Better GTX960?

[BeanMachine]

Wanted to upgrade my gigabyte gtx960 in a while now, but Im not sure what to get that fits my needs. I want something that can still run of my 600W PSU, and that gives more performance than the gtx960 any suggestions, or should I just pick up another 960?

[Geralt]

If you have the cash, upgrade to a 970 or even a 980.

 

As linus always says, a powerful single card is better than 2 weaker cards.

[asiancorruption]

Wanted to upgrade my gigabyte gtx960 in a while now, but Im not sure what to get that fits my needs. I want something that can still run of my 600W PSU, and that gives more performance than the gtx960 any suggestions, or should I just pick up another 960?

An r9380 4gb? 

[Curufinwe_wins]

If you have the cash, upgrade to a 970 or even a 980.

 

As linus always says, a powerful single card is better than 2 weaker cards.

NCIX did a study on this actually. Two 950s were same price as a 970 and actually were the same preformance lol. (at 1080p ofc). Two 960s will significantly out-preform a 970, BUT then you have to deal with sli.

 

 

@ OP it might be a good idea to sell it and move to a 390/970 (390 unless you absolutely can't deal with the power draw).

[Curufinwe_wins]

An r9380 4gb? 

A side-grade?

[BeanMachine]

so probably the best option is a 970 or 980?

[Geralt]

NCIX did a study on this actually. Two 950s were same price as a 970 and actually were the same preformance lol. (at 1080p ofc). Two 960s will significantly out-preform a 970, BUT then you have to deal with sli.

 

Yeah there's still the SLI problems you have to deal with.

 

Especially microstuttering. Ugh. I just got a 960 SLI setup and microstuttering is a PITA.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yeah there's still the SLI problems you have to deal with.

 

Especially microstuttering. Ugh. I just got a 960 SLI setup and microstuttering is a PITA.

indeed.

 

@BeanMachine if you insist on Nvidia or can't deal with a 250-300W psu. On pure price to performance alone, a 290 makes the most sense followed by a 390.

[BeanMachine]

indeed.

 

@BeanMachine if you insist on Nvidia or can't deal with a 250-300W psu. On pure price to performance alone, a 290 makes the most sense followed by a 390.

so get a 290? because im hoping to get away with a graphic card thats at least kind of 'future proof'

[Curufinwe_wins]

so get a 290?

It would be by far the most cost effective upgrade.

[BeanMachine]

@Curufinwe_wins what about a 980 though? Also what is the difference between the 290 and the 390, and what in the name of god is the difference between the normal and the 'x' (by the way sorry for asking so many questions im just not that good with PC Parts)

[Mew]

980ti? Anything less than that isn't a big enough performance increase imo. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

@Curufinwe_wins what about a 980 though? Also what is the difference between the 290 and the 390, and what in the name of god is the difference between the normal and the 'x' (by the way sorry for asking so many questions im just not that good with PC Parts)

It's all good. It's kinda  confusing (THX AMD...)

 

So when the 390(x) released it was a decent bit better than the 290(x) equivalent. But after some people started noticing hardware changes were basically non-existent (and indeed tricked their 290(x)'s into thinking they were 390(x)'s and got the same performance) it came out that almost 100 % of the improvements were software related.

 

In August, AMD without telling anyone gave the 290(x) the same software improvements the 390(x) got and so since then they are basically identical.

 

One small difference due to a small change in power delivery means that while on average 390(x) can reach better clock speeds than the 290(x), the 390(x) very very very rarely can reach the same top end that GOOD 290(x) were able to reach.

 

Basically the only real difference now is the 290 tends to have a slightly worse cooler (and/or better  binned chips) and also has 4GB of Vram, while the 390 has 8GB. (the 290x had 8GB variants).

 

They preform within 1-2 FPS of each other (when at the same clock speed) and as such are basically identical. The extra 4GB of vram makes 0 difference in basically any application you will ever do.

 

The (x) variant refers to the fully unlocked version. It is just like a 980ti vs a titan x. The thing though is that just like the 980ti and titan x the performance difference is extremely small and imho never enough to warrant the extra price. The extra fps never unlocks different settings or make higher resolutions playable, and both cards suffer at EXACTLY the same locations and excel at EXACTLY the same locations (unlike the 970 and 980).

