Too Good to be True? (The slim skinny)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
W

wingclip

Distinguished
Aug 9, 2012
88
0
18,640
Hi Folks,
OK, I've been hammered with the latest GPU; ASUS GeForce GTX 960 Strix as I'm sure you all have been.

The information about this card is overwhelming and I wonder if someone could please tell me if my present 7970 3GB card can actually be out done in a significant way by a 2GB card like this Asus 960?

The fact is, I want to switch to Nvidia/GTX from the ATI "collection" I have been using for years. The 7970 does very well and that shouldn't be surprising but "Very Well" isn't "GREAT".

Can someone say in any definitive terms, if this 960 will show me a good bit more performance, (at factory clocks), than the 7970 I presently have? My confusion lies in the 3GB memory of my 7970 and the 2GB memory of the 960.

I need to make a decision ASAP on this for many reasons so anyone who knows what I can expect from the 960 if I were to buy it, please say so.
Thank you,
Rich
 
Solution
Supernova1138
Yeah, the 960 is a sidegrade at best or a slight downgrade at worst compared to the 7970. If you want an actual upgrade and want to switch to Nvidia, you're pretty much looking at getting the GTX 970 or 980. If you can't afford either of those cards, I'd say stick with what you have until you can save up some more money.

Depending at what resolution you play at and what games you play you can sit on your current card even longer if you want. The 7970 is still quite potent and really doesn't struggle unless you're trying to run ultra on last year's crop of mostly badly optimized games or you're trying to play at 1440p or higher without turning settings down.
Sort by date Sort by votes
B

bystander

Champion
Dec 9, 2009
15,141
6
57,965
No, do not "upgrade" to a 960 if you have a 7970. Benchmarks have shown it is slower. The 7970 was the top of the previous AMD line up, and referred to as a R9 280x with the current line up (it is the same card). The 960 is a middle of the road card of the current GPU's. The 960 is mostly slower.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Supernova1138

Supernova1138

Illustrious
Mar 22, 2011
5,340
54
37,690
Yeah, the 960 is a sidegrade at best or a slight downgrade at worst compared to the 7970. If you want an actual upgrade and want to switch to Nvidia, you're pretty much looking at getting the GTX 970 or 980. If you can't afford either of those cards, I'd say stick with what you have until you can save up some more money.

Depending at what resolution you play at and what games you play you can sit on your current card even longer if you want. The 7970 is still quite potent and really doesn't struggle unless you're trying to run ultra on last year's crop of mostly badly optimized games or you're trying to play at 1440p or higher without turning settings down.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
W

wingclip

Distinguished
Aug 9, 2012
88
0
18,640
Thank you to both of you! I can only pick one "Best Solution" but I personally consider both to be Best Solutions. I had asked this same question in other websites but no one would even indicate why the 960 wasn't a good card.

At least now I know where the issue lies with the 960 and will definitely take your advice. I'm not a gamer really, I'm a Flight Sim Hobbyist and I have time and money wrapped up in MS FSX as well as ROF.

FSX coding is notoriously bad and dated. It's known as a CPU intensive sim and therefore, a lot of work and $$ goes into building a computer to handle that. Most of my system is several years old but still an optimal configuration for FSX, (I have a i7-2600K clocked to 5GHz when flying).

The GPU is still important when it comes to a number of factors as well. With thousands wrapped up in high-res add-on scenery and planes, a great frame rate in FSX is a steady 30FPS. I hold that rate in the most dense areas in flight at high speeds, (very hard on a 'lesser' CPU).

ROF is no problem, good code, great sim rates.
Thanks again, I appreciate the help and you saved me $200. !
Rich
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom