R9 390 or GTX 970?

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jtpetch

jtpetch

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Jan 16, 2014
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I've been looking to upgrade my R9 270x to either a GTX 970 or an R9 390, and I'm not sure which one to get. I'm not going to be running 4k, just a single 1080p monitor and a 2ndry 1280x1024 monitor (not used for gaming)

I've watched countless benchmark videos, read many reviews, and skimmed a number of comment debates, and the cards seem very similar in performance, so I'm kinda stuck.

I like the 390's 8gb vram, as that would allow me to go to higher resolutions eventually, but I've read that it never reaches that much at 1080p.

One thing I noticed though, is that with my current build, I'd most likely have to get a better PSU (probably something around 750 watts). (Note: It has Win10 now, not 8.1)

Also, something I'm wondering is with DX12 coming, would either of those cards be able to work with my 270x? (Not crossfire/SLI of course, but however DX12 handles it)

I'd use it for somewhat-heavy gaming (space engineers, R6Siege, and No Man's Sky would probably be my most intensive), animating (Blender), and rendering videos (Hitfilm 3 express, possibly Premiere in the future).

So, which card would really be better for this? My first thought would've been the 970, but I don't want to go with it just "because Nvidia"
 
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jtpetch


I figured it would be.
Is this a good 750 watt PSU for the price then? (I think i want to go with 750 anyway, even though it's overkill. Leaves room for the future, and overclocking) http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b20750vr

And I was looking at this 390 (once it's back in stock) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127874

Is this the best one around that price range? (On PCPartpicker, they're all around 350$, with one at like 400$, but I'd like to stay around 350$)
Or, if not, what exactly am I looking at between them that...
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Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163

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Mar 8, 2015
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That's false. You don't need a 750W PSU for a R9 390 system. Even a 550W is overkill. The difference is the quality of it. Would you go with a XFX 550W or a no name 550W? Obviously the XFX...

Edit:

Go with the R9 390. Please list PSU.

You mentioned HitFilm, more VRAM is better here, the GTX 970 is not a good choice. HitFilm renders almost everything on the timeline on the GPU, as it's openGL, rather than software on the CPU.
 
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thor220

thor220

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Dec 15, 2009
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The R9 390 is recommended above the GTX 970. It's a bit faster at 1080p and only gains more ground at 1440p and 4k.

The VRAM doesn't help much in older games but in newer games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Rainbow Six Siege the extra vRAM does make an impact, especially at higher resolutions. You can expect that the R9 390 will only look better in 1 or two years as VRAM requirements increase for games. GTX 970 also has a disadvantage in DX 12 while pretty much all AMD cards have been ready since the 7970.
 
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jtpetch

jtpetch

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Jan 16, 2014
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This is my full build (sorry, could've sworn i linked it): http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Jtpetch/saved/vwNgXL
And the PSU is an EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply.

I'm leaning more towards the 390 here now, just for future proofing (8gb vram), and the fact that editing could really use that.

(And I know a 750watt is overkill for a 390, but I figured if i did indeed need to get a better one, I may as well go with that because i'll also eventually be upgrading my CPU. Not soon, but "eventually")
 
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jtpetch

jtpetch

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Jan 16, 2014
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10,690


I figured it would be.
Is this a good 750 watt PSU for the price then? (I think i want to go with 750 anyway, even though it's overkill. Leaves room for the future, and overclocking) http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b20750vr

And I was looking at this 390 (once it's back in stock) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127874

Is this the best one around that price range? (On PCPartpicker, they're all around 350$, with one at like 400$, but I'd like to stay around 350$)
Or, if not, what exactly am I looking at between them that makes one better than the other?
Thanks Suzuki!
 
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