Which GTX 960 will serve my needs the best?

[Aleswall]

Hello!

Essentially, I'm currently stuck between two GTX 960s - Both of them cost roughly the same and I'm unsure of which one will provide higher and more stable framerates in the sorts of games I'd like to play. They are these two here; One and two.

One of them is the 4GB model with slightly lower clock speeds where as the other is a 2GB model with higher clock speeds. The types of games I'm looking to play on it varies, though typically either MMOs (World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2) or the latest AAA games (Watch Dogs, Assassins Creed, Fallout etc). I'd assumed the 4GB model would be straight up better for later games with higher texture quality, though I'm not so sure anymore after reading a lot about how its memory bus means it can't use all of the VRAM efficiently. I've not the slighest clue what's actually true.

I don't do anything else which would be demanding graphically (Your typical internet browsing), and the rest of my PC is as follows;

CPU: Intel i3-4160 @3.6GHz (I'm looking into upgrading to an Intel i5-4690k when I can, likely a few months though)
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 750 1GB (Currently)
RAM: 8GB 1666MHz DDR3
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3
PSU: I'll be upgrading to this when I upgrade my GPU.

As for timeframe, it'll likely be after Christmas if not before when I buy the things I need to buy. I'm not picky on where its from so long as its reliable, I've been using Scan.co.uk as Amazon's prices in the UK were ridiculous.

Thank you in advance!

 

[bliq]

I'd choose the 4GB model. You can always overclock but once you run out of VRAM, you're done.

 

[Aleswall]

I'd choose the 4GB model. You can always overclock but once you run out of VRAM, you're done.

I had the same thoughts about it, yeah. Could I easily overclock the 4GB model to the same clock speeds as the 2GB model without too much stress? I did note that the 4GB model has a 1x-6pin connector where as the 2GB model requires an 8-pin. Does this mean it has less power to use in overclocking? I'll only really be going for Medium-Ultra (I always tweak for the best compromise) at 60 FPS, hopefully, in 1080p. Hoping it'll last 2-3 years.

 

[bliq]

At 1080p, that GTX960 might already be capable of good framerates at ultra without overclocking. I don't overclock so I wouldn't know the differences between the 2gb and 4gb models. having a 8pin vs 6pin probably is a matter of choice for the manufacturer. I don't see how one would be significantly more efficient than the other for overclocking.

 

[Aleswall]

At 1080p, that GTX960 might already be capable of good framerates at ultra without overclocking. I don't overclock so I wouldn't know the differences between the 2gb and 4gb models. having a 8pin vs 6pin probably is a matter of choice for the manufacturer. I don't see how one would be significantly more efficient than the other for overclocking.

Thank you very much - I know the GTX 960'll get me the frames I want now, its more the next year or two I'm worried about. I've noticed system requirements quickly getting higher and my 1GB card which was fine for everything earlier this year can't play the latest AAA games even on low.

And I assumed an 8-pin would deliver less power than a 6-pin. I don't know how that works, probably me being dumb. Regardless, I think I'll go for the 4GB version. It doesn't look like it'll be that hard to overclock up to the same clock speeds as the 2GB and the extra VRAM will be used by a few of my games. Thank you!

 

[bliq]

usually they spec 8pin connectors to provide more power than the 6 pin is capable of delivering but there's no reason one couldn't spec an 8 pin to deliver power that even a 6 pin could deliver. Maybe allows for more power when overclocking?