Dan Castellaneta's GPU guide?

[PlayStation 2]

Yep. I'm only doing cards that are relevant or are still out so don't ask about a GTS 450 or a Radeon HD 6770.

This is a guide on what to buy and what not to buy.

 

Nvidia

As an AMD fan, it pains me to say that Nvidia has more of the market share in the GPU world, so let's start here!

 

GT 720

Integrated graphics are better.

 

GT 740

It's a low-mid range card that's on par with the R7 250. Get the GDDR5 model, because DDR3 is a pile of garbage for GPUs.

I'm not doing any other 7xx GT cards because those aren't really relevant, unless it's requested.

 

GTX 750

Avoid the 2GB version at all costs because it can't really handle 2GB of VRAM. It's on par with an R7 260, I guess.

 

GTX 750 Ti

Probably Nvidia's most ubiquitous card in this day and age, many models can be powered directly from the PCI-Express port. It's also the first Maxwell card from Nvidia. Get the 2GB version, or get an R7 265/370, which is faster than this.

 

GTX 760

It's a card that's now the middle of the road of the 950 and 960. I don't think it's sold anymore so eh.

 

GTX 770

Rebrand of the GTX 680 with a 2GB model available. Meh, not worth getting. On-par with the 285 or 280X.

 

GTX 780

It's the middle of the road for the 960 and 970 at this point. And is slower than the 290 but more powerful than the 280X.

As far as I know these are not in production anymore.

 

GTX 780 Ti

Almost on par with the 970. AFAIK not in production anymore.

 

GTX 950

It's technically the successor to the 750 Ti? AMD has no direct competitor to this, technically. It's closest, however, to AMD's R9 270X. It's a gimped 960 if you want to think of it that way.

 

GTX 960

I... can't say many things about this card that are nice. Its direct performance competitor is the R9 285/380 and to a lesser extent, the 280/280X. 

 

GTX 970

Ignoring the 3.5GB fiasco, this card has other problems, like it's normally not worth buying at $320+. The R9 290X/390 is the direct competitor for this.

 

GTX 980

AMD doesn't have much to compete with this. We could argue the Fury, but that's noticeably more than this card. It has a really bad price/performance ratio, so only get it if that's your absolute cap for your GPU budget.

 

GTX 980 Ti

It's a great card. Even better than the Titan X. SLIing these babies are a pretty good idea, too. Technically the Fury X is its competitor, but eh.

 

Advanced Micro Devices

I'll admit that I've got a bit of a bias for AMD. But I'll avoid that here.

 

R7 240

Linus tore this a new one, and honestly for no reason. Decent drop-in GPU. GCN-based IIRC. Can game at 720p.

 

R7 250

Eww. Only get it if that's the best you can afford it. I believe some models don't require external PCI-E connectors for power.

 

R7 260

Direct competitor to the 750. Get a 750.

 

R7 260X

Direct? competitor to the 750 Ti. Get a 750 Ti. 

 

R7 265/370

Refresh of the HD 7850. The R7 265 is the second (yes, second) competitor to the 750 Ti. And it's much better than the 750 Ti. The 370 is technically the competitor to the 950. Get a 950 in that case. GCN 1.0 card.

 

R9 270/270X

7870 refresh. 270 is overclocked, 270X is heavily overclocked. Competes with the GTX 950.

 

R9 280/280X

Refresh of the 7950 and 7970, respectively. Competes with the 960. Get these if your PSU can handle it. Only has GCN 1.0 so keep that in mind.

 

R9 285/380

A GPU based on the Tonga core. GCN 1.2 based. Get this instead of the 960, especially the 4GB version (380 only).

 

R9 290

Welp... get a 970 or a 290X or a 390.

 

R9 290X/390

Hawaii-based. The 290X has 4GB of VRAM. The 390 has 8. That's really the only difference. Get this over a 970.

 

R9 295X2

Dual GPU card, which is two overclocked 290Xs. This card needs rather insane power requirements, as you need a power supply that can supply at least 500 watts for the card and 28 amps on the 12 volt rail. It whips the Titan X's ass.

 

R9 390X

This is in an odd position. It's faster than the 390 but not as fast as the 980. I dunno...

 

R9 Fury

Get this over a 980. And a Fury X, for that matter. Fiji-based, GCN 1.2.

 

R9 Fury Nano

...this card is in a niche market. It's a tiny card that can fit in almost anything. But you're paying for its size rather than sheer performance.

 

R9 Fury X

You're paying more for the water cooling than performance. It's impressive as hell for its size, but get a 980 Ti.

 

 

You can request a card here if you want.

obligatory picture of dan castellaneta

[TheConverter]

Wow a guide on Linus Tech Tips forums without brand fanboyism.

