R9 380 vs GTX 960 on a budget

[lunxur]

Which one is the best for you and why? What about the 2 vs 4 Gb of these cards, is it worth paying more for the extra 2 Gbs?

Usage: Mainly gaming.

 

[Ethanh100]

Depends on the games you are playing, and if you care about power consumption/ heat.

The 960 and 380 in terms of raw performance will trade blows with each other depending on the game and situation.

The 2gb of vram could be a problem depending on the games you are playing, as games like gta 5 will use much more than that, however there is a 4gb 960 that you could possibly pick up for a similar price.

The 380 will consume more power, costing more, and therefore put off more watts of heat.

I would say go for a 4gb 960, or the 380. If you can get a 960 that is within $20-30 of the price of the 380, i would go for it, for reasons of power consumption and today Nvidia has a handle on most of the games, making their cards work better than AMD's. Otherwise, go for a 380.

 

[ATi RaDEoN]

In terms of raw power R9 380 is a bit better than GTX 960. But GTX 960 uses a lot less power, runs cooler etc. And by buying an AMD card you will be missing out on certain Nvidia exclusive features like Gameworks, Hairworks, weapon debris effect (fallout 4) etc.

Also Nvidia has much better drivers than AMD, with upcoming drivers you might expect GTX 960 to become better and better.

Furthermore, GTX 960 can be used for other tasks as well like video editing, rendering on which AMD isn't that great.

Some 1 day ago, I was also thinking to sell my GTX 960 for R9 380 but after some research changed my mind. Rest be assured, Nvidia will never let you down, they have a very good rapport with many AAA game developers on which Nvidia cards often turn out to be better.

And don't even think of buying 2 GB version of either card at this point of time.

 

[lunxur]

Might go with 960 then, thanks guys. Both are pretty much at the same price, my case won't do well with a hot card and the power draw is a big thing, cos my psu sucks, thanks again.