replace one R9 290 with an R9 390 or 390x

[cookiemonster]

Hi I have read that I could get rid of one of my R9 290 and replace it with an R9 390 or an R9 390x would it increase my graphics much if any.

 

[Durvelle27]

Not really maybe 5% 10% at most. You're better off overclocking your 290 or getting a 1070/1080

 

[Grings]

Hi I have read that I could get rid of one of my R9 290 and replace it with an R9 390 or an R9 390x would it increase my graphics much if any.

Doing that on dx11 would only use 4gb of a 390's memory, negating its only real advantage over a 290, i dont think you would see any difference at all from the 2 290's

On DX12 multi graphics mode you might, but its too early to tell how well this will be supported at the moment

 

[eidairaman1]

390s are only for replacing 290s that are broken. Keep your 290s for 2 more Gens

 

[EarthDog]

A 390 is a 290, period. Rebrand. Perhaps slightly higher clocks.

I would only upgrade to a 390x or RX 480.

 

[cookiemonster]

Would I see much improvement if I overclocked them.

 

[EarthDog]

A few percent, yep.

 

[Durvelle27]

Would I see much improvement if I overclocked them.

Yes a good improvement

I ran my Sapphire R9 290 @1215/1450. Most games i was able to achieve a constant 60FPS @1080 after overclocking.

My 290X i ran at 1250/1500 and there was no game i couldn't power through

 

[BirdyNV]

Hi I have read that I could get rid of one of my R9 290 and replace it with an R9 390 or an R9 390x would it increase my graphics much if any.

A MSI 390X will set you back 280 dollars, but 410 for a 1070, personally id go with the 390X because that's way more than what you need to play any game on the market today.

 

[eidairaman1]

Yes a good improvement

I ran my Sapphire R9 290 @1215/1450. Most games i was able to achieve a constant 60FPS @1080 after overclocking.

My 290X i ran at 1250/1500 and there was no game i couldn't power through

Id have to see if my VaporX 290 Overclocks that well eventually. Its default at 1030/1400

 

[Durvelle27]

Id have to see if my VaporX 290 Overclocks that well eventually. Its default at 1030/1400

My 290 was a Sapphire with a Xtreme Tri Cooler

My 290X was reference with a water block

 

[eidairaman1]

My 290 was a Sapphire with a Xtreme Tri Cooler

My 290X was reference with a water block

You had a TriX cooler I have the VaporX. So we shall see how it does after I finally move off my 15YO monitor and have more desk space lol.

 

[Durvelle27]

You had a TriX cooler I have the VaporX. So we shall see how it does after I finally move off my 15YO monitor and have more desk space lol.

No i had an aftermarket Accelero cooler

 

[Kanan]

Id have to see if my VaporX 290 Overclocks that well eventually. Its default at 1030/1400

Well chip lottery, but that aside the cooler is pretty good. Good luck

@OP: already answered, best to change to RX 480, way less power consumption, more performance maybe in the future (or no change at least). 390(X) only difference are higher stock clocks + 4 GB more ram - I'd say that's somewhat useful as you run a crossfire system, but you need 2 of them, if you mix 290 with 390 it will limit the 390 to 4GB Vram aswell.

 

[Aquinus]

A 390 is a 290 with a newer BIOS, a little extra VRAM, clocked higher, with (sometimes,) faster clocking GDDR5. It's not an upgrade unless you're buying one to crossfire with your 290.

 

[RealNeil]

I have a pair of matching 4GB 290X Tri-X Sapphire cards here.
I took them out and put in a pair of matching 8GB Sapphire Nitro 390X cards with Tri-Fan coolers on them. Same system and monitor as before.

The performance change was minuscule at best. Upgrading with them was a waste of money.

 

[cookiemonster]

I have 2 x R9 290 I thought of giving one to my daughter and keeping one and adding in an R9 390x. I don't really want to go NVidia.

 

[RealNeil]

Hold out and get an 8GB 480.
You'll be glad you did.

 

[cookiemonster]

do you mean to run on it's own or can I match it with the 290 in crossfire.

 

[RealNeil]

On it's own

Get one with an 8-Pin Power plug on the card, not 6-Pin.
8GB memory too.

Here is One

 

[cookiemonster]

will that be an upgrade from running the 2 x 290

 

[Grings]

If you really want to stick with AMD, sell one of the 290's and get 2 480's

Im pretty sure mixing 290 and 390 not only only uses 4gb of the 390, it will also match clock speeds to the slower card

 

[Kanan]

Yep lose the 2nd 290 and get a new setup of 2x 480 instead of buying 1x 390 and mixing it with the 290. The result will be, you have new cards with way better power consumption, less noise probably and double vram (= more performance in theory, depending on game and settings).

 

[cookiemonster]

Would the two 480 in crossfire be a substantial improvement or should I stick with what I have, I don't really want to spend unless I can see a difference. Is there any other upgrade that my system in your opinion could do with. I might just try and overlook them and see how that does, what program should I use to overlook them with, please one that is easy to use.

 

[Ungari]

If only more games supported Crossfire/SLI I would do so, but I run only a single Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 8GB.
Since you are trying to upgrade from the R9 290, I would wait just a few months for Vega and the RX 490 because basing this on my current experience with Polaris, that would be a tremendous upgrade in performance at that price point.
I myself will probably sell my 480, or turn it into a miner on a second rig I'm building, since it was reported that the RX 490 is being rushed forward to compete with the GTX 1070.