Time to upgrade Video cards?

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ncook6

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Jul 15, 2015
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I currently have 2 EVGA Geoforce 9800 GTX+ video cards that i have in a SLI configuration. I have been happy with them for over 5-6 years but I am starting to notice that some of the games I have been getting are making my cards struggle a little, primarily Far Cry 3 (I typically purchase older games). My question is what single card (Nvidia) would be about equivalent to the dual 9800 GTX + and not break the bank. I haven't kept up with the latest models lately since I have been rolling with my current ones.
 
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Forgotten031511
The 960 is NOT the "best bang for buck", not by far. The GTX 970 and AMD 390's are a much better choice. Granted they cost $100 more, but having well worth the performance increase and will last much longer. His last build lasted 4-5 years, the GTX 970's will do that in SLI no problem.

GTX 970's in SLI perform better than the GTX 980 Ti and AMD Fury cards. Get a GTX 970 now and get a second one later for SLI when the price drops and get another 4-5 years out of your cards again.

The GTX 960's WON'T do that, you'll be upgrading again in 2 years...even with SLI.
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serialkiller

serialkiller

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The current Best bang for buck card which will play any AAA titles ( GTA V , Battlefield 4 , Crysis 3) @1080p ultra settings is Nvidia GTX 960.

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB | $219.99 |http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487133

I recommend this card for it small form factor and 4GB of ram.

But keep in mind if your CPU is not powerful enough ( better than 2nd gen i5) it make have trouble keeping up with such a powerful GPU and will Bottleneck the system.

Always happy to help.
 
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Forgotten031511

Forgotten031511

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Jun 1, 2015
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The 960 is NOT the "best bang for buck", not by far. The GTX 970 and AMD 390's are a much better choice. Granted they cost $100 more, but having well worth the performance increase and will last much longer. His last build lasted 4-5 years, the GTX 970's will do that in SLI no problem.

GTX 970's in SLI perform better than the GTX 980 Ti and AMD Fury cards. Get a GTX 970 now and get a second one later for SLI when the price drops and get another 4-5 years out of your cards again.

The GTX 960's WON'T do that, you'll be upgrading again in 2 years...even with SLI.
 
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KKAW

KKAW

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+1
 
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ncook6

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Jul 15, 2015
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The processor I have is an AMD Phenom II X4 965 which is a quad core 3.4 processor and it seems like it is still holding up fairly well. I have had it were I am using two monitors and i would have to remove one monitor to help with performance on Far Cry 3 which is making me think the cards are struggling.

Also, I noticed that the GTX 960 has a throughput of 128-Bit and my current cards are 256-Bit. Does this have much barring anymore? I know when I was looking at cards in the past that was kinda a big deal to have the higher throughput.
 
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serialkiller

serialkiller

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Your processor is sufficient for now, no need to upgrade but you can overclock.

128-bit bus wont affect performance until your game demands lots of Vram and that only happens with very high quality textures and high resolution like 1440p or 4k and that to depends on your games but mostly it will suffix.

Also if you have budget then go for GTX 970 which will be better in the long run.
 
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Bosscracker

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Oct 28, 2015
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I am literally in the same boat, running sli 9800 gtx+ and have decided to go with the gtx 970 strix ($304) after $20 rebate. Its awsome to see another gtx+ guy on here. My question is would one of my old cards be helpful in anyway at this point? Like dedicated physx or something?
 
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