Hello guys!
Soon I am buying a new PC and I don't know what graphic card I should get. I can't decide between GTX 970 and R9 390, as they both are in quite similar prices.

The other parts of the PC are gonna be i7-4790K and 16GB RAM. It will be used for gamedev - I'd like to start a project in UE4 - and of course for gaming. I won't be switching to anything bigger than 1080p now.

At first I was sure about getting GTX 970 as it

  • is rather quiet and has low TDP
  • has got a good OC potential
  • comes with a copy of Arkham Knight

But on the other hand some people say there are some memory issues with this card when more than 3.5GB is used.

However, after release the R9 390 turned out to be better than I had expected.

  • it has 8gb VRAM and higher memory bus (512 vs 256), which may make a difference if the new games would be able to use that VRAM
  • supports dx12

but it

  • has much higher TDP
  • can be barely overclocked
  • has got some driver issues?

GTX 970 seems to be a little bit better choice due to better culture of work and better drivers (and Batman of course). But, because of bigger memory and dx12 support, R9 390 may be more efficient in future. GTX 970 can be nicely overclocked, but it would still have only 4GB of VRAM (or even 3.5).

So these are my thoughts that keep arguing with each other and preventing me from making a final decision. I would really appreciate if you helped me choose one and maybe share some opinions or experiences you had with those cards.

Thanks in advance! (All GAs ended.)

EDIT.: I finally made the decision and ordered a GTX 970. Thanks for all the help!

9 years ago*

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Which card should I get?

View Results
GTX 970
R9 390

Didn't a R9 390 catch fire during a benchmarking test or am I thinking of another test? I just remember one newish AMD card catching fire.

9 years ago
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Why not just get a GTX 980 and be done with it? its more comparable to the 390x pricewise anyways and doesn't have the memory issues of the 970.

9 years ago
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If I could aford it, I'd buy it without any questions.

9 years ago
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Buying anything these days on 28nm is a waste of money.

9 years ago
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the 390, those 8GB might come at had at some point in the future, and it seems that is not as hot as the 290x was.

9 years ago
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The performance of AMD cards in the recently released AAA titles isn't encouraging at all.I'd go with GTX 970 considering the frequent driver updates which always come out before release date by a day or two.

9 years ago
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AMD cards have issues with all sorts of games. Going with the 970 avoids the AMD not working, forum threads.

9 years ago
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You're doing just that Nvidia wants you to do, their gameworks thing is designed to cripple AMD cards performance, so people thinks AMD sucks and go to Nvidia, sadly, several AAA developers fell to the enchant of bribing and opt-in to use gamelocks.

9 years ago
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You're absolutely right but if that's the case he should stick to nvidia GPU considering that every single Major AAA title up till now featured Nvidia Gameworks and who knows what's next.It's a dirty move by Nvidia but it's a smart way at the same time.I don't see any reason for getting AMD Gpu in such a case unless they provide better software & deal with developers.AMD main priority is the specs+cheap price but they're useless if you can't run a game properly & wate weeks for dan update while Nvidia aims for less hardware specs+better deals with well-known franchises+Frequent update but it's also more expensive.

9 years ago
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I haven't looked into these cards very much. I have a 290X Lightning and love it. I haven't found one game yet that I can't run on max settings. GTA V took a while to run well, but they released drivers shortly after that made it run beautifully. I've also read that Dying Light is/was awful with ATI but it was getting patched and updates as well. All in all, I've only ever used ATI cards and have always been happy with them.

Finally, I've been reading that the 3.5 GB Vram with the 970 has caused quite a few issues with Batman: Arkham Knight. I personally don't like having an odd amount of vram like that, but I'm sure they'll patch the issues with Batman.

9 years ago
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bump for thread and nod for nvidia

9 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

9 years ago
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If you're going to upgrade your monitor in the near future AMD and Freesync may be important.

9 years ago
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Thanks for the train!

9 years ago
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bump

9 years ago
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Voted for the 390, DX12 support is awesome, you will get a big performance jump under Windows 10.

Also, the driver issues you mention actually are either bad PC ports or Nvidia-sponsored ones which have embedded code (gameworks) to cripple AMD performance, Nvidia is using their dominant market share position to do whatever they want, a monopoly is never good, that's why I recommend the 390 too.

9 years ago
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+1
For every thread concerning AMD graphics drivers you'll be able to find an nvidia one.

9 years ago
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The way nVidia gimp every feature so they don't work properly on AMD cards is one of the reason I don't buy their products. They insist on going through proprietary APIs (CUDA) while AMD uses industry standards. Then they get developers to use those APIs through their Gameworks program, making sure games run like shit on competing products because the load is put on the CPU instead of being properly handled by the GPU.

At one point, a guy had successfully managed to get hardware-accelerated PhysX on AMD cards by bypassing the artificial limitations nVidia set up in it, but they quickly shut him down.

9 years ago
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+1

9 years ago
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Bump. I'd prefer a 970 for reliability

9 years ago
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How do know a 970 is more reliable than other cards? They haven't been out long enough.

9 years ago
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bump!

9 years ago
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R9 290 beats a 770 gtx on pretty much everything... The fact that a R9 390X is inferior to a 970 gtx should tell you a lot. Go with nvidia. They won this time.

9 years ago
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390x is not inferior to the 970, it goes a lil slower than a 980 actually :\
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_390x_gaming_8g_oc_review,13.html

9 years ago
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I'm sorry but you're mistaken.

9 years ago
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I'm biased to nvidia because I like their performance and technology

9 years ago
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waste of money in 1-2 years it will be pretty much obsolete technology and you will be sad about 360$ or so..
Go for 980gtx Ti or up to extend this period and you will be less sad in 5 years.
You would not believe me if i say that i have gtx560 Ti (limited edition) and running all new games with no problems (5 year old card).

9 years ago
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I really wish I could afford such card, but it's impossible.

9 years ago
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it is all about patience when you build monster PC.
Wait, gather more money and get GTX980 Ti it pays off in 5 year period or so.
I know you want to rush this PC build, but wait a bit you will see new horizon.
I had so many Ati now AMD cards in my life, they always had some issues (ugly drivers, noise, overheating, memory issues, power consumption etc etc).
Nvidia is pretty stable right now, if you get sweet spot card. At this time when i got my last card in sea of gtx 6 and 7 series i got 5 series card, 560 Ti and this was best deal of my life. Right now 980Ti is sweet spot, Titan is not affordable but 980Ti is, you just need to gather money and be patient. Good luck my friend :)

9 years ago
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Have a bump! Also, go for Nvidia, just a personal preference.

9 years ago
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nvidia has cuda acceleration for apps like adobe or folding.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/cuda/applications

9 years ago
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I've always preferred nVidia, plus lately a lot of games have been having issues with AMD related products.

9 years ago
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Nvidia n.n

9 years ago
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GTX

9 years ago
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the 970 support Dx12?

9 years ago
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That's correct.

I believe it's Feature Level 12_1 actually, while all AMD cards are 12_0.

9 years ago
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UE4 features more nvidia features. 970 is good for you

9 years ago
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I can't really help, but I'll bump it! :)

9 years ago
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Closed 9 years ago by LightningX94.