R9 390 or wait?

[Irish_PXzyan]

Howdy lads,

Me and the missus are planning on getting a new GPU in a month or two so we're wondering weather or not if we should go with an R9 390 or perhaps wait?
A Powercolor R9 390 PCS+ is going for 363 including shipping so we're considering that option ^^

What do yee lads and gals think? Should we just hold out for the summer or just go for this? Would it even be worth buying over our current 280x?!

Cheers.

 

[ne6togadno]

http://www.techpowerup.com/218898/a...ry-14-nm-finfet-polaris-gpu-architecture.html

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

That's why I'm wondering if we should wait or just go ahead with the 390 anyway I certainly will be wanting one of those new GPUs this summer

 

[a_ump]

if you have a 280x i'd wait. I know there's 'ALWAYS 6 more months' for new tech but it can't be hampering your gaming too much is it? Hells, i'm still using a GTX 560 for 1080p lol though the newest game i've played is Skyrim without many mods.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Nah it's not hampering my gaming experience at all but I've seen some artifacting lately when the GPU is running at 99% and has developed some coil noise which is just making me somewhere nervous :L

 

[AsRock]

As seen as your running CF just wait.

 

[Aquinus]

As seen as your running CF just wait.

One may argue that ditching CFX would offer a better experience however, if the pair of 280X are working fine, I would say try to wait the next 6 months. That isn't to say that the 390 is a bad card, it's probably just worth while to see how good or bad Polaris is.

Nah it's not hampering my gaming experience at all but I've seen some artifacting lately when the GPU is running at 99% and has developed some coil noise which is just making me somewhere nervous :L

If it dies, it dies. Then you'll be pushed into making a decision but, until then I would try to wait it out. If a card does die, the 390 isn't a bad option if you need a GPU now.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Sorry lads! it's the IceQ x2 GPU! Not actually 2 of them I only have the 1 card ^^

Would there even be much performance improvement to warrant buying the R9 390?

I just really hate the idea of waiting for the GPU to die and then being without 1 for a week :L

 

[Aquinus]

The 280X is basically 30% slower than the 390 according to TPU. It depends on what you consider cost effective.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

30% seems pretty good in my opinion. I'm sure I could get another 5-10% extra performance due to overclocking? My current card does not overclock without causing issues :/

 

[Aquinus]

30% seems pretty good in my opinion. I'm sure I could get another 5-10% extra performance due to overclocking? My current card does not overclock without causing issues :/

The 390 isn't exactly known for great overclocks since they're tuned pretty well out of the box. I can usually squeeze at least 100Mhz out of mine (1140Mhz from 1040,) and keep it stable. VRAM with a bit of aux voltage will fly up to as high at ~1725Mhz but, you don't see much gain from overclocking VRAM on this GPU. Probably because its already got a nutty amount of memory bandwidth already due to the 512-bit data bus width but, 5-10% on the core probably isn't unrealistic but, as always, it depends on your GPU that you get as it's always to some extent up to the silicon lottery.

I personally have no issues with the 390 other than Elite: Dangerous not working quite right in super cruise but, beyond that, it has worked great. No complains from me other than there not being any full coverage water blocks for my particular 390, which is okay because I'm probably not going to go under water any time soon.

All in all, it's a pretty good card. Just make sure you have room in your chassis though as the 390s are known to be a bit on the big side.

 

[GhostRyder]

Howdy lads,

Me and the missus are planning on getting a new GPU in a month or two so we're wondering weather or not if we should go with an R9 390 or perhaps wait?
A Powercolor R9 390 PCS+ is going for 363 including shipping so we're considering that option ^^

What do yee lads and gals think? Should we just hold out for the summer or just go for this? Would it even be worth buying over our current 280x?!

Cheers.

Wellif your going to keep 1080p the upgrade would probably be fine in the long run as a 390 will keep 1080p maxed out for quite some time. Plus there is no guarantee that the Polaris GPU will be coming out as soon as they hinted at. If you can pick one up at a good price, I would say go for it as you could probably keep it for a few years without issue for 1080p gaming.

