Some GTX960 advice please..

[SafirXP]

I'm about to order a Strix 960 with 4GB. Wondering if the 2GB extra VRAM & expense will be worth it. I know the RAM won't be of much use for most games but I'm thinking about open world games like Arma2/3, ARK, etc. Won't the extra RAM be useful for longer draw distances?

[MageTank]

I'm about to order a Strix 960 with 4GB. Wondering if the 2GB extra VRAM & expense will be worth it. I know the RAM won't be of much use for most games but I'm thinking about open world games like Arma2/3, ARK, etc. Won't the extra RAM be useful for longer draw distances?

It wont make a difference at all. From what i've seen in several reviews, it wont even make a slight difference. Just get the fastest card for the least amount of money, from a brand you trust (one that has a strong warranty, perhaps) and overclock it (or not) to a level you feel comfortable with. Cards with better coolers are known to clock a little higher, and cards with better power delivery helps with this.

 

The bandwidth of the GTX 960 is just not fast enough to make great use of that 4gb, and you will likely hit a limit on the raw speed of the card itself, before memory bandwidth/capacity becomes an issue.

[Bob Jim]

Do yourself a favour and get an R9 380 instead. 4GB if you can afford it, but 2GB will still be better than the GTX 960.

[FuriousGamer]

If you wanna play games like the ones you suggested that gpu will not be able to play those I suggest upgrading to a GTX 970/980 

[manikyath]

It wont make a difference at all. From what i've seen in several reviews, it wont even make a slight difference. Just get the fastest card for the least amount of money, from a brand you trust (one that has a strong warranty, perhaps) and overclock it (or not) to a level you feel comfortable with. Cards with better coolers are known to clock a little higher, and cards with better power delivery helps with this.

 

The bandwidth of the GTX 960 is just not fast enough to make great use of that 4gb, and you will likely hit a limit on the raw speed of the card itself, before memory bandwidth/capacity becomes an issue.

well... it may come in handy for vram hogging games, the core limping along using its own vram will still be faster than the core limping along using shared system memory.

 

that said, very niche audience...

[MageTank]

well... it may come in handy for vram hogging games, the core limping along using its own vram will still be faster than the core limping along using shared system memory.

 

that said, very niche audience...

I don't know. They have reviews testing GTA5 with the 4gb 960 and 2gb 960. Exact same settings, the 2gb version exceeded the ingame memory capacity calculator (dont know how accurate it is, so take this with a grain of salt) and the 4gb one had plenty of room to spare. The difference in performance was less than 1-2%, well within margin of error. The only game i imagine would use all 4gb of that VRAM, would be ACU. The game is a resource hog any way you slice it, and was a sketchy port from the get go. 

 

Here are some charts that may help OP: http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1888-evga-supersc-4gb-960-benchmark-vs-2gb/Page-2

 

His conclusions sums up my feelings.

 

The answer to the “is a 4GB video card worth it?” question is a decidedly boring “it depends.” As above, some games – like ACU – will actually make noteworthy gains with additional memory, while others are completely disinterested in the added capacity. For the most part, games are either optimized in such a fashion that additional VRAM offers no net gain or consume low enough capacities that it is largely irrelevant.

 

In the few above cases where an added 2GB vastly improves performance, it may be an arguable case that users instead invest in a higher-end GPU altogether, though that becomes a cost analysis argument that is based on the buyer's budgetary situation.

 

The 4GB GTX 960 ($240) can see noticeable, massive performance gains in the right situations. If you're playing the games that would see advantage from a 4GB card, it's worth considering an additional $30 for the purchase. For those who are interested in less demanding or better optimized titles (Metro, GRID), like some of those tested above, a 2GB Strix card ($210) sees effectively identical and impressive performance compared to the 4GB card.

[SafirXP]

Okay the 2GB version it is. I wish I could get the 970 but the 960 is all I can afford. Been using the onboard graphics since my old card died. Regarding AMD cards, sorry I can't bring myself to buy a non NVidia card. I've been using NVidia from the start (Riva) and have dabbled with AMD CPUs but not touching their GPUs. Thanks for the advice guys. Can't wait, my card should be here in 2-3 weeks time.

[AlexisWiiu]

Okay the 2GB version it is. I wish I could get the 970 but the 960 is all I can afford. Been using the onboard graphics since my old card died. Regarding AMD cards, sorry I can't bring myself to buy a non NVidia card. I've been using NVidia from the start (Riva) and have dabbled with AMD CPUs but not touching their GPUs. Thanks for the advice guys. Can't wait, my card should be here in 2-3 weeks time.

You made the right choice, my friend.