THIS WEEK ON VERSUS: EVGA GTX 960 4GB VS SAPPHIRE R9 280X

[Stardar1]

The EVGA GTX 960 SC ACX 2.0 4GB versus the SAPPHIRE R9 280X

 

Which is better and why?

 

Will be driving 3 1080p screens, I5 4690k, 16GB RAM

For gaming.

[the jolly roger]

280x is better

 

reasons:

 

better performance (more fps)

 

more Vram

 

wider memory bit bus

 

for driving 3 screens you will need the extra memory and wider bus of the 280.

 

the only reason to pick a 960 is:

 

quieter

 

lower TDP

 

overclocks like a champ

 

so yea go for the 280x

[ADZ_123_!"£]

You can't game on 3 monitors with either of those cards.

[Stardar1]

280x is better

 

reasons:

 

better performance (more fps)

 

more Vram

 

wider memory bit bus

 

for driving 3 screens you will need the extra memory and wider bus of the 280.

 

the only reason to pick a 960 is:

 

quieter

 

lower TDP

 

overclocks like a champ

 

so yea go for the 280x

its the 4GB 960

[Stardar1]

NOTE: WILL BE DRIVING ALL THREE MONITORS, WILL ONLY BE GAMING ON ONE.

[ADZ_123_!"£]

There is also all of nvidias extra features to take into consideration such as G-sync and shadow play.

 

 

 

 

[ADZ_123_!"£]

its the 4GB 960

It can't actually make use of the full 4gb due to the 128 bit memory bus.

[Sauron]

The 280x is superior. A 960 can't make use of 4gb of vram and the gpu itself is slower.

[Sauron]

You can't game on 3 monitors with either of those cards.

 

Who says? A 280x is all right for surround.

[ADZ_123_!"£]

Who says? A 280x is all right for surround.

 

 

NOTE: WILL BE DRIVING ALL THREE MONITORS, WILL ONLY BE GAMING ON ONE.

Read...

[Hodor]

The EVGA GTX 960 SC ACX 2.0 4GB versus the SAPPHIRE R9 280X

 

Which is better and why?

 

Will be driving 3 1080p screens, I5 4690k, 16GB RAM

For gaming.

280x outperforms the 960 in every single benchmark.

[Sauron]

Read...

 

I read, but you claimed you can't game on 3 monitors with either card, and I'm saying you're wrong.

[ADZ_123_!"£]

I read, but you claimed you can't game on 3 monitors with either card, and I'm saying you're wrong.

Ok sorry what I was trying to say was it won't be good for surround gaming but for simply powering 3 monitors it will be fine.

[Stardar1]

Now the next question: is the 970 worth the extra 100 to the 280x?

[ADZ_123_!"£]

Now the next question: is the 970 worth the extra 100 to the 280x?

Yes.

[Sauron]

Ok sorry what I was trying to say was it won't be good for surround gaming but for simply powering 3 monitors it will be fine.

 

I still object, it can game in surround just fine if you're willing to lower settings a little.

 

 

Now the next question: is the 970 worth the extra 100 to the 280x?

 

for 1 1080p monitor, no, absolutely not.

[ADZ_123_!"£]

I still object, it can game in surround just fine if you're willing to lower settings a little.

 

 

 

for 1 1080p monitor, no, absolutely not.

Well I saw a video of a 970 being able to play BF4 across 3 monitors high or medium settings at about 60 fps so if you are happy to put it down to low then you might be able to at reasonable settings.

[IateMApoo]

280X all the way.

[Delusional Phil]

Well this is a silly question ... Just get R9 280X ... But if 960 is cheaper by a whole lot ... get that ... 

[AlexWJD]

It can't actually make use of the full 4gb due to the 128 bit memory bus.

 

Ignorant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX_mW36BDKs

 

Skip to 3:06. Now what were you saying?

[Suika]

more Vram

The GTX 960 4GB has more VRAM than the R9 280X. Did you feel like reading the thread or come in to fanboy and tell OP why AMD is so wonderful?

 

wider memory bit bus

Bus width is irrelevant, especially considering NVIDIA's memory compression magic. The GTX 960 is completely capable of driving 4GB.

 

Although yes, the R9 280X is more powerful, I don't know if I'd ever pick the GTX 960 4GB lol.

[Megahurt]

The 4GB on the does make the 960 perform slightly better, but not enough to justify the price gap with the base model. The 290 woulb be the next step up from the 280X, it has the same tdp, more vram and it supports freesync.

[Circs]

Whoa, 0 to flame in under 2 pages. Back on topic though:

 

I think this little shootout could actually go either way depending on the game. If we're talking modded Skyrim I'd actually put my money on the 960 as the crazy high quality textures want ALL OF YOUR VRAMs and that extra gig is pretty useful. There is my question of just how the 960's memory bandwidth works with 4GB when the 970 has trouble with bandwidth on 4GB though. Shadow of Mordor is another one where textures really just gobble VRAM. I'd cautiously give that game to the 960 barring any weird memory bandwidth issues.

 

Once we're out of texture insanity though the 280X will likely run away with the lead, but the real question then is about minimum framerates and frame time/pacing since the 960 is still not a slouch. That's where I'm not too sure about the 280X being able to trounce the 960, but I'm also unsure if any odd memory bandwidth issues would pop up with the 960.

 

Personally I'd tend towards the 280X as a more known quantity and its rather nice 3GB framebuffer. If there was an X version of the 285 with 3GB I'd actually decide in favor of that card quite solidly.