Which do you recommend for affordable performance?

[Xtreme Gamer]

2-way gtx 660 sli

 

or

 

single gtx 960 (soon to be 2-way sli when money is available)

[MattTheMayor]

the amd cards are going way down. last time i saw, the powercolor r9 290 models were the same price as one of the 960's.

 

check some out.

[thekeemo]

I would say used 290x

[Nup]

a single 290  

[Fate]

I'd recommend a 280x, it's about 10% faster at 1080p and even higher at the likes of 1440p. It also has 50% more vram so it would fare much better in crossfire than 960sli would. 

That being said, 290's are really cheap right now so pick one of those up instead if you can. 

[Nup]

I would say used 290x

hard to find good used ones, they were often used to mine. 

[thekeemo]

hard to find good used ones, they were often used to mine. 

mine was used to mine and it worked PERFECTLY even better than some new ones

[Xtreme Gamer]

hard to find good used ones, they were often used to mine. 

 

 

I'd recommend a 280x, it's about 10% faster at 1080p and even higher at the likes of 1440p. It also has 50% more vram so it would fare much better in crossfire than 960sli would. 

That being said, 290's are really cheap right now so pick one of those up instead if you can. 

 

 

a single 290

 

 

I would say used 290x

 

 

the amd cards are going way down. last time i saw, the powercolor r9 290 models were the same price as one of the 960's.

 

check some out.

 

Im not going AMD, I am strictly Nvidia for software and preference reasons.

[SteveGrabowski]

2-way gtx 660 sli

 

or

 

single gtx 960 (soon to be 2-way sli when money is available)

 

Neither. Get an R9 290 for $260.

[thekeemo]

Im not going AMD, I am strictly Nvidia for software and preference reasons.

suit yourself I converted and couldnt be happier OpenCl for rendering has been good to me

[SteveGrabowski]

Im not going AMD, I am strictly Nvidia for software and preference reasons.

 

Then get a 970, as 960 is a piece of crap.

[MattTheMayor]

yeah, 960 is pure crap. just save up for a 970 if you REALLY prefer nvidia.

[Fate]

Im not going AMD, I am strictly Nvidia for software and preference reasons.

*sigh*

Hey if you want MUCH less performance by going Nvidia, so be it. The 960 will be the better option over the 660 sli imo. 

[Xtreme Gamer]

suit yourself I converted and couldnt be happier OpenCl for rendering has been good to me

 

i just got curious now, which has faster rendering? The amd cards being recommended on opencl, or, 660/960 cuda?

[TheFalseHuman]

Im not going AMD, I am strictly Nvidia for software and preference reasons.

Just curious, what software are you using that strongly encourages you to stick with Nvidia GPUs and not even consider AMD GPUs?

 

Also, would be nice if you also stated your use case with the cards, such as for gaming or rendering or whatnot

[thekeemo]

i just got curious now, which has faster rendering? The amd cards being recommended on opencl, or, 660/960 cuda?

I came from my gtx 650 to a 290x and render times were 50% faster but you have to render in media encoder

[SteveGrabowski]

You might also consider waiting for the rumored 960 Ti. I can't imagine Nvidia will leave that kind of huge price gap between the 960 and 970.

[brandishwar]

2-way gtx 660 sli

 

or

 

single gtx 960 (soon to be 2-way sli when money is available)

 

Of those two options, the 960 is going to do better than two 660s. As others have said, though, you might want to consider the R9s as well. If you can spring for it, consider the 970, though as it'll perform better than the 960 and is on par with an R9 while operating at a lower temperature and lower power consumption.

[Razzaa]

2-way gtx 660 sli

or

single gtx 960 (soon to be 2-way sli when money is available)

Dont get a 290 series card. Everyone is recommending them but they clearly have no understanding or experience with the issues they have had simce release. 4 threads on LTT created today with new owners having black screens. Thousands of others, myself included had a nightmare of a problem with those cards. Its a roll of the dice when you buy them. I can provide multiple links. It has been a well known issue for a long time.

Edit: one of many threads http://www.overclock.net/t/1441349/290-290x-black-screen-poll

[Xtreme Gamer]

Just curious, what software are you using that strongly encourages you to stick with Nvidia GPUs and not even consider AMD GPUs?

 

Also, would be nice if you also stated your use case with the cards, such as for gaming or rendering or whatnot

 

Fair enough, uses for productivity are adobe premiere pro cc 2014, AME, adobe speedgrade, adobe prelude, adobe audition, adobe photoshop, (not sure if these count for productivity, but included them just in case) elgato recording, mirillis action, and shadowplay

 

Games being played are World of Warcraft, Just cause 2, LoL, and HearthStone

 

One of my main reasons for sticking with nvidia is because I've never had an amd card and i didnt want to get a crappy amd card without knowing it was crappy. And I didnt know how well the amd cards performed when up against nvidia cards, so I couldnt consider amd since i didnt know their performance benefits/drawbacks. I hope you guys know what im trying to say.

[Nup]

mine was used to mine and it worked PERFECTLY even better than some new ones

 damn, that's nice. Although i'd be scared  

[thekeemo]

 damn, that's nice. Although i'd be scared

got it for less that 50% the cost of a new one and it has a warranty and came with a 3 day return policy

[Nup]

got it for less that 50% the cost of a new one and it has a warranty and came with a 3 day return policy

sounds wroth it alright, was gonna get on eon ebay, but it seemed too good to be true. 

[thekeemo]

sounds wroth it alright, was gonna get on eon ebay, but it seemed too good to be true. 

just make sure that they are a reputable seller. btw eBays buyer protection is very very good. Ive been on the seller end of one. wasnt fun.

[Whorax]

Im not going AMD, I am strictly Nvidia for software and preference reasons.

Then your options are limited if you want something "affordable" and actually worth it.

 

I think if you wanna buy any "affordable" Nvidia card at this point it should be the 970, and ONLY if you only intend on running a 1080p display through the span of having the card.