R9 380 vs GTX 960 (4gb)

[ben3591]

Hello! Right as i was about to purchase the GTX 960 4gb edition i found out about the new amd equivalent the R9 380. Seeing as though it is around the same price range i was wondering which one is better. In the benchmarks the r9 380 does look really good with about a 5 frame difference than the GTX 960 and it is also a bit cheaper. But (call me a sucker) the GTX 960 does come with the new Arkham knight which is a nice deal with the card and is one of the reasons why i would pick the nvidia card over the amd.

 

[Eximo]

Should be a 4GB version of the 380 as well, so on paper it looks like the best choice.

I do like the HDMI 2.0 port on the 960, should lead to less complications later. Trading a little performance for a lot less power draw I would call it even.

 

[filippi]

$220 SAPPHIRE NITRO seems a good choice...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202149&cm_re=R9_380-_-14-202-149-_-Product

 

[ben3591]

Should be a 4GB version of the 380 as well, so on paper it looks like the best choice.

I do like the HDMI 2.0 port on the 960, should lead to less complications later. Trading a little performance for a lot less power draw I would call it even.

Yes it is the 4gb version of the r9 380 also do you think that power could be an issue with my power supply with the 380? I have one of those power supplies that are built into the case http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119269&cm_re=cooler_master_elite_350-_-11-119-269-_-Product

 

[HCSn]

The 960 is slightly ahead of the 380 in the benchmarks i've seen. It will also run cooler and consume less power, so in the $200 range I recommend the 960. Although if you're going to get the 4GB version, I would say just get the R9 390 if you have the PSU. If not, the 970. 4GB on a 960 isn't really logical.

 

[Eximo]

Well those are always scary. Looks like you have a Dual 12V 20A supply, but only rating a combined 30A output for both (360W)

So really you have a 400W power supply.

R9-285 has consumption numbers of 176W (dual 6-pin max is 225W)

So for you I think the lower-power 120W GTX960 is the safer choice.

Safest is a new power supply.

 

[ben3591]

Well those are always scary. Looks like you have a Dual 12V 20A supply, but only rating a combined 30A output for both (360W)

So really you have a 400W power supply.

R9-285 has consumption numbers of 176W (dual 6-pin max is 225W)

So for you I think the lower-power 120W GTX960 is the safer choice.

Safest is a new power supply.

Would it be possible with the 380? Im really liking how the card performs but if i absolutely can't run it then the 960 will have to do.
Also about the pin connectors im looking in my case and i only see one 6 pin connector should there be more?

 

[ben3591]

The 960 is slightly ahead of the 380 in the benchmarks i've seen. It will also run cooler and consume less power, so in the $200 range I recommend the 960. Although if you're going to get the 4GB version, I would say just get the R9 390 if you have the PSU. If not, the 970. 4GB on a 960 isn't really logical.

Yea im going with the 4gb because i read an article on how 2gb is getting outdated so i really want to make sure that i can keep this card for atleast 2 years.

 

[HCSn]

The 960 is slightly ahead of the 380 in the benchmarks i've seen. It will also run cooler and consume less power, so in the $200 range I recommend the 960. Although if you're going to get the 4GB version, I would say just get the R9 390 if you have the PSU. If not, the 970. 4GB on a 960 isn't really logical.

Yea im going with the 4gb because i read an article on how 2gb is getting outdated so i really want to make sure that i can keep this card for atleast 2 years.

If you are spending money a card you want to last 2 years, get a 970 or 390. In a year and a half, you will probably be disappointed with a 960 if you're playing things that require 4gb.

 

[ben3591]

The 960 is slightly ahead of the 380 in the benchmarks i've seen. It will also run cooler and consume less power, so in the $200 range I recommend the 960. Although if you're going to get the 4GB version, I would say just get the R9 390 if you have the PSU. If not, the 970. 4GB on a 960 isn't really logical.

Yea im going with the 4gb because i read an article on how 2gb is getting outdated so i really want to make sure that i can keep this card for atleast 2 years.

If you are spending money a card you want to last 2 years, get a 970 or 390. In a year and a half, you will probably be disappointed with a 960 if you're playing things that require 4gb.

I would but they are out of my price range, i live in Canada so the 970 is around $430 and same with the 390. Also i accidentally clicked the solution button

 

[HCSn]

The 960 is slightly ahead of the 380 in the benchmarks i've seen. It will also run cooler and consume less power, so in the $200 range I recommend the 960. Although if you're going to get the 4GB version, I would say just get the R9 390 if you have the PSU. If not, the 970. 4GB on a 960 isn't really logical.

