Best Nvidia GPU to Purchase Right Now?

[stconquest]

I have a 5850 in my older machine.  I have never had an issue(major) with any of the drivers, dual display setup here as well.

[don_svetlio]

I have a 5850 in my older machine.  I have never had an issue(major) with any of the drivers, dual display setup here as well.

I may sound like an ass but 9/10 times these issues are user error

[stconquest]

I may sound like an ass but 9/10 times these issues are user error

 

I know 

 

I still have mine hooked up to two displays, 4 years later.  One monitor, one TV.

[Shilofax]

You're speaking like NVidia GPU drivers are perfect..

I have a 7970. Second GPU ever. My AMD drivers have never crashed EVER, my 570 (updated) drivers crashed regularly.

AMD's drivers are top-notch now in my opinion, you won't have any problems. If you want $200 GPUs, get the 380. My friend regrets his 960, since even though it was $250 at launch it kind of lags in today's games at 1080p. 380, WAY better performance for your dollar.

Don't buy a 960.

Not saying they're without flaws, but I've never had major issues.

[don_svetlio]

Not saying they're without flaws, but I've never had major issues.

The same can be said about AMD's - I personally haven't had issues with their drivers. Not major ones at least.

[themaniac]

You're speaking like NVidia GPU drivers are perfect..

I have a 7970. Second GPU ever. My AMD drivers have never crashed EVER, my 570 (updated) drivers crashed regularly.

AMD's drivers are top-notch now in my opinion, you won't have any problems. If you want $200 GPUs, get the 380. My friend regrets his 960, since even though it was $250 at launch it kind of lags in today's games at 1080p. 380, WAY better performance for your dollar.

Don't buy a 960.

he's had bad luck with amd so let him get an nvidia gpu, its not like he's an ignorant asshole like a lot of people are and the 380 is not way better they are the same price and the 380 only performs about 10-15% better which is not way better

[SteveGrabowski0]

Great performance now and good long term performance aren't happening now for $200 when buying new, this generation's midrange GPUs suck for the money and the cheap R9 290s are sadly gone forever. Your best bet is a B-Stock refurbished EVGA GTX 970 for $250, but you're going to have watch this page below for them to show up:

 

http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8

 

Every few weeks it seems they release some GTX 970s through B-Stock.

[stconquest]

he's had bad luck with amd so let him get an nvidia gpu, its not like he's an ignorant asshole like a lot of people are and the 380 is not way better they are the same price and the 380 only performs about 10-15% better which is not way better

10-15%?  No shit?  380 over the 960?

 

..impressive.

[don_svetlio]

10-15%?  No shit?  380 over the 960?

 

..impressive.

That's 10 fps

[Kobathor]

he's had bad luck with amd so let him get an nvidia gpu, its not like he's an ignorant asshole like a lot of people are and the 380 is not way better they are the same price and the 380 only performs about 10-15% better which is not way better

10-15% is a big number when you're talking about a GPU that you can find for cheaper than its more expensive, less powerful counterpart.

The 960 is almost obsolete at it's price point, even the 4gb model loses to the 380. In the Battlefront Beta the 380 was kicking the shit out of the 960. It's just not worth it to buy one.

With computer parts, it is always the best to buy a better part for the same price, which the 380 is.

[SteveGrabowski0]

You might also wait for black friday, there may be a good deal on R9 390s. I have seen the Gigabyte R9 390 go as low as $280. It's supposed to be a pretty loud card but is unquestionably an elite performer.

[Kobathor]

That's 10 fps

10 FPS could be the difference between 45 FPS and 55 FPS. I can see the difference.

[don_svetlio]

10-15% is a big number when you're talking about a GPU that you can find for cheaper than its more expensive, less powerful counterpart.

The 960 is almost obsolete at it's price point, even the 4gb model loses to the 380. In the Battlefront Beta the 380 was kicking the shit out of the 960. It's just not worth it to buy one.

With computer parts, it is always the best to buy a better part for the same price, which the 380 is.

960 got 46 fps in battlefront while a 380 got 61 fps - that's a big delta

[stconquest]

That's 10 fps

 

Maybe more when you turn down settings (shadow quality, AA, ambient occlusion, etc..)... textures high/ultra ofc.

[Shilofax]

Great performance now and good long term performance aren't happening now for $200 when buying new, this generation's midrange GPUs suck for the money and the cheap R9 290s are sadly gone forever. Your best bet is a B-Stock refurbished EVGA GTX 970 for $250, but you're going to have watch this page below for them to show up:

 

http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8

 

Every few weeks it seems they release some GTX 970s through B-Stock.

 

Thanks for the link, I'll keep an eye on that. 

 

That's 10 fps

As long as I'm above ~40FPS, I generally can't tell the difference, I'm not too terribly picky with staying at solid 60.

[don_svetlio]

10 FPS could be the difference between 45 FPS and 55 FPS. I can see the difference.

It's not worth giving up free performance considering an OCed 960 can barely match a stock 380 ._.

[don_svetlio]

Thanks for the link, I'll keep an eye on that. 

 

As long as I'm above ~40FPS, I generally can't tell the difference, I'm not too terribly picky with staying at solid 60.

You can notice the drops though - if you drop say 15 fps in intense combat - a 960 will drop to 25 fps whereas a 380 will drop to 40 fps. There it will be noticeable. Not to mention 2GB of VRAM on a 128-bit bus is laptop bullcrap.

[Sauron]

Driver problems in the past is why it has to be nvidia. I was stuck with the nightmare that was the 5850 for years, and I'm still having issues with my FirePro GPU in a Mac Pro 2013. 

I don't want to get stuck with driver issues, and I've never had a driver issue with an Nvidia GPU.

 

amd drivers have come a LOOONG way since then and right now I'd even argue they are slightly better than nvidia's - I've seen a lot more people complaining about nvidia drivers than amd ones in the past 2 years. Firepros and Macs are a completely different matter, you shouldn't judge based on those.

[SteveGrabowski0]

There is another option that is pretty cheap in the short run but expensive in the long run: newegg has a Sapphire reference R9 290 for $220. This is a monstrously powerful GPU and I'd imagine it should age very well too. The downside is the reference cooler is truly horrible. It will be very loud in your system and you won't want to overclock it a single MHz. But later on you can add a $30 NZXT Kraken G10 and an $80-$120 AIO cooler like an NZXT x40, x60, Corsair H80, Corsair H105, etc and you'll have a watercooled R9 290. It'll cost a lot in the long run and only gets you an extra one year of warranty vs an EVGA B-Stock 970, and the GTX 970 is a little stronger than the R9 290, so I'd pay the $30 extra and get the B-Stock 970 or wait to see if you can find a good deal on an R9 390. But I figured I'd throw that R9 290 idea out if you need something right now at that price and are willing to spend the extra later on to quiet the card and use it to more of its potential.