GTX 960 4Gb vs R9 290

[KingDuder]

I am relatively new to pc gaming and i am looking for a new graphics card to replace a 660 that I got from a friend.  I have found that the EVGA GTX 960 SSc 4gb is $20 less than a Club3D R9 290.  Assume that my cpu will not bottleneck my gpu and that my psu can handle a single graphics card.  I live in Canada and I have a budget of around $350 and will be purchasing in the near future.

 

1.  Is Physx important in performance and looks in games?

 

2. Should I overclock my gpu?  How much of a benefit will overclocking give me?

 

2. Should I buy a gtx 960 or a r9 290?

[Enflics]

r9 290 I will destroy 960 easily, but make sure your GPU can handle it.

 

1. No

 

2. Depending on the overclock 5-15 fps

 

3. R9 290

[Dude]

A GTX 960 wouldn't be able to use 4GB properly. But as an R9 290 owner, I must insist you wait to get a GTX 970.

[EpIcPoNaGe]

The R9 290 is a much faster card than the 960. Just be sure that you have a powerful enough PSU. 

 

1. Physx isn't that important... 

2. Most people get around a 10% increase in performance with an overclock. Overclocking is basically free performance so I always advocate for it.

3. R9 290

[Lolzious]

The 290 is about equal with a 970, so it will 360 nosk0p a 960 any day.

 

No

I don't recommend it with such powerful cards, especially given that the 290 is already a nuclear power plant

290 4 life

[Nena Trinity]

I am relatively new to pc gaming and i am looking for a new graphics card to replace a 660 that I got from a friend.  I have found that the EVGA GTX 960 SSc 4gb is $20 less than a Club3D R9 290.  Assume that my cpu will not bottleneck my gpu and that my psu can handle a single graphics card.  I live in Canada and I have a budget of around $350 and will be purchasing in the near future.

 

1.  Is Physx important in performance and looks in games?

 

2. Should I overclock my gpu?  How much of a benefit will overclocking give me?

 

2. Should I buy a gtx 960 or a r9 290?

1. All GPUs has it because of DirectX

 

2. Most likely not worth it.

 

3. R9 290 unless you play games with OpenGL...

[KingDuder]

1. All GPUs has it because of DirectX

 

2. Most likely not worth it.

 

3. R9 290 unless you play games with OpenGL...

What is OpenGl and what are games that use it?

[Nena Trinity]

What is OpenGl and what are games that use it?

OpenGL is a API like Mantle and DirectX. =)

[typographie]

What is OpenGl and what are games that use it?

 

OpenGL is the open-source alternative to Microsoft's DirectX. Games in Linux or MacOS need to run in OpenGL mode, as DX is Windows-only. OpenGL is somewhat rare otherwise. If you're gaming on a Windows system I wouldn't worry about it.

[dougdangger]

 

 

 I live in Canada and I have a budget of around $350

GTX 970 kicks the 290's ass while using up less power.

 

Physx is pretty cool.  Mafia 2 looks nicer with it on.

 

You get Witcher 3 free with purchase of Nvidia cards.

[BestBOTEU]

290 for sure lol

[teddyteddyteddy]

1.  Physx can be nice, but it isn't in that many games.  The r9 290's extra power will be much more useful than the 960's physx.

 

2.  I'm not very familiar with that particular cooler for the 290, but if your temps are low at stock settings, then go ahead and overclock.  My xfx dd 290 runs at mid to upper 70 degrees celsius so I haven't bothered to overclock it because I don't want it getting much hotter

 

3.  If they are similar prices, definitely go with the 290.  It is a much better card.  If you don't want it to get hot and loud, the Sapphire Tri-x or Sapphire Vapor-x are the best coolers for 290's.  but Like I said before, I have an xfx 290, and although it is far from the best cooler, It isnt too loud and it keeps the card at safe temps.  I would go for the 290.

Another good choice would be a gtx 970, but if it's between the 960 and 290, get the 290.   

[miagisan]

not even close....get the r9 290

[xAcid9]

1. All GPUs has it because of DirectX

 

2. Most likely not worth it.

 

3. R9 290 unless you play games with OpenGL...

 

1. Wut?

 

2. Totally worth it for some games

 

3. What's wrong with 290 when using OpenGL?

[ChrisCross]

GTX 970 kicks the 290's ass while using up less power.

 

Physx is pretty cool.  Mafia 2 looks nicer with it on.