Yea im going with the 4gb because i read an article on how 2gb is getting outdated so i really want to make sure that i can keep this card for atleast 2 years.

If you are spending money a card you want to last 2 years, get a 970 or 390. In a year and a half, you will probably be disappointed with a 960 if you're playing things that require 4gb.

I would but they are out of my price range, i live in Canada so the 970 is around $430 and same with the 390. Also i accidentally clicked the solution button

I just don't think the 4GB is a good compromise. You'd be better off saving a few bucks now and getting a 2GB 960 and getting a better GPU in a year or so. That said, it's still your money and your choice.

I believe you can unselect the solution if you want.

 

[jmanusa6]

In your case I would go with the 4gb 960. Particularly the EVGA 960 4Gb. Ive noticed lots of people saying the 960s 128 bit bus cant fully utilize 4gb vram. That may be true with past video cards with 4gb vram and 128bit bus, but is NOT true for the 900 series as maxwells color compression technology gives
more bandwith one a smaller mem bus. GamersNexus tested this to find the 960 4gb could use nearly the full 4gb when pushed to it. I've tested this my self since I have a EVGA 960 4GB SSC and a 1440p monitor. In some games my 960 is utilizing 3gb+ just fine. So I am very glad I got the 4gb version. It even overclocks very well. I got my 960 running 1475gpu(boost) and 8000vram on stock voltage. Bumping the voltage up a bit I've gotten 1625gpu(boost) and 8200vram. With fans set at 50% its very quiet and has never broke 65c. Also mine has a quite low ASIC score of 67% so really it shouldnt be considered a good overclcker but Its managed to impress me. My last card was a Powercolor 270x DEVIL and this EVGA 960 4gb SSC+ has blown it out of the water. The 380 is a great card for the price but I believe the 960 4gb is a better card overall.

 

[ben3591]

In your case I would go with the 4gb 960. Particularly the EVGA 960 4Gb. Ive noticed lots of people saying the 960s 128 bit bus cant fully utilize 4gb vram. That may be true with past video cards with 4gb vram and 128bit bus, but is NOT true for the 900 series as maxwells color compression technology gives
more bandwith one a smaller mem bus. GamersNexus tested this to find the 960 4gb could use nearly the full 4gb when pushed to it. I've tested this my self since I have a EVGA 960 4GB SSC and a 1440p monitor. In some games my 960 is utilizing 3gb+ just fine. So I am very glad I got the 4gb version. It even overclocks very well. I got my 960 running 1475gpu(boost) and 8000vram on stock voltage. Bumping the voltage up a bit I've gotten 1625gpu(boost) and 8200vram. With fans set at 50% its very quiet and has never broke 65c. Also mine has a quite low ASIC score of 67% so really it shouldnt be considered a good overclcker but Its managed to impress me. My last card was a Powercolor 270x DEVIL and this EVGA 960 4gb SSC+ has blown it out of the water. The 380 is a great card for the price but I believe the 960 4gb is a better card overall.

Yes that is exactly what i went for! For the exception of getting the Asus Strix version due to only having one six pin connector avalible i think i am going to be quite happy about getting the 4gb version. Thanks 😀

 

[EdensRemorse]

Trading a little performance for a lot less power draw I would call it even.

This review here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpNZEW31G0 pitting the 380 and 960 against each other, shows the power consumption under load as more or less equal.

It's also worth noting that some 960s have serious issues with power spikes being forced through the PCIe slot as detailed here - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960,4038-8.html

One final thing I feel makes these two cards less than even is the trend with driver support from each company - AMD has shown it is willing to improve drivers for its cards for literally years. Watching cards like the 290/290x gradually gain performance parity with the 780ti and titan cards(which were/are priced hundreds more), then actually surpass said cards was a clear indicator of how nvidia treats their customers(like shit). That said, look at the performance potential of the 380 - Shaders, TMUs, bus width(yes, it has fancy compression too...). The 380 is in a different class than the 960 despite similar pricing. Over time, those hardware advantages will likely take this card from slightly better performing to remarkably better performing.

Just some thoughts.

 

[ben3591]

Trading a little performance for a lot less power draw I would call it even.

This review here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpNZEW31G0 pitting the 380 and 960 against each other, shows the power consumption under load as more or less equal.

