A proper test of the 4GB vs 2GB GTX 960 from gamersnexus

[othertomperson]

Who would ever want a performance part on deep discount?

 

We've been through this many times. The 960's place in Nvidia's pricing scheme is more permanent than the 290(X)'s place on AMD's pricing scheme. It won't be long before the 290(X) is an obsolete part. Getting a 290 at the same price as a 750 Ti is crazy. You are going to be disappointed if you think this is how things are going to stay.

 

It's not about the 960 being better value than a 290, it's about its place in Nvidia's lineup, and it is competing with a price point that AMD haven't set yet for the 300 series.

[SteveGrabowski]

We've been through this many times. The 960's place in Nvidia's pricing scheme is more permanent than the 290(X)'s place on AMD's pricing scheme. It won't be long before the 290(X) is an obsolete part. Getting a 290 at the same price as a 750 Ti is crazy. You are going to be disappointed if you think this is how things are going to stay.

 

It's not about the 960 being better value than a 290, it's about its place in Nvidia's lineup, and it is competing with a price point that AMD haven't set yet for the 300 series.

 

Fuck the place in the lineup. If you want to buy the card today in the US the 290 is a ridiculously good deal.

[othertomperson]

Fuck the place in the lineup. If you want to buy the card today in the US the 290 is a ridiculously good deal.

 

Literally no one is saying it isn't?

[GoodN1ght]

100W difference in the U.S., assuming an average cost of energy at 12 cents per Kwh, and using the machine for 2 hours a day, 365 a year is $12.

12$/KW's pretty damn high. Like you gotta live in CA or something. And were talking 300 USD$ GPU's. IIt's such a minimal fraction of the price. 

[Faceman]

12$/KW's pretty damn high. Like you gotta live in CA or something. And were talking 300 USD$ GPU's. IIt's such a minimal fraction of the price. 

.12c KwH is the average in the U.S.

 

$12 per year is not nothing.  Especially if you are owning these components for 2-3+ years, that is 10% of the cost.  It is something that should be accounted for.

[Faceman]

Literally no one is saying it isn't?

This entire time you have been saying that it is not.  Saying that the 960 is newer, so it is better.

 

Just because something is old, doesn't mean it is bad.  Companies still service older components within reason, and you can still find older cards available brand new in the U.S.  660s are still available brand new on Newegg and Amazon.  Just because something is out of its 3 year warranty, doesn't mean it is bad, or it will vanish.

 

Oh no! My car hit 100,000 miles, POOF! It vanished.

 

Your rationale is ridiculous.

[othertomperson]

This entire time you have been saying that it is not.  Saying that the 960 is newer, so it is better.

 

No it isn't remotely what I've been saying. If you would read what I'm actually writing and not what you are expecting me to write and then typing a bunch of bullshit in response to that we might actually be getting somewhere.

 

It was asked why the 960 was the price it was when the 290 is whatever price it is. The answer is that one is an incoming group of products, the other is an outgoing product. I never said that the 960 was better value or a batter product, that is you strawmanning my position just to make a fucking argument over nothing.

[Faceman]

Because the 290 is at the end of its life and so won't be available for long. The 960, however, has only just been launched so has a good 17 months left.

You mean like this?

 

I'm done with you dude, can't even keep your argument straight.

 

/ignore

[othertomperson]

You mean like this?

 

I'm done with you dude, can't even keep your argument straight.

 

/ignore

 

But that's exactly why the 290 is cheap, which is related to the question that was actually asked. I never said that made the 960 better.

 

If you're going to be a condescending twat, at least read what the other person is actually saying first.

[TheProfosist]

Wowsers this got out of hand quick. The one place I can tell you hands down the 960 is a perfect fit is the HTPC, especially with the fact that it has comparable and even sometime less power consumption that the 750 Ti but still carries all the new tech from Nvidia including MFAA. Another reason is that is has HDMI 2.0 so its ready for when 4K/UHD TV's actually matter content wise. I can also say that my EVGA 960 FTW has yet to spin up its fan other than on startup.

The 960 is a 1080p killer. Most if not all things can bet maxed. Its pretty decent at 1440P especially with the 4GB models. Idk why so many of you comparing to the R9-90 when price wise the R9-285 is closer. Its also closer spec wise as it was made to compete with the 760 which the 960 edges out. Eventually nvidia will launch the 960 Ti and the argument will likely be over until AMD drops their prices again.

Other things to consider is that there are other things graphics cards do besides just gaming and feature wise nvidia has it. Also multimedia/video wise nvidia has it better with hardware decoders, and encoders as well as even a hardware deinterlacer (this kinda goes back to HTPC stuff). In general cuda also accelerates more applications aimed at the consumer and even the prosumer.

[Zulkkis]

It might be worth it for some smaller systems, where you still want to play games. HDMI 2.0 and low power consumption meet the needs of that use.

 

CUDA? Only in certain edge cases, you'd already know if you are one of them.

 

Desktop systems, not so much. The power consumption is a secondary statistic, and when the R9 280X is already enough to beat a GTX 960, R9 290 will be plenty more powerful.

 

In the future, when R9 290 is not available? Doesn't matter right now, and I can't see AMD being unable to offer better value with 300-series when it comes to the 960.

[donsleeq]

We've been through this many times. The 960's place in Nvidia's pricing scheme is more permanent than the 290(X)'s place on AMD's pricing scheme. It won't be long before the 290(X) is an obsolete part. Getting a 290 at the same price as a 750 Ti is crazy. You are going to be disappointed if you think this is how things are going to stay.

