discussion GTX 980 versus R9 390X

[Éxodus]

Hi guys,


I can't decide which card to get between those two. I have an I5 4690K and a EVGA G2 850W. Should be enough to run those two cards right in a SLI/crossfire setup?

I'm looking for the card that will provide the best experience overall. I don't really mind power consumption and heat output but I want silence. I will make a crossfire/SLI setup later on. Would the 8GB of V-ram end worth it?

Also what's your opinion on premium cards such as the GTX 980 Matrix. I'm thinking of getting one for 700$. Good deal?

Have a great day and thanks for your help.

 

[FreeKnight]

850W should be fine, at least for the 980s. You could always check with a PSU calculator such as MSI's MSI Canada - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more. The 390X's are a little power hungrier, so it might be cutting it close (depending on how much stuff is hooked up to the PC).

As for the amount of VRAM; that depends. What resolution are you gaming at and are you using lots of heavy texture packs or multiple monitors. If you're only gaming at 1080p, then the 8gb is unnecessary, but higher resolutions and texture packs like in Shadow of Mordor or Skyrim mods can soak up a lot more VRAM.

As for the premium cards, depending on the card and premium it can be a good bet. Take the recently reviewed EBGA SC+ 980Ti for ~30$ more you get much better clocks and a beefy cooler for your card, but it still has the reference PCB, totally worth it. As for the GTX 980 Matrix while it's got a good clock speed bump for a 980, at $700 dollars are you positive you want a 980 and you don't want to spend the extra$99-$150 for a reference 980Ti (ZOTAC ZT-90501-10P GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB 384-Bit PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.ca). With some careful shopping you might score one just barely under $800. I'm not saying you should, but it's worth keeping in mind.

 

[Tyrann]

$700 for a 980? I think you should put that extra $100 and get the GTX980ti. It's roughly 35% faster and you get 2GB more VRam. Wait till the 980's get below $600CDN to be a good deal, i see some now around $640.

 

[Vittra]

Don't buy a GTX 980 brand new. Buy one used, otherwise get a 980 Ti brand new. This of course assumes you are in north america, as you haven't stated your location.

The Platinum is not worth the premium over the Strix.

 

['47 Knucklehead]

I agree. If you already have a 980, then keep it and maybe down the road pick up a second one used. There is no good reason to sell it, take the loss, then buy only a 390X.

If you don't have one, pick up a 980Ti after you save a couple more dollars. Not only will the 980Ti smoke the 390X, it will beat the Fury X by about 3%.

6GB of memory is good for 2 4K monitors. You won't need the 8GB, but you will need more than 4.

Also, the feature set for the 980Ti as far as DirectX 12 goes beats the 390X and even the Fury X, so it will have a longer more useful lifespan.

 

[Dragonstongue]

Support AMD, but going that route save the coin even more and get a good clocking R9-390 or 390 instead there are some that overclock like crazy and will still draw only about the same power as a reference 290x and will end up being noticeably faster then them. MSI GAMING 4g is one of them, Sapphire also makes quite a few options in this regard.

Keeping in mind, if everyone decides to go for Nvidia constantly as they currently do, the more gamerworks and PhysX type crap continues to happen which forces more to go with them and support their ways which also will end up eventually meaning only 1 company to get crappy gpu from and they will cost WAY more I can picture the "budget" card being in the $400 range and the top card $2k+ with maybe 4 choices all told $400-$650-$1000-$2000

Anyways, overall the 8gb is not worth that much at this point HOWEVER DX12 and windows 10 are sure to take much more advantage of it A and B yes most of the 300 series while "silly" in my books for the price premium they are charging do have "extras" that the 200 series does not, so IMO get a nice 390 non X and overclock it if you compare the performance of them, pretty much the same, for that cost savings you can add a decent SSD or even go liquid cooling for that gpu to ensure maximum overclocking is now available ^.^

 

[Dragonstongue]

I agree. If you already have a 980, then keep it and maybe down the road pick up a second one used. There is no good reason to sell it, take the loss, then buy only a 390X.

If you don't have one, pick up a 980Ti after you save a couple more dollars. Not only will the 980Ti smoke the 390X, it will beat the Fury X by about 3%.

6GB of memory is good for 2 4K monitors. You won't need the 8GB, but you will need more than 4.

Also, the feature set for the 980Ti as far as DirectX 12 goes beats the 390X and even the Fury X, so it will have a longer more useful lifespan.

he WANTED to get, doesn't say he has one lol, and I have yet to see an unbiased DX12 benchmark set that shows a stock 980Ti(reference clocked) hammering a 390x/furyX as there is NO DX12 true tests currently simple as that, not to mention, he never stated 2 4k monitors LOL so that makes no lick of difference in what he was asking.

8gb is just as useless as 6gb if not using it, and unless pushing crazy resolutions etc a 4gb card is perfectly fine, those 980Ti are nice performance wise I will give it that, but facts are the ONLY current Nvidia card that is most DX12 supported is the 980Ti everything else is mix and match what feature set is supports.

Just to point something else out, does example 120 FPS matter with all bells and whistles matter more then 100, no not really, and at 4k NO SINGLE CARD PLAYS WELL even dual cards struggle to get playable frame rates with decent settings at 4k let alone 2 x4 lol some peoples kids.

 

[Vittra]

Neither AMD nor Nvidia's current offerings support DX12 fully. They fully support different aspects, but not the complete suite. Feel free to read the DX12 portion of the Fury X review by HWC if you are confused by this statement.

Telling people to support AMD for the sake of supporting AMD is poor advice. A person should always base their purchase on price/performance first, and features they are looking for perhaps second. If pricing wasn't an absolute mess because of the exchange rate in Canada, I would be more likely to recommend a 390 (not an X variant) right now, if one were to purchase brand new. In the US, I think it would be worthy of consideration. Such as things are, I would advocate buying a used 290(x) over a new 390x. 390 is a bit more murky but still not quite where I'd like things to be. In a couple months time when we see some 390(x) cards filter into the used market, I think that will provide more opportunity all around.

 

[AkG]

AMD offer decent mid-range and value oreintated cards. The OP is not interested in low and mid range cards...and suggesting AMD 'just because' it is AMD is less than optimal. AMD need to stop playing the underdog card and start playing the VALUE and performance per watt game. IMHO laying blame for HairWorks solely on NV is also wearing rose colored glasses. It is a direct response to TressFX (remember Tomb Raider and her hair?).

More to the point "GSYNC". 'nuff said. Drop down to a 970, put the extra cash into a GSYNC monitor and enjoy the best gaming experience you will see on ANY single card setup.

 

['47 Knucklehead]

he WANTED to get, doesn't say he has one lol, and I have yet to see an unbiased DX12 benchmark set that shows a stock 980Ti(reference clocked) hammering a 390x/furyX as there is NO DX12 true tests currently simple as that, not to mention, he never stated 2 4k monitors LOL so that makes no lick of difference in what he was asking.

8gb is just as useless as 6gb if not using it, and unless pushing crazy resolutions etc a 4gb card is perfectly fine, those 980Ti are nice performance wise I will give it that, but facts are the ONLY current Nvidia card that is most DX12 supported is the 980Ti everything else is mix and match what feature set is supports.

Just to point something else out, does example 120 FPS matter with all bells and whistles matter more then 100, no not really, and at 4k NO SINGLE CARD PLAYS WELL even dual cards struggle to get playable frame rates with decent settings at 4k let alone 2 x4 lol some peoples kids.

My statement was more of a statement in general, not specifically to him. Hence why when I made it, I didn't quote him.