How much does Core clock affect performance?

[iViscosity]

I'm debating which to get, a GTX 950 @ 1.08 GHz (2GB VRAM), or a 950 @ 1.17GHz with 2GB VRAM, and they're about $40 apart. So my question is, how much does core clock affect the performance of a GPU? Which should I get? Budget isn't too tight, so it doesn't play a factor in that decision.

 

[Anonymouselite5]

These are the boost clocks of the cards correct of different brands?
Not sure which exact models of the same card you're looking at, but the difference of 90mhz will have a small effect on gaming performance depending on the architecture. Probably around 4-6fps difference, so in my opinion that $40 extra isnt worth it.
Also something to note, is that usually factory overclocks on cards like this, mean that you could yourself manually overclock your card easily without any hassle. Since usually brands like to make sure their cards are 100% stable so that means most GTX 950's should be able to reach the same clocks.

So in my opinion, go with the cheaper card (as long as the cooler is just as good) and just clock it up anyways to match the other card 😉

-good luck

 

[Chugalug_]

$40 isn't worth it for the small increase in performance, if it was $5-10 then yeah sure go for it, but that price gap is way too high. :/

 

[iViscosity]

These are the core clocks.
1.08: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/F2mxFT/msi-video-card-gtx9502gd5ocv1
1.17: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/FDx9TW/evga-video-card-02gp42956kr

MSI vs EVGA

I'm leaning towards the 1.08 as I don't necessarily need the power; the most demanding games I play is cod: ghosts (I can't actually run it on this laptop, and Overwatch. As you may know, these are not extremely demanding games, and the 950 could easily run them around medium-high settings, so the 1.08GHz (even overclocked, which I don't know how to do) could easily run them, so that's probably the best option.

Edit: This is my whole build, if you're wondering.
(Changed build URL, just realized RAM was not supported by mobo.

 

[dontlistentome]

One consideration is that many times the higher clocked version has a higher quality heatsink/fan cooling solution. This can result in the card running cooler, therefore quieter even though it's clocked faster. If you buy the lower clocked version, it likely has a very basic heatsink/fan on it. So when you overclock it, it's going to run hotter and be noisier.