is GTX 960 worth it? vs. R9 280

[nikohd]

Hello guys, its been a while since I posted here in LTT  

 

I've read up an updated TomsHardware Bang for the Money GPU and the updated TechReport system build guide and I've found that getting a GTX 960 over a R9 280 is something that is to be considered. First off, I would probably play AA - AAA titles but mostly, I'd spend my time coding and playing GTA V/DotA 2/upcoming NBA 2K titles or if there's something new that would replace 2k (lol). 

 

I would also consider temps and electricity costs, this 2 factors are really crucial here in PH. Electricity costs way too much here as we don't produce electricity thru nuclear blah blah blah. For the temps, welp, welcome to the Pacific ring of fire )

 

 

[david cassar]

Hello guys, its been a while since I posted here in LTT

 

I've read up an updated TomsHardware Bang for the Money GPU and the updated TechReport system build guide and I've found that getting a GTX 960 over a R9 280 is something that is to be considered. First off, I would probably play AA - AAA titles but mostly, I'd spend my time coding and playing GTA V/DotA 2/upcoming NBA 2K titles or if there's something new that would replace 2k (lol). 

 

I would also consider temps and electricity costs, this 2 factors are really crucial here in PH. Electricity costs way too much here as we don't produce electricity thru nuclear blah blah blah. For the temps, welp, welcome to the Pacific ring of fire )

Whats the price difference between the two gpus?

[thekeemo]

im certain that the 280 is better than the 960

[Samsterstorm]

definatley go for 280! my mate has a 960 and its really not better than my 270x oc, my 270 is acctually better in a lot of games

[Sakkura]

The GTX 960 is a good card, it's just overpriced. As long as the R9 280 is significantly cheaper it's the better option.

[Samsterstorm]

The GTX 960 is a good card, it's just overpriced. As long as the R9 280 is significantly cheaper it's the better option.

the 280 is alot better than the 960! It gets like a 20% performance increse over it!

[lani100]

Hello guys, its been a while since I posted here in LTT

 

I've read up an updated TomsHardware Bang for the Money GPU and the updated TechReport system build guide and I've found that getting a GTX 960 over a R9 280 is something that is to be considered. First off, I would probably play AA - AAA titles but mostly, I'd spend my time coding and playing GTA V/DotA 2/upcoming NBA 2K titles or if there's something new that would replace 2k (lol). 

 

I would also consider temps and electricity costs, this 2 factors are really crucial here in PH. Electricity costs way too much here as we don't produce electricity thru nuclear blah blah blah. For the temps, welp, welcome to the Pacific ring of fire )

The 960 isn't bad but for that price a 280/280x is a bit better, However I really like Nvidia features

[incarnate]

both have advantages. the 960 runs cooler with less power draw, while the 280 has MUCH higher memory bandwidth and an extra gig of ram. personally i'd get the 280 even though from what i've seen it performs slightly lower than the 960 in benches.

 

reason being is that there are situations (that benchmarks don't test for) which put the 280 ahead. like modding. modding a game to boost its graphics (like in skyrim for example) requires as much vram as you can get. at 1080p 2gb can be limiting. not only that but it benefits from the much higher memory bandwidth of the 280 as well.

 

in the end it is your call. you'd save a bit of money upfront with the 280, but it would use more power. the 960 isn't a bad card, just disappointing as hell considering it is a 250.00 card and has a 128 bit bus and barely more performance than the 760. if heat and power draw are your biggest concerns however, the 960 is the only choice.

[chopdok]

the 280 is alot better than the 960! It gets like a 20% performance increse over it!

 

That is simply incorrect. GTX 960 beats R9 280 by 5-10% in every benchmark and game. Did you even read GTX 960 reviews, or just parroting nonsense you've heard?

 

Anyway. Pure price performance - R9 280 is better. It is slightly weaker than 960, but quite a bit cheaper. GTX 960 is slightly faster overall, and much quieter and power efficient.

 

If electricity costs, hot weather, noise or limited size constraints are an issue - GTX 960 is the best choice. If you just want maximum performance for lowest price, then R9 280 is the best choice.

 

My personal choice would be R9 280X.

[Sakkura]

the 280 is alot better than the 960! It gets like a 20% performance increse over it!

 

Not in general. Are you thinking of the 280X? Because then a 20% performance difference is about right.

[nikohd]

Whats the price difference between the two gpus?

 

The GTX 960 is a good card, it's just overpriced. As long as the R9 280 is significantly cheaper it's the better option.

 

Thank you so much guys you're such a great community! 

