Nvidia Geforce Gtx 950 vs Gtx 960. Is it worth the extra $10?

ncilexie12

Commendable
May 21, 2016
3
0
1,510
Hi everyone, I was wondering if there was substantial difference between the Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 SSC 2GB gpu and the Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 SSC 2GB gpu. I'm looking for a graphics card that will play games such as Skyrim, Dark Souls, and some online games such as Smite, that won't take me over $200. My laptop doesn't have enough computing power for these games, so I've decided to build a new desktop. So far I have:
Case: Inwin GT 1 Mid Tower
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P
CPU: AMD FX 8320
GPU: ??
Memory: Kingston 4GB 1333mhz, will upgrade to 16GB (2x8GB) 1833mhz Kingston DDR3
Power Supply: 500W

Is it worth the extra $10 to buy the 960, or will the 950 work just as well?

Thanks everyone.
 
Solution
First off, I'd note that the SSC would not be on my shopping list ... MSI has better components, cooling (7C cooler), runs quieter and ... because of that ... overclocking.

perf_oc.gif

perf_oc.gif


The EVGA 960 SSC is 11% faster than the reference 960 (43.7 x 1.11 = 48.5 fps) overclocked. That makes the overclocked EVGA 960 SSSC 1.7 fps faster in BF3 than the MSI 950 when both cards are overclocked.

On a price performance basis, the $165 GTX 960 is normally very hard to justify.

GTX 960 $165
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx960gaming2g

GTX 950 $130...
First off, I'd note that the SSC would not be on my shopping list ... MSI has better components, cooling (7C cooler), runs quieter and ... because of that ... overclocking.

perf_oc.gif

perf_oc.gif


The EVGA 960 SSC is 11% faster than the reference 960 (43.7 x 1.11 = 48.5 fps) overclocked. That makes the overclocked EVGA 960 SSSC 1.7 fps faster in BF3 than the MSI 950 when both cards are overclocked.

On a price performance basis, the $165 GTX 960 is normally very hard to justify.

GTX 960 $165
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx960gaming2g

GTX 950 $130
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx9502gd5ocv1

The reference 960 is 18% faster than the reference 960, but comes with a 27% increase in price. That being said, if it was $10, Id be inclined to take the 960 if usimg a reference board or not overclocking ... just not the EVGA one.

If you want to understand why, read the bottom third of pages 2-4 with regard to VRM / Power phases, chokes / other selected components and how each vendor cools their components on the PCB.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/1

However ... as per the above, the extra cost of the 960 brings just 1.7 fps (3.6%) in BF3 when both cards are overclocked. At the normal $35 difference in cost, that decision is easy in favor of the 950. At $10... still you getting less of a ROI when both cards are overclocked but Id be hard pressed either way to say either one is a bad choice.
 
Solution