a good investment?

[danino29]

Hey. I currently have a r7 265x 2gb and fx 6300 with 500w fortron power supply. Today i bought this monitor : http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/it/monitor/tv-monitor/LT24D391EW/XU (i previously had a 19'' philips) M question is : is a gtx 960 4 gb good investment? I am thinking of buying one because the new monitor will require a better card for games such as fifa 16 gta 5 and csgo. I plan to buy an i5 in the future. So i am asking you if it will be a good investment in long term, will the power supply be enough and will it make any problems?

 

[Lord_Sunday123]

Do yourself a favor and get a name brand power supply, first off. Off brand, or less heard of PSUs can often fail in a rather spectacular manner (look up power supply explosions on youtube).

As for the GPU, yes a 960 should run a 1080p monitor with games at high settings. However, if you want to save a bit of money, I'd buy a 970. It has the infamous 3.5gb of memory problem, but at 1080p, and probably even 1440p, that wouldn't be a problem. I have a 970 from EVGA, and it's one of my favorite things. Regardless of brand, a 970 will generally be the best price/performance card.

And if you want some advice for the processor, go with the i5-4690k. It overclocks very well, and it doesn't suffer from availability problems, unlike the newer versions. On top of that, it sacrifices basically no performance to the newer version.

 

[danino29]

Do yourself a favor and get a name brand power supply, first off. Off brand, or less heard of PSUs can often fail in a rather spectacular manner (look up power supply explosions on youtube).

As for the GPU, yes a 960 should run a 1080p monitor with games at high settings. However, if you want to save a bit of money, I'd buy a 970. It has the infamous 3.5gb of memory problem, but at 1080p, and probably even 1440p, that wouldn't be a problem. I have a 970 from EVGA, and it's one of my favorite things. Regardless of brand, a 970 will generally be the best price/performance card.

And if you want some advice for the processor, go with the i5-4690k. It overclocks very well, and it doesn't suffer from availability problems, unlike the newer versions. On top of that, it sacrifices basically no performance to the newer version.

Hey. Thanks for the fast response. Yeah i know that not known brands suck but i am pretty sure that FORTRON is a well known. Havent you heard of it? It is very stable and hasn't done any problems to me yet. Isn't the 970 twice more expensive? I was thinking of exactly 4690k So are you sure about the psu and the 970 (because it is much more expensive)

 

[geofelt]

Fortron is a reasonably good psu manufacturer.
They make psu's for many other brands.
Their units are tier 2-3 on this list:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

So long as it keeps working, I would not change it out.
It should be good for a card as good as a GTX970.

Your R7-265 is a decent card. The GTX960 is only two tiers higher on this list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
You run the risk that you will be disappointed if you do not see good results.
In part, that might be because of relatively weak FX cores.

I suggest you play your games with the new monitor and see how you do.
Here are some tests to see how much your cpu or gpu are limiting you.

------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

 

[danino29]

Fortron is a reasonably good psu manufacturer.
They make psu's for many other brands.
Their units are tier 2-3 on this list:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

So long as it keeps working, I would not change it out.
It should be good for a card as good as a GTX970.

Your R7-265 is a decent card. The GTX960 is only two tiers higher on this list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
You run the risk that you will be disappointed if you do not see good results.
In part, that might be because of relatively weak FX cores.

I suggest you play your games with the new monitor and see how you do.
Here are some tests to see how much your cpu or gpu are limiting you.

------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for the long and informative answer! I guess i will do so. I will wait and test the monitor and the games and if i see a big difference i will text you again. So do you have any better proposal than the gtx 960? If i can save this money it will be great. I am also recording videos for youtube and not very often stream.

 

[Lord_Sunday123]

Ok so, referencing PCPartPicker.

960 from EVGA: Click me!

• 
  ■ Roughly $240 USD depending on what you choose. Add in shipping and you could be paying around 250, give or take $20 depending on your chosen card.
  ■ Slightly budget oriented so you might not get the best performance out of stressful games. Not to say they won't still be great, but you may need to lower things.
  ■ Somewhat slow memory bus speed. Shouldn't affect you, but you never know for sure.

970 from EVGA: Click me!

