PNY GTX 960 4GB VS Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 TI

[zachmx250]

How much of an upgrade would a PNY GTX 960 4GB be over a GTX 660 TI?

PNY GTX 960 4GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 TI

Alienware X51 R1 Andromeda R5
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 @ 3.40GHz CPU 3.90GHz Turbo
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB GDDR5
16 GB RAM
Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" HDD
Alienware AW2310 23" Full HD 3D Monitor 120Hz
Alienware TactX Keyboard & Mouse

 

[Larry Litmanen]

Just for the record, on front page NewEgg will have a sale on EVGA GTX960 in about 2 hours. Right now it is listed at $190, hopefully a $20 discount.

 

[zachmx250]

Just for the record, on front page NewEgg will have a sale on EVGA GTX960 in about 2 hours. Right now it is listed at $190, hopefully a $20 discount.

Yeah that's for the 2GB version. Will there be anything for the 4GB?

 

[Larry Litmanen]

I missed that part, 4GB does seem to cost $40-$50 more.

 

[yeskay]

How much of an upgrade would a PNY GTX 960 4GB be over a GTX 660 TI?

PNY GTX 960 4GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 TI

Alienware X51 R1 Andromeda R5
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 @ 3.40GHz CPU 3.90GHz Turbo
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB GDDR5
16 GB RAM
Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" HDD
Alienware AW2310 23" Full HD 3D Monitor 120Hz
Alienware TactX Keyboard & Mouse

Absolutely, the GTX 960.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQI8GZknfIQ&t=1m46s"][/video]

Consider this GTX 960 instead of PNY:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($239.99 @ B&H)
Total: $239.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-24 16:15 EDT-0400

Other strong points for getting GTX 960:

- The GTX 960 is an extremely power efficient Maxwell GPU that only require a quality 400W PSU that can deliver 20Amps or more its +12V rail.

- It has DirectX 12 support, which would greatly improve the performance of low and mid range card @1080p like this one.

- The GTX 960 also manages to outclass the AMD budget heavy weight R9 280. Check the following benchmark videos:

The Witcher 3 GTX 960 vs R9 280/285/280X Benchmark Frame-Rate Test
Grand Theft Auto 5 PC: GTX 960 vs R9 280/R9 285/R9 280X 1440p Benchmarks
GTX 960 vs R9 285/ R9 280/ GTX 760 1080p Benchmarks
GTX 960 vs R9 285/ R9 280/ GTX 760 1440p Benchmarks

Why MSI Graphics Cards?

Because they make stable, durable and performance oriented GPUs with lowest RMA %. See the image below:

Major Motherboard and Graphics Card Manufacturers RMA Ratings

Read the full article here - Reliability report: Gigabyte top for motherboards, MSI for graphics cards

Update:

I checked your specs in first posting, there was no mention of PSU. Just now you mentioned about it.

If people had success of running the GTX 960 on 330W PSU, it's more of a risky gamble rather than a comfortable safe solution.

The GTX 960 require a quality 430W PSU that can deliver 20Amps or more on its +12V rail. So its better to upgrade the PSU as well along with the GPU.

If you still want to try out the GTX 960 with 330W, then its your choice, which I would not recommend.

After seeing this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnR3kPbCuxQ, I think your PC may accommodate this card, which would be better than the PNY:

EVGA GTX 960 (P/N: 04G-P4-3962-KR)

Cheers!

 

[zachmx250]

Thanks for the information. Although I'm limited to the PNY 960 4GB due to my computer. My computer specs are listed in my first post above. I have an Alienware X51 R1 with a 330w power supply and R1 motherboard. The PNY says it takes 120w of power while my current 660 TI takes 150w. There has been success stories about people upgrading to this card with my specific computer.

 

[Larry Litmanen]

Thanks for the information. Although I'm limited to the PNY 960 4GB due to my computer. My computer specs are listed in my first post above. I have an Alienware X51 R1 with a 330w power supply and R1 motherboard. The PNY says it takes 120w of power while my current 660 TI takes 150w. There has been success stories about people upgrading to this card with my specific computer.

Wait is Alienware X51 R1 a small form factor PC? Is size the issue?

The card i said will be on sale is actually small, 6.8 inches (i have the same one).

Obviously the PNY card is better due to being 4GB

 

[zachmx250]

The Alienware x51 tower is about the size of a gaming console. The issue is the 330w power supply and the R1 motherboard. From what I hear the next generation X51 R2 motherboard is more suitable for 900 series gpu upgrades. I'm using a 150w GTX 660 TI card right now so I don't believe a 120w more efficient GTX 960 will be a problem. I also would need a reference style blower card like the 660 TI and PNY 960s. I've done a lot of research. My only question is how much of an upgrade would the 960 card linked above be over the 660 TI?