3DMark, Power and Conclusions
Now that we have taken a look at gaming tests using our Frame Rating metrics and testing methods, we are including a set of tests from 3DMark in order to help with points of reference for readers.
I consider these tests to be somewhat of a "best case" for all the cards in our comparison. We aren't using our frame capture system, we aren't measuring frame latency, nothing like that; I think this should give you an idea of graphics performance if each vendor had the best result for each game.
In 3DMark Fire Strike the R9 390 looks impressive yet again. In both Normal and Extreme presets the Sapphire Nitro is is about 14% faster than the XFX R9 290, as much as 6% faster than the Radeon R9 290X (at the Normal preset) and as much as 4.9% faster than the GTX 970 (also at Normal preset).
Power Consumption Testing
According to AMD's documentation, the R9 390 should be running at a lower power draw than the R9 290X but the same as the R9 290, which would show some improved power efficiency on the respun Hawaii GPU over two years ago.
Our testing did not exactly show that – yes the Sapphire Nitro R9 390 used less power in our testing than the ASUS Radeon R9 290X retail card, but the XFX retail R9 290 actually used about 20 watts less power than the Sapphire retail R9 390. While not what I was hoping to see, the results aren't damning; they just point to a less than advertised improvement in GPU efficiency. I guess I'm not that surprised.
Pricing and Availability
With all the leaks and even some brick-and-mortar stores selling the R9 300-series of cards early, it's no surprise that the Radeon R9 390X, 390 and others are already widely available on Amazon.com and Newegg.com.
- Radeon R9 390 8GB – $329
- AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB – $329
- AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB – $269
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB – $309
From left: MSI GTX 970 Gaming, XFX R9 290 DD, ASUS R9 290X DC2, Sapphire Nitro R9 390
As I stated on the first page of this review, the pricing of the Radeon R9 300-series of products is questionable at best. Sapphire is selling the Nitro R9 390 8GB card for $329, essentially matching the price of the still-available R9 290X cards and the GeForce GTX 970 line. That puts it on performance parity and price parity with both of those options, though the R9 390 is just slightly ahead. The problem with that result is that it doesn't change anything – the R9 390 doesn't offer more features or significantly better efficiency than what was available before. Yes, AMD was able to get better performance out of a GPU with fewer stream processors but at the end of the day, that's just a number. AMD is struggling in the market and they need to win in dominant fashion to take back market share, not eke out victories with older, but refreshed, technology.
Closing Thoughts
The Sapphire Nitro R9 390 8GB card is a great first entry from an add-in card vendor to launch the new Nitro-family of products. While it at first seems crazy that a "gamer" brand would be needed for a product that is by definition for PC gamers, I see the points of emphasis that Sapphire addressed. The Nitro R9 390 has a clean design, looks good and isn't gaudy, mixing with nearly any user's build with a flat gun-metal finish. The cooler is robust enough to keep the GPU down at 68C under full gaming load, but does so without raising the cost of the product as a whole. Adding Black Diamond Chokes and 16K capacitors gives us a sense of long-term reliability as well. You get all of this for $329; the same price that AMD has posted for this GPU's MSRP.
This is only a single graphics card review and I will definitely be spending more time with other products in the R9 300-series that launched this week, and I have a better impression of the R9 390 that I expected to when receiving the sample from Sapphire. Before knowing what pricing AMD had decided on for these cards I assumed, as did most others, that the R9 390 would perform nearly identically to the R9 290. But that's not true, as the Sapphire Nitro R9 390 is anywhere from 10-15% faster than the XFX R9 290 DD and matches the performance of the ASUS R9 290X DirectCU II card at stock settings. Clearly the added clock speed and (more importantly) the increased memory clock speed have been able to juice up the Hawaii GPU, now called Grenada, to better compete with the NVIDIA GeForce lineup.
I'm not sure this argument will work with the R9 390X or the R9 380 yet, but for the Sapphire Nitro R9 390 8GB card, users will find that it is competitive with the performance of the GeForce GTX 970 4GB for a nearly identical price. It's not new, it's not flashy and it's not rewriting the world of GPUs, but it is at least slightly more than expected.
This is just pathetic! The
This is just pathetic! The 390 and 390X are just re-named R9 290’s and 290X’s with a overclock. The 970 will still beat both 390’s with a decent overclock. I would like to see the 390 and 390X with the highest overclock possible benched against the GTX 970 with the highest overclock possible. And I can guarantee the 970 will still out preform the 390’s by more than 10%. I was really hoping AMD would do better than just stupid re-brands with only one new card! It is good that they are able to match the 970 and 980 at stock. But this could be done just by giving a OC to the older 290’s. And since it’s still the same hot running chip, This means it’s still not going to overclock any higher than the older 290’s! So honestly there is no point in even buying them over a older R9 290/290X. Gamers are still going to prefer the cooler running and more efficient 900 series cards from Nvidia.
I enjoy the videos you have
I enjoy the videos you have with Nvidia on launch day. I’m sure you reach out the same way to AMD to give them equal time. Is there any plan to have an AMD video with one of their engineers or are they not receptive?
Good to see reasonably priced
Good to see reasonably priced 8GB card. Kind of give you assurance that it will handle without problems any direct console port.
the $429 price tag for the
the $429 price tag for the 390x is just a lure for Nvidia to drop the gtx980 price tag. once Nvidia does that boom the 390x will be at $379 or lower.
but all in all a bland launch, sorry you guys had to review these…well sorry im not sorry lol
Ryan,
Did you test the Frame
Ryan,
Did you test the Frame Rate Target Control ?
One thing that these reviews
One thing that these reviews keep forgetting is this set of cards is not targeted at current owners of r9 2xx series cards. They are not even targeted at owners of most NVidia 9xx series cards. They are however targeted at owners of older tech and there are a great number of those people. The prices are fair and competitive.
For those that have a current gen card there will be the Fury branded cards. If you can upgrade your card every 18 months then great. But, most people cant. 3-5 years is far more common. So, lets not get caught up with performance numbers on the 3xx series cards over the 2xx series. I think AMD did a great job of refreshing this series. They do perform better and at a good price point. Perfect for those coming from the AMD7xxx/NVidia7xx series cards or for new builds.
Pretty impressed , will
Pretty impressed , will probably buy it. Lack of HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2 is very disappointing though
When reviewing a video card,
When reviewing a video card, its usually a good to put in the base clock right? This card is 1010MHz ..
“yes the Sapphire Nitro R9
“yes the Sapphire Nitro R9 390 used less power in our testing than the ASUS Radeon R9 290X retail card, but the XFX retail R9 290 actually used about 20 watts less power than the Sapphire retail R9 390”
That is still an efficiency increase, as it’s doing about 10% more work with only about 5% more power.
Please try if crossfire works
Please try if crossfire works with the 290.
It’s like every time there’s
It’s like every time there’s a review of an AMD product to be had, the PcPer guys go way out of their way to make it as impartial as humanly possible. And yet … *smh*
The internet is truly a wondrous place. So much patience required.
I’d like to buy a blue one.
I’d like to buy a blue one.
Cant you just use normal bar
Cant you just use normal bar graphs instead of these convoluted overly complex line graphs? They mean nothing to me. Hard to make out what the hell is going on.
Hi, I have some problem…
I
Hi, I have some problem…
I have the same graphic card (Intel i4460) and my fps are around 15 fps.
I don’t know, what to do.
Thanks
Edit to previous post:
I have
Edit to previous post:
I have the same graphic options like above.