Nvidia 960 Performs Slightly Faster Than Radeon R9 280 (3D Mark Scores)

[cooperb21]

In the US it's a lot cheaper though

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600473877&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20600536049

Well a large amount of users here are from Canada. 

 

In other words just buy Nvidia here in Canada since amd does not price competitively here its obvious. 

[MEC-777]

Nope

 

Also witcher 3 will run alot worse on Nvidia so if your building a rig for the witcher dont buy Nvidia. 

 

The fact that 770=290 gives away that it will run far better on Nvidia. 

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007708&IsNodeId=1&Description=290&name=Desktop%20Graphics%20Cards&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=30&isdeptsrh=1

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007708&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx%20970&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

 

Pffft. 770 is not equal to a 290. Not even close. 

 

Well a large amount of users here are from Canada. 

 

In other words just buy Nvidia here in Canada since amd does not price competitively here its obvious. 

 

Bought my 290 for $285 from a Canadian retailer. Just have to watch for the deals. 

[BrianPena]

I'm wanting this card, but it takes too long. I might actually buy a second hand GTX 760 while I wait for the 960 to be released.

Might as well just buy a 970 then, wouldn't that be the same price as a 760+960?

[cooperb21]

Pffft. 770 is not equal to a 290. Not even close. 

 

 

Bought my 290 for $285 from a Canadian retailer. Just have to watch for the deals. 

yes the 770=ro 290 in the witcher 3.

 

In other words the game runs better on Nvidia because the dev's are saying you can run game in overal graphicsl settings on a gtx 770 but on amd you need a r 290.

[SteveGrabowski]

Pffft. 770 is not equal to a 290. Not even close. 

 

 

Bought my 290 for $285 from a Canadian retailer. Just have to watch for the deals. 

 

Yeah, even in an Nvidia Gameworks game like Far Cry 4 the 290 murders the 770

 

[SteveGrabowski]

yes the 770=ro 290 in the witcher 3.

 

In other words the game runs better on Nvidia because the dev's are saying you can run game in overal graphicsl settings on a gtx 770 but on amd you need a r 290.

 

Maybe for the first week until AMD can release optimized drivers for the game. Then the 290 will slaughter the 770 like it does on every other Nvidia Gameworks game.

[cooperb21]

Maybe for the first week until AMD can release optimized drivers for the game. Then the 290 will slaughter the 770 like it does on every other Nvidia Gameworks game.

Yea i agree with that still something just makes me wonder how fucken bad it runs on Nvidia if they say you need a 290 and only a 770 on nvidia side.

[BobbyG2]

How is a 7970 beating a 780? Jesus lol

(coming from a 7970 owner)

[cooperb21]

How is a 7970 beating a 780? Jesus lol

(coming from a 7970 owner)

Only in min but ya seems odd like benchmark might be faulty.

[BobbyG2]

Only in min but ya seems odd like benchmark might be faulty.

I'd be more inclined to blame Ubisoft than the benchmark.

[Humbug]

How is a 7970 beating a 780? Jesus lol

(coming from a 7970 owner)

It's a ridiculous result.

May be a case of on newer games Nvidia slacking off on driver optimization for Kelper cards, just focused on Maxwell now...

Check out the below test from Hardocp. Red line is the 780; a card which used to go toe to toe with the R9 290.

 

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/01/07/far_cry_4_video_card_performance_review/6

[BobbyG2]

nVidia practicing planned obsolescence?

[TheGuyNL]

Might as well just buy a 970 then, wouldn't that be the same price as a 760+960?

 

Yeah, I found a second hand 760 for 120 euros. I'll keep that a couple months while I save up for a 970 or 980 (and then sell the 760 of course)

[MEC-777]

yes the 770=ro 290 in the witcher 3.

 

In other words the game runs better on Nvidia because the dev's are saying you can run game in overal graphicsl settings on a gtx 770 but on amd you need a r 290.

 

I wouldn't go by the "recommended system specs" list as they're usually somewhat vague. Let's wait and see how it performs once the game has been released for a while.

[MEC-777]

How is a 7970 beating a 780? Jesus lol

(coming from a 7970 owner)

 

The 7950/7970's are very strong cards, even by today's standards. They slap around the 760 and make the 770 sweat a little. They're not to be under-estimated. That's not to say that benchmark wasn't flawed or might be correct, but they are very strong performers at 1080p.