 

Btw the price here would be:

 

Cheapest 280:

Sapphire R9-280 Dual-X OC 3GB GDDR5 384bit  PHP 12850.00 -> $292

 

Cheapest 280X:

Sapphire R9-280X Dual-X OC 3GB GDDR5 384bit PHP 13500.00 -> $306

 

Cheapest 960:

Palit Geforce GTX 960 Jetstream 2gb 128bit ddr5 PHP 9950.00 -> $226

 

Premium 960:

Zotac GTX 960 AMP! Edition 2gb 128bit ddr5 PHP 11500.00 -> $261

 

almost all NVIDIA card is cheaper here than the AMD one.

[david cassar]

Thank you so much guys you're such a great community! 

 

Btw the price here would be:

 

Cheapest 280:

Sapphire R9-280 Dual-X OC 3GB GDDR5 384bit  PHP 12850.00 -> $292

 

Cheapest 960:

Vga Palit Geforce GTX 960 Jetstream 2gb 128bit ddr5 PHP 9950.00 -> $226

 

Premium 960:

Vga Zotac GTX 960 AMP! Edition 2gb 128bit ddr5 PHP 11500.00 -> $261

 

almost all NVIDIA card is cheaper here than the AMD one.

Then easily get the palit 960. Its about 5-10% faster than the 280 and cheaper(in your case), not only that its also much more efficient meaning in the long run you will save more money since the 960 uses less power. The 280 isn't worth it if the 960 costs 70$ less.

[catzambia]

Newegg has a couple PNY and MSI 960s with the blower style cooler for $200. USD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133579

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133579

[nikohd]

Then easily get the palit 960. Its about 5-10% faster than the 280 and cheaper(in your case), not only that its also much more efficient meaning in the long run you will save more money since the 960 uses less power. The 280 isn't worth it if the 960 costs 70$ less.

Welp, that pretty much solves it. thank you bro!

 

Newegg has a couple PNY and MSI 960s with the blower style cooler for $200. USD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133579

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133579

I don't live in the U.S.

[david cassar]

Welp, that pretty much solves it. thank you bro!

 

I don't live in the U.S.

No problem

[catzambia]

Welp, that pretty much solves it. thank you bro!

 

I don't live in the U.S.

Haha yeah I know, for some reason I only realized after I posted

[Suika]

the 280 is alot better than the 960! It gets like a 20% performance increse over it!

I'd hate to tell you that you're wrong, but you're so incredibly wrong. I have no clue where you kids keep getting this, "The R9 280 is slightly/a lot faster" bullshit because it's straight out, NOT TRUE.

 

 

There are only two benchmarks that I could find that show the R9 280 being above the GTX 960, and it was up by a single frame or two.

 

 

On average, the GTX 960 is faster than the R9 280. Stop spouting the bullshit that "the R9 280 is 20%, 40%, 60% faster than the 960 because it's plainly not true. If it's faster, it's either a 1-2FPS difference, completely negligible, or the GTX 960 is limited by the VRAM in higher resolutions.

[nikohd]

No problem

Could the 960 play GTA V max on 1080p? Without V sync, because i'll be using 60fps cap on afterburner

[david cassar]

Could the 960 play GTA V max on 1080p? Without V sync, because i'll be using 60fps cap on afterburner

The game isn't out yet, so we can not know. However I'm sure that you will be able to run it at decent settings and still get very good frames.

[nikohd]

The game isn't out yet, so we can not know. However I'm sure that you will be able to run it at decent settings and still get very good frames.

Okay, sorry, that was a mistake, i just realized that it isn't out yet lol! welp, i just hope the 960 can run future NBA 2K titles. I do regularly play dota for about 8H a day

[chopdok]

I'd hate to tell you that you're wrong, but you're so incredibly wrong. I have no clue where you kids keep getting this, "The R9 280 is slightly/a lot faster" bullshit because it's straight out, NOT TRUE.

 

 

There are only two benchmarks that I could find that show the R9 280 being above the GTX 960, and it was up by a single frame or two.

 

 

On average, the GTX 960 is faster than the R9 280. Stop spouting the bullshit that "the R9 280 is 20%, 40%, 60% faster than the 960 because it's plainly not true. If it's faster, it's either a 1-2FPS difference, completely negligible, or the GTX 960 is limited by the VRAM in higher resolutions.

 

Thats because many people heard "R9 280 is a better choice than GTX 960". And some of these people lack technical knowledge and experience to understand the simple fact that better =/= faster. They heard some knowledgeable person say this sentence, and due to their own lack of knowledge they misinterpret that sentence as "R9 280 is FASTER than GTX 960". The reality is - GTX 960 is superior in performance to R9 280, but not by a big margin, and on the other hand, R9 280 is noticeably cheaper (not everywhere though, some countries have much better prices for nVidia products due to how their imports taxation works), so when you look at the actual price you pay per performance you get, and not just benchmarks, you realise that while GTX 960 is faster, R9 280 is just better deal overall.