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seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus

Member

[Parts Check] New Video card choices

Hi, all. Have seen the discussions on here about new cards and checked Tom's Hardware Hierarchy and Feb Buying Guide (280 and 960 are from the guide). Looking at these three cards right now and would appreciate any feedback on which to get.
I am moving from a GTX 560Ti so feel OK with the hierarchy part. Never had AMD cards before.
I don't do a lot of graphically heavy gaming but the 560 has lasted almost 3 years now. Currently have 15 2500K, 8GB RAM but PCIe 2.0 only. PS is OK as it has been overkill for a while now.

Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB GDDR5 DVI-I/DVI-D/HDMI/DP Dual-X with PCI-Express Graphics Card Boost 11230-00-20G
$159 with rebate

Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB GDDR5 DVI-I/DVI-D/HDMI/DP Dual-X OC Version (UEFI) PCI-Express Graphics Card 11221-00-20G
$244

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SuperSC ACX 2.0+ 2GB GDDR5 128bit, PCI-E 3.0 Dual-Link DVI-I, 3 x DP, HDMI, SLI, HDCP, G-SYNC Ready Graphics Cards 02G-P4-2966-KR
$209

Prices are all via Amazon.
Appreciate it, gang. Hopefully will get this in my box by the weekend.

Raible
join:2008-01-23
Plainfield, IN

Raible

Member

Click for full size
Between the price and the scores, it's hard not to pick the 960. It's what I'd go with personally, but I'm a big nVidia fan also.

seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus

Member

Thanks. I have pretty much always been an nVidia user but I hear so many great things about AMD cards nowadays.

The hierarchy also has the 280X one level higher than the 960. Any idea why?

Raible
join:2008-01-23
Plainfield, IN

Raible to seginus

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to seginus
The 280X is actually beating the 960 on benchmarks.

»www.tomshardware.com/rev ··· 8-4.html

I noticed that "7970/" part on the 280X comparison after I posted it above. Has me wondering now what exactly it means.

Check out the benchmarks though and it is certainly not a waste of your $30 to move up to the 280X. Just depends on what your real max budget is.

FizzyMyNizzy
join:2004-05-29
New York, NY

FizzyMyNizzy to seginus

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to seginus
If If there is no games you are playing right now. Maybe wait until R9 300 series to come out. The very low end should be out in a month or 2. the rest should be June 2015.

Up to you. =D

seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus to Raible

Member

to Raible
Yeah, I wasn't sure what that meant either. I am leaning 280X at this point but probably will waver between it and the 960 until I actually hit the complete order button.
seginus

seginus to FizzyMyNizzy

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to FizzyMyNizzy
Was not really in the upgrade mood but one of the fans on my 560 is making a racket so using that as an excuse.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to seginus

Premium Member

to seginus
Either will serve you well. The Nvidia 960 is newer architecture but I prefer supporting AMD right now for their (more honest) advertising and commitment to open solutions, whereas Nvidia tries to patent everything and make money off it (PhysX, GSync, etc.).

seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus

Member

Yeah, Kris. Pretty clear where you stand on it. That's for sure.
seginus

seginus

Member

Going to buy later today pending any new opinions. I just hope these things will fit in my case. Would be too bad to have to buy more new stuff.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean to seginus

MVM

to seginus
I went with an MSI GTX 960 recently,...

I have yet to install it so I should get on that soon but in my defense I've had some hardware failures that needed my attention. I won't bother anyone with the details of the hardware failures here though.

I'll just say that I went with the nVidia GTX 960 solution because in its price range it represents reasonably updated hardware IMO. The inclusion of HDMI 2.0 and HEVC / H.265 decode (High Efficiency Video Coding) makes the card feel like a modern product whereas the AMD R9 280 / 280X (as well as higher in the lineup such as the 290 / 290X) laking such features feel more like something out of step with the times,....(again thats IMO).

Granted not everyone cares about these features (or can take advantage of them) but that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't in 6 months to a year,...or somewhere within the lifespan of the new card that they just purchased.

Having said that, I have no real preference for one company over the other and I buy video card solutions from both companies.

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian

Premium Member

Hence the discussion on Amd/Ati and Nvidia.

Ati/Amd is a gaming processor with multi-screen capabilities.
Nvidia is a codec specialist that can utilize mutli-screen etc.

It's always been a choice of what you want.
Drivers can help influence you but it won't change the direction.

So for the OP, take in the best Ati/Amd card you can afford once you pick a chipset suited and select a brand and features.

To confuse you though I'm an Nvidia man through and through.

seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus

Member

Thanks for all the advice everybody. The deed is done.

Ended up getting the 960. Partly because I know it is smaller and will fit in my case, partly due to having nVidia cards for so long and partly for the price. All in with tax and next day prime shipping: $223.

Cannot believe the hemming and hawing I went through over this thing. Twice I swapped the 280X into my cart, too.

Seriously though. I do appreciate it.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

Which card did you get?

I ask in part because my reference MSI GTX 960 was something like ~$209 shipped,...

This is the one I bought:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· -127-842

Keep in mind I'll be connecting it to an LG UB8500 55" 4K UHDTV 3840x2160 which is 60Hz capable via HDMI 2.0. It might be used for some gaming but I wasn't looking for 4K gaming naturally but rather 3840x2160 at 60Hz functionality for desktop usage and media (if or when applicable). I can access some 4K media via the Smart TV applications like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and more (which uses HEVC / H.265 via an SoC presumably). Still its good to see the same hardware prerequisite present in the GPU though.

seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus

Member

The one listed in my original post. It actually dropped to $205 before i bought it so I $4 next day primed it. The tax jumped it up to the final price. Not doing any 4K stuff. It just goes to an old high end 47" LCD in my office.

It's funny but I am still second-guessing myself even though, for my purposes/habits, any one of them would have been perfect.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

Second guessing your choice isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it can save you some headaches and sometimes it's an unnecessary source of the headaches itself. Tough to say which it is now.

Maybe once you receive the card and actually use it you'll have more to go on in terms of whether or not it was the right choice for you.

Good luck with it and do post pack to let us know how you like (or don't like) it.

seginus
join:2008-01-30
Wendell, NC

seginus

Member

Well, it threw it in last night. Must say really like where they put the power ports.

Ran a benchmark in Just Cause 2 since I had just done that with the 560Ti. Everything set to max and the frame rate pretty much doubled.

Also ran the 3dMark demo tests at it and rated at better than 69% of others.. Last time I ran a test, I still had my SLI'd Ti4400s.

Not sure I have a game in my library that will need this though. Maybe time to suck it up and just go to Origin for DA:I.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

Outstanding,....

So I am guessing you like it.

Do you have any pix,...
JoelC707
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Lanett, AL

JoelC707 to Raible

Premium Member

to Raible
said by Raible:

I noticed that "7970/" part on the 280X comparison after I posted it above. Has me wondering now what exactly it means.

It basically means the R9 280x is a rebadged 7970. There may be some tweaks to the newer part but the core is basically the same and the two should in theory perform similarly.