 

You get Witcher 3 free with purchase of Nvidia cards.

well i have 290 and i worked with 3 970s so far and from the performance they are extremely close. also the 290 is much cheaper and freesync doesnt cost 200 bucks.

[Pool]

well i have 290 and i worked with 3 970s so far and from the performance they are extremely close. also the 290 is much cheaper and freesync doesnt cost 200 bucks.

It depends the games you're playing, overall the 970 has far better performances and should be picked if you have the money to do so

 

[Nena Trinity]

1. Wut?

 

2. Totally worth it for some games

 

3. What's wrong with 290 when using OpenGL?

1. PhysX is in DirectX

 

2. Why overclock? It its no point unless its a low cost one...

 

3. Cant render mesh sometimes, it cant even reach 60fps in Metro and in Bioshock it cant even hit 50fps!!! AMD messed up their OpenGL stuff badly!

[ChrisCross]

It depends the games you're playing, overall the 970 has far better performances and should be picked if you have the money to do so

 

as said it highly depends on the games you play. most of the time console ports run better on nvidia (far cry & assasins creed). i do play battlefield and star citizen, so mantle is a thing for me...

[KingDuder]

Where I live, the cheapest 970 that I can find is around $400 while the r9 290 is around $300.  Is the extra $100 towards the 970 worth the few extra frames and lower power usage and temperature?

[Sintezza]

Where I live, the cheapest 970 that I can find is around $400 while the r9 290 is around $300.  Is the extra $100 towards the 970 worth the few extra frames and lower power usage and temperature?

 

no its not.

[FamedShot]

I own an Asus R9 290 DirectCu II OC and bought it for about $339.99 CAD minus $30 mail-in rebate from NCIX. It was a steal at the time but that's not to say I was lucky. I waited a couple months before buying anything just to see fluctuation in prices.

 

Anyways, performance wise... it kills every game I throw at it. I'm getting 60 fps at ultra setting every time. If I was video card hunting again, I'd get the R9 290.

 

Only downside was the wattage. If you don't have a PSU that's 650+ ... then maybe just get the 960.

[xAcid9]

1. PhysX is in DirectX

 

2. Why overclock? It its no point unless its a low cost one...

 

3. Cant render mesh sometimes, it cant even reach 60fps in Metro and in Bioshock it cant even hit 50fps!!! AMD messed up their OpenGL stuff badly!

1. Explain Physx in PS4.

 

2. When you need that extra 5-10 fps to reach 60 average/minimum.

 

3. AMD Window OpenGL performance is great nowadays, check Wolfstein benchmark.

 

Only downside was the wattage. If you don't have a PSU that's 650+ ... then maybe just get the 960.

Even a good 550w PSU is enough for 290 unless you're using 200w FX processor. 

[Whorax]

A GTX 960 wouldn't be able to use 4GB properly. But as an R9 290 owner, I must insist you wait to get a GTX 970.

What makes you say this?

 

I would get a 290X before getting a 970.

[Nena Trinity]

1. Explain Physx in PS4.

 

2. When you need that extra 5-10 fps to reach 60 average/minimum.

 

3. AMD Window OpenGL performance is great nowadays, check Wolfstein benchmark.

 

Even a good 550w PSU is enough for 290 unless you're using 200w FX processor. 

1. The console?

 

2. Yes only cheap GPUs needs OC to reach 60fps unless you play in 4K or so?

 

3. Link? =)

[sgloux3470]

I am relatively new to pc gaming and i am looking for a new graphics card to replace a 660 that I got from a friend.  I have found that the EVGA GTX 960 SSc 4gb is $20 less than a Club3D R9 290.  Assume that my cpu will not bottleneck my gpu and that my psu can handle a single graphics card.  I live in Canada and I have a budget of around $350 and will be purchasing in the near future.

 

1.  Is Physx important in performance and looks in games?

 

2. Should I overclock my gpu?  How much of a benefit will overclocking give me?

 

2. Should I buy a gtx 960 or a r9 290?

 

 

1. Nope.  Very few games use it, and it's tangential to the experience.

 

2. You don't have to, but you can gain 5-10 FPS on most cards by doing it.  

 

3. The 290 is a much better performing card.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960,4038-4.html

 

The 290 is slightly slower than the 290x, but faster than the 280x.  For only a $20 difference the 290 is the much better buy.

 

THAT SAID the 960 is a perfectly fine card for 1080p gaming and I would actually consider the 290 to be overkill for 1080p.

 

You're going to want a ~600W+ Power supply for the 290 though, so if you have a 500-550W then just get the 960.