Radeon R9 390 vs Radeon RX 570
Performance-wise the Radeon RX 570 is out front, significantly faster, roughly 20% up on the Radeon R9 390. It is also the stronger value pick here, so it's the easy recommendation if your budget allows.
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Radeon RX 570 vs Radeon R9 390: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 570 vs Radeon R9 390
The Radeon RX 570 is significantly faster, around 20% ahead of the Radeon R9 390. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Right now the Radeon RX 570 starts at $160 EUR against $317 EUR for the Radeon R9 390. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the Radeon RX 570 wins on performance-per-dollar by about 138%.
Power & Efficiency
The Radeon RX 570 sips power at 150W next to the Radeon R9 390's 275W, and still leads on performance-per-watt — quieter, cooler, and gentler on your PSU. Its more modern GCN 4.0 (Polaris) architecture on a GloFo 14nm process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Radeon R9 390's 8GB (vs 4GB on the Radeon RX 570) gives it more room for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative or AI workloads. The Radeon R9 390's memory is also faster — 384 GB/s versus 224 GB/s (512-bit vs 256-bit bus) — which helps feed the GPU at 4K and with heavy textures.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 570 is roughly 2 years newer than the Radeon R9 390 (GCN 4.0 (Polaris) vs GCN 2.0), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Which should you buy: Radeon R9 390 or Radeon RX 570?
The Radeon RX 570 is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the Radeon R9 390 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Radeon RX 570 better than the Radeon R9 390?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the Radeon R9 390 or the Radeon RX 570?
Is the Radeon R9 390 worth the extra $157 EUR over the Radeon RX 570?
Does the Radeon R9 390 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: Radeon R9 390 or Radeon RX 570?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | Radeon R9 390 | Radeon RX 570 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | GCN 2.0 | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) |
| Process Node | TSMC 28nm | GloFo 14nm |
| CUDA Cores (Stream Processors / Stream Processors) | 2,560✓ | 2,048 |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | Radeon R9 390 | Radeon RX 570 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,000 MHz | 1,168 MHz✓ |
| Boost Clock | 1,000 MHz | 1,244 MHz✓ |
Memory
| Specification | Radeon R9 390 | Radeon RX 570 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 8 GB✓ | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 512-bit✓ | 256-bit |
| Memory Speed | 6 Gbps | 7 Gbps✓ |
| Bandwidth | 384 GB/s✓ | 224 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | Radeon R9 390 | Radeon RX 570 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 275 W | 150 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Jun 2015 | Apr 2017 |
