Building A Gaming Computer

[ComplexCity]

I am in the process of building a budget gaming computer and am really investing into the GPU. I'm choosing between either the

Sapphire Raedon R9 270

Sapphire Radeon R9 270X

NVIDIA GeForce GTX960

Even though I am running an AMD processor (FX-6300), my mobo is compatible with both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs

 

[The Whisper Of The Mist]

That sounds confusing.. I had a regular computer for gaming on before and it was great.

 

[LordRaikage]

AMD Graphics Cards and Processor are always better for Gaming.(they are cheaper and better, but has a shorter life-span than nvidia).

For Graphic Design-Nvidia.

 

[ComplexCity]

AMD Graphics Cards and Processor are always better for Gaming.(they are cheaper and better, but has a shorter life-span than nvidia).

For Graphic Design-Nvidia.

The R9 270X and GEForce 960 are about the same price. The 270 has more VRAM but the 960 benchmark scores are better

 

[Mari Makinami]

I am in the process of building a budget gaming computer and am really investing into the GPU. I'm choosing between either the

Sapphire Raedon R9 270

Sapphire Radeon R9 270X

NVIDIA GeForce GTX960

Even though I am running an AMD processor (FX-6300), my mobo is compatible with both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs

Don't know about the other ones, but I currently use GTX960 and it's absolutely perfect. Didn't bother me even once.

 

[LordRaikage]

The R9 270X and GEForce 960 are about the same price. The 270 has more VRAM but the 960 benchmark scores are better

the nvidia is more expensive by around $30 more.

like i said before for better gaming experience AMD products.

If you are working in some big I.T profession Nvidia. (too lazy to go into details)

 

[Ambivalence]

AMD Graphics Cards and Processor are always better for Gaming.(they are cheaper and better, but has a shorter life-span than nvidia).

For Graphic Design-Nvidia.

Lol, not even close. Having owned both NVIDIA and AMD cards it's evident for me that the former ones are better. Nvidia pretty much crushes AMD in CPUs, especially since their 4-core processors outperform AMD's 8-core ones (talking about an i5-4690k and FX-8350 for example), which is laughable. That's what AMD are good at, basically - cramming in high numbers so that they seem better.

OT: Go for the GTX 960, it's almost a tier above the 270 performance-wise (the 960 is comparable to a 280x, btw), it is significantly more power efficient and cooler, Nvidia overall offers better perks.

The only thing the AMD beats the Nvidia in is the VRAM, which you don't need unless you plan on playing on anything more than Full HD (2K or 4K), which really isn't the best choice with a 960, unless you have two of those running. Also, the Nvidia is slightly more expensive, but it's worth it, imo.

 

[ComplexCity]

Lol, not even close. Having owned both NVIDIA and AMD cards it's evident for me that the former ones are better. Nvidia pretty much crushes AMD in CPUs, especially since their 4-core processors outperform AMD's 8-core ones (talking about an i5-4690k and FX-8350 for example), which is laughable. That's what AMD are good at, basically - cramming in high numbers so that they seem better.

OT: Go for the GTX 960, it's almost a tier above the 270 performance-wise (the 960 is comparable to a 280x, btw), it is significantly more power efficient and cooler, Nvidia overall offers better perks.

The only thing the AMD beats the Nvidia in is the VRAM, which you don't need unless you plan on playing on anything more than Full HD (2K or 4K), which really isn't the best choice with a 960, unless you have two of those running. Also, the Nvidia is slightly more expensive, but it's worth it, imo.

I think he was talking in regards to price per performance for budget gamers. In that category AMD dominates. Intel is horrendously overpriced.


Here's the thing. For my GPU I am willing to go a little extra ($250 is my limit). I was doing research and I found arguments for the R280 and 960 sound

Raedon R280
- More memory (3GB on the card as opposed to 2GB)
- Bigger bus width (384 as opposed to 128)
- More VRAM


NVIDIA GeForce 960
- Cheaper (as much as the 270X and benchmarked higher in most scores)
- Close to the scores of R280 but performs better on DirectX 11 technology
- Better driver support
- Consumes a lot less power

My concern is the VRAM and onboard memeory of the GPU. I want the card to be able to handle newer games coming out. A lot of reviews are leaning toward the R280

the nvidia is more expensive by around $30 more.

like i said before for better gaming experience AMD products.

If you are working in some big I.T profession Nvidia. (too lazy to go into details)

The Raedon 270X and the the NVIDIA 960 are relatively the same price on Amazon, yet the 960 out performed the 270X in almost every category. The only real hightlight of the 270X is its onboard 4GB or memory

 

[Ambivalence]

^ Why is the more VRAM on two separate points?