[Brainless906]

The 7950/7970's are very strong cards, even by today's standards. They slap around the 760 and make the 770 sweat a little. They're not to be under-estimated. That's not to say that benchmark wasn't flawed or might be correct, but they are very strong performers at 1080p.

 

 

My crossfired 7970s still run with the big dogs!

...at 1080p that is...

 

Never been happier with a GPU.

[dalekphalm]

Doesn't account for power usage. 290 is a power hog.

Based on what? Please provide sources.

 

If we assume a the following :

  1) The difference is 100watts between the two (its only 40ish)

  2) You game for 2 hours a day, during that time your gpu is at 100 percent

  3) You live in Hawaii payin an insane price of $0.33 USD/KWH (average in USA is $0.12-$0.15/KHW)

 

you will spend an extra $28.00 (rounded up) a year in power costs.

 

so yah, its 100 percent a non-argument. 

This. Even if you gamed twice as much, it would still only cost $52 a year. The cost for a 290 is a LOT LESS. You'd still save quite a lot of money buying a 290 instead, despite the relatively marginal power draw increase. It being a "power hog" is such a sensationalist and misinformed thing to say. We've linked quite a few articles and links and benchmarks already in this thread that show that a 290 barely draws 20-40 watts more per system. Even with expensive Australian electricity (Equivalent or cheaper than the state of Hawaii).

 

Agreed. I, in my opinion (for the people who disagree), don't believe the whole power argument in relation to costing more money is that much of an issue on a consumer level at all, as you had just shown. 

I also agree.

 

It's not really about performance. More about noise and overclocking. My 7950 is really loud, and can't OC much (at all, really) or it will hit temps that make it throttle.

You got super unlucky man. My Gigabyte WF 7950 OC's like a bitch, and is still quiet even at 100% fan speed, which keeps the damn card under 70 C Degrees even when folding or Crypto-mining at 100% usage. With gaming, the card will often not even break 50 C Degrees. And my card is voltage locked, so it's limited in the OC it can achieve (Which is still beast).

 

Lol wut , the cooler on that card must be crap.

 

A msi 7950 usually has no thermal problems of that nature , or the equivalent msi 280.

Yep, same here with my Gigabyte one.

 

Is it the XFX you have listed in your sig?

 

My Windforce 7950 OC'd just as well on air as it did on water (G10+H55), strangely enough... but it was voltage locked, so that probably explains it.

We're limited by the Voltage. If the WF 7950 was voltage unlocked, we could both likely get another few 100 MHz easy, on an OC.

[flibberdipper]

Based on what? Please provide sources.

 

This. Even if you gamed twice as much, it would still only cost $52 a year. The cost for a 290 is a LOT LESS. You'd still save quite a lot of money buying a 290 instead, despite the relatively marginal power draw increase. It being a "power hog" is such a sensationalist and misinformed thing to say. We've linked quite a few articles and links and benchmarks already in this thread that show that a 290 barely draws 20-40 watts more per system. Even with expensive Australian electricity (Equivalent or cheaper than the state of Hawaii).

 

I also agree.

 

You got super unlucky man. My Gigabyte WF 7950 OC's like a bitch, and is still quiet even at 100% fan speed, which keeps the damn card under 70 C Degrees even when folding or Crypto-mining at 100% usage. With gaming, the card will often not even break 50 C Degrees. And my card is voltage locked, so it's limited in the OC it can achieve (Which is still beast).

 

Yep, same here with my Gigabyte one.

 

We're limited by the Voltage. If the WF 7950 was voltage unlocked, we could both likely get another few 100 MHz easy, on an OC.

Yup. Sadly, I'm probably gonna get a Xeon instead, since I DESPERATELY need the horsepower. After than will probably come another stick of RAM. I frequently max out my 8GB.

[dalekphalm]

Yup. Sadly, I'm probably gonna get a Xeon instead, since I DESPERATELY need the horsepower. After than will probably come another stick of RAM. I frequently max out my 8GB.

Xeons are excellently binned, and are quite nice, but there may be overclocking limitations, depending on the specific CPU and the specific motherboard/chipset.

