Radeon R9 390X 8GB CrossFire vs. Radeon R9 FuryX 4GB
Category : Versus
Published by Marc Büchel on 25.02.16
Today we're going to compare one Radeon R9 FuryX 4GB with two Radeon R9 390X 8GB. As always we're measruing the performance at 1080p, 1440p as well as 2160p (UHD) and we're expecting to see some interesting results.
We're finally back with our "Versus" articles. Compared to the old articles we've reworked our template and you might have noticed that the navigation is not structured by games anymore but by resolutions. We're testing the three most important resolutions 1080p, 1440p and UHD all at high-details, which is going to put massive load on the GPUs, especially in the case of UHD. Like in the past, we'll also have a look at power consumption, noise levels and temperatures of the particular cards. Last but not least you'll find our conclusion where we're comparing strenghts and weaknesses. We've decided to keep that part pretty short, since the test results on the previous pages are speaking for themselves.
[pagebreak]
Test Setup
|
Motherboard |
- ASUS Maximus VII Hero (BIOS 0224)
|
| CPU |
- Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.0 GHz (Turbo On / HT On)
|
| Thermal compound |
|
|
Memory |
- G.Skill Ares Dual Channel 2x8GB @ CL11-12-11-28-1T-Auto DDR3-1600 MHz
|
|
Graphics Cards |
- AMD Radeon R9 390X CF
- AMD Radeon R9 FuryX
|
| Drivers |
- Windows 10 x64 (up to date)
- NVIDIA ForceWare latest version
- AMD Crimson latest version
|
| Games |
|
|
Games and OS |
|
|
System Drive |
|
|
PSU |
- Seasonic Platinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts
|
[pagebreak]
3DMark - Fire Strike
GPU Score - Performance
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
24'781 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
16'349 |
65.97 % |
GPU Score - Extreme
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
11'079 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
7'755 |
70.00 % |
GPU Score - Ultra
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
5'525 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
3'953 |
71.55 % |
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
Score - 1080p
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
2'708 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
1'741 |
64.29 % |
Score - 1440p
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
1'683 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
1'129 |
67.08 % |
Score - 2160p
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
766 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
517 |
67.49 % |
FPS - 1080p
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
107.56 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
69.40 |
64.52 % |
FPS - 1440p
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
66.66 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
44.80 |
67.21 % |
FPS - 2160p
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
30.50 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
20.50 |
67.21 % |
Unigine Heaven Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
[pagebreak]
1080P Games
Battlefield 4
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
98.78 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
90.13 |
91.24 % |
Watch Dogs
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
69.46 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
63.09 |
90.83 % |
Tomb Raider
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
102.98 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
67.00 |
65.06 % |
Crysis 3
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
56.87 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
35.96 |
63.23 % |
Thief
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
64.02 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
84.90 |
132.61 % |
Sleeping Dogs
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
129.89 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
97.00 |
74.68 % |
Metro Last Light
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
79.03 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
67.67 |
85.63 % |
Far Cry 4
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
122.71 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
87.91 |
71.64 % |
GTA V
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
184.71 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
128.86 |
69.76 % |
GRID Autosport
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
55.88 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
77.36 |
138.44 % |
[pagebreak]
1440P Games
Battlefield 4
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
97.36 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
63.57 |
65.29 % |
Watch Dogs
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
60.41 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
48.89 |
80.93 % |
Tomb Raider
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
64.02 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
42.30 |
66.07 % |
Crysis 3
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
38.95 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
24.31 |
62.41 % |
Thief
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
54.21 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
67.60 |
124.70 % |
Sleeping Dogs
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
90.44 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
60.50 |
66.90 % |
Metro Last Light
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
55.06 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
43.33 |
78.70 % |
Far Cry 4
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
98.98 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
57.81 |
58.41 % |
GTA V
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
125.82 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
88.39 |
70.25 % |
GRID Autosport
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
54.03 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
70.60 |
130.67 % |
[pagebreak]
2160P Games
Battlefield 4
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
59.22 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
34.23 |
57.80 % |
Watch Dogs
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
34.61 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
21.14 |
61.08 % |
Tomb Raider
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
30.14 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
20.30 |
67.35 % |
Crysis 3
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
21.30 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
12.51 |
58.73 % |
Thief
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
30.54 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
38.60 |
126.39 % |
Sleeping Dogs
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
42.27 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
28.80 |
68.13 % |
Metro Last Light
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
28.52 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
21.33 |
75.49 % |
Far Cry 4
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
47.50 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
26.80 |
56.42 % |
GTA V
| |
Score |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
59.01 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
42.44 |
71.92 % |
GRID Autosport
| |
FPS |
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
60.96 |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
58.07 |
95.26 % |
[pagebreak]
Power Consumption
|
Idle Watt |
Load Watt |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
70 |
635 |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
78 |
405 |
[pagebreak]
Temperatures / Noise Levels
Temperature
|
Idle °C |
Load °C |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
40/41 |
87/87 |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
34 |
62 |
Noise Level
|
idle dBA |
load dBA |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
34.7 |
51.0 |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
36.4 |
38.2 |
[pagebreak]
Performance Index &
Price
Performance Index 1080p
|
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
88.31 % |
Performance Index 1440p
|
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
80.43 % |
Performance Index 2160p
|
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
73.86 % |
Performance Index Average 1080p, 1440p & 2160p
|
% |
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
100.00 % |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
80.87 % |
Price
| AMD Radeon R9 390X CF |
 + |
| AMD Radeon R9 FuryX |
|
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
Having a quick look at the results shows, the advantages towards the R9 390X CrossFire configuration are overall significant. At FullHD the R9 390X CrossFire is on average 13% quicker than the FuryX and at 1440p and 2160p (UHD) the difference is 24% and 35%, respectively. Averaging the three resolution values results in a 23.6% advantage towards the R9 390X CrossFire. It's interesting to observe that at FullHD the gap between the R9 390X CrossFire and the FuryX is the smallest and it gradually increases to UHD. Apparently this has something to do with the fact, that the two R9 390X cards feature 8GB of VRAM each, whereas the FuryX only comes with 4GB of graphics memory. Especially at UHD and the settings we use, we see that almost every game requires more than 4GB of VRAM, which in the end bottlenecks the FuryX's performance.
Compareing the power consumption of these two cards shows what was to be expected. The two R9 390X burn quite a lot of power especially under load. In idle the system with the two R9 390X pulls 8 Watt less from the wall than the FuryX (70W vs. 78W), which was a surprise to us. Comparing the load values, then is a significant difference, since the system with R9 390X CrossFire configuration pulls 635W compared to 405W looking at the figures with FuryX. Bottom line: two R9 390X CrossFire really do need a lot of energy especially under load, which means that such a system is anything but energy efficient.
For now we've had a look at the performance and power consumption, which means it's about time to consider the price. These days two AMD Radeon R9 390X sell for 632 Euro and one AMD Radeon R9 FuryX costs 588 Euro. In other words this means, that the R9 390X CrossFire is 7% more expensive, while at the same time performing on average 23.6% better. Apparently you'll quickly be paying that price difference with your electricity bill if you decide to buy two R9 390X cards over one R9 FuryX. Apart from that the only real benefit you'll see is with UHD resolution, since most of the games become playable at even higher levels of details than with the FuryX. In all other cases the single FuryX is very well capable of pumping out enough frames per second for a smooth gaming experience.
