GPU Upgrade Performance

[FxPhysx]

So I was looking to buy a Gt 740 but then decided against it and looking for something more powerful. Highest rated card I can afford will be 2gb r7 370, the nvidia Gtx 960 is about 30% more expensive and out of my budget. My resolution won't be higher than 1080p, looking to run all and upcoming games at least at medium details. So is the 370 really necessary or would a r7 260x do the job? Note that buying the 370 would take me at least 3 months extra to have enough cash for a cpu upgrade I will do and need, so getting a r7 260x would cut that time in half. Any other suggestions? How does the r7 360 perform? Anyone have any news on nvidia gtx 950Ti coming which I should wait for?

 

[Forgotten031511]

What games do you expect to be playing, just saying all upcoming games doesn't really clarify what you are expecting. For example, Witcher 3 and GTA V take a lot of power to run those games, even at 1080p.

 

[ubercake]

The GT 740 wouldn't give you much performance above integrated, so good decision not to go with it.

Wait the three months extra and get the R7 370. Or better yet, wait a fourth month and get the GTX 960. You won't be sorry. You'll find it's well worth the wait. And four months is not long.

 

[Forgotten031511]

I agree with ubercake, if you are gonna upgrade...do it the right way. Otherwise you will be upgrading again in a few months with the same issue and spend more money on out-dated parts.

Save for the GTX 960 if you can, or better yet the GTX 970/R9 390

 

[FxPhysx]

Yes I try to aim for good performance in witcher 3 because I believe it's currently the most demanding title. Medium details will be fine. Well the Gtx 960 is that 30% more expensive with only 27% extra performance over 370 I believe? That's why I'm asking, is the 370 necessary for my needs or will something lower do the job? Or will the 960 really be needed?

 

[Forgotten031511]

Performance in a game is much more than just the GPU. I could put a GTX 980 Ti into my old rig and not the performance the benchmarks show.

What are your complete system specs?

 

[FxPhysx]

I'm located in South africa, the Gtx 960 2gb runs around $285 and the 370 around $240. That's crazy prices compared to US prices.

 

[ubercake]

Yes I try to aim for good performance in witcher 3 because I believe it's currently the most demanding title. Medium details will be fine. Well the Gtx 960 is that 30% more expensive with only 27% extra performance over 370 I believe? That's why I'm asking, is the 370 necessary for my needs or will something lower do the job? Or will the 960 really be needed?

As you go higher up the graphics card price ladder, the performance increases decrease for sure from one GPU to the next. Those regressive differences in performance are the differences between stuttery performance and smooth performance or turning eye candy on or off.

Witcher 3 is pretty demanding especially during some cut scenes. It reminds me of how Crysis 3 runs. The game will run smoothly and they get to the cut scenes and the frame rates tank. Maybe they do things like this so people everywhere say "Can it play Crysis 3?". Free advertising.

 

[FxPhysx]

No I will only be using the card once I build my new system so current specs doesn't matter. It will be core i5, 8gb ram probably @ 1080p.

 

[Evan7899]

I'm located in South africa, the Gtx 960 2gb runs around $285 and the 370 around $240. That's crazy prices compared to US prices.

Ya thats about the same as in Canada, a 2GB 960 runs about $290 before tax. What I do is order off of Amazon.com which is so much cheaper to boot and once I have paid shipping, tax, and import fees I am still quite a bit under the list price of the exact same Amazon.ca card, before tax and shipping. For example, after tax, import, and shipping the 970 I am getting will be $416.75 for the amazon.com card, and then the exact same amazon.ca card is $500 before tax and shipping, after all fees it is around $565. By doing this alone I am saving about $150, a HUGE difference when it comes to budget oriented buying. I would recommend trying to order off of the US amazon but I do not know south African shipping and import so it might not be worth your time.

 

[FxPhysx]

If I remember correctly, there is a company who ships items for you from the US for about $60. But yes it's worth looking into if amazon does ship to SA.

 

[jeffredo]

The GT 740 wouldn't give you much performance above integrated, so good decision not to go with it.

