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R9 380 vs GTX 960

koolpc

koolpc

koolpc

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People i am in the process of trying to put a rig together for myself for gaming. Probably use the Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Case - Black.

1 component i am stuck on. GPU.

2 that i am looking at:

R9 380

GTX 960

Been told the 380 is faster. I see the 960 is also available 'ITX' too.

Which would you go for and why? I am going to start gaming again and want a card that is not expensive but will play almost any game i throw at it. I would like it to be quiet to or one that can be modded to be quiet.

Any help would be great thanks
 
I just had this decision for my work PC.

r9 380 does seem faster. For either option, I'd go for the 4GB variant.

960 is quieter and cooler, by quite a bit. It also uses less power and supports HDMI2.0 for 4k TVs.

In the end I went 960 as it was also £20 cheaper for the 4GB model, and I was already overspec for playing games at work in 1600x900. It also means I can reuse the card in the future either as a PhysX card in my main PC or in a HTPC on a 4k TV.

R9 380 is certainly a decent chunk faster, and even in games that are not well optimised for AMD (e.g. gameworks) it will be at least as fast as the 960. 960 really should have had a 192bit bus.

Both are good choices. I've found 960 to be nice and overclockable, currently running at 1500 boost on the core, and 2000 (8GT/s) on the RAM.
 
go for the r9 380 4gb version you can overclock them easily to 1150 mhz mostly from 950 and have very very good performance even for 1440p

the r9 380 is as quiet as a 960 maybe some degrees warmer but max 5

its the better choice overall
 
Currently, there are not many scenarios where I would consider buying a 960 over a 380, but right now pCARS is one of them.

However, there have been rumours that pCARS for example, will get a DX12 "upgrade" which could change the relative performance.
 
UTmaniac said:
Currently, there are not many scenarios where I would consider buying a 960 over a 380, but right now pCARS is one of them.

However, there have been rumours that pCARS for example, will get a DX12 "upgrade" which could change the relative performance.
Click to expand...

So a 380 would be the right choice? What length are those cards? They are quiet?
 
Out of the two, the R9 380 4GB is the card to go for, and above 1920*1080 performs better than the 960.

However, as you want the quietest and coolest card, I can't imagine the 380 could touch it in that category with an aftermarket cooler on the 960.

TBH, I would be tempted to go for the 960 in your circumstance especially if res is 1920 or below.
 
koolpc said:
So a 380 would be the right choice? What length are those cards? They are quiet?
Click to expand...

Here's a review on Youtube but in a different language. The sound test and comparison chart shows its about the same as a 960 in quiteness. Check @ 18:20

 
At stock settings the 380 is fine, but if you overclock it at all you are gonna start to see higher temps to keep the temp under control. Don't get me wrong I love my 380, but it ain't the quietest card. However, I do have my profile set so it only gets to a max of 70C when OC'd (normally hovers around 68c in games).

BTW, when it isn't doing anything tasking (like watching videos), then the fan's won't even turn on on the 380.
 
I would probably say go with either an MSI R9 380 4GB, or 2GB if strapped for cash, or get the quietest 960 you can.

Is the case relatively well ventilated though? If not, get the 960.
 
Coolermaster 130 looks really well ventilated.

The 960 is definitely quieter? Will it run games in same way? I play ETS 2 and Flight Sim at mo which are rubbish on laptop. But, i want to get back into the 'Call of Duty' type games again as i miss those type!
 
I've got the Sapphire R9 285 ITX and it's awesome. Very quiet and powerful enough to run every game I have tried at decent settings for the 1080p screen it's hooked up to. The 285 has been tweaked to become the 380, but the cooling looks the same. Haven't ever tried a 960 so cannot speak for how it compares, but I was very surprised how quiet the 285 is and it is night-and-day difference to the 7950 Twin FrozR it replaced in my EVGA Hadron.

A review has popped up in the last few days of the R9 380 ITX card:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sapphire-itx-compact-r9-380,review-33295.html
Looks good, but I was genuinely surprised to see the 960 beat it in several (most?) of the benches (EDIT - I am wrong on this, see the next few posts, the 380 is actually the winner more than not). Looks like you're not going to go wrong whichever card you choose - always a good position to be in! :)
 
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Confused Stu said:
A review has popped up in the last few days of the R9 380 ITX card:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sapphire-itx-compact-r9-380,review-33295.html
Looks good, but I was genuinely surprised to see the 960 beat it in several (most?) of the benches. Looks like you're not going to go wrong whichever card you choose - always a good position to be in! :)
Click to expand...

Are you looking at the review you linked? In the review the 380 beats the 960 in 4 of the 6 games tested and virtually 2-3 fps slower in the games it loses. So not sure where you were surprised :confused:.
 
fs123 said:
Are you looking at the review you linked? In the review the 380 beats the 960 in 4 of the 6 games tested and virtually 2-3 fps slower in the games it loses. So not sure where you were surprised :confused:.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right! Read the review this morning and didn't re-read when I posted - must have been having a senior moment. The 380 does indeed beat the 960 in most of the benches.

The only thing worse than seeing duff information on this forum is when I'm the one spreading it! :eek:
 
280X looks great too! So many to choose from. 2nd hand would be good but i cant get into MM due to past isssues :(
 
280x is faster in some games, but then it is missing a lot of good features and not as good dx12 support.
 
Decisions!! Going to get a 24 or 27" Monitor. I am leaning towards a 380 i guess.

What worries me is noise. As i am trying to put together a quiet(ish) PC. I have read on here that the 380 is noisier that the 960 but 380 a better GPU?
 
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