 

If you're gonna spring for a Xeon, you may want to consider X99 or X79 instead and get an Intel Extreme CPU. Something to consider at least, since the Extreme CPU's are generally excellent OC'ers.

[flibberdipper]

Xeons are excellently binned, and are quite nice, but there may be overclocking limitations, depending on the specific CPU and the specific motherboard/chipset.

 

If you're gonna spring for a Xeon, you may want to consider X99 or X79 instead and get an Intel Extreme CPU. Something to consider at least, since the Extreme CPU's are generally excellent OC'ers.

I already have a fairly nice Z97 board, and I don't think I would really get much benefit from overclocking it.

[Sauron]

I'm not particularly impressed to be honest... the 280 is 1.5 years old at this point, beating it is no huge feat at this point. I'm curious to see how this will stack up to a hypothetical R9 380.

[Brainless906]

I'm not particularly impressed to be honest... the 280 is 1.5 years old at this point, beating it is no huge feat at this point. I'm curious to see how this will stack up to a hypothetical R9 380.

 

 

well in theory the r9 380 should destroy the 960 as its placed within the product line to compete against the 970 not the 960

 

But we'll see how the r9 3xx series pans out. My hopes are high

[ImprovizoR]

I can't wait to see AMD's response with 300 series and new HBM standard. The GTX 960 is almost an insult. It's too irrelevant. Props for the power consumption because I care about that a lot. But come on guys, 3Gb/192bus should have been an obvious choice.

[MEC-777]

This. Even if you gamed twice as much, it would still only cost $52 a year. The cost for a 290 is a LOT LESS. You'd still save quite a lot of money buying a 290 instead, despite the relatively marginal power draw increase. It being a "power hog" is such a sensationalist and misinformed thing to say. We've linked quite a few articles and links and benchmarks already in this thread that show that a 290 barely draws 20-40 watts more per system. Even with expensive Australian electricity (Equivalent or cheaper than the state of Hawaii).

 

You got super unlucky man. My Gigabyte WF 7950 OC's like a bitch, and is still quiet even at 100% fan speed, which keeps the damn card under 70 C Degrees even when folding or Crypto-mining at 100% usage. With gaming, the card will often not even break 50 C Degrees. And my card is voltage locked, so it's limited in the OC it can achieve (Which is still beast).

 

We're limited by the Voltage. If the WF 7950 was voltage unlocked, we could both likely get another few 100 MHz easy, on an OC.

 

Your comments on the 290 and power consumption - a thousand times yes. I'm getting SO tired of all the heater jokes and power-hog comments. The facts prove those "myths" are false and it's time people accept it and move on. 

 

About the Gigabyte WF 7950 - I just got mine back from Gigabyte yesterday and cranked the core up +200mhz right out the box, runs rock-stable! 3D mark firestrike score went from 5900 at stock clocks to 6400 just with that alone. I love this card! Also, they must have updated the BIOS and fan curve because it runs cooler and quieter than it did before.

[dalekphalm]

Your comments on the 290 and power consumption - a thousand times yes. I'm getting SO tired of all the heater jokes and power-hog comments. The facts prove those "myths" are false and it's time people accept it and move on. 

 

About the Gigabyte WF 7950 - I just got mine back from Gigabyte yesterday and cranked the core up +200mhz right out the box, runs rock-stable! 3D mark firestrike score went from 5900 at stock clocks to 6400 just with that alone. I love this card! Also, they must have updated the BIOS and fan curve because it runs cooler and quieter than it did before.

Personally I always have a custom fan curve on mine anyway through MSI Afterburner. I like having the fan on 100% when I'm gaming, because I'm more concerned about cool temps and max performance then the minimal fan noise - which is still pretty quiet even at 100%. You hear the air more then the fans. Just a wooshing noise that isn't high pitched or annoying. So I have the fan max out when it gets to like 70 C, and a much more gentle curve below 70 C, so when I'm not gaming, the fans run pretty low. At idle, the fans are at the lowest setting MSI Afterburner will let me set.

 

Gigabyte nailed the WF 7950. I will definitely consider their WF coolers first for any new GPU I look at buying, AMD or NVIDIA.