It's not about the 960 being better value than a 290, it's about its place in Nvidia's lineup, and it is competing with a price point that AMD haven't set yet for the 300 series.

can you get a new 290 from a shop for 240?

[Zulkkis]

can you get a new 290 from a shop for 240?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600473877&IsNodeId=1&Description=R9%20290&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=30

 

Open Box 240$, 250$ after 10-20$ rebates for new ones.

[othertomperson]

can you get a new 290 from a shop for 240?

 

No idea. Lots of the argument in this thread has been because Americans have been assuming that their local pricing is the only pricing.

[-iSynthesis]

How are you not seeing that when you can't buy a 290 any more, but the 960 is still readily available that this might actually have an effect on which people get? Seriously, how are you having trouble with the concept of shops no sell = me no buy!?

 

And who am I a fanboy of now, I wonder, I'm dying to know.

 

Like I said if you are not going to be buying pre-owned and your choice is either a GTX 580 or a R7 260X your choice should be obvious. Now get me a Newegg link to a brand new GTX 580, the obviously better product, for the the same price as a 260X.

Im sorry, but that is a bad argument. 

1. - You can usually get "old" cards, often even very cheap because of sellouts, new, you were able to get the 7970 and 7950 a good half year, if not more after it was abandoned. 

2. - SLI'ing a 960 in 17 Months seems a bit pointless...

[othertomperson]

Im sorry, but that is a bad argument. 

1. - You can usually get "old" cards, often even very cheap because of sellouts, new, you were able to get the 7970 and 7950 a good half year, if not more after it was abandoned. 

2. - SLI'ing a 960 in 17 Months seems a bit pointless...

 

1. Looking on Amazon, a new GTX 580 costs over £300. That's pretty much what they cost in 2011, and there's literally two available. It's a massive gamble to assume that old GPUs are going to a) depreciate in value, and b) retain their ubiquity after most of the old stock has been sold off.

 

2. So what? That has no bearing on the mentality between Nvidia's pricing scheme whatsoever.

[AlexWJD]

 

1. Looking on Amazon, a new GTX 580 costs over £300. That's pretty much what they cost in 2011, and there's literally two available. It's a massive gamble to assume that old GPUs are going to a) depreciate in value, and b) retain their ubiquity after most of the old stock has been sold off.

 

2. So what? That has no bearing on the mentality between Nvidia's pricing scheme whatsoever.

 

I definitely agree on your first point. There are so many old GPU's that are overpriced because they aren't being made anymore; even though you can get way better performance for sometimes a lot less. 

[othertomperson]

I definitely agree on your first point. There are so many old GPU's that are overpriced because they aren't being made anymore; even though you can get way better performance for sometimes a lot less. 

 

And yet

 

 

Your rationale is ridiculous.

 

Apparently

[AlexWJD]

 

And yet

 

 

 

Apparently

 

 

He's always been a bit salty I completely understand your point though. 

[-iSynthesis]

 

1. Looking on Amazon, a new GTX 580 costs over £300. That's pretty much what they cost in 2011, and there's literally two available. It's a massive gamble to assume that old GPUs are going to a) depreciate in value, and b) retain their ubiquity after most of the old stock has been sold off.

 

2. So what? That has no bearing on the mentality between Nvidia's pricing scheme whatsoever.

A now 5 year old architecture will obviously be more expensive, because theres few available, i said that after they are abandoned, they will be cheaper, obviously not infinitly long. The 290 is far more powerfull than the 960, for the same price, basing your purchase off you beeing able to sli/cfx it in 17 Months is ridicouless, especially because you'd have to sli 960s to get similar or a bit better performance.

[othertomperson]

A now 5 year old architecture will obviously be more expensive, because theres few available, i said that after they are abandoned, they will be cheaper, obviously not infinitly long. The 290 is far more powerfull than the 960, for the same price, basing your purchase off you beeing able to sli/cfx it in 17 Months is ridicouless, especially because you'd have to sli 960s to get similar or a bit better performance.

 

You're arguing against a point literally no one is making. I've clarified and explained what I'm saying several times over the last 5 pages. I have no patience left to do so again if you can't be bothered to read that.

[Doughnutnator]

Nice to see that the 960 gets full-real 4GB, my 970 feels jelly

[Prolly_dyin]

With the way games are going, being capable of pushing and optimized for more and more vram, I feel the $30 premium is well worth it. Especially if you're someone who views this as a major purchase and plans to keep the card for a few years, which is very common in this price bracket.

 

To go sort of off topic but in context:

 

The gtx 960 is kind of a niche product the way I see it. First off, It's a low power usage card, which may not be anything if you're working with a new build; however, if you are throwing it in an existing budget build, it uses around 170w, which means you could pull off throwing it in a build with a good 350-400w psu already installed and be fine. Next is the form factor; they're fairly small cards to begin with, but the mini cards could be needed in this price range for mini itx or htpc applications. And finally low tdp or more importantly the low noise levels that generally come along with it, making it ideal for applications where noise levels can be just as important as performance.

 

Basically:

•If noise, size and heat are no factor, the R9 290,285 or 280x are probably the better $/fps cards in the price range, with on average 10-15 fps increase over the gtx 960

•If having a small, quiet, efficient, low noise gpu is important and you're looking to play average f2p or source engine style games at decent fps at 1080p the 750ti would work.

•If you want all the benefits of the 750ti but with enough power to play even some AAA titles at "playable" framerates, that's where i feel the 960 comes in.