GTX 960 overclocking

[Mchedlo]

Hello to the awesome forum! im recently building a new gaming (budget) PC for myself. im saving up money for Evga GTX 960, which at this moment costs 200-209$. (plz don't tell me buy Radeon stuff, its my final decision about Nvidia) my question is next: price of SSC GTX 960 is 200$, but the price of GTX 960 FTW edition is 255$. yes I know it has a backplate(I don't really care for aesthetics or that 6-10c difference) but what else? cant I just take the cheapest 960GTX, check the specs of FTW edition (boost clock, clock speed, voltage and etc) and just do it myself and save up those 55$? and no I don't care for warranty either (it costs half the price to send it to US from my country). any information is greatly apreaciated

[BrinkGG]

Hello to the awesome forum! im recently building a new gaming (budget) PC for myself. im saving up money for Evga GTX 960, which at this moment costs 200-209$. (plz don't tell me buy Radeon stuff, its my final decision about Nvidia) my question is next: price of SSC GTX 960 is 200$, but the price of GTX 960 FTW edition is 255$. yes I know it has a backplate(I don't really care for aesthetics or that 6-10c difference) but what else? cant I just take the cheapest 960GTX, check the specs of FTW edition (boost clock, clock speed, voltage and etc) and just do it myself and save up those 55$? and no I don't care for warranty either (it costs half the price to send it to US from my country). any information is greatly apreaciated

Make sure the FTW version you are looking at isn't the 4GB vRAM version, that may be where the price difference is. 

The standard length EVGA card and the FTW card both have 8 Pin power connectors, so they will both be able to send and receive the same amount of voltage to supply to the card, but the SSC only has a 6 Pin connector. 

If you plan on water cooling the card and doing some crazy overclock, I would worry about it. If not, go for the SSC. 

[BrinkGG]

And Welcome to the LTT forums!!

[don_svetlio]

Make sure the FTW version you are looking at isn't the 4GB vRAM version, that may be where the price difference is. 

The standard length EVGA card and the FTW card both have 8 Pin power connectors, so they will both be able to send and receive the same amount of voltage to supply to the card, but the SSC only has a 6 Pin connector. 

If you plan on water cooling the card and doing some crazy overclock, I would worry about it. If not, go for the SSC. 

does SSC have a backplate tho? FTW has one I'm sure.

[BrinkGG]

does SSC have a backplate tho? FTW has one I'm sure.

I dont think he cares... 

[Mchedlo]

Make sure the FTW version you are looking at isn't the 4GB vRAM version, that may be where the price difference is. 

The standard length EVGA card and the FTW card both have 8 Pin power connectors, so they will both be able to send and receive the same amount of voltage to supply to the card, but the SSC only has a 6 Pin connector. 

If you plan on water cooling the card and doing some crazy overclock, I would worry about it. If not, go for the SSC. 

thank you for your reply well yes the FTW edition is 4GB but normal 4GB is 230$. so the price difference is just backplate? no im not planning to water cool it or crazy overclock, im just curious if I can set standard SSC to FTW edition settings and save up money. but since you mentioned 4GB vRam..

[Mchedlo]

And Welcome to the LTT forums!!

thank you! Linus brought me here

[don_svetlio]

thank you for your reply well yes the FTW edition is 4GB but normal 4GB is 230$. so the price difference is just backplate? no im not planning to water cool it or crazy overclock, im just curious if I can set standard SSC to FTW edition settings and save up money. but since you mentioned 4GB vRam..

the 4GB version is pointless - the 960 lacks the memory bandwidth and you'd need a VERY BEASTLY OC on the memory to even be able to use the other 2GB of memory.

[Mchedlo]

does SSC have a backplate tho? FTW has one I'm sure.

yes it does have but I don't really mind

[don_svetlio]

yes it does have but I don't really mind

it looks good and helps with GPU sag

[Qyoon]

I have two GTX960 at home , an Asus Strix 2Gb and a EVGA FTW 2Gb

 

For the EVGA FTW 2Gb i went up to 1500Mhz on gpu and 2000Mhz on ram.

It's a bit better than the Strix on gpu and WAY better on memory.(note FTW has two plates , one back and one below radiator)

1480 Mhz on gpu and 1900 on memory for my Asus Strix.

 

In term of temperature , by default the Strix is better with a 65°C and 71 for the FTW.

After some fine tuning , i managed to keep the FTW below 60°C without oc and 65°C with oc.

 

But... keep in mind even with a so high oc the difference between my Strix and my FTW is very low on most game due to the bus limitation.

[Mchedlo]

the 4GB version is pointless - the 960 lacks the memory bandwidth and you'd need a VERY BEASTLY OC on the memory to even be able to use the other 2GB of memory.

yes, 128 bit memory bus on 960 is kinda pity but it still handles pretty good. sweet spot GPU I wont buy 4GB version :3 not worth it I think :3

[don_svetlio]

yes, 128 bit memory bus on 960 is kinda pity but it still handles pretty good. sweet spot GPU I wont buy 4GB version :3 not worth it I think :3

for cheaper you can get a 4GB R9 380 - that's about 10-15% faster and can actually use the extra memory since it has almost double the memory bandwidth.

