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Gigabyte Gtx 970 G1 or AMD R9 390?

GEOrifle

GEOrifle

Senior member
Hi, which one do you recommend for same price Gigabytes Gtx 970 G1 or AMD R9 390 card( MSI, Sapphire).
Nvidia cards are cooler, better OC when Ati cards got more Vram and little faster but futureproof for more Vram demanding games?
Thanks
 
I mean I personally would go for the 390 since Nvidia scammed people over the GTX 970, they lied and tried to cover it up that it was essentially 3.5GB, and not 4GB as falsely advertised.

So why would I reward a company that lies and cheats and tries to scam people and gets caught lying?

So just out of moral reasons I wouldn't support such a company, they haven't even apologized yet! They haven't released a public apology, all they've done it tried to bury it and being forced give people some $40 coupon or shit like that for a game and even that wasn't really done!

But overall the r9 390 is a little bit faster, has more ram and performs better with DX12, so I go for that in performance sense as well!
 
On one hand you have the GTX with it's odd 3.5GB of actual usable VRAM, but still is quite a solid performer. On the other you have a re-badged last gen card with 8GB VRAM.

Sadly, for us, neither of these cards has done much to improve price/performance ratios since the GTX 970 launched. The 970 was a great deal for the equivalent to 780 Ti performance last fall, and the original R9 290 was a great card for the money once non-reference models were available. However, at this point the GTX 970 should have probably dropped in price a bit, and the R9 390 doesn't really do enough to justify its price premium above what R9 290's have been going for over the past year.

That being said, both are good cards.

I personally opted for an EVGA GTX 970 because I will possibly step it up to a GTX 980 Ti through EVGA's step-up program. I wanted to leave myself that option open, although the GTX 970 has been a pleasant surprise and has performed quite well in relation to my past two cards (R9 290 and GTX 780).
 
So in other words Nvidia is left foot broken and Ati right one right?
I guess best choice will be Gtx 970 with 8 gb Vram which doesn't exist, so I'm gonna wait when MSI or Sapphire R9 390 will be on sale.
 
I think the relative prices you can purchase each for should matter. Also, if you overclock, you're right, I think that GTX 970 probably gives you a lot more headroom than the 390 would... something to consider. If you plan on doing only 1080p gaming, I don't think the 3.5 vs. 8GB of VRAM would matter. For 1440p+ gaming, 390's 8 GB of VRAM would probably suit you better.

I'll leave more detailed comparisons to the folks here who know every piece of data to cite 🙂.
 
I'm a lazy guy, I'd take the card for which I don't need to swap the drivers, at least when they're this close in performance...
 
MrAlexander006 said:
I think the relative prices you can purchase each for should matter. Also, if you overclock, you're right, I think that GTX 970 probably gives you a lot more headroom than the 390 would... something to consider. If you plan on doing only 1080p gaming, I don't think the 3.5 vs. 8GB of VRAM would matter. For 1440p+ gaming, 390's 8 GB of VRAM would probably suit you better.

I'll leave more detailed comparisons to the folks here who know every piece of data to cite 🙂.
Click to expand...


I've to disagree, personally I would go for the 390 since the extra video ram is always handy and you never know what games in the future will use it, 3.5GB on 970 just feels restricted and dead end down the road.
 
Gcn have aged better than both kepler but also maxwell.
8gb ram is hardly nessesary but the asynch shaders and the structure of the gpu -ace -can prove to be far more future proof. I wouldnt be surprised if in one year the 390 is 15-20% faster than 970.

I bought an msi 970 because of its superior efficiency and low noise in my htpc. And its not a small deal vs eg an oc 390. The arch is simply made to be efficient from ground up and it shows.

Make your choice. If in doubt dont choose nv. They talk to us like we are idiots. Calling eg. The 3.5gb ram on 970 a feature. Its eroding our hobby - talking to us like we are sheeps.
 
Is there any practical problem to the GTX970 memory scheme though? I'm buying a 390 (in anticipation of Fallout 4 texture mods), but articles I've read on the 970 written after the 4GB debacle was discovered say that it was really only problematic in situations where the card lacked the power to deliver playable frame rates anyway.
 
werepossum said:
Is there any practical problem to the GTX970 memory scheme though? I'm buying a 390 (in anticipation of Fallout 4 texture mods), but articles I've read on the 970 written after the 4GB debacle was discovered say that it was really only problematic in situations where the card lacked the power to deliver playable frame rates anyway.
Click to expand...
The point is that you are getting a 4gb card in which the full 4gb doesn't work at full speed and only 1 portion can be accessed at a time.

So if the texture you need is on the .5 GB area you slow down. Even worse is this does require driver help on nvidia side. So if they stop optimizing for the 970 the card struggles more. It's just a poor purchasing decision to get a 970 now that an 8gb 390 is out.

If you can get either card at a discount then it's worth it irregardless. I'd get a 970 bstock that's it.
 
Absolute0 said:
B stock is good.

GTX 970 superclocked 255$

http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8
Click to expand...

It's a nice price, but be aware that is the EVGA model before they improved the cooler and power delivery. Not all of the heat pipes make contact with the gpu and there are only 4+2 power phases, as opposed to the 6+2 on the newer version.

I believe for EVGA 970's you want to look for part numbers that with a '3' in the last four digits. ex: 04G-P4-3xxx instead of a 04G-P4-2xxx or 04G-P4-1xxx.

Given the price, you might be willing to overlook those shortcomings, but know what you're buying.
 
Why not just get the FTW version at $300? It's not like you really care if it's new or not? It's the best chip you'll get and it's still lower than the 970 and 390 (well not the XFX 390 though).

I'd probably get the XFX 390 for $290. This generation, you want to get the best bang for your buck while accomplishing your goal.
 
tential said:
Why not just get the FTW version at $300? It's not like you really care if it's new or not? It's the best chip you'll get and it's still lower than the 970 and 390 (well not the XFX 390 though).

I'd probably get the XFX 390 for $290. This generation, you want to get the best bang for your buck while accomplishing your goal.
Click to expand...

Where did you find XFX 390 for $290 ? Newegg changed price since sunday for $350.
 
It's $330 now.
The Powercolor model is $330 now but comes with a $20 coupon.

Ya'll need to hop on these deals when they're posted though. Seriously, you're buying a midrange GPU that will be destroyed by next years line by a massive margin. Chances are, you'll sell your GPU and upgrade.

At your price range, there just isn't a difference worth spending more on when it'll be better to save that money for a later date/purchase.

I'd get the FTW model for $300 right now and then sell it next year when Pascal and Arctic Islands drop. I'd be really really surprised at Nvidia and AMD if they have node jump this big and don't have a midrange GPU that comes close to Fury X/980Ti performance.
Edit: Didn't see the G1 was $300 as well....
I forgot how much I like the GTX 970 G1, I'd get that card right now if I was you and have 0 regrets. The Guru3D review is pretty nice too.
 
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I will be coming from a 770, whether it gets sold or not I really don't care. On one had a want a 970 and on the other 390 but when I ever I hear read a comment about power consumption (care a little bit too much) I rethink and the same goes for the 3.5 gb in the 970. All round the 970 seems like a more well rounded card, good acoustics etc but the amount ram seems like its going to be a problem sooner than later. Whether the 390 will benefit from the extra 4gb only time will tell but it gives me a bit more reassurance because the 980ti comes with 6gb with the takeaway is that it was actually designed to effectively use that much. Still up in arms about which to choose though.
 
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