ASRock X670E Steel Legend review
Solidigm P44 Pro (1TB/2TB) M.2 NVMe SSD Review
EnGenius ECW336 WIFI6E Access Point review
MSI MEG Z790 ACE review
Deepcool LT720 LCS Cooler Review
Arctic A35/I35 A-RGB air coolers review
Minisforum HX90G (Ryzen 9 5900HX + RX 6600M) mini PC review
MSI MPG Z790 Edge (DDR4) review
MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Gaming X TRIO review
Deepcool CH510 chassis review
Budget Friendly 4GB Radeon R9 390 cards inbound
When AMD released the Radeon R9 390 and 390X they launches the models solely with 8GB of graphics memory. Probably a choice that they wanted to make a bigger difference compared to the 290 and 290X with 4 gigs. The extra 4 gigs can be argued whether or not it is usable, however it does add cost to the final product.
In a market where every dollar, euro (or whatever you currency is) matters it seems that soon you can purchase 4GB models of the 390 (not 390X). Opposed to your 290 you would still be looking at an incremental performance increase of, well lets say 10% here thanks to a bump in core and memory frequency. Obviously the cut down in graphics memory and thus pricing is not just to make a more budget friendly product, it is re-positioning a product against the still very popular GeForce GTX 970.
From the looks of it, three 4GB 390 models already have been spotted in Asia, from XFX and PowerColor who both have a similar design and packaging as the 8 GB versions, and then there is a new 4GB Sapphire card who plastered a new dual-fan cooler on the product as well.
Below some photos, of which the box shots clearly showing the 4GB versions. Yeah, these puppies are slowly turning into a 290 again :-)
Kaarme
Senior Member
Posts: 3208
Joined: 2013-03-10
Senior Member
Posts: 3208
Joined: 2013-03-10
#5205514 Posted on: 12/15/2015 12:03 AM
Good thing these weren't around mere weeks ago when I bought my 390. It would have meant one more decision to make.
Good thing these weren't around mere weeks ago when I bought my 390. It would have meant one more decision to make.
airbud7
Senior Member
Posts: 7835
Joined: 2011-07-20
Senior Member
Posts: 7835
Joined: 2011-07-20
#5205577 Posted on: 12/15/2015 02:29 AM
This won't have significant impact on either performance or price.
GDDR5 chips currently come in the form of 256MB and 512MB chips. However, all GDDR5 chips come in the form of a width of 32 bits. So to keep the same buss width the new 4GB versions will need to have 16 chips, regardless of the storage capacity of the chips.
GDDR5 chips are not cheap, but i seriously doubt the cheaper 256MB versions will have a significant impact on the price of the entire product.
For a Newbie that^ makes a lot of sense...hope you hang out here more MMking.....
This won't have significant impact on either performance or price.
GDDR5 chips currently come in the form of 256MB and 512MB chips. However, all GDDR5 chips come in the form of a width of 32 bits. So to keep the same buss width the new 4GB versions will need to have 16 chips, regardless of the storage capacity of the chips.
GDDR5 chips are not cheap, but i seriously doubt the cheaper 256MB versions will have a significant impact on the price of the entire product.
For a Newbie that^ makes a lot of sense...hope you hang out here more MMking.....
Undying
Senior Member
Posts: 20335
Joined: 2008-08-28
Senior Member
Posts: 20335
Joined: 2008-08-28
#5205581 Posted on: 12/15/2015 02:39 AM
What the point? Its not like it will effect the pricing. You can get a R9 390 8GB for 330€. Let's hope they will not pull out 8GB 390 versions and let 390X at 8GB only.
What the point? Its not like it will effect the pricing. You can get a R9 390 8GB for 330€. Let's hope they will not pull out 8GB 390 versions and let 390X at 8GB only.
rl66
Senior Member
Posts: 3526
Joined: 2007-05-31
Senior Member
Posts: 3526
Joined: 2007-05-31
#5205603 Posted on: 12/15/2015 05:14 AM
it's not pulling out...
it's adding cheapper card and level down a GPU...
Right now the 390x 8gig is considerated as high end (it make shadows on furry's sales with it's 4gig).
The GTX 970 is less expensive (and enough powerfull for most user with it's 3.5gig + 0.5gig cache... oups 4gig lol), the R9 290 where great competitor against it with 4gig...
So yes it is not a big step, but it is logical, and i think it should have been made last month to be successfull for xmass and winter sales.
What the point? Its not like it will effect the pricing. You can get a R9 390 8GB for 330€. Let's hope they will not pull out 8GB 390 versions and let 390X at 8GB only.
it's not pulling out...
it's adding cheapper card and level down a GPU...
Right now the 390x 8gig is considerated as high end (it make shadows on furry's sales with it's 4gig).
The GTX 970 is less expensive (and enough powerfull for most user with it's 3.5gig + 0.5gig cache... oups 4gig lol), the R9 290 where great competitor against it with 4gig...
So yes it is not a big step, but it is logical, and i think it should have been made last month to be successfull for xmass and winter sales.
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.
Junior Member
Posts: 5
Joined: 2015-12-05
This won't have significant impact on either performance or price.
GDDR5 chips currently come in the form of 256MB and 512MB chips. However, all GDDR5 chips come in the form of a width of 32 bits. So to keep the same buss width the new 4GB versions will need to have 16 chips, regardless of the storage capacity of the chips.
GDDR5 chips are not cheap, but i seriously doubt the cheaper 256MB versions will have a significant impact on the price of the entire product.