[Mchedlo]

I have two GTX960 at home , an Asus Strix 2Gb and a EVGA FTW 2Gb

 

For the EVGA FTW 2Gb i went up to 1500Mhz on gpu and 2000Mhz on ram.

It's a bit better than the Strix on gpu and WAY better on memory.(note FTW has two plates , one back and one below radiator)

1480 Mhz on gpu and 1900 on memory.

 

In term of temperature , by default the Strix is better with a 65°C and 71 for the FTW.

After some fine tuning , i managed to keep the FTW below 60°C without oc and 65°C with oc.

 

But... keep in mine even with a so high oc the difference between my Strix and my FTW is very low on most game due to the bus limitation.

I watched some videos on youtube and found out that best 960gtx to Overclock is MSI version gaming

[Qyoon]

GTA V full details except AA (i use fxaa) at 2560*1080 resolution with my GTX960 FTW 1500/2000.

 

 

 

I watched some videos on youtube and found out that best 960gtx to Overclock is MSI version gaming 

 

There is no "best" version since it's randon due to gpu lotery in my opinion.

[Mchedlo]

for cheaper you can get a 4GB R9 380 - that's about 10-15% faster and can actually use the extra memory since it has almost double the memory bandwidth.

you are right but I don't know honestly why but I love Nvidia more

[Mchedlo]

GTA V full details except AA (i use fxaa) at 2560*1080 resolution with my GTX960 FTW 1500/2000.

 

 

damn its smooth! envyyy I played it with 9800GT (

[don_svetlio]

you are right but I don't know honestly why but I love Nvidia more

Your choice - I compared the power draw and the 960 draws 10W less only than the 380 - temps and noise are identical.

[Mchedlo]

Your choice - I compared the power draw and the 960 draws 10W less only than the 380 - temps and noise are identical.

I checked too in all of games AMD wins by 5-6 FPS, but dominates in 4k and 1440p. though I wont buy a new monitor I will think about other features like Nvidia Experience and other upcoming stuff (which came out with 950GTX, Stream feature I mean)

[don_svetlio]

I checked too in all of games AMD wins by 5-6 FPS, but dominates in 4k and 1440p. though I wont buy a new monitor I will think about other features like Nvidia Experience and other upcoming stuff (which came out with 950GTX, Stream feature I mean)

the CCC and Raptr have an offering the same as GE or Nvidia CP - feature wise both cards use them for marketing purposes. Free-Sync is a cheaper version of G-sync and does the same. Both cards (with 380 being GCN 1.2) have god tessellation performance, both cards have texture compression algorithms, both cards have apps to come with them, both apps allow streaming, both apps allow full control usually. Both cards have decent drivers (Nvidia's current ones are a bit off and AMD's are decent - not as good in terms of hardware optimization but they are stable for sure). The difference is really apparent when the VRAM is needed though

[Mchedlo]

the CCC and Raptr have an offering the same as GE or Nvidia CP - feature wise both cards use them for marketing purposes. Free-Sync is a cheaper version of G-sync and does the same. Both cards (with 380 being GCN 1.2) have god tessellation performance, both cards have texture compression algorithms, both cards have apps to come with them, both apps allow streaming, both apps allow full control usually. Both cards have decent drivers (Nvidia's current ones are a bit off and AMD's are decent - not as good in terms of hardware optimization but they are stable for sure). The difference is really apparent when the VRAM is needed though

that's pretty big FPS difference which you posted now ! the videos which I checked didn't im starting to like AMD, from what you showed and what you told me I will check the price of X series :3

[don_svetlio]

that's pretty big FPS difference which you posted now ! the videos which I checked didn't im starting to like AMD, from what you showed and what you told me I will check the price of X series :3

Look for XFX, MSI, Sapphire or Power Color. the 4GB versions.

[Mchedlo]

Look for XFX, MSI, Sapphire or Power Color. the 4GB versions.

I don't like how "cheap" sapphire looks, but MSI is aesthetically very good I mean it matches the price

[don_svetlio]

I don't like how "cheap" sapphire looks, but MSI is aesthetically very good I mean it matches the price

Sapphire Nitro 380 is the best 380 currently available - best cooler and quietest.

MSI 380 4G is a close second

XFX 380 is good as well

Powercolor is also good

Asus 380 is crap

Gigabyte 380 is mehhy crap

[Qyoon]

Last AMD card i used were MSI R5870 Lightning , i had so many issue with it i got disgusted of AMD.

Hope it's better now because i was tired of switching drivers randomly due to issue with overclocking.

 

In the other hand at the same time, i had a HD5850 Vapor X Toxic and never had an issue with it because i wasn't doing oc on it.