GTX 960 4GB or R9 290?

[xXGadfly09Xx]

Hey guys simple question,

 

with a $225 gpu budget its either a r9 290 or a gtx 960

 

which is better for scII and LOL at 4k

[Guest]

R9 290>960

[MegaDave91]

290

 

 

4GB of Vram on mid-tier card is comical.

[Atmos]

290 absolutely hands down.

[OAcesync]

290 no competition

[GER_T4IGA]

Hey guys simple question,

 

with a $225 gpu budget its either a r9 290 or a gtx 960

 

which is better for scII and LOL at 4k

290 no matter what!

[Virtual01]

It's not even close, the 290 smokes the 960.

[xXGadfly09Xx]

Ok awesome, I actually couldnt believe that the 290 was 219

[HoiDaniel]

290 vs 970 would be more fair. So go for the r9 290

[Knaj]

R9 290 definitely. 

[xXGadfly09Xx]

so a r9 290 ~ gtx 970?

[Biggerboot]

GTX 960 < R9 290 < gtx 970

 

$220 for an r9 290 is a good deal.  But just keep in mind that the the r9 290 uses a lot more power and will need a higher grade power supply than the GTX cards.

[MegaDave91]

GTX 960 < R9 290 < gtx 970

 

$220 for an r9 290 is a good deal.  But just keep in mind that the the r9 290 uses a lot more power and will need a higher grade power supply than the GTX cards.

Both can use 80+ bronze

[Biggerboot]

Both can use 80+ bronze

 

For a gtx 960 you could get away with a 400-500 watt bronze psu, it needs only 1 6 pin.  But yeah, most bronze PSUs that support 2 6 pins should be able to take the 970 or the r9.

 

I just thought it was worth mentioning because the tdp is 100-120 watts difference.

[FinestRyeBread]

290. I believe the 290's performance is in between the 960 and 970 or somewhere very close to the 970

[-rascal-]

Both can use 80+ bronze

 

 

For a gtx 960 you could get away with a 400-500 watt bronze psu, it needs only 1 6 pin.  But yeah, most bronze PSUs that support 2 6 pins should be able to take the 970 or the r9.

 

I just thought it was worth mentioning because the tdp is 100-120 watts difference.

 

 

The efficiency rating of the PSU does not correlate with the power output, though it can relate to the internal build quality of the unit (i.e. capacitors, inductors, and other electrical components used in the voltage filtering stages, etc). You can use a 80 PLUS "regular" rated PSU if one wanted, and it would still be perfectly okay.

An example is my Corsair TX850 V1. It just falls short of 80 PLUS Bronze rating, yet, it has powered my system with three HD 5850's, and now two HD 7970's, with no problems at all.

 

 

TDP is a measurement of HEAT ENERGY, Q, expressed in Wattage.

TDP is not solely the power draw/requirement of the graphics card.

That's why you can have an AMD and NVidia graphics card with the same power draw rating, but very different TDP.

(For more information: First and Second Fundamental Laws of Thermodynamics)

[MegaDave91]

The efficiency rating of the PSU does not correlate with the power output.

You can use a 80 PLUS "regular" rated PSU if one wanted, and it would still be perfectly okay.

An example is my Corsair TX850 V1. It just falls short of 80 PLUS Bronze rating, yet, it has powered my system with three HD 5850's, and now two HD 7970's, with no problems at all.

 

 

TDP is a measurement of HEAT ENERGY, Q, expressed in Wattage.

TDP is not solely the power draw/requirement of the graphics card.

That's why you can have an AMD and NVidia graphics card with the same power draw rating, but very different TDP.

I used 80+ Bronze as an example because there is no reason why that shouldn't be the minimum efficiency rating one uses.

[Avalen]

290 kicks off way more heat and eats more power but it's performance is way better.

[Biggerboot]

The efficiency rating of the PSU does not correlate with the power output, though it can relate to the internal build quality of the unit (i.e. capacitors, inductors, and other electrical components used in the voltage filtering stages, etc). You can use a 80 PLUS "regular" rated PSU if one wanted, and it would still be perfectly okay.

An example is my Corsair TX850 V1. It just falls short of 80 PLUS Bronze rating, yet, it has powered my system with three HD 5850's, and now two HD 7970's, with no problems at all.

 

 

TDP is a measurement of HEAT ENERGY, Q, expressed in Wattage.

TDP is not solely the power draw/requirement of the graphics card.

That's why you can have an AMD and NVidia graphics card with the same power draw rating, but very different TDP.

(For more information: First and Second Fundamental Laws of Thermodynamics)

 

Thanks for the info and correcting my terminology (so I can accurately explain this better next time).  I understand that the effeciency of the PSU doesn't effect the power output, it's just that bronze or better rated ones tend to have better parts in them (better 12v rail and capacitors), but yes, there's no correlation between those factors.

 

In the end though, the r9 290 does use quite a bit more power than a gtx 970/960 overall.  If you're either upgrading a system or building a new one, keep the power supply in mind.  A 550w with a strong 40ish amp 12v rail would be the least I would go with for the r9 290. 

http://www.trustedreviews.com/amd-radeon-r9-290-review-amd-radeon-r9-290-test-results-page-2#tr-review-summary

(Shows the power draw on the r9 to be much higher)

[othertomperson]

A 290 is an underclocked 390 (or rather a 390 is an overclocked 290) so it has more in common with a 970 than a 960.

[Ostwind]

There's honestly no comparison between the two performance wise, the 290 is in a completely different league. The only reason the 960 would possibly be considered in this scenario is if your PSU cannot support a 290 either because it's wattage is too low or because it doesn't have the right/enough connectors. While you're only planning on playing low requirement games like SC2 and LoL the 290 would be a far better choice.

[don_svetlio]

290 - it's quite a bit better and since you're thinking of 4K the 960 isn't even an option since it can't even cope with 1440p, let alone 4K - 290 is within spitting distance of the 970 and while demanding games @ 4K won't be easy to run - the ones you specfied will be just right