It's also worth noting that some 960s have serious issues with power spikes being forced through the PCIe slot as detailed here - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960,4038-8.html

One final thing I feel makes these two cards less than even is the trend with driver support from each company - AMD has shown it is willing to improve drivers for its cards for literally years. Watching cards like the 290/290x gradually gain performance parity with the 780ti and titan cards(which were/are priced hundreds more), then actually surpass said cards was a clear indicator of how nvidia treats their customers(like shit). That said, look at the performance potential of the 380 - Shaders, TMUs, bus width(yes, it has fancy compression too...). The 380 is in a different class than the 960 despite similar pricing. Over time, those hardware advantages will likely take this card from slightly better performing to remarkably better performing.

Just some thoughts.

Actually the 960 4gb Asus Strix only required a 6 pin compared to the 380 which needed an 8 pin and a 6 pin which i don't have. I also heard from all of my friends who own amd cards that the drivers are inconsistent in their release times and can take several months which is an issue because he said he gets alot of stuttering from his 280 and he needs updated drivers to fix that.

 

[GoinHam]

Hey, i built my gaming rig recently and set it up with the gigabyte r9 380 4Gb GPU. And let me tell you this is a beast of a card. I was considering trading for a 960 but i figured i will wait for amd to configure and release the drivers to utilize this cards full potential. I would Definatly reccomend the 380, straight up awesome card.

 

[seinfeld]

the 380 4GB beats the 9604GB card in all games.
The only thing is power consumption its 120w for 960 Vs 210w for the 380. its kinda laughable its up that high for a mid range card.

but I have a 380 4gb G1 gaming and it plays GTA V at 1440P ultra/ high settings. with no AA or AF. low post processing . 40-60 FPS all day
its a good card. and Ill give it to my friend , as Im waiting for my TI hybrid. EVGA cant keep up with demand, so I had to buy this card to tire me over

 

[GoinHam]

Hey seinfeld, what clock speeds is your card at? Both vram and core clock, and have you changed the voltages at all?

 

[seinfeld]

Hey seinfeld, what clock speeds is your card at? Both vram and core clock, and have you changed the voltages at all?

The G1 has higher clock speeds because they bin the chips for higher quality on the 4GB cards. so the 285 had a 918mhz clock. my R9 380 4GB is 990mhz (stock) and I turned it up to 1000mhz! so +10mhz on the core.
(or 80mhz over stock R9 285) Voltage wise im on +5 MV
Memory is
R9 285 was 1375mhz (micron)
My R9 380 is 1425 stock. But I turned it up to 1500 MHZ so + 75mhz so effective speed is 6Ghz on hynix chips
Also power target is +20 in MSI afterburner. if you dont add this. the core clocks down to 960mhz quite quickly once you've added the higher memory speed etc

 

[RedFive7]

Hey seinfeld, what clock speeds is your card at? Both vram and core clock, and have you changed the voltages at all?

The G1 has higher clock speeds because they bin the chips for higher quality on the 4GB cards. so the 285 had a 918mhz clock. my R9 380 4GB is 990mhz (stock) and I turned it up to 1000mhz! so +10mhz on the core.
(or 80mhz over stock R9 285) Voltage wise im on +5 MV
Memory is
R9 285 was 1375mhz (micron)
My R9 380 is 1425 stock. But I turned it up to 1500 MHZ so + 75mhz so effective speed is 6Ghz on hynix chips
Also power target is +20 in MSI afterburner. if you dont add this. the core clocks down to 960mhz quite quickly once you've added the higher memory speed etc

I just built a pc for my cousin, and I can attest to the 380 being a beast. Got the MSI Gaming 2G version, but still. Cranked the voltage up and the power limit up and brought that baby from 980 mhz to 1250! It murders games at 1080p, and hasn't broken 75C even with high ambient temps. 10/10 would recommend.

 

[Kevin_56]

Hello! Right as i was about to purchase the GTX 960 4gb edition i found out about the new amd equivalent the R9 380. Seeing as though it is around the same price range i was wondering which one is better. In the benchmarks the r9 380 does look really good with about a 5 frame difference than the GTX 960 and it is also a bit cheaper. But (call me a sucker) the GTX 960 does come with the new Arkham knight which is a nice deal with the card and is one of the reasons why i would pick the nvidia card over the amd.

here you have a good comparison between the two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTpNZEW31G0