960 2GB vs 380 2GB

[Clanscorpia]

I know the 380 has more raw performance, but everyone has said the 960 has much better power consumption which is really important to me. For that, is the 960 a good card is is the 380 that much better. This is the build with a 960 I was looking at

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/mrDgGX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/mrDgGX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.50 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.25 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($54.46 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.01 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  ($249.99 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($54.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($84.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $812.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 16:54 EST-0500

[Zhuocheng]

380

[Fulgrim]

You would only really notice a difference if you have the card running balls to the wall, 24/7 for months...

 

We're talking about mere pennies/cents per month difference at most.

 

Get the R9 380.

[ThatOneRussian]

The difference in gpu wattage necessary is tiny a 380 is the better choice. Either way.

[Clanscorpia]

Are AMD drivers and support as bad as people say they are? I dont have time to fix things like that

[Najuno]

I would go for a 380 but as 4GB VRAM version if your are just concerned about 1080p gaming. The 2GB versions aren´t really beautiful plans IMHO.

[ThatOneRussian]

Are AMD drivers and support as bad as people say they are? I dont have time to fix things like that

nvidia drivers are sometimes just as bad and they are fine

[Najuno]

Are AMD drivers and support as bad as people say they are? I dont have time to fix things like that

No that is just blablabla both AMD and nVidia have good and bad drivers once in a while to be fair.

[Kobathor]

Are AMD drivers and support as bad as people say they are? I dont have time to fix things like that

They're great now, for the most part. Never had an issue in Windows 10 with my 7970.

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Just gonna copy my response over from another topic asking about the 4GB cards-

 

GTX 960 and R9 380 essentially perform the same, trading off a few frames games in certain titles that are better optimized in their drivers by either AMD or NVIDIA. They both can fully utilize their 2GB's of VRAM and are both great 1080p cards, it really comes down to which company- either AMD or NVIDIA has the features you want and need. 

[grayblizzard]

I know the 380 has more raw performance, but everyone has said the 960 has much better power consumption which is really important to me. For that, is the 960 a good card is is the 380 that much better. This is the build with a 960 I was looking at

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/mrDgGX

Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/mrDgGX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.50 @ Vuugo)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($69.25 @ Vuugo)

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($54.46 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.01 @ Vuugo)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  ($249.99 @ DirectCanada)

Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($54.99 @ Canada Computers)

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($84.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Total: $812.18

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 16:54 EST-0500

PLEASE get a 4gb model like seriously you would be better off in most games with an i3 and a 4gb model than an i5 and a 2gb model

[Mug]

You would only really notice a difference if you have the card running balls to the wall, 24/7 for months...

 

We're talking about mere pennies/cents per month difference at most.

 

Get the R9 380.

Well now, let's work out the cost:

 

The GTX 960 uses ~100w gaming.

The 380(x) uses ~230w (however, from my source, it's hard to tell because in the main body, it says 380x and in the graph it says 380)

 

Inherantly then, it'll cost you double (plus a little) to run your AMD card in your system versus Nvidia.

 

Now, if you're a recluse and using an extra 130w over a 6-hour session every day average, you'll be using 0.78 more kilowatt hours per day

(0.13x6.0=0.78KWh)

 

Now, in the US this isn't much but in the energy-starved UK where electricity is well over $0.20/KWh, you're using $56.94 more electricity per year. If you're on a meter, you'll pay more. If you are off the national grid, it'll definitely be worth going Nvidia.

((0.78x365)x0.20)

 

Apply the same calculations to Germany, where the average price per Kilwatt Hour is $0.35, you're using nearly $100 more power per year.

(0.78x365x0.35)

 

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,review-33233-10.html

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960,review-33113-8.html

https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/average-electricity-prices-kwh.html

 

My opinion though that 100w here and there is fine. However, I do consider it to be a slight disregard for the environment because, say if AMD sells 50 million units to people who play an average of 6 hours a day, that's 26 million wasted KWh of electricity. In my opinion, this is kind of irresponsible considering the threat to our planet due to global warming. I like to think I'm doing my bit though by ensuring my PC is as efficiant as possible but it's really up to you whether that matters or not.

