GeForce GTX 970 vs GeForce GTX 960 worth the extra money?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
V

Viperk8b

Distinguished
Feb 3, 2012
69
0
18,630
So im the process of a new build and now ive come to the Graphics card and I thought I had my mind made up on a GTX 960 but now im not so sure, I have people telling me that the 970 and its 4gb is leaps and bounds better, I was gonna get the 960 but now im considering waiting for the extra cash and shelling and extra 120$ for the 970, so my question is.. Is the 970 worth the extra 120$? or is the 960 more then enough? I want to Stream WoW CS:GO Diablo 3, FarCry 4, and anything else coming out in the near future. thank in advance.
 
Solution
coozie7
Nice build just a few observations:

There's no extra CPU cooler, so I'm guessing you'll add one and overclock maybe a year or two down the line to extend the system life (which is what I'm planning with my i5 4690K). If you don't ever intend to overclock you can trim the budget with a non 'K' CPU (Toms suggests the i5 4460) http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32901-4.html and a 'H' series motherboard.

If you opt for a R9 290 and intend to overclock I'd add 50 to 100Watts to the powersupply otherwise at stock speeds the CX600 is fine, although plenty here will tell you it uses lower quality parts than some-true-it's only possible issue is a shorter lifespan than you'll get with a full, top notch part but...
Sort by date Sort by votes
WoW, CS:GO, nor Diablo 3 are that hard on your graphics card, but FarCry4 is, so you need to choose, is FarCry4 worth 120 dollars or not, It will be playable with 960 aswell, just not with so high settings. Afterall both graphics cards have great value, and you really cannot go wrong, cheers for your new pc!
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
BF4-FR_r_600x450.png


FC4-FR_r_600x450.png


Short answer: Yes, depending on how anal you are about your minimums (The slightest drop below 60 for me makes me cringe a bit).

By the way, the GTX 970 has 4 GB of VRAM, but there was this whole PR debacle for Nvidia recently because while 3.5 GB of its VRAM performs normally, the last 512 MB of it performs quite badly at only 1866 MHz or so (as opposed to the over 7000 MHz I believe the rest of its VRAM operates at). It'll still be faster than desktop memory since it's on the GPU board itself, but it's worth noting. But for 1080p, 60 fps gaming, you won't have any trouble. Far more future proof.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I guess alot of my Problem stems from my over all cash on hand, it would put my build back a bit if I go with the 970 because I would have to wait for more cash to come in. Im buying the whole build in pieces over a month or month and a half span so it could push it back to maybe 3 months. Will going with the 960 in turn be more of a pain to me in general over say the 3 month wait?

Is there another card near the performance of the 970 at a lighter cost?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


These are often viable options, but it depends where you live, in some places the prices are nearly identical.
If you want to make your computer more futureproof I would recommend going with the Nvidia GTX 9XX cards since they are supposedly going to have FULL direct x 12 support while the AMD cards will not have that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


From what I have red, the AMD cards will only have a partial support, which is fine, but they won´t benefit fully from dx12 and the 900 series will have full support, I need to look into this.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Can you post your current/planned specs? If we know exactly what you have already purchased (or intend to purchase) for this new build we can better match our advice.
What sticks in my mind is "FarCry 4, and anything else coming out in the near future." the other games mentioned would be easily handled by a GTX960, even at 1440 rez but you'll really want the extra horsepower of the GTX970 or R9 290 for the future and FC4 for the now.
The R9 290 is a viable alternative but prices do vary according to territory and it will need a stronger power supply and better ventilated case to tame its greater power consumption and heat output over the GTX970.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Come on with this cr*p already. That issue is practically nonexistent at 1080p. For someone deciding between a 960 and a 970, the extra 1.5GB RAM is more than enough.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
So do I lol. Things are quite unclear.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


It´s true 970 is way more efficient, and will require less power and cooling -- and is going to be more silent, if you intend to stream then you might want to take that into account, less heat = less need for high rpm on fans
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I doubt the DX12 support issue will be fully clarified until Microsoft get a lot closer to releasing Win10 and DX12, we're all to well aware as to how things change during development, besides, I doubt DX12 will become relevant any time soon.

@BlueMihai: I defy you to call my Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 OC noisy. Or, at 73C under the torture that is Furmark , hot.
And yes, I know the difference between heat and temperature. 😉
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

True, unless it's a huge success, and they release DX12 patches for old games.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I've read of one existing game getting a DX12 patch soon, but I don't remember which. I think its benefits are much greater than prior DX levels, such as that devs will jump on it a lot faster.

I really need to upgrade my HD-6850, but I'm not going to until the DX12 feature levels are completely set and everything is clear on what is supported by which cards. Although a $180 R9 280 is VERY tempting right now...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


This is not etched in stone but the build seems to look like this
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Viperk8b/saved/#view=cwZH99


My only main problem as far as the 970 goes is my funds. :/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Don't worry both are good graphics cards for the money, honestly you can play decently with the 960 as well, do not stress about it 😀. If you are planning to buy your computer parts individually over time, you could just get the graphics card last. Both cards are great.

Edit: your 1st build doesn't have a PA.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yday the graphics card will be last and depending on how much I have at that time will determine which card I get, now I'm not sure if I missed it or not but we're both cards dx12 ready?
'
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


They both are supposed to have full dx12 support. Or rather they support the directx12.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Nice build just a few observations:

There's no extra CPU cooler, so I'm guessing you'll add one and overclock maybe a year or two down the line to extend the system life (which is what I'm planning with my i5 4690K). If you don't ever intend to overclock you can trim the budget with a non 'K' CPU (Toms suggests the i5 4460) http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32901-4.html and a 'H' series motherboard.

If you opt for a R9 290 and intend to overclock I'd add 50 to 100Watts to the powersupply otherwise at stock speeds the CX600 is fine, although plenty here will tell you it uses lower quality parts than some-true-it's only possible issue is a shorter lifespan than you'll get with a full, top notch part but TBH by the time a typical user has reached anything like that level of use they'll be old and grey.

GTX960: Fine for most games at 1080 rez on a single display but it's limited 2Gb of memory is going to be an issue sooner rather than later if you're looking for very high eye candy so look out for the 4Gb versions when you come to 'add to basket'.
GTX970: The best high end part available for the money. Ever. Most expensive option but the performance is just enormous; far too much for most games at 1080 rez unless you get really, really heavy with either DSR or AA. Expect it to last so try for one with a long warranty! If mine hadn't have been such a bi*** I'd still have it.
R9 290: Falls between the Nvidia parts, a good deal faster than the GTX960 and with a standard 4Gb of memory but a little slower than the GTX970.
Burns more power but isn't so fussy about the choice of power supply as Maxwell cards seem to be and produces more heat. Right now it's the best value for raw performance thanks to the current price cuts. The three fan models are the ones to go for if you want quiet. The Carbide case has more than enough ventilation BTW.

For many Nvidia really shines with its added software features like DSR, PhysX, Shadowplay and an extended range of AA options.
AMD has a similar feature to the Geforce Experience/shadowplay with Raptr but has no answer to either DSR or PhysX and #Mantle uptake seems very limited at this time.
I'm just going to say in all the years I've been using PC systems the only driver issues I've had from either company have been self inflicted, mainly caused by non certified third party addons.

DX12 is still, for me at least, a moot point, it'll be at least a couple of years before we start seeing purpose coded DX12 titles in any numbers and until the final code is released and tests are run there's only speculation as to how each card is going to deal with it, I've seen far to many broken promises in the past to do anything more than take a 'wait and see' position.

I think you have all the facts now so it's your choice, Neo: Do you take the Red pill, or the Green?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom