Choosing a graphic card(gtx 960 or r9 280x)

MrPawel · Apr 21, 2015

Hi I'm going to buy new graphic card soon. And im thinking about gtx 960(4gb) or r9 280x(3gb). I don't know which card is better and for me the most important question is: Isn't 4gb card much safer choice than a 3gb? Or maybe 3gb is totally enough and 4gb isn't necesarry. Also I'm not so sure if I will get enough money for 960(4gb) or 280x, then i will have to take slightly cheaper cards and then I will have to choose between gtx 960(2gb),r9 280(3gb) or,if 3gb isn't really enough i could also take a r9 270x(4gb). And there is also another question: For how much time will theese cards be enough for gaming. And saying enough i mean running games on at least low settings pretty well(i know that now they use to run games on high, but they won't do it forever, right?).
Soo, I hope somebody will be able to answer my questions.
And ask if i wrote something not clearly enough, my english isn't perfect

okcnaline · Apr 21, 2015

It depends on what you're willing to settle for. The GTX 960 is kinda disappointing; the GTX 770 performs a bit better. And GTX 960 is as good as the R9 280X.

spamoo1234 · Apr 21, 2015

Newegg has the pny xlr8 gtx 960 4gb with witcher 3 and 10% off promo code right now. I just bought it for 209.

holyrage · Apr 21, 2015

210 FOR A 960 DAMN!? oh wait it is the 4gb one meh..

get a R9 280X aka the more power efficient version of the 7970

jac0brah · Apr 21, 2015

Most of the latest games are yet to use over 3gb in vram, so dont sweat over that. The 280x's power consumption will be more, but for the price id say its a much better buy, because they both perform very similar in terms of gaming, as seen in many benchmarks.

I have a pair of 280x's and they havent let me down, hell as for gaming performance, only one of them was running dying light, guild wars 2, devil may cry, metal gear rising etc on ultra.
As for usage in the long run, take care of the heat and dust and they should be fine. And no they wont run games on high for long, but if you feel they are not performing as well as you want, you can always crossfire them.

Heres a comparison between the two i found:http://www.hwcompare.com/18417/geforce-gtx-960-vs-radeon-r9-280x/

Thats my take based on my experience and knowledge. Goodluck

Karadjgne · Apr 21, 2015

Overall...
270, 660ti,, 270x, 760,, 280, 960,, 280x, 770

Each pair of nv/AMD is pretty close in performance, 270 and 660ti for instance, or 280 and 960. The biggest performance gaps are between the pairs, and that isn't all that big, a lot depends on the game used for tests.
Performance wise, the 280x has the edge on the 960 overall, but it does come at a price. It has a higher power consumption, more generated heat, and has had both driver issues and reported coil whine. The 960 has better drivers, less power and heat, but can have issues with older bios.

My preference would be with a cheaper r9 280,which has been a very solid card with little issues, and will OC to almost 280x speeds with little problem.

holyrage · Apr 21, 2015

that moment one something still thinks amd drivers still suck

seriously they moved on now they are good

i have a R9 280 (7950) my self i have the vapor-x clocked at 1300/1900 OC

also back in the day when AMD drivers DID INDEED SUCK the 7950 was as good as a 660ti now it is a 670/760/960 lvl

but dont forget the R9 280X can still OC and when OC'ed will surpass the 770 and the R9 280

Karadjgne · Apr 21, 2015

I love the r9 280, its my favorite AMD card. Just saying. It just seems the 'x' cards seem to have more than their fair share of problems.
And yes, when oc'd any gpu will pass the next one up the line, so oc280 will be better than a 960 and almost as good as a 280x, an OC 280x will pass a 770 and almost be as good as a 290.

Not entirely sure whats gonna happen with an OC 960, its too new, I've not read on it much, and with only 1x 6pin power, I'm not entirely sure just what kind of headroom it has.

holyrage · Apr 22, 2015

it can hit 1500MHZ if you get lucky

the thing about the R9 280 specially the 6+6 pin ones is the Performance per watt is really great they pull around 130~ watts give or take

the R9 280X debending on how many pins it has can pull all the way to 375Watts lol if allowed that is but your regular R9 280X will pull 180~ ish

MrPawel · Apr 22, 2015

And how about my PSU,Chieftec GPA-500s8? I guess it's enough for theese cards but will it handle them if they will be oc'd?

holyrage · Apr 22, 2015

WTF is a chieftec GPA 500s8? i think that answers your question

Tom_Walker12 · Apr 22, 2015

I would go ahead and get a new psu regardless of the card. the 280x will need around 550watt psu and 960 not sure what people recommend but mine runs fine with a 430watt

I just had a thread about this in components section but went with the 960 because of power and temps my room is like an oven.

MrPawel · Apr 22, 2015

If you say that 430 is enough then my PSU should be fine. i heard that it's not bad overall.

Tom_Walker12 · Apr 22, 2015

430 is enough for my system but i only have an A8 5600K as my cpu not overclocked but a GTX 960 needs 350 watts I think. But 430 will definitely not be enough for an R9 280X

MrPawel · Apr 22, 2015

well i've got i5 4590 so i think it should be fine with gtx 960

Tom_Walker12 · Apr 22, 2015

Yes you should be.

MrPawel · Apr 22, 2015

So i think that's all, thank you all for your help

Choosing a graphic card(gtx 960 or r9 280x)

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