Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro 4GB vs. Asus Geforce GTX 960 Strix OC 4GB

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Nightwing911

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Aug 20, 2015
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I can get the
Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro 4GB & the Asus Geforce GTX 960 Strix OC 4GB
for almost the same price .

but which can utilize the 4GB VRAM more , someone said to me that Sapphire Radeon R9 380 has a 256bit bus vs Asus Geforce GTX 960 Strix OC 's 128 bus makes the ASUS Geforce GTX 960 's 4GB VRAM unusable .

so is this true ?
can't I use all 4GB VRAM on GTX 960 because it's originally designed as a 2GB card ?

Again I've never used AMD cards before
so ,can someone please tell me that if I can use HBAO+,TXAA,MFAA,VXGI tech on Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro 4GB ?
 
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StarChief

StarChief

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Jun 22, 2015
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I'm getting tired of typing this ~_~

Maxwell architecture is very well optimized and super efficient with Vram, this is why the 900 series cards have a narrow bus.

Both cards can "use" all their ram, why would a manufacturer create a product with a feature that can't be utilized?

Having said that, almost no game today or in the near future will need 4 gigs of vram on a 1080p display, which I assume you have.

I would go with the 960, my personal preference is for Nvidia, they have better product support.
 
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Z

ZENprime

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GTX 970 would like to have a word with you .

Larger memory bus = larger memory bandwidth

4 GB with 256 bus =/= 4 GB with 128 bit
4GB with 256 bus is faster than 4GB with 128 bus
difference will happen @ memory hungry games and at higher screen resolutions

Also the R9 380 nitro 4GB gets higher fps in nearly every game than the GTX 960
See benchmarks :
http://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-nitro-r9-380-4gb-graphics-card-review/all/1
(warning large webpage)
 
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StarChief

StarChief

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You can't compare the two DIFFERENT ways the two cards use the Vram.

256 standard bus DOES equal or nearly equal 128 Maxwell bus. It's newer, faster technology. Why is that so hard to understand.

The 970 has a narrower bus than a 290x, yet it outperforms it in almost every way.

It;s like saying DSL internet from the 90s is faster then FIOS because the numbers look bigger.
 
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ZENprime

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Only in 1080p is where 970 is better than 290x ; because the memory bandwidth for both cards 256/512 is still not used to it's full power , once you hit 1440p things change
Also the 390 beats 970 @ 1080p now .

You are trying to explain color compression in a very bad way ; it has nothing to do with memory bandwidth
It's about reducing memory usage in the GPU + doing faster color/video rendering ; not reducing memory speed !

By the way the 380 card has a color compression as same as 900 card's color compression
 
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StarChief

StarChief

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But it has everything to do with rendering and color compression! Part of the reason why Maxwell cards are so power efficient is how they handle all that, that is why the can afford to have a narrower memory bus without losing performance.

Why are you throwing in random video cards that OP wants nothing to do with?

This is r9 380 vs GTX 960 discussion. Both have advantages and disadvantages. They're both designed for the same tier, it's personal choice in the matter. At 1080p they will both play everything in a similar manner, one card might play one game slightly better and vice versa. We're not talking about higher resolutions here, because if you can afford a 2k/4k monitor you're not buying either of the mid tier cards.
 
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J

junkeymonkey

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just keep in mind thr 380 is a refresh of the 285 that was weaker then the old 280x what still shows to out preform the newer 380

but what few reviews the compare the 2 cads seem the 380 has that extra as the resolution goes up??

http://www.bjorn3d.com/2015/07/xfx-r9-380-4g-dd-xfx-review-xfx-rocks-the-dd-coolers-again-r9-380p-4255/4/

the 380 mat just edge out the 960
 
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ZENprime

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No ; you lose performance while going up with the resolution if you have narrower bus , That's why 290x is weaker than 970 in 1080p but stronger in 1440/4k

power efficiency in Maxwell comes from lower cores number in the GPU die ; has nothing to do with narrower bus again
please I want to know how is a lane between the GPU and the memory stick uses power
Flash news : You can now play 1440/4k on your 1080p monitor using either VSR from amd or DSR from nvidia

the 380 4GB nitro is stronger than the 960

To OP : I do not know much about AA with cards ; will depend on game to support it
You will be able to use all 4GB rams on 380 / 960 ; however the 380 will give you better performance .
 
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StarChief

StarChief

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"Flash news : You can now play 1440/4k on your 1080p monitor using either VSR from amd or DSR from nvidia "

Once again, neither of those cards can handle a higher resolution and have stable frames. Hell, neither card can handle modern AAA titles on max at 1080p. DSR and VSR don't magically increase your monitor's pixel count, why is that even in your argument.

Where do you see the 290x doing better? 1080p 1440p the 970 has considerably higher fps in most games. Even at 4k more often than not a 970 has higher frames in games. Where are you getting the notion that a 290x "is stronger" in higher resolutions?

The 290x has double the memory bus of a GTX 970, yet performs considerably worse across all resolutions. If that's not evidence of the "higher bus means better performance at higher resolutions" is complete bs I don't know what is.

Everywhere I see, 1080p 1440 and 4k. Both single and SLI configs of the GTX 970 performs better than a 290x

wolfenstein_3840_2160.gif


http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/geforce-gtx-970-sli-review,22.html

gainwardgtx970_graphs_3dmark11extreme.png


asus_GTX_970_STRIX_graphs_metro2.png


67892.png
 
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Kritonios

Kritonios

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You should get the amd card because;
it uses fully all the 4 GB of vram (256 bit). You can check it if you want.
it performs better
You should get the 4GB GTX 960 because;
the 2 extra GB help a bit
it supports GameWorks which makes graphics much better the game pretty much
 
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