New Graphics Card - GTX960 vs 970 - Gaming

[Aleister Crowley]

My current PC is

PSU 600W
Sabertooth iZ77
Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
MSI GeForce GTX660 TF OC
An LG 1920x1080 monitor
Windows 8.1

I'm looking to upgrade my card, either to a GTX960 or 970.

I was told that the performance difference between the 960 and 970 at this stage was negligible and that I should use the price difference to get an SSD. I have no interest in the SSD loading difference not even for my everyday studies and I was thinking about keeping my HDD and getting a MSI GeForce GTX970 OC 4GB GDDR5 and some 8GB RAM.

Can I take advantage of what the 970 has to offer? Is it more future proof as I eventually upgrade the rest?

 

[Suztera]

The performance difference between the two is subjective. If you prefer to be nearer 60fps at ultra settings in most games, the gTX 970 will be closer to that.
If you happy with 30fps then the GTX 960 will serve you well then.

 

[BSOD BSTD]

You'll get much better performance with a 970, hence the large price diference:

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-970-vs-Nvidia-GTX-960/2577vs3165

the 960 is a budget 'scaled down' maxwell architecture card, and only has 2gb VRAM as opposed to the 970's 4gb.

All that said, I have a 960 and its still a great card for the money

 

[Aleister Crowley]

Well, in this case the 960 would be the Asus GeForce GTX 960 Strix DC2 OC 4GB.

And yes, I would go for the 60FPS at high settings if possible, it's for gaming after all.

Considering the price difference is around 100 EUR I might go for the 970.

The thing is, can I take advantage of the 970. With my current build, that is?

 

[Suztera]

Well, in this case the 960 would be the Asus GeForce GTX 960 Strix DC2 OC 4GB.

And yes, I would go for the 60FPS at high settings if possible, it's for gaming after all.

Considering the price difference is around 100 EUR I might go for the 970.

The thing is, can I take advantage of the 970. With my current build, that is?

Yes. Your cpu is fine. if you have 8GB of ram already, you are fine.
What psu do you have? Model and brand?

 

[Aleister Crowley]

Well, in this case the 960 would be the Asus GeForce GTX 960 Strix DC2 OC 4GB.

And yes, I would go for the 60FPS at high settings if possible, it's for gaming after all.

Considering the price difference is around 100 EUR I might go for the 970.

The thing is, can I take advantage of the 970. With my current build, that is?

Yes. Your cpu is fine. if you have 8GB of ram already, you are fine.
What psu do you have? Model and brand?

Aerocool Strike-X 600W Bronze Modular

 

[Suztera]

Well, in this case the 960 would be the Asus GeForce GTX 960 Strix DC2 OC 4GB.

And yes, I would go for the 60FPS at high settings if possible, it's for gaming after all.

Considering the price difference is around 100 EUR I might go for the 970.

The thing is, can I take advantage of the 970. With my current build, that is?

Yes. Your cpu is fine. if you have 8GB of ram already, you are fine.
What psu do you have? Model and brand?

Aerocool Strike-X 600W Bronze Modular

It's an ok good psu but I wouldn't trust a high end build with that psu.

 

[Aleister Crowley]

Well, in this case the 960 would be the Asus GeForce GTX 960 Strix DC2 OC 4GB.

And yes, I would go for the 60FPS at high settings if possible, it's for gaming after all.

Considering the price difference is around 100 EUR I might go for the 970.

The thing is, can I take advantage of the 970. With my current build, that is?

Yes. Your cpu is fine. if you have 8GB of ram already, you are fine.
What psu do you have? Model and brand?

Aerocool Strike-X 600W Bronze Modular

It's an ok good psu but I wouldn't trust a high end build with that psu.

But is it good enough for just this GPU change? And what would you recommend in the future?

 

[madmatt30]

Yes it'll run a 970.
A 970 would be a good fit for your system ,whoever told you performance difference between is negligible between a 960 & 970 is an idiot - you're looking at around a 80% performance gain!!

PSU upgrade wise ,anything 550w+ from antec ,xfx or seasonic

 

[turbopixel]

Look at benchmarks of games. These are heavy graphics card using games, but you can see how different the cards are. You can't ignore it and call it negligible. There are games and applications, which will heavily use your cpu and not that much the graphics card. These games are in example Civilization. Then you can talk about negligible. The 970 would fit perfectly to your system. It is worth the money, in my opinion.

Metro: Last Light FPS Benchmark
Very high settings, 1080p
GTX 960: 52 fps
GTX 970: 73 fps
> http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/1790-nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-game-fps-benchmark-review/Page-2

Assassin's Creed Unity
Low detail settings, 1080p
GTX 960: 35 fps
GTX 970: 72 fps
> http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960,4038-4.html

 

[FrustratedTechie]

Look at all the problems people have had with the GTX960 HDMI port too! - I'm one of them.

 

[turbopixel]

The last posting was in july and the thread is marked as done. No need to revive.