If your card is acting up and that's got you concerned, you could try bumping the voltage up a notch and see if the artifacting goes away and keep it for awhile longer as I see the 280X as a very capable 1080p card as well. Which in the end might be better for you since you would have a lot of new choices that may offer not only new generations of cards that could be better, it could also cause cheaper prices on current gen cards.

If it was me, I would probably wait unless the card was worrying me enough that it was going to go out.

 

[AsRock]

Sorry lads! it's the IceQ x2 GPU! Not actually 2 of them I only have the 1 card ^^

Would there even be much performance improvement to warrant buying the R9 390?

I just really hate the idea of waiting for the GPU to die and then being without 1 for a week :L

I would still wait.

 

[INSTG8R]

Yep I would still be on my 7970 had it not started playing up to the point I had enough(No backplate and spent too many years "sagging" ) The 280X still has the legs for 1080p gaming. I would wait.

 

[a_ump]

artifacting though at 99% gpu usage? what's your memory usage at? Gosh i hate a GPU artifacting, makes me as sad as when i broke my first GBA by smashing my forehead into it because Cell beat me in Legacy of Goku II lol

Artifacts always make me wanna ditch w/e the card is. I'd do a little more testing around on your card. Ya know, lower core clock see if 99% still does it, same with memory. I did manage to keep an 8800GT alive for like 3 extra months till it got down to 350mhz core or something and i finally replaced it lol.

 

[Jack1n]

280x is solid for 1080p, the only reason i upgraded from my 7970 is because i always wanted to try Nvidia and also because the card was on sale.

 

[peche]

280x is solid for 1080p, the only reason i upgraded from my 7970 is because i always wanted to try Nvidia and also because the card was on sale.

well something interesting about your specs
" EVGA GTX 970 SC (Worst OCer ever, do not buy)"
SC versions are supposed to be clocked, and also 600 and 700 series are better overclockers compared to 900 series ...

 

[vega22]

i would wait if i were yee dude.

before easter the new cards will making current cards cheaper or for the same money you could get a better card.

 

[eidairaman1]

Even with 15.12 drivers, Or game patches?

The 390 isn't exactly known for great overclocks since they're tuned pretty well out of the box. I can usually squeeze at least 100Mhz out of mine (1140Mhz from 1040,) and keep it stable. VRAM with a bit of aux voltage will fly up to as high at ~1725Mhz but, you don't see much gain from overclocking VRAM on this GPU. Probably because its already got a nutty amount of memory bandwidth already due to the 512-bit data bus width but, 5-10% on the core probably isn't unrealistic but, as always, it depends on your GPU that you get as it's always to some extent up to the silicon lottery.

I personally have no issues with the 390 other than Elite: Dangerous not working quite right in super cruise but, beyond that, it has worked great. No complains from me other than there not being any full coverage water blocks for my particular 390, which is okay because I'm probably not going to go under water any time soon.

All in all, it's a pretty good card. Just make sure you have room in your chassis though as the 390s are known to be a bit on the big side.

 

[cdawall]

I wouldn't go from a 7970/280x to a 390, but that's just me. I would consider a fury or 980ti though.

 

[peche]

I wouldn't go from a 7970/280x to a 390, but that's just me. I would consider a fury or 980ti though.

OP's have 1080p and you came up with 980ti?

singular GTX 980 will handle the work flawless....for quite long time

 

[cdawall]

OP's have 1080p and you came up with 980ti?

singular GTX 980 will handle the work flawless....for quite long time

We just discussed this in another thread there are quite a few games that 1080P will drop to 30-50FPS with a 980. For some people that is not acceptable.

 

[peche]

We just discussed this in another thread there are quite a few games that 1080P will drop to 30-50FPS with a 980. For some people that is not acceptable.

ok

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Thanks for the advice lads ^^
As for the GTX 980 ideas, I would love too buy one of those but they are simply too expensive for us to buy!
The R9 390 is just simply in our price target

Also 1080p is where we shall stay at for some time too come with some virtual 1440p depending on the game

I guess when the time comes we will know weather or not too buy the 390 or not! or maybe even look out for second hand GTX 980 if we get lucky

 

[Eroticus]

390 good card but keep clam and wait for next gen =P.

About 980 also good card but doesn't worth extra 170$ over 390.