A proper test of the 4GB vs 2GB GTX 960 from gamersnexus

[SteveGrabowski]

Tech of Tomorrow's test was retarded since they used games and settings that would never push more than 2GB. What's the point of testing games on medium when they're pulling 150 FPS? Surprisingly gamersnexus seems to have shown GM 206 actually can take advantage of the extra video memory in some games. Not what I was expecting at all, but these numbers make it sound like the 4GB GTX 960 is a pretty solid buy at $30 more than the 2GB one.

 

 

 

[Swndlr]

but i still dont get why the 960 is actually a thing

[SteveGrabowski]

And the article

 

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1888-evga-supersc-4gb-960-benchmark-vs-2gb

[Comessy]

but i still dont get why the 960 is actually a thing

So people who don't have mad stax can afford the 960

[Virtual01]

but i still dont get why the 960 is actually a thing

For people who think they need it to run League of Legends

[Unlikelyjoker]

People care about this card?

[Faceman]

For $230, you can get an R9 290. Still don't see the point in a 960, 2GB or 4GB.

[Faceman]

Double post. This is happening a lot today...

[CommandMan7]

I have a friend who was consulting me for his build, we agreed on the 970, and he went out and bought a 2 GB 960 over the 4 GB (3.5?) 970 because of the 3.5 GB thing. Made no sense at all. I see the 960 as a budget starter that only becomes useful 2 or 3 years down the road when you can SLI for cheap.

[SteveGrabowski]

For $230, you can get an R9 290. Still don't see the point in a 960, 2GB or 4GB.

 

I agree, buying anything but a 290 in that price range is nuts, but some people just flat out want Nvidia.

[othertomperson]

For $230, you can get an R9 290. Still don't see the point in a 960, 2GB or 4GB.

 

Because the 290 is at the end of its life and so won't be available for long. The 960, however, has only just been launched so has a good 17 months left.

[SteveGrabowski]

Because the 290 is at the end of its life and so won't be available for long. The 960, however, has only just been launched so has a good 17 months left.

 

I'd be shocked if it's not rebranded into the R9 300 series.

[othertomperson]

I'd be shocked if it's not rebranded into the R9 300 series.

 

True, that's what AMD do in lieu of R&D.

 

However, it should really be considered a 300 series card at a new launch price point since that's what AMD will be selling it as. The 290 isn't that.

[NeverNotExhausted]

Because the 290 is at the end of its life and so won't be available for long. The 960, however, has only just been launched so has a good 17 months left.

 

That makes no sense at all whatsoever.

 

Why not buy a more powerful card? In 17 months it's not like the 960 is going to magically become more powerful than a 290?

[othertomperson]

That makes no sense at all whatsoever.

 

Why not buy a more powerful card? In 17 months it's not like the 960 is going to magically become more powerful than a 290?

 

No, but you're not going to be able to buy new 290s in 17 months time. Once the 300 series has been released, the 200 series will be sold off cheaply and quickly. Go out and buy a brand new 660 Ti, or a 770. You can't. They would be directly competing with products that Nvidia actually want to sell.

 

Who cares that the GTX 580 is more powerful than a 750 Ti. You can't buy the 580 any more apart from second hand.

[NeverNotExhausted]

No, but you're not going to be able to buy new 290s in 17 months time. Once the 300 series has been released, the 200 series will be sold off cheaply and quickly. Go out and buy a brand new 660 Ti, or a 770. You can't. They would be directly competing with products that Nvidia actually want to sell.

 

And what's that got to do with anything right now?

[SteveGrabowski]

True, that's what AMD do in lieu of R&D.

 

I don't see it as a negative myself. You buy one of their high-end cards and because they're still selling that same chip next year you still get drivers optimized for it. Anyone who bought a 7970 or a 7950 is getting a lot of great life out of it.

[othertomperson]

And what's that got to do with anything right now?

 

What do you mean "what's that got to do with anything"? In an argument about the price of something, factors that determine the price of something are pretty fucking relevant.

 

 

I don't see it as a negative myself. You buy one of their high-end cards and because they're still selling that same chip next year you still get drivers optimized for it. Anyone who bought a 7970 or a 7950 is getting a lot of great life out of it.

 

Life that they would be getting anyway. Meanwhile people who bought a 280X have bought a product over three years old as "brand new", with all of the TDP and power consumption of a product that was once a balls-to-the-wall performance product.

[NeverNotExhausted]

What do you mean "what's that got to do with anything"? In an argument about the price of something, factors that determine the price of something are pretty fucking relevant.

 

Yup, and all the factors in play right now make the 290 a better buy and it will remain to be a better buy until they aren't available anymore, at which point the 290 is likely to be rebranded as the 380, which at the x80 price bracket will continue to be better value than the 960 in either 2 or 4 gig flavours. Your basically throwing irrelevant facts at an argument for no real reason and then acting like a pissy little bitch when somebody calls you out on it.

