Don't you think you can pay slightly more than 350 USD and get an R9 390X?

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390X 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $369.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-18 10:00 EST-0500

Otherwise you have to choose between the R9 390 and GTX 970. A very fast TL;DR between these 2 cards:
The R9 390 is better out of the box, but overclocking wise the GTX 970 is so much better that it becomes the better card out of the two, UNTIL you hit a game that's so VRAM heavy that the R9 380 8GB takes back the lead.

Nvidia is greener and drivers are still in their favor. Shadowplay is unmatched compared to AMD Game DVR and adaptive V-sync is originally supported with Nvidia, only an outdated Dynamic V-Sync control with RadeonPro comes close but doesn't always work.

BadActor · Jan 18, 2016

I would check out the game benchmarks for the games you play. Certain games do better on a GTX 970 and vice versa. The 390 can be had for about twenty bucks less.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/1984-amd-r9-390-380-benchmark-review/Page-2

SPgamer007 · Jan 18, 2016

Should wait for Pascal, as for the best, both R9 390 and GTX 970 are good enough for any game at 1080p.

dgwine · Jan 18, 2016

RCFProd :

That's a really sweet build, some great components in there man. Don't you think you can pay slightly more than 350 USD and get an R9 390X?

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390X 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $369.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-18 10:00 EST-0500

Otherwise you have to choose between the R9 390 and GTX 970. A very fast TL;DR between these 2 cards:
The R9 390 is better out of the box, but overclocking wise the GTX 970 is so much better that it becomes the better card out of the two, UNTIL you hit a game that's so VRAM heavy that the R9 380 8GB takes back the lead.

Nvidia is greener and drivers are still in their favor. Shadowplay is unmatched compared to AMD Game DVR and adaptive V-sync is originally supported with Nvidia, only an outdated Dynamic V-Sync control with RadeonPro comes close but doesn't always work.

Where I live, all r9 390x's are >$400, so that's not possible. plus, I haven't seen a huge performance increase between the two.

dgwine · Jan 18, 2016

SPgamer007 :

When do you suspect pascal to come out? I'm buying this card before august at the latest, but the sooner the better.

rolli59 · Jan 18, 2016

dgwine :

They are just as future proof! Depending on resolution they swap the performance edge 970 has few FPS at 1080P they are equal at 1440P and 390 takes the lead at 4K.
All those resolutions they play on the same in game settings.

dgwine · Jan 18, 2016

I think i'm gonna go for the 390, because of it's 8gb vram. I know right now its overkill, but they said the same about 4gb on the 290.... also i might be getting a 4k monitor soon. Another question, which 390 do you guys think is quietest/coolest/fastest or generally the best?

I'm a bit scared of the whole overclocking idea, so which is fastest out of the box?

SPgamer007 · Jan 18, 2016

If you are buying it 6 months later, don't pick one just yet.

As for Pascal, they'll come out in mid 2016.

rolli59 · Jan 18, 2016

dgwine :

Those overclocked versions are very similar, The Sapphire Nitro is one of the faster cards.

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Best GPU Upgrade (For Me)

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