the age old question. nvidia 970 or r9 390/380

jkiejr · Jan 30, 2016

so i currently have an evga 680 classified. i am noticing that my card can't handle some of the newer games released last year. so i am looking to upgrade my graphics card and i was given a suggestion of a r9 390 for a graphics card from an reddit pc build irc. i haven't overclocked anything and don't think i will.
i am open and willing to try new things, just unsure if i will like radeon since i have used nvidia and evga for years. i like that that the 390 has 8 gb of video ram, but the base and boost clocks are lower than some of evga's cards, even though i was told that doesn't really matter anymore. i have 3 24" monitors so i am running at 1080p and don't need to worry about anything higher like 4k. hopefully i have all pertinent information needed.

kwa-e · Jan 30, 2016

The 390 runs 3x1080P better than the 970 due to the higher memory bandwidth and the extra VRAM.

If you want to see how it performs at three monitor setups looking at the 4K benchmarks in this review, as you can see it edges out the 970 many of the benchmarks.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_390_Nitro/2.html.

The only caveats of the 390 is that its power consumption 60W more than the 970, so we probably need to check what power supply you have before you upgrade. (Aswell as your parts, so we can have an idea of your total system power consumption)

GPU clocks really don't matter since the benchmarks are what you need to follow the most.

jkiejr · Jan 30, 2016

kwa-e :

I have an 850 Watt 80+ Platinum power supply that I will be reusing.
My full system is here
pc part picker

jerdle · Jan 30, 2016

The cards are pretty evenly matched at 1080p, but when you increase the resolution, things shift pretty quickly in favor of Radeons.

That and a 390 should just plain last longer with 4.5GB more VRAM.

17seconds · Jan 30, 2016

The big question is whether you're ready to switch from one ecosystem to the other. Switching from Nvidia to AMD is a bigger deal than the few meaningless FPS you may experience one way or the other.

Are you ready for a new system of driver support and graphics settings? Are you ready to give up your PhysX, MFAA, HBAO+, TXAA, DSR, Adaptive VSync, etc.? Do you use Geforce Experience? Are you prepared for less pompt game support on new releases, and having to forgo certain Nvidia-exclusive games settings?

Do some research and answer those types of questions before making your decision. There are key differences that will affect your end user experience.

kwa-e · Jan 30, 2016

The 850 watt unit is of high quality and will work eith even 2 R390s, So you're good to go.

And doesnt amd have their own equivalent to DSR?

jkiejr · Jan 30, 2016

I didn't really think about all those settings I might be loosing. What card from Nvidia would you recommend. It seems people are a little annoyed with the 970 and it's 4gb or VRAM.

jerdle · Jan 31, 2016

Unless you're willing to shell out for a 980 TI, all of nvidia's other cards are all losing in their price/performance zones.

17seconds · Jan 31, 2016

It depends on your budget, but I think you would be happy with one of the high-end custom GTX 970s, something like a Gigabyte Extreme Gaming, EVGA FTW, or MSI Gaming. With a free copy of Tomb Raider, it's a pretty good deal.

The GTX 970 is one of the best selling video cards of all time, that wouldn't be the case if there was a real issue. To date, I'm not aware of a single review that has been able to show an issue with its memory configuration under normal gaming conditions.

If you want to pay a bit more for ~13% more performance, then a GTX 980 is next up the list.

Search

the age old question. nvidia 970 or r9 390/380

jkiejr

Reputable

17seconds

kwa-e

Admirable

jkiejr

Reputable

jerdle

Admirable

17seconds

Champion

kwa-e

Admirable

jkiejr

Reputable

jerdle

Admirable

17seconds

Champion

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page