• 
  ■ Roughly $340 USD, depending on card. Factor in an extra 10 to 20 dollars for shipping. Could pay roughly $360 depending on card.
  ■ Best price to performance card Nvidia currently has. This card should be future proof for several years.
  ■ Memory bus is wider, meaning less bottlenecks in a RAM intensive game.
  ■ Does have the 3.5gb/0.5gb memory problem. All 4gb of RAM is there, but the last .5 is much slower. Should not affect gameplay on a 1080p monitor.

Now, if I was to choose 2 cards, one 960 and one 970, I'd choose these.

960: Click me!
The price to performance for this card, is pretty good. It has the 4gb of ram, and should run just about as well as the higher priced 960s.

970: Click me!
This is probably the best choice for future proofing, without spending a super huge amount of money now. It costs roughly $100 dollars more than the 960, but depending on your use and when you plan to upgrade again, it might be worth it to spend a little more now, and none later.

 

[danino29]

Ok so, referencing PCPartPicker.

960 from EVGA: Click me!

• 
  ■ Roughly $240 USD depending on what you choose. Add in shipping and you could be paying around 250, give or take $20 depending on your chosen card.
  ■ Slightly budget oriented so you might not get the best performance out of stressful games. Not to say they won't still be great, but you may need to lower things.
  ■ Somewhat slow memory bus speed. Shouldn't affect you, but you never know for sure.

970 from EVGA: Click me!

• 
  ■ Roughly $340 USD, depending on card. Factor in an extra 10 to 20 dollars for shipping. Could pay roughly $360 depending on card.
  ■ Best price to performance card Nvidia currently has. This card should be future proof for several years.
  ■ Memory bus is wider, meaning less bottlenecks in a RAM intensive game.
  ■ Does have the 3.5gb/0.5gb memory problem. All 4gb of RAM is there, but the last .5 is much slower. Should not affect gameplay on a 1080p monitor.

Now, if I was to choose 2 cards, one 960 and one 970, I'd choose these.

960: Click me!
The price to performance for this card, is pretty good. It has the 4gb of ram, and should run just about as well as the higher priced 960s.

970: Click me!
This is probably the best choice for future proofing, without spending a super huge amount of money now. It costs roughly $100 dollars more than the 960, but depending on your use and when you plan to upgrade again, it might be worth it to spend a little more now, and none later.

sadly my budget cant go over 250$. I really want a gpu that will run games at good settings in the future, I play mostly GTA 5, FIFA AND CSGO. Maybe sometimes if i get hyped for any other game(which happens pretty rarely) i would download it and play. Considering these 3 games. I even hope that i could still play them on my 1080 p with this r7. What do you think? Because i dont want to be giving 100-200$ just for nothing. Ive already experienced this and sold a couple gpus. So basically i am not 100% sure. As i said i need to check first how these 3 games run and if they run over 40-50 fps it will be great.


EDIT : what is the approximate fps you think i will run these games at ?

 

[Lord_Sunday123]

Compare these two results: Battlefield 4 on the 960 and on the R7 265

960: Clicky!

R7 265: Clicky!

I know this isn't one of the games you play, but it creates a baseline to go by. The 960 theoretically performs roughly 10fps better in that game. That being said, if you aren't limited by CPU, you might be ok with just the R7, assuming you don't mind the FPS. You probably would also need to drop some settings, as these were tested on Ultra.

I think if not limited by cpu, and it works fine for you, then save what money you have, and maybe save a bit more and upgrade later, maybe you could end up getting something even better.

 

[badboyrog2]

get an other psu if you want to supply a gtx 970 , you will need pcie connector

get a seasonic/xfx/antec hcg-truepower-edge/evga g2-b2-gs

forton are sold by FSP a good company ...but not this model of psu (fortron) no haswell approved and not sli approved

 

[geofelt]

You mostly get what you pay for on a mid range graphics card on a price/performance basis.
AMD vs, nvidia are equivalent. R9 cards in general, require 75w more than the equivalent Maxwell cards from nvidia.
If GTX960 is right, I would buy the 2gb version unless the price difference is small.
Here is an older study of 2gb vs. 4gb.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/

 

[danino29]

Hey lads! I got the monitor and i must say it is AMAZING! I see a big difference in quality but sadly in fps too. x( Yhe games are running pretty good (fifa 16 runs on 60 fps but when i try to record it goes down to 30-40...) In csgo the difference is about 70-80 fps and is pretty noticeable and disturbing) on gta 5 i lowered down the settings on normal and i get 40-60 fps when not recording and around 20-40 when recording.. Any ideas what should i do ?