Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V (DirectX 11)


From one of the biggest series in gaming history, the latest iteration of the Grand Theft Auto titles is a stunning collection of graphics and gameplay. The PC version adds new features like an optional first-person mode and increases visual fidelity dramatically, making this one of the best looking and most GPU-demanding games available.

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 21

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 22

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 23

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 24

Settings used for GTA V Testing

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 25

Settings used for GTA V Testing

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 26

Settings used for GTA V Testing

Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 390 8GB Review - Graphics Cards 27

Settings used for GTA V Testing

In one of the most stressful games for GPUs available today, GTA V has interesting initial results for us. The Sapphire Nitro R9 390 is able to pull out 45 average FPS at 2560×1440 with these image quality settings, a solid 13% increase over the XFX retail Radeon R9 290 card we tested. The R9 390 is even able to slightly edge the R9 290X and GTX 970 that both swing in at 43 FPS. Also notice that the R9 390 has less frame variance than the R9 290 and R9 290X, but the GTX 970 is still king there.

At 4K things get really tough on all the cards in question. The Sapphire Nitro R9 390 with its 8GB of memory should do better than the other cards here, but memory capacity is clearly not a bottleneck. Both it and the Radeon R9 290X run neck and neck just under 25 FPS though the new card is slightly ahead of the GTX 970 and the R9 290.

Sapphire Nitro R9 390 8GB, Average FPS Comparisons, Grand Theft Auto V
  R9 290X 4GB R9 290 4GB GTX 970 4GB
2560×1440 +4.6% +13% +4.6%
3840×2160 -2% +8.6% +8.6%

This table presents the above data in a more basic way, focusing only on the average FPS, so keep that in mind. The new R9 390 is faster than the R9 290 by 8-13% depending on the resolution, a much higher amount than I expected when setting out to do this testing. At 4K resolution though the R9 290X is able to slightly edge it out, somehow dismissing the idea that 8GB alone makes for a 4K-capable graphics card.

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