- More memory (3GB on the card as opposed to 2GB)
- More VRAM

VRAM is graphics memory, so those two points say the same thing, basically. And yeah, the bus width is also greater, though that naturally comes with more video memory. You won't see a 2G card with anything more than 128-bit bus width, since it doesn't really need it. You'll literally see no performance gains from a greater bus width, since performance in games is mainly affected by:

1. The card's chip set
2. It's core clock speed
3. Texture rate
4. Video memory and bus width

Since the 960 takes points one, and two (not sure about 3), which impact gaming on 1080p much more than VRAM and bus width do it's the better choice if you want the max FPS. I don't understand why you want more VRAM so much since it really won't do you more good on 1080p and below, but it's your choice. Honestly, in the end, you probably won't see more than 5-7 FPS difference in games, so just go with whichever one you want more.

 

[God Of Destruction]

R9 270X is better

right now i am using titan z in my computer but i would say amd > nvidia for gaming

 

[ComplexCity]

^ Why is the more VRAM on two separate points?

You learn something new everyday. Got lazy and didn't Google. Thought it represented Virtual memory to help with Virtualization Technology such as VMware

And yeah, the bus width is also greater, though that naturally comes with more video memory. You won't see a 2G card with anything more than 128-bit bus width, since it doesn't really need it. You'll literally see no performance gains from a greater bus width, since performance in games is mainly affected by:

1. The card's chip set
2. It's core clock speed
3. Texture rate
4. Video memory and bus width

Since the 960 takes points one, and two (not sure about 3), which impact gaming on 1080p much more than VRAM and bus width do it's the better choice if you want the max FPS. I don't understand why you want more VRAM so much since it really won't do you more good on 1080p and below, but it's your choice. Honestly, in the end, you probably won't see more than 5-7 FPS difference in games, so just go with whichever one you want more.

1080p is fine for me, I'm not obsessed with picture and video as long as it's smooth. I just want to be able to play future games that are released with the every growing technology we have today without breaking the bank. $250 is stretching it but if performs better (the test I looked at tested with 4K and the R280 destroyed the 960) in a lot of future technologies that will be released. That is my only concern

 

[LordRaikage]

I think he was talking in regards to price per performance for budget gamers. In that category AMD dominates. Intel is horrendously overpriced.


Here's the thing. For my GPU I am willing to go a little extra ($250 is my limit). I was doing research and I found arguments for the R280 and 960 sound

Raedon R280
- More memory (3GB on the card as opposed to 2GB)
- Bigger bus width (384 as opposed to 128)
- More VRAM


NVIDIA GeForce 960
- Cheaper (as much as the 270X and benchmarked higher in most scores)
- Close to the scores of R280 but performs better on DirectX 11 technology
- Better driver support
- Consumes a lot less power

My concern is the VRAM and onboard memeory of the GPU. I want the card to be able to handle newer games coming out. A lot of reviews are leaning toward the R280



The Raedon 270X and the the NVIDIA 960 are relatively the same price on Amazon, yet the 960 out performed the 270X in almost every category. The only real hightlight of the 270X is its onboard 4GB or memory

R 280X is better than Nvidia 960 Completely if you can buy it you should.

 

[ComplexCity]

R 280X is better than Nvidia 960 Completely if you can buy it you should.

If the 960 can handle crisis 3 with no problem at 1080p, would that mean it can handle current gen games? If so, I'd be willing to save the $50

 

[Yokaze Sama]

If the 960 can handle crisis 3 with no problem at 1080p, would that mean it can handle current gen games? If so, I'd be willing to save the $50

I would really recommend you to wait for the upcoming series of nvidia, which are going to be exponetially faster than the current series.

EDIT: Nvidias and AMDs new series will released next year around spring.

 

[iNotorious]

Watch this video so you can see both cards in high demanding games at 1080p resolution

[video=youtube;CyYvoQPYPbs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyYvoQPYPbs[/video]

I recommend to go with the GTX 960. I've heard that the AMD cards uses too much power consumption than the NVIDIA cards.

 

[P3ĮÑ]

Old thread but let me see

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the gtx 960 is comparable to the 770 and is above the 280.

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As you can notice in some aspects, despite the score the gtx 960 trashes the 280x, this is mainly due to a newer manufacturing technology, a better pixel and texure rate than the 270x, this will always change depending on the game, most games run well on Nvidia and vice versa (as nvidia has quite a lot of nvidea optimized titles). Despite the fact Bioshock infinite is an AMD enhanced title. Get the gtx 960, its a good choice. The gtx 960 is almost as powerful as the 7970 which was a top notch card and still is. The r9 270x doesn't compare.

If ur worried about Vram gtx 960 omes in 2gb and 4gb. Also these are reference card scores.