From what I know, clock for clock the two cards are identical. There is a Sapphire 290x selling for around $325 and a 390x selling for $405. Besides the extra 4GB of VRAM on the 390x which is worthless to me, is there any reason to consider the 390x for an extra $80?
I guess that's your answer.
or you can get a 390 they're all the same crap.
As for clock for clock they are NOT identical. the core clocks on the 290s and 290x cards are 940mhz to 1000mhz. and the memory is around 5200mhz.
the 390X cards are 1050mhz to 1100mhz and the memory clock is 6000mhz. which insane considering most of the 290x memory clocks couldn't be pushed past 200mhz.
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390 and 390x are also binned, so they do have a higher clock ceiling than the 290/290x.
Well, 290X performance wise is exactly 970... 390X is performance wise equivalent of 980... I would say if you can get 290X get 390 NonX and outperform 290X... If you like to have about 8-10% better performance - go 390X...
Well, the 390x and the 290x are literally the same card, maybe slightly higher clock but for $80 ? Your not going to notice much performance in games even with its slight overclocking advantage.
If you have the extra $80 then I would get the newer card, but if you don't then its not going to affect your gaming that much.
at 1080p, 290x is fine. At 4k 390's 8GB have benefits.
The 390 and 390X have 8GB GDDR5 the 290 and 290X have 4GB GDDR5. I think you misinterpreted what he said.
Yeah I actually did , thanks
Not a problem, but like the OP says; 8GB GDDR5, unless you are running 2560x1440 with all the settings cranked to the max or 4K with a multi-GPU setup, is pointless.
We have to take into account the reference R9 290 and 290x have shit bargain bin Elpidia GDDR5 in them, very few of them can achieve overclocks higher than 100-150 MHz over base clock. I'm pretty sure the new R9 390s and 390Xs are using Hynix GDDR5 and that stuff overclocks like a bat out of hell.
my hynix memory overclocks like shit. im lucky to get more than 50MHz past base clock of 1300 on my 290 unlocked to 290x.
It's funny how you guys argue about overclocking, when 390X wipes the floor with overclocked 290X...
The answer is said long ago... Get 390, it's faster than 290X, overclocks better and is better price to performance...
As for whoever said "you will not notice difference between 290X and 390X... Are you gonna notice performance difference between 970 and 980? Because we are comparing the same performance levels... 290X is basically amd equivalent of 970 wit more ram and 390X is amd equivalent of 980 with more ram...
If you can't overclock hynix to 1500 MHz on a 290 you are doing something wrong or the VRMs are overheating. I can get my Elpidia to overclock to 1500 MHz but it's not stable, it won't survive a benchmark pass at 1080p ultra on Heaven 4.0, the VRM overheat after 5 minutes in. However, if I run 3DMark Firestrike it will make it through all of the tests just fine because of the short heat cycles between loading benchmark scenes.
I meant clock for clock in terms of the 290x and 390x. There was a review on hardOCP when the cards were first released and it showed that when the two cards were performing at the same speed they performed almost identically. Although from what people are saying in this thread it seems like the 390/390x have higher binned chips and can achieve a higher overclock resulting in better performance. I'll keep looking around for good 390 deals since that's what it seems is the most sensible purchase.
That's if you can even remotely get it up there. Most 290s / 290X cards couldn't overclock past 1100mhz and the memory? yeah that was not reaching 6000mhz unless you pumped an absurd amount of voltage into it. Those 390 series cards are doing those clock speeds at the same voltages.
I would personaly grab a R9-390.
Because in terms of performance the diffrence between the 390 and 390X is so minimal,
that in my opinnion it does not justify the premium price for the 390X.
Extra vram never hurts.
Basically my stance as well. When I walked into Micro Center to pick up some parts I asked if they had the Sapphire 390. The guy checked and was like no, but we have a 390x and started throwing specs at me. I was like that's cool, but why spend the extra ~$80-100 when I can OC the 390 to that and he backed off trying to update me.
I currently have a super modest OC on my 390 (1150 GPU/1650 memory) with nearly no noticeable ramp up speed/sound on the fans over the 1040/1500 stock timings. I could pretty easily push it further but I want to add a couple of fans in my case first.
Thanks for all the replies. Going by the advice from this thread I'm taking a close look at a 390. Newegg has one on sale for $300 wit a $20 MIR.
if you are looking for decent 390´s
- Sapphire R9-390 Nitro
- Msi R9-390 Gaming
- Powercolor R9-390 PCS+