Its a rebranded GTX 650 and yes, its better than integrated graphics by a decent amount (probably twice as fast as HD 4600). That said, an R7 260X is a good 60% faster than a GT 740. I have a GTX 650 2GB and an R7 360 in my ossession right now. The R7 360 is much faster. I can run WoW Warlords of Draenor on mostly Ultra settings (few dropped down to "High") and stay at 60 FPS on a 1920x1200 monitor. The GTX 650 (GR 740) needs a mix of "Medium" and "Good" to do the same FPS. The R7 360 can also do Skyrim on Ultra with 4X AA and keep 60 FPS at that resolution as well. The Gigabyte R7 360 I have has a high factory overclock (1200 vs 1050 Mhz for stock) so its probably about like an R7 260X in speed. These are tested with an i5 4690k. I also own a GTX 960 2GB and its of course much better than either, but if the OP is really stretched getting that card and would take months more saving I'd be almost inclined to stay get the R7 260X. Its OK for 1080p gaming on medium settings (and probably would be for a couple years more).

 

[Evan7899]

If I remember correctly, there is a company who ships items for you from the US for about $60. But yes it's worth looking into if amazon does ship to SA.

I understand your situation as a student on a budget so every penny counts. I am fortunate to be so close to the US so I don't pay too much for shipping etc, but Canada and their stupid import laws cost a lot when buying outside of the country. Definetly look in to it because it may end up saving you money, a lot or a little but it helps.

 

[ubercake]

The GT 740 wouldn't give you much performance above integrated, so good decision not to go with it.

Its a rebranded GTX 650 and yes, its better than integrated graphics by a decent amount (probably twice as fast as HD 4600). That said, an R7 260X is a good 60% faster than a GT 740. I have a GTX 650 2GB and an R7 360 in my ossession right now. The R7 360 is much faster. I can run WoW Warlords of Draenor on mostly Ultra settings (few dropped down to "High") and stay at 60 FPS on a 1920x1200 monitor. The GTX 650 (GR 740) needs a mix of "Medium" and "Good" to do the same FPS. The R7 360 can also do Skyrim on Ultra with 4X AA and keep 60 FPS at that resolution as well. The Gigabyte R7 360 I have has a high factory overclock (1200 vs 1050 Mhz for stock) so its probably about like an R7 260X in speed. These are tested with an i5 4690k. I also own a GTX 960 2GB and its of course much better than either, but if the OP is really stretched getting that card and would take months more saving I'd be almost inclined to stay get the R7 260X. Its OK for 1080p gaming on medium settings (and probably would be for a couple years more).

What benchmarks are you referring to for the GT 740? It doesn't seem like any sites have reviewed it from a gaming standpoint. Plenty have reviewed the GTX 650 as well as integrated video though. At any rate, a 650 isn't going to give you good results with a game like Witcher 3:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/the_witcher_3_graphics_performance_review,5.html

Check out the 1080p/1200p (where "the performance difference to 1080P and 1200P is marginal at best").Here we can see that even if we add what might be 25% back to the GTX 760 by turning AA off we'd be looking a 26 fps on Ultra. Turn off any lighting effects or others and we might gain back another 10 % for a whopping 29fps and draw distance may give us another 10% for 30-ish frames. We can keep taking graphical functionality away, but average framerates even with a 760 won't be much beyond the high 30s at medium details.

I would like to see if you have any benchmarks you can link with regard to factual data (especially with Skyrim).

You're saying you get performance similar to a R7 260X with your overclocked R7 360 with 4xAA and maintain 60fps? Here's a benchmark with an R7 260x AVERAGING 48.4 fps at 1080p:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R7_260X/21.html

You're pulling 60fps + consistently?

Are you sure this is a good comparison (R7 360 OC'd with R7 260X)? If so, please let us know where someone has benchmarked these things.

Also, I added a GTX 650 to a system that only had integrated graphics at one point in time and yes that made any MMORPG run like a champ compared to the integrated, but try running any graphically intensive FPS on the same card and not so. This machine now has a GTX 960 on it and just about anything runs great at medium, high or ultra settings at 1080p resolution depending on how graphically demanding a title is.

But hey, I haven't seen every benchmark out there. If you can find a review for a GT 740 that also includes a GTX 650 and their performance with the latest AAA titles, I'd like to take a look.