Good upgrade from GeForce 560 Ti Twin Frozr II

[Guest]

I used to have the MSI GeForce 560 Ti Twin Frozr II @ 1Gb and I was thinking of upgrading to the 960. Is there a good upgrade for a decent price? And what brand is good for GPU? I have the EVGA 960 @ 2Gb picked out, but if there's something other than that for a good upgrade then please let me know.

PS. I'll need a good upgrade to handle streaming for Twitch (using OBS software), gaming and using dual monitors (one for my game and another for my twitch chat and OBS software)

 

[RobCrezz]

Yeah either the 950 or 960 is a very good upgrade.

 

[GMDS44]

For a bit more $$ you can get a R9 380 with 4GB of VRAM and better performance. Well worth it

 

[RobCrezz]

Historically OBS worked much better with Nvidia cards and could use the build in encoder to keep performance good and the quality was usually better. Not sure if it works better with AMD now or not.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply! ^^ So what's better for my needs listed above? The R9 380? Or the GeForce 960? I'm not really into ATI graphics, but there's always a first for everything. 😛

 

[RobCrezz]

Both the 960 and 380 perform similarly, so not much to lose between either. The 380 performs slightly better, so if that matters, go for that. The 960 uses less power and therefore creates less heat, also in my experience Nvidias drivers are usually better, but im sure people have different experiences with both.

 

[Guest]

Ah, thanks! I did find this card just now and I think it's a good one. ^^ http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00SD9KZA0/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?qid=1440773667&sr=8-16&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=gtx+960&dpPl=1&dpID=51W1w9RRwFL&ref=plSrch

 

[GMDS44]

You are in canada?? DONT buy from amazon
My favourite site is NCIX (only 1 tax in Quebec for me yay!)

If you decide to get a GTX 960 --> http://www.ncix.com/detail/evga-geforce-gtx-960-supersc-dd-105153-1563.htm
If you decide to get a R9 380 --> http://www.ncix.com/detail/club3d-radeon-r9-380-980mhz-bf-110335-1912.htm

The reason I recommended the R9 380 is because I consider it to be the best bang for the buck at that price.
It has double the VRAM and bandwitch of a GTX 960 and with DirectX12 games coming soon, there is no doubt the R9 380 is the better choice.
Nvidia's drivers were more frequently updated in 2014 than AMD's, that is true. However in 2015 it has changed.
The power consumption is not a big issue here in Canada (130W on the 960 vs 180W on the 380) Not to mention the 380 is only 3-4C hotter during load than the GTX 960, so I wouldnt worry about that.

In the end, it's your choice NVIDIA or AMD they all have their pros and cons.
I personally stopped buying NVIDIA since the GTX 970 fiasco.

Good luck with your purchase

 

[RobCrezz]

GMDS44,

Just because its only 3-4'c hotter under load, doesnt mean its not creating a LOT more heat in the case - That said, the extra heat could be a good thing in Canada, I experienced -30'c in Alberta in January! 😛

 

[Guest]

Ooooooo! :O Thanks very much! I might make the switch to ATI, and get the R9 380 for sure. Will I notice a huge performance increase? Also, the R9 380 only has a GPU base clock of 980Mhz, and the gtx 960 has 1.2Mhz. Will that be a bad thing?

 

[GMDS44]

GMDS44,

Just because its only 3-4'c hotter under load, doesnt mean its not creating a LOT more heat in the case - That said, the extra heat could be a good thing in Canada, I experienced -30'c in Alberta in January! 😛

Your case will not melt from the inside for that temperature difference, specially if the case has good airflow (like most modern branded cases do).
My r9 280x runs even "hotter" than the r9 380 and while gaming it never goes above 62C on my cheap cooler master n200 😀