GPU Upgrade is it worth it?

[energylightning]

Hey guys, I  recently build a new PC and got a EVGA GTX 750 TI FTW as a present. It's not a bad GPU, gaming performance is decent but its way too loud , fans can't go bellow 42%. So I decided to go for something a bit better like a GTX 960. Game-debate states that a GTX 960 is 50-55% better overall. I'm aiming for the MSI GTX 960 4GB Or Gigabyte g1 gaming. I play mostly dota 2 and some rpg's but not 4k gaming or anything max resolution is 1080p. So is it worth it? tell me what you guys think

Here is my build

i5 4690k
z97 gaming 3 MSI
2x 4gb Corsair vengence
gtx 750 ti ftw
be quiet! Psu 600w (80+ gold)
samsung ssd 850 evo
 

 

p.s. GTX 970 is an overkill for me (imo).

[App4that]

I would go with the MSI 960, MSI has good customer support.

[TheRandomness]

Either 960 or R9 380.

[Rolling Potatoe]

The 750 ti is loud? Its hard to believe that, the cooling on that card is quite overbuild for the 90w or whatever it draws.

Have you tried stopping the fans to see if those are really the problem? Have you tried changing the fan curve?

[energylightning]

The 750 ti is loud? Its hard to believe that, the cooling on that card is quite overbuild for the 90w or whatever it draws.

Have you tried stopping the fans to see if those are really the problem? Have you tried changing the fan curve?

It  is indeed too loud, you can find many people complaining about it its always on 42% even idle, it can't go bellow 42% i've tryed everything. Here is even a topic http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/185325-a-simple-mod-silencing-the-evga-750ti-ftw-w-acx/ . And to be honest its not worth buying 2x noctua fans for that gpu (imo).

[don_svetlio]

R9 380 is about 15% faster than a 960 and isn't bottlenecked by the 128-bit memory interface.

[energylightning]

I would go with the MSI 960, MSI has good customer support.

I heard that some ppl reported coil whine to be common on a 960 from msi so im currently struggling between msi and gigabyte, because gigabyte can go higher on clockspeeds

[App4that]

I heard that some ppl reported coil whine to be common on a 960 from msi so im currently struggling between msi and gigabyte, because gigabyte can go higher on clockspeeds

It is more common to have coil whine, but also easier to get warranty coverage. So it's a trade off only you can decide the value of. Gigabyte will not help you, I say this from experience.

[energylightning]

It is more common to have coil whine, but also easier to get warranty coverage. So it's a trade off only you can decide the value of. Gigabyte will not help you, I say this from experience.

Thanks for the advice mate, will keep that in mind

[don_svetlio]

I heard that some ppl reported coil whine to be common on a 960 from msi so im currently struggling between msi and gigabyte, because gigabyte can go higher on clockspeeds

 

It is more common to have coil whine, but also easier to get warranty coverage. So it's a trade off only you can decide the value of. Gigabyte will not help you, I say this from experience.

Warranty doesn't cover coil whine - nobody does except EVGA I believe.

A 960 is a rather bad card - with the R9 380 being better in virtually every aspect it's just not worth getting.

[energylightning]

Warranty doesn't cover coil whine - nobody does except EVGA I believe.

A 960 is a rather bad card - with the R9 380 being better in virtually every aspect it's just not worth getting.

To be honest I had really bad experience with AMD in the past and kinda scared . I've watched some videos like 960 vs r9 380 and there was like a 3-4 fps difference in 10 games. 

[App4that]

Warranty doesn't cover coil whine - nobody does except EVGA I believe.

A 960 is a rather bad card - with the R9 380 being better in virtually every aspect it's just not worth getting.

I mean in general. If the card spontaneously combusts Gigabyte will charge you to send it in, after making you wait weeks for a RMA number. It costs 20 dollars more to replace my GA-Z97X-UD3-BK MOBO than to send it in for RMA.

[don_svetlio]

To be honest I had really bad experience with AMD in the past and kinda scared . I've watched some videos like 960 vs r9 380 and there was like a 3-4 fps difference in 10 games. 

R9 380 is 5-4fps faster in Nvidia's games - in others it's 10-15fps faster. My 280 is dying after less than a year - I got bad luck - it happens every now and again. Will probably buy a 380 with the RMA cash I get.

I mean in general. If the card spontaneously combusts Gigabyte will charge you to send it in, after making you wait weeks for a RMA number. It costs 20 dollars more to replace my GA-Z97X-UD3-BK MOBO than to send it in for RMA.

if the card "combusts" he'd had bigger issues than RMA times I'd imagine

[energylightning]

R9 380 is 5-4fps faster in Nvidia's games - in others it's 10-15fps faster. My 280 is dying after less than a year - I got bad luck - it happens every now and again. Will probably buy a 380 with the RMA cash I get.

if the card "combusts" he'd had bigger issues than RMA times I'd imagine

How was the overclocking with your radeon, just curious and the temps

[don_svetlio]

How was the overclocking with your radeon, just curious and the temps

I didn't OC - I was too scared

Temps were fine tho - when the card was in good health the 200W TDP card was at 68*C and VRMs at 65*C. Now it's getting hotter as it's trying to stay alive.

A OCed 960 matches a stock 380.

A OCed 380 kicks a OCed 960's ass all the way to kingdom come.

You could also wait 2 weeks for the R9 380X - will be about 20-25% faster than a 960.

[App4that]

How was the overclocking with your radeon, just curious and the temps

LOL! If you get over 50Mhz you're doing well with a Radeon card. But the 300s do run cooler. My 390 almost never reaches 70c.

[don_svetlio]

LOL! If you get over 50Mhz you're doing well with a Radeon card. But the 300s do run cooler. My 390 almost never reaches 70c.

The average OC on a 390 is 200MHz... Check with HWBot if you don't believe me.\

 

Also - MHz are not equal. Linus already covered this - 1MHz for GCN is about 1.6MHz for Maxwell

[energylightning]

I didn't OC - I was too scared

Temps were fine tho - when the card was in good health the 200W TDP card was at 68*C and VRMs at 65*C. Now it's getting hotter as it's trying to stay alive.

A OCed 960 matches a stock 380.

A OCed 380 kicks a OCed 960's ass all the way to kingdom come.

You could also wait 2 weeks for the R9 380X - will be about 20-25% faster than a 960.

Usually i've heard always bad stuff about AMD GPU'S but personally i don't care for the brand as long as the card gets the job done. Most of my friends are all big fans of nvidia and that's not a bad thing. So the r9 380x comes out in 2 weeks?

[don_svetlio]

Usually i've heard always bad stuff about AMD GPU'S but personally i don't care for the brand as long as the card gets the job done. Most of my friends are all big fans of nvidia and that's not a bad thing. So the r9 380x comes out in 2 weeks?

Supposedly - no concrete date yet but it's looking like it anyway - AMD Crimson launches soon as well - it's this year's version of the Omega driver.

Anyway - if you go for Nvidia go for AT LEAST a 970/980 - the lower end chips are trash. I mean literally trash.

[energylightning]

Supposedly - no concrete date yet but it's looking like it anyway - AMD Crimson launches soon as well - it's this year's version of the Omega driver.

Anyway - if you go for Nvidia go for AT LEAST a 970/980 - the lower end chips are trash. I mean literally trash.

970-980 is an overkill for me my budget is like 250-60 like max. Like i said i play mostly dota 2 and some here and then rpg, now I got curious about the r9 380x and will wait a bit , if its in my price range i would go for it.

[App4that]

The average OC on a 390 is 200MHz... Check with HWBot if you don't believe me.\

Also - MHz are not equal. Linus already covered this - 1MHz for GCN is about 1.6MHz for Maxwell

My 290 was good for 1050MHz, a 50Mhz improvement. My 390 was good for 1100Mhz, a 60Mhz improvement. Now look at the speed being reached with 960s and 970s in the Valley and Firestrike topics. AMD is better out of the box but no where near the overclocking of Nvidias. A look at the leader boards will show you that.

[don_svetlio]

970-980 is an overkill for me my budget is like 250-60 like max. Like i said i play mostly dota 2 and some here and then rpg, now I got curious about the r9 380x and will wait a bit , if its in my price range i would go for it.

It's MSRP is 249.99 - performs close to a 290 which in turn is close to a 970

[don_svetlio]

My 290 was good for 1050MHz, a 50Mhz improvement. My 390 was good for 1100Mhz, a 60Mhz improvement. Now look at the speed being reached with 960s and 970s in the Valley and Firestrike topics. AMD is better out of the box but no where near the overclocking of Nvidias. A look at the leader boards will show you that.

Up voltage/power target? You have the cooling capacity. At stock voltage/power a 970/960 can only go so far...

[energylightning]

My 290 was good for 1050MHz, a 50Mhz improvement. My 390 was good for 1100Mhz, a 60Mhz improvement. Now look at the speed being reached with 960s and 970s in the Valley and Firestrike topics. AMD is better out of the box but no where near the overclocking of Nvidias. A look at the leader boards will show you that.

I got my 750 ti ftw overclocked +55 on core clock and +300mhz on memory clock. EVGA stated that the card would go at least up to +80mhz , such lies ;D. I know that every card is different and its a lottery but still... Disappointed and from the noise also. (1401 mhz core clock total )

[App4that]

Up voltage/power target? You have the cooling capacity. At stock voltage/power a 970/960 can only go so far...

Only thing the voltage changes is the temps. Both cards were factory overclocked though. Tried Trixx and Afterburner, stuck with afterburner because it's great for keeping an eye on things. I used to have the 290 over 1100, but the Windows update killed that, yep a Windows update lol.