AMD Radeon R9 280x 3GB or NVIDIA GTX 960 4GB EVGA Superclocked

[MikeD1996]

I'm building a new PC because my laptop is now trash from IBP after a few years. I have about a $1300-$1400 budget and my desktop I built costs $1315. One thing I'm going back and forth between is what the better choice for a graphics card would be? I know NVIDIA is the more I guess liked brand but for bang for my buck I've heard AMD Radeon R9 280x 3GB out performs a NVIDIA GTX 960. Is this true, is there a better choice? (Obviously I could get GTX 970 but it'd cost me another $100+. Here's the specs I currently have in the computer I built if this helps you decide what would be better for me. Thanks again.

Processor 1 x Intel® Core™ i7-4790 Processor (4x 3.60GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
Processor Cooling 1 x Corsair Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooling System (Copper plate for best cooling performance)*Intel - ARC Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade
Memory 1 x 8 GB [4 GB x2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance
Video Card: AMD Radeon R9 280x 3GB or NVIDIA GTX 960 4GB EVGA Superclocked
Motherboard 1 x Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI -- FREE Upgrade to Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 -- 3x PCIe x16, 4x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0
Power Supply 1 x 750 Watt - Corsair CX750 - 80 PLUS Bronze
Primary Hard Drive 1 x 1 TB Hard Drive + [FREE] 120GB Kingston V300 SSD
Optical Drive 1 x 24x Dual Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black
Media Card Reader / Writer 1 x 12-In-1 Internal Media Card Reader/Writer - Black

 

[Gam3r01]

The 280x is easily the better of the two.
However, for 1300 you can do much better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($348.93 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1214.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-16 22:14 EDT-0400

You can upgrade the GPU even further if you wish to spend more of the budget.

 

[MikeD1996]

The 280x is easily the better of the two.
However, for 1300 you can do much better.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($348.93 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1214.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-16 22:14 EDT-0400

You can upgrade the GPU even further if you wish to spend more of the budget.

Thanks a lot. I was contemplating building my own pc but thought with the "sale" going on for IBP it would be fine pricing wise but this opened my eyes. Only thing I did was upgraded the processor to Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor and changed the case to something more of my liking. In your personal preference will this PC perform noticeably better than the one I originally built?

 

[Gam3r01]

The i7 is up to you, it will fit fine.
The case is fine to change as well.

The main draws are a better graphics card, by 40-60%, a better PSU, and a better SSD.

 

[MikeD1996]

The i7 is up to you, it will fit fine.
The case is fine to change as well.

The main draws are a better graphics card, by 40-60%, a better PSU, and a better SSD.

okay thanks a lot again. You've swayed me definitely going to build this PC almost to a T.

 

[Jomari Gonzales]

here is an alternative build and comparing it to @Gam3r01 suggestion, this maximizes GPU over anything else.
this just basically shows what is currently offered in the market, but i guess ir would be wiser to check releasing of AMD new cards for the next couple of weeks, there will definitely be pricing movement of most if not all cards

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.75 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Video Card ($615.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($133.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1378.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-16 22:52 EDT-0400

 

[Jimyhf2]

I had to return my GTX 960 4G as performance was kind of disappointing. This card shouldn't cost more than $150 with 128bit memory and 4GB should come standard in $200 price range. Save some money and get R9 Fury Nano.