[SteveGrabowski]

Life that they would be getting anyway. Meanwhile people who bought a 280X have bought a product over three years old as "brand new", with all of the TDP and power consumption of a product that was once a balls-to-the-wall performance product.

 

 

Why do I care about power consumption? I'm not running it in a laptop. I'm not running it on battery power. Changing the lightbulbs in my house saves more money than changing the GPU.

[othertomperson]

Yup, and all the factors in play right now make the 290 a better buy and it will remain to be a better buy until they aren't available anymore, at which point the 290 is likely to be rebranded as the 380, which at the x80 price bracket will continue to be better value than the 960 in either 2 or 4 gig flavours. Your basically throwing irrelevant facts at an argument for no real reason and then acting like a pissy little bitch when somebody calls you out on it.

 

Well no because you're answering a question entirely different to the one that was asked. The 960 has a lifetime much longer than the 290. The state of the market right now doesn't make the 960 a compelling option, I agree. But it was asked why the 960 is a thing, and that answer is because you're comparing a product at the start of its cycle with a product right at the end. The fact that AMD are just going to get out a sharpie and re-sell the product as if it were brand new doesn't make the 290 last longer, it just means that its "replacement" with a new name and new price has an adjusted place in the market compared with the 290. As far as marketing is concerned, they are entirely different products.

 

It's not irrelevant to answer the question that was posed, and calling someone a "pissy little bitch" just because you need to have every one of the dots joined up for you and hand held through the most basic of concepts is unbecoming.

 

 

Why do I care about power consumption? I'm not running it in a laptop. I'm not running it on battery power. Changing the lightbulbs in my house saves more money than changing the GPU.

 

Because heating up every one of the components in your PC without any reason isn't good. Because raising your ambient temperature in summer can cause thermal throttling where in Winter there wasn't any. Because this is a particular problem if you want to crossfire them: especially in cases without the best airflow. And finally because some of us live in countries where we actually have to pay for our electricity and over time it seriously adds up. Speaking as someone who used to SLI 580s, these are all serious issues.

[NeverNotExhausted]

Well no because you're answering a question entirely different to the one that was asked. The 960 has a lifetime much longer than the 290. The state of the market right now doesn't make the 960 a compelling option, I agree. But it was asked why the 960 is a thing, and that answer is because you're comparing a product at the start of its cycle with a product right at the end. The fact that AMD are just going to get out a sharpie and re-sell the product as if it were brand new doesn't make the 290 last longer, it just means that its "replacement" with a new name and new price has an adjusted place in the market compared with the 290. As far as marketing is concerned, they are entirely different products.

 

It's not irrelevant to answer the question that was posed, and calling someone a "pissy little bitch" just because you need to have every one of the dots joined up for you and hand held through the most basic of concepts is unbecoming.

 

"it's the end of it's cycle" means nothing, it doesn't make the card suddenly less powerful or somehow magically worse than a 960. If your spending the same amount of money and getting better performance then you will be getting better value. It doesn't matter if the product is a year or two old or just released, a better product is a better product at the end of the day.

 

I think your missing more than a few of the dots there buddy. But I doubt you'll see logic beyond your fanboyism so I'm not going to waste any more of my time on you. Cya.

[othertomperson]

"it's the end of it's cycle" means nothing, it doesn't make the card suddenly less powerful or somehow magically worse than a 960. If your spending the same amount of money and getting better performance then you will be getting better value. It doesn't matter if the product is a year or two old or just released, a better product is a better product at the end of the day.

 

I think your missing more than a few of the dots there buddy. But I doubt you'll see logic beyond your fanboyism so I'm not going to waste any more of my time on you. Cya.

 

How are you not seeing that when you can't buy a 290 any more, but the 960 is still readily available that this might actually have an effect on which people get? Seriously, how are you having trouble with the concept of shops no sell = me no buy!?

 

And who am I a fanboy of now, I wonder, I'm dying to know.

 

Like I said if you are not going to be buying pre-owned and your choice is either a GTX 580 or a R7 260X your choice should be obvious. Now get me a Newegg link to a brand new GTX 580, the obviously better product, for the the same price as a 260X.

[Equilibrium_FOOL]

Gotta love the flame wars...

[SteveGrabowski]

Because heating up every one of the components in your PC without any reason isn't good. Because raising your ambient temperature in summer can cause thermal throttling where in Winter there wasn't any. Because this is a particular problem if you want to crossfire them: especially in cases without the best airflow. And finally because some of us live in countries where we actually have to pay for our electricity and over time it seriously adds up. Speaking as someone who used to SLI 580s, these are all serious issues.

 

 

I don't care about SLI/CF setups. I have a case with airflow. I can change the lightbulbs in my house first if electricity is costing me too much. I can buy aftermarket 290s with great cooling. I care about performance first and foremost. I don't understand your electricity cost argument for yourself when you're running a 4.7GHz extreme edition CPU. If cost of electricity really matters why aren't you running an 84W Haswell i5 locked?