[Fulgrim]

-snip-

 

[Mug]

 

True dat

 

I feel like AMD's one of those "'Murica" companies based in Texas that controls billions of barrels of oil and grinds up children

[Fulgrim]

True dat

 

I feel like AMD's one of those "'Murica" companies based in Texas that controls billions of barrels of oil and grinds up children

But srsly though.

 

$43.8 vs $56.94 isn't that big of a deal imo. £13.14 a year difference is bugger all to me.

[Mug]

But srsly though.

 

$43.8 vs $56.94 isn't that big of a deal imo. £13.14 a year difference is bugger all to me.

Nah, it's $56.94 extra over Nvidia, £40 (not that much still). Still though, if you're off the grid (ie: have a fuel tank and a generator in your garden) or pay upfront or have a meter, you'd be over $100/year better off by my calculations (particularly as some meters have contractual obligations which work in a sort of opposite exponential way so you could be paying up to 3x more for your electricity).

 

Gah! I blame the government!

 

First, Ed Miliband as Energy secretary pushed 2m peeps into fuel poverty and now the price isn't really going down because there's no government regulation over the sector. Gah!

[weez]

Nah, it's $56.94 extra over Nvidia, £40 (not that much still). Still though, if you're off the grid (ie: have a fuel tank and a generator in your garden) or pay upfront or have a meter, you'd be over $100/year better off by my calculations (particularly as some meters have contractual obligations which work in a sort of opposite exponential way so you could be paying up to 3x more for your electricity).

 

Gah! I blame the government!

 

First, Ed Miliband as Energy secretary pushed 2m peeps into fuel poverty and now the price isn't really going down because there's no government regulation over the sector. Gah!

Yeah I'm calling bs on that. No way a 380 is costing an extra $55 a year on the electric bill over a 960. I think your math is off.

[Mug]

Yeah I'm calling bs on that. No way a 380 is costing an extra $55 a year on the electric bill over a 960. I think your math is off.

Check it out, I wrote it out clear as day.

[weez]

Check it out, I wrote it out clear as day.

Doesn't mean it's correct.

[Mug]

Doesn't mean it's correct.

I think the point of publishing my calculations was so that one could chech them if one thought they were incorrect. I also published where I got the numbers from, which ones were hypothetical etc.

 

Moral of the story: Don't call bullshit unless you've got a better proposal or one you think is correct, as well as the reason why the previous one was incorrect.

[App4that]

I think the point of publishing my calculations was so that one could chech them if one thought they were incorrect. I also published where I got the numbers from, which ones were hypothetical etc.

Moral of the story: Don't call bullshit unless you've got a better proposal or one you think is correct, as well as the reason why the previous one was incorrect.

Bull shit. No way a 960 uses 100w gaming. Maybe at idle but not gaming. And if you're going to worry about wattage you better not overclock because that's what really gets the wattage meter running. This shit needs to stop

[Mug]

Bull shit. No way a 960 uses 100w gaming. Maybe at idle but not gaming. And if you're going to worry about wattage you better not overclock because that's what really gets the wattage meter running. This shit needs to stop

My friend, I'm quoting a source here. Get angry at the source, not with me.

[App4that]

My friend, I'm quoting a source here. Get angry at the source, not with me.

I can quote a source saying anything I want, we all share the same Internet full of BS. You quoted BS, that's on you.

[Mug]

I can quote a source saying anything I want, we all share the same Internet full of BS. You quoted BS, that's on you.

Most people consider TomsHardware to be pretty unbiased.

 

I also don't think you quite get how referencing works, but I'll let it slip.

[App4that]

Most people consider TomsHardware to be pretty unbiased.

I also don't think you quite get how referencing works, but I'll let it slip.

No, I get it. Which is why I'm calling you out. The 380 will definitely use more power, roughly a lightbulbs worth. As such not worth considering if you want performance as any overclocking will remove the disparity.

But come on, most PCs hit almost 100w on their own without a graphics card.