AMD R9 290 vs Nvidia GTX 960

[Carl2608]

Hi everyone, im in the process of buying parts for my new PC, and can't seem to decide if i should go for a MSI Radeon R9 290, or a MSI GeForce GTX 960 4 gb. Im planning to use an Intel Stock cooler for an i5-4460, so choosing a card that has great performance and doesn't put out a lot of heat, is a huge bonus. I have heard the 290 is a good card but uses a lot power and puts out a fair bit of heat. Does the 960 also suffer from this?

 

parts list:

Intel core i5-4460 (with Stock Cooler)

500W 80+ bronze PSU

8 GBs of 1600 Mhz DDR3 memory

NZXT Phantom 240 case

Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD

MSI H81M-P33

 

EDIT: is a 500W PSU enough for a 290 and a Core i5?

[Stardar1]

go for an I5 4690k and a R9 280x

[Humbug]

290 no question. Just don't buy the stock one as it has a bad cooler. It's a bit of a waste to pair a powerful CPU like an i5 with a 960. You generally want to spend more money on the GPU in a gaming build. 290 is slightly faster than a 780 and slightly slower than a 970.

960 isn't really meant to compete in this performance league. It's there to battle with the R9 285 and in some cases it can compete with the 280x.

[TheSLSAMG]

The R9 290 will be more powerful, but it does put out more heat and use more power. The GTX 960 generally speaking doesn't suffer from this considering it has much lower power consumption figures. If I were you, I would get the R9 290 for the better performance. If you can, shift some stuff around and see if you can squeeze in a 290X or GTX 970.

[Carl2608]

Hi everyone, im in the process of buying parts for my new PC, and can't seem to decide if i should go for a MSI Radeon R9 290, or a MSI GeForce GTX 960 4 gb. Im planning to use an Intel Stock cooler for an i5-4460, so choosing a card that has great performance and doesn't put out a lot of heat, is a huge bonus. I have heard the 290 is a good card but uses a lot power and puts out a fair bit of heat. Does the 960 also suffer from this?

 

parts list:

Intel core i5-4460 (with Stock Cooler)

500W 80+ bronze PSU

8 GBs of 1600 Mhz DDR3 memory

NZXT Phantom 240 case

Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD

MSI H81M-P33

Is the 290 a worthy upgrade over the 280X?

[Mattrixx]

R9 290 for sure. The 4460 won't bottleneck it, and it performs way better than the 960.

[The Toaster]

The 960 is very power efficent.

but the 290 KILLS it in preformance.

 

A good compromise is the 280x.

 

in my opinion the 290 is the best card. It offers great preformance at a resonable price. If you have a good ~650w psu, you should be fine.

[Br3tt96]

The

Is the 290 a worthy upgrade over the 280X?

I think so...

[nhatduy1611]

960 is cooler and use less power but it's alot weaker then the 290. As long as you don't get a refrence 290 everything should be fine

[The Toaster]

Is the 290 a worthy upgrade over the 280X?

If you own a 280x, no.

If you need a gpu, yes.

[Enderman]

the 290 is quite a bit better but does use a lot more power and creates more heat

also its louder and will not overclock as well, but still performs better

[AliveGhost13]

The whole "it saves you money" argument is only true if you play 24/7, which I can guarantee you probably don't

 

Get the 290, with a good AIB cooler. It's faster, faster, faster, more VRAM, faster , faster and also, it's faster

[Humbug]

in my opinion the 290 is the best card. It offers great preformance at a resonable price. If you have a good ~650w psu, you should be fine.

I run an i7 3770k and factory overclocked R9 290 on a seasonic 550watt gold certified PSU. Perfectly fine even with multiple disk drives, lots of case fans and LED. I have even tested with furmark and Intel burn test running at the same time. The power consumption doesn't seem to be a problem.

[AliveGhost13]

You'll struggle to break 400W with a 290, a quality 550W as per above is fine.

[KemoKa]

The 290 takes the 960, chews it up, ingests it, spits out its bones and goes about its day. Not even a fair competition there, m9.

[IMPERIUS]

Good build m8. Go for the 290 and yes, 500w is enough for it

[Humbug]

Good build m8. Go for the 290 and yes, 500w is enough for it

Hmm I would say go for a good quality 550. I know it won't pull anywhere near that much power but it's better to be safe knowing you have enough amperage in all the right places, plus room for overclocking.

[Fgtfv567]

The R9 290 will be more powerful, but it does put out more heat and use more power. The GTX 960 generally speaking doesn't suffer from this considering it has much lower power consumption figures. If I were you, I would get the R9 290 for the better performance. If you can, shift some stuff around and see if you can squeeze in a 290X or GTX 970.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU LISTEN TO GRABBITZ?!

 

Oh yeah, get the 290, it's way stronger, just get an aftermarket cooler, as the reference kinda sucks..

[TheSLSAMG]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU LISTEN TO GRABBITZ?!

 

Oh yeah, get the 290, it's way stronger, just get an aftermarket cooler, as the reference kinda sucks..

Yeah, I listen to most everything on the Monstercat label and Grabbitz is just one of the best IMO.

[Nena Trinity]

Never get the 960 or amd 270! Go for the 290, 285, 280X or 280. Even the 290X & 970 is better but then you will empty your wallet...

[Mightyinvader]

I'd go as far as to say r9 280x over 960...after that point though Nvidia cards out perform