What is AMD's equivalent of the 980?

[ofrm1]

r3tr0gam3r1337 said:

ofrm1 said:

r3tr0gam3r1337 said:

ofrm1 said:

I currently have a Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X in my system. It's a great card considering that the vapor-x line is the highest tier of R9 cards released.

sorry to step in but the highest tier is from ASUS with thier ROG Matrix cards.

Do you just mean in price? Because certainly not in performance.

im not going by price, the ROG cards have several features not found on the sapphire cards not to meantion unlocked voltage which is also on the XFX cards, just because the sapphire cards have 3 fan's does not mean they perform better!

It's not just because it has more fans, it's because Sapphire is dedicated to AMD cards. ASUS isn't. It's the same reason EVGA makes the best Nvidia cards. It's because they're exclusive to Nvidia. The ROG Matrix is recycling the DirectCU II cooler that's on the GTX 700 series cards, so it isn't even designed to combat the R9's ridiculous heat output. 

But don't take my word for it. Dare to compare.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/09/08/asus_rog_r9_290x_matrix_platinum_video_card_review/1#.VJpdrUAAA

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/08/01/sapphire_vaporx_r9_290x_trix_oc_video_card_review/1#.VJpdoUAAA

The Vapor-X at base runs around as well as the ROG Matrix does Overclocked, and the ROG Matrix hits the thermal limit that AMD has on R9 cards which is 94C with 100% fan speed. The Vapor-X reaches 72C with 100% fan speed. Overclocked, the Vapor-X wins in every game except for Farcry 3, perhaps. Seems pretty clear to me. Unless you want ridiculous features like Liquid Nitrogen compatibility, (which is kind of pointless, as anyone who is planning on running a rig for that is going to be buying 780 ti's because they're faster) the Vapor-X is the clear winner. It not only manages to perform better in games, but it does so much cooler.

 

EDIT: And they're both priced at around $630 without discounts, so they're the same tier on pricing.