Review: MSI Radeon R9 390X Gaming 8G OC

I think it's not bad.

If you have 290s(x) then probably shouldn't upgrade but I would upgrade from 7970s.

Between 980 and 390x, obviously better choice is 980 but again, you are paying extra for that extra performance (better driver support/more OC headroom).

Everyone keeps mentioning about the bad driver support of AMD but if AMD had a driver support as good as nVidia then it would probably be reflected on the price as well.

 

How is the obvious choice the 980 they trade blows, but the 980 is 75 to 100 more so how is it obvious. I guess money grows on trees.

 

This card should have come out around the 980's release. Would've stolen 980's thunder and sold well. And despite little use for the extra 4gb vram (outside of CF), 8gb goes a long way in marketing impact imo.

 

obvious if you want that extra performance (better driver support/more OC headroom)?

 

Yah that pricing of 500-550$ seem too high.

With that said it is close to 980 gtx levels but also at its price range.

290x at 350 dollar is the way to go if you want to get near/same performance as 390x/980gtx.

So basically you either get 290x or a 980 ti. Nobody can justify those few extra frames you get going from 290x to 390x/980 when it comes with a 150-200 dollar price difference.

At 400 dollars that card would be a good addition to an somewhat aging lineup.

 

After a quick check on Overclockers.co.uk the price difference between the R9 390X and a GTX980 is about £20-£50 which isn't much more and you get a card that consumes less power (important for some) and produces less heat. The cards are essentially evenly matched so things like power consumption, heat output and driver support become far more important to the choice unless they have a particular vendor favourite in which it won't matter anyway.

 

Waiting for 490X, but actually good cards. Now lets start the GTX970vs290X with the new flavour GTX980vs390X:

Nvidia fanboys: suxxxxx it has ONLY 980 performance but more power consumption!!! XFIRE suxxxxx.

Normal person: good card, great price x performance, future proof, bad power consumption, overall a good card that will make 290X prices drop too. Great if you do not crossfire.

 

Rocket Science: Buy a GTX 980 4G or G1 or heck, even a Windforce OC for $499, sell the Batman code for $25, you have a $475 card that is better in every way, shape, and form than the 390x. With rebates, now you can get one for around $489.

 

390x is a decent card really beating 980 (stock). Problem is the efficiency and maybe driver support. I would still get 980 if priced same.

Now Fury seems interesting tho considering amd managed to tweak up the efficiency of these old 290 boards quite a bit.

 

I do not understand why people are so concerned with power consumption so much. Yes it uses more power but we are talking a few dollars a month or even a year.
And the card is suppose to be around $399, gtx 980 is $499

 

The 390x's are in stock on Newegg right now and they are $429.

The GTX 980 reference clock is usually 15-20% lower than what you can get out of a decent overclock. Like I said, I had a GTX 980 Windforce OC that was stable at 1600 core. They are $489 after rebate WITH a copy of Batman.

The 3rd party 980s are cooler, quieter, better OC and use less power. Hence, the 390x is practically worthless.

 

With my current card (MSI 290X Gaming OC 8GB) there is no point upgrading to the 390 version. It's OK, though, because I don't upgrade yearly. By the time I want a new one then both AMD and NVidia may have affordable HBM cards. I like to see how the Nano performs. That's probably an indication where we are heading.

Good review, Hilbert.

 

And why does everyone keep saying this card is the same or faster than a reference 980? Witcher 3, Tomb Raider, etc it runs slower at 1440p...?

Either way, here's hoping the Fury X actually is exciting.

 

Tbh if I were interested in the 390x or 390 I would save money and buy a 290X 290 instead.

 

It isn't that insignificant in places where electricity prices aren't that cheap. In Tokyo for example, electricity is at least 3-4x more expensive than the average US cost. Just 1-2 years of heavy gaming/usage is enough to nullify the cost advantage that the 390X had over the 980, not to mention the extra amount of heat.

Everybody is just pointing out the the 300 series is just redundant. 290Xs can be had for a much better deal and the extra VRAM isn't going to be beneficial in most cases.

 

ive been laughing for like a whole day now LOL.. the Latest gtx 980 from nvidia is on par with AMDs 3 years old Hawaii, This is why Amd rebranded this Hawaii chip.. They just dont need more power to beat those Apparently New GPUS by Nvidia LOL.. xD

And all those saying that Amd rebrands and all.. Nvidia rebranded its Own titan X Gpu in the form of gtx 980 ti only after two months.. that makes no sense to me.. they just creamed their customers by titan x and when they thought now amds gonna launch reasonable priced fiji x gpu they thought now to talk reasonable.. i am so trolled that how many of nv customers got robbed this time with titan x lol

 

The 980 is not big maxwell. It is a gm204. Like the 770 or 680 in gk204.

 

exactly my thoughts. the 8gb is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. but it appears if people play at lower resolutions such as 1980x1080, GTX 980 is the king but anything 290/290x will do just fine.

but i do agree AMD should've released the 390/390x around the same time the GTX 970/980 since the performances are almost on par. the nvidia cards still have the edge though, performance-wise, power consumption-wise, and cooling-wise abit more expensive.

 

Why is everyone whining about the 390X? If you look at the game benchs they even out pretty much at the end. And 3dmark scores are exactly the same.

980 is 100$ more expensive. I don't why see that wouldn't be a good deal, to get the 390X?

 

It's been mentioned a few times mate, it's not a good deal because you can get a 290X for £100-150 cheaper than a 390X and they're pretty much identical.

The 980 is actually about the same price as the 390X in the UK, there's £20-50 difference depending on the model.