Picking between 2 same GPUs.

[InfiniteNoise]

For my future SFF build, I've narrowed the GPU choices to these two cards,

Sapphire R9 380 Compact ITX
Sapphire Nitro R9 380

Prices are same for both, but I'm not sure which one to go with, I can fit either card into a Silverstone SG05 without any fiddling, with the ITX card I can easily fit in a smaller case should I ever go down that route but SG05 is already small enough.

If you know of any other card in £150 range that I should look into, let me know, it'll be paired with i5-6400.

For Nvidia, there's GTX 960 but it seems like it's a bit behind the cards I'm looking at, sure it draws a bit less power and runs cooler, but heat/power draw isn't a problem for me anyways.

If I hold off for couple of weeks, I can easily add R9 Fury Nano to my build, this sounds like a good choice, it'll certainly last longer than R9 380/GTX 960, I'm considering on doing this.

 

[Aretak]

Out of those two options, I see no reason not to go with the larger card if space isn't a concern (and the Nitro isn't exactly a monster in the first place). It's difficult to make a cooler that's both larger and has more fans, but performs worse than a smaller one, although Asus somehow managed it with their 390(X).

The Nano would have course be a significant step up in both price and performance, although there are obviously the considerations of the new cards arriving soon and whether 4GB VRAM is "enough" (although with a 1200p monitor it almost certainly will be) to mull over before dropping £350 on one.

 

[ukxenon]

I would wait a while see what's coming soon

 

[Confused Stu]

I've got the R9 285 Compact (which is a lower clocked R9 380 Compact) is an EVGA Hadron Air case, and it is surprisingly quiet and capable for a card that size. Easily matching/beating the 7950 Twin FrozR I had in there for a while in performance while nowhere near the noise or heat (60C vs 85C in the same game).

EDIT - Just noticed the Nitro is 4GB where the Compact is 2GB. That, for me, would swing it in favour of the Nitro over the Compact.

However, if you would only have to wait a few weeks to get a Nano instead, then I would say definitely buy that. It would be different if you were having to move the budget from somewhere else to do this (say dropping from an i5 to a i3), but if it's just a case of saving for a couple of weeks, then I vote to go for the Nano.

The others certainly have a good point about waiting for the next big thing to come round, but we don't know yet (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) if the higher end cards will be coming in three months or nine/twelve. I've always been of the mind that unless something new is coming in the next couple of weeks to just buy what you're happy spending money on now, as if you're waiting for the next product to come out you'll always be waiting and never actually buy anything.

 

[InfiniteNoise]

I've been looking over things again.

If I decide to go for it now/new few days, Nitro would be the better option, you're right, the Compact only has 2GB VRAM vs 4GB on the Nitro.

My monitor is 1920x1200 and I have no plans to upgrade it anytime soon, maybe to a 2560x1600 in next couple of years, so Fury Nano probably would be overkill until I do upgrade, so I've been looking at other GPUs, GTX 970 (either Zotac or Gigabyte's ITX version, both fits nicely in SG05, the others don't look like they can fit in easily), the card seems to hit a sweet point.

But yeah anyways, if I haven't decided on anything now and still haven't decided on it in couple of weeks, Fury Nano's mine then.

Things are a bit complicated when there are so many cards at difference price points and you're not sure what your budget is. >:

 

[Darujhistan]

Go for the Nitro with 4GB if you're not waiting a while.

 

[savagesam117]

Save a little longer and get the nano? It's quite a bit more powerful and will have a better resale value.