[BeanMachine]

thanks @Curufinwe_wins so jsut to clarify it doesnt matter if I get a 930 or 920 and the x versions are completely useless

[Curufinwe_wins]

thanks @Curufinwe_wins so jsut to clarify it doesnt matter if I get a 930 or 920 and the x versions are completely useless

290 or 390, not really no. Minimal difference at best with the 290 being much cheaper (when available). The x versions are indeed worthless investments.

[BeanMachine]

290 or 390, not really no. Minimal difference at best with the 290 being much cheaper (when available). The x versions are indeed worthless investments.

 

awesome thanks man really helped me out

[BeanMachine]

@Curufinwe_wins sorry to bother you again. I rpomise itll be the last time, but when I started looking at 290s there were some huge price gaps between different ones, and to me they all looked the same can you help me out one more time please?

[Curufinwe_wins]

@Curufinwe_wins sorry to bother you again. I rpomise itll be the last time, but when I started looking at 290s there were some huge price gaps between different ones, and to me they all looked the same can you help me out one more time please?

yea sure. wanna link some? or here is the relevant pcpartpicker info:

https://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#sort=a8&page=1

 

Of them the first option is actually a reference design STAY AWAY from those.

 

The second option https://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr92904gbd5tdheoc is cheap but not particularly well reviewed.

 

This is then the first 290 I would recommend: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedfd

 

It's a pretty decent cooler, from a decent brand, and is very well reviewed. It's 260 USD.

 

By comparison the 390 I would recommend is this one:

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr93908gbd5ppdhe

 

Better cooler, (Powercolor got much better in the two years since the 200 series) but its 300 dollars.

[BeanMachine]

yea sure. wanna link some? or here is the relevant pcpartpicker info:

https://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#sort=a8&page=1

 

Of them the first option is actually a reference design STAY AWAY from those.

 

The second option https://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr92904gbd5tdheoc is cheap but not particularly well reviewed.

 

This is then the first 290 I would recommend: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedfd

 

It's a pretty decent cooler, from a decent brand, and is very well reviewed. It's 260 USD.

 

By comparison the 390 I would recommend is this one:

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr93908gbd5ppdhe

 

Better cooler, (Powercolor got much better in the two years since the 200 series) but its 300 dollars.

those are all very different from the ones I saw, I mainly saw Gigabyte and MSI ones but thanks m8.

[BeanMachine]

yea sure. wanna link some? or here is the relevant pcpartpicker info:

https://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#sort=a8&page=1

 

Of them the first option is actually a reference design STAY AWAY from those.

 

The second option https://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr92904gbd5tdheoc is cheap but not particularly well reviewed.

 

This is then the first 290 I would recommend: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290aedfd

 

It's a pretty decent cooler, from a decent brand, and is very well reviewed. It's 260 USD.

 

By comparison the 390 I would recommend is this one:

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-axr93908gbd5ppdhe

 

Better cooler, (Powercolor got much better in the two years since the 200 series) but its 300 dollars.

those are all very different from the ones I saw, I mainly saw Gigabyte and MSI ones but thanks m8.

[Curufinwe_wins]

those are all very different from the ones I saw, I mainly saw Gigabyte and MSI ones but thanks m8.

Whatever works.

[BeanMachine]

@Curufinwe_wins   these are the ones I saw

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-4GB-2xDVI-Graphics-GV-R929OC-4GD/dp/B00HS84DFU/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1445309321&sr=1-6&keywords=r9+290

 

​http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Gaming-Graphics-GV-R938G1-GAMING-4GD/dp/B00ZGF3TUC/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1445309321&sr=1-8&keywords=r9+290

[Curufinwe_wins]

@Curufinwe_wins   these are the ones I saw

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-4GB-2xDVI-Graphics-GV-R929OC-4GD/dp/B00HS84DFU/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1445309321&sr=1-6&keywords=r9+290

 

​http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Gaming-Graphics-GV-R938G1-GAMING-4GD/dp/B00ZGF3TUC/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1445309321&sr=1-8&keywords=r9+290

The first is more than a 390 would cost you so don't buy it.

 

The second is a 380 (not the same and much worse than a 290).

[BeanMachine]

The first is more than a 390 would cost you so don't buy it.

 

The second is a 380 (not the same and much worse than a 290).

 

ok thanks, I think I'll go with the one you linked although doesnt the 290 have some serious heat problems?

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

ok thanks, I think I'll go with the one you linked although doesnt the 290 have some serious heat problems?

Only with the stock blower cooler