Is factory superclock(SuperSC) worth 25 extra dollars(GTX 960)?

Zach Manos · May 10, 2015

I'm looking at essentially the same two GPU's.

One is the EVGA GTX 960: Saves me $25

The other is the same, but w/ SuperSC: +164MHz

With a code and MIR I'll save $26, but I'll be losing out on 164MHz.

Is 164Mhz noticeable?

This will be an upgrade from my i7's Integrated 4600 HD Graphics

USAFRet · May 10, 2015

The MIR is not 'saving' you $26...it is probably hopefully mailing you a check in a couple of months.

mcnumpty23 · May 10, 2015

164mhz nothing really you should be able to overclock the cheaper card that much anyway

as long as they have the same cooler--if the dearer card has a better cooler i would go that route

Zach Manos · May 10, 2015

USAFRet :

$16 comes from the code then a $10 MIR

And they are essentially the same card

This is for a gaming rig, nothing CRAZY! just wanted to take the load off my CPU, and be able to run middle-of-the-line graphics with little problem

USAFRet · May 10, 2015

Zach Manos :

Then go with the one that is cheaper

photonboy · May 10, 2015

Some GPU's are "binned" meaning they are tested and the ones that overclock better go into the better cards.

Due to the complex process of creation not all chips overclock the same. In fact some are so damaged that they block off certain parts and sell them in lower-end cards.

(We often get high-end GPU's because the profit margin is high, but they're harder to create. As they get made the defective chips are put aside and modified to work as lower-end chips. That can take months to create enough. The company will also create GPU's with less transistors that end up in the same cards though. Same number of transistors are used just different GPU's in same cards with different areas blocked off.)

Anyway, is it WORTH IT?

That's really up to you but $25 is a big percentage of the cost of that card. Having said that, I would recommend getting a 4GB model if you're currently looking at 2GB versions.

See pcpartpicker.

*GTX960 comes currently with Witcher 3 free. Make sure to redeem. It may benefit from more than 2GB of VRAM even if it's "only" on the GTX960. We'll have to wait and see.

Keep in mind the "recommended" requirements don't mention VRAM (just a "GTX770" which is roughly similar to a GTX960), however it does say it recommends 8GB of System RAM (6GB minimum) which is higher than most games. This and the large open-world and rich textures strongly suggests more than 2GB VRAM will be of benefit to prevent some stutter due to texture swapping between System and Video RAM.

I'm sure many will flame me and say "it's not worth it", however there's a big trend happening currently (due to the new consoles) which is requiring more VRAM. Like Watch Dogs for example (maybe not optimized but it was created for the new consoles and assumed a shared 5GB of memory but frequently needed more than 3GB for Video data to prevent stuttering.)

If you'd asked me over a YEAR ago if more than 2GB at this price point made sense I'd have said no. That's no longer the case IMO.

Zach Manos · May 11, 2015

photonboy :

Some GPU's are "binned" meaning they are tested and the ones that overclock better go into the better cards.

Due to the complex process of creation not all chips overclock the same. In fact some are so damaged that they block off certain parts and sell them in lower-end cards.

(We often get high-end GPU's because the profit margin is high, but they're harder to create. As they get made the defective chips are put aside and modified to work as lower-end chips. That can take months to create enough. The company will also create GPU's with less transistors that end up in the same cards though. Same number of transistors are used just different GPU's in same cards with different areas blocked off.)

Anyway, is it WORTH IT?

That's really up to you but $25 is a big percentage of the cost of that card. Having said that, I would recommend getting a 4GB model if you're currently looking at 2GB versions.

See pcpartpicker.

*GTX960 comes currently with Witcher 3 free. Make sure to redeem. It may benefit from more than 2GB of VRAM even if it's "only" on the GTX960. We'll have to wait and see.

Keep in mind the "recommended" requirements don't mention VRAM (just a "GTX770" which is roughly similar to a GTX960), however it does say it recommends 8GB of System RAM (6GB minimum) which is higher than most games. This and the large open-world and rich textures strongly suggests more than 2GB VRAM will be of benefit to prevent some stutter due to texture swapping between System and Video RAM.

I'm sure many will flame me and say "it's not worth it", however there's a big trend happening currently (due to the new consoles) which is requiring more VRAM. Like Watch Dogs for example (maybe not optimized but it was created for the new consoles and assumed a shared 5GB of memory but frequently needed more than 3GB for Video data to prevent stuttering.)

If you'd asked me over a YEAR ago if more than 2GB at this price point made sense I'd have said no. That's no longer the case IMO.

Nice answer. I appreciate the info. That defective stuff scares me, haha. I actually bought the cheaper 2gb model Sunday morning. Surprisingly, the 4gb isn't that much more expensive, but $200 was about my price point. Here's to hoping all goes well.

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Is factory superclock(SuperSC) worth 25 extra dollars(GTX 960)?

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