 

[TheSLSAMG]

GTX 960

I... can't say many things about this card that are nice. Its direct performance competitor is the R9 285/380 and to a lesser extent, the 280/280X. DON'T GET THE 4GB VERSION AT ALL COSTS! THE MEMORY BUS CANNOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF THAT MEMORY.

Wait, we just went over this. I'd prove it to you by throwing my GTX 960 back into my system, but I'm too occupied watching my cat play with an Apple iPad charging brick. I admit that they should have went with a 256-bit bus in the first place, but the 128-bit bus is fine for the amount of memory.

 

EDIT: And now my cat is biting on the prongs of the charger. Now I'm folding them in. The real reason why I won't put the card back in is because it's time consuming and requires me to pull my system.

[PlayStation 2]

Wait, we just went over this. I'd prove it to you by throwing my GTX 960 back into my system, but I'm too occupied watching my cat play with an Apple iPad charging brick. I admit that they should have went with a 256-bit bus in the first place, but the 128-bit bus is fine for the amount of memory.

It's more of a case-by-case scenario. Battlefield doesn't exactly need the raw memory bus that other games really love.

But in general I'd avoid it.

[TheSLSAMG]

It's more of a case-by-case scenario. Battlefield doesn't exactly need the raw memory bus that other games really love.

But in general I'd avoid it.

Give me some examples of games that are memory bus hungry and ones that aren't? I tested using GTA V and I was near hitting 4GB VRAM (was at 3.9GB peak)

[TheConverter]

Give me some examples of games that are memory bus hungry and ones that aren't? I tested using GTA V and I was near hitting 4GB VRAM (was at 3.9GB peak)

 

My 980Ti is being bottlenecked by the memory bus/memory speed/6GB vram, that's why we need HBM V2 to push 4K/5K and especially 8K gaming.

[Pugs501]

Where's my 780?

[PlayStation 2]

Where's my 780?

I... guess I'll add it.

[arvark]

780 a midway between 960 and 970... What? It's a bit less powerful than a 970, a lot more powerful than a 960. What about 770 and 760? Just a guide for those who still have them.

[King_Tuna]

128-bit bus can handle 4GB.

Most of us using 8GB System Memory. Which is running on 128-bit bus.

Btw this is a great guide!

[PlayStation 2]

128-bit bus can handle 4GB.

Most of us using 8GB System Memory. Which is running on 128-bit bus.

Btw this is a great guide!

system memory doesn't need as much bandwidth as vRAM tho

 

780 a midway between 960 and 970... What? It's a bit less powerful than a 970, a lot more powerful than a 960. What about 770 and 760? Just a guide for those who still have them.

I said "midway" to be a lot less confusing. I guess I'll add the 760/770

[7850OC]

nice 

 

i will like add the A8 7600 for price/performance (on games) on the "low" side 

 

but is not a gpu only lol  :lol:

 

is a great work 

[PlayStation 2]

 

nice 

 

i will like add the A8 7600 for price/performance (on games) on the "low" side 

 

but is not a gpu only lol  :lol:

 

is a great work 

 

thanks

I'll have to review the APUs and classify them

[EllieThePurpleFuzzy]

how about stuff like the R9 295X2 or GTX 690?

[PlayStation 2]

how about stuff like the R9 295X2 or GTX 690?

I'll do the 295X2, I don't know about the 690.

[SuperCookie78]

If you can i would add the gtx 600 series because you can find them for sale on craigslist 

[PlayStation 2]

If you can i would add the gtx 600 series because you can find them for sale on craigslist 

They aren't really sold anymore so that's an extremely big "if".

[don_svetlio]

I like it - a small correction - the 380 uses 10W more than a 960 - PSU part is not necessary

[PlayStation 2]

I like it - a small correction - the 380 uses 10W more than a 960 - PSU part is not necessary

don't you mean 280 or do you mean 380

[don_svetlio]

Also, 770 > 960. 770 is only slightly behind a 280X

[don_svetlio]

don't you mean 280 or do you mean 380

285/380 - they use 180W, the 960 uses 170W - roughly

[PlayStation 2]

285/380 - they use 180W, the 960 uses 170W - roughly

i dont have anything about the psu on the 285/380

[don_svetlio]

i dont have anything about the psu on the 285/380

"if your PSU can handle it"

EDIT: Oh, I'm looking at the 280/280X - sorry.

Still - those use about 230 and 260W respectively. Easily manageable.

[Clyne]

I'll do the 295X2, I don't know about the 690.

Use @Prysin's R9 295X2 unless he sold it for a Fury X2 soon or something.

295X2 is a great card but comes with heat and crossfire issues....

[PlayStation 2]

Use @Prysin's R9 295X2 unless he sold it for a Fury X2 soon or something.

295X2 is a great card but comes with heat and crossfire issues....

oh, so HE was the crazy one who did a 7850k and a 295x2