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Thoughts on upgrading from a nvidia GTX 660.

Manic1002

Manic1002

Manic1002

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Joined
8 Jan 2010
Posts
22
Hi all,

I'm looking to be upgrading from an nvidia GTX 660 and just wondering what I maybe could be looking at.

I've about a £300 budget and have been looking at a nvidia 970. I'm not sure about AMD's always preferred nvidia but feel free to give me options.

I'm not too interested in 4k gaming haven't got the tv or monitor to support it anyway but would like to be running GTA V/Witcher 3/Project Cars at maximum possible settings considering my budget.

Cheers all.
 
Witcher 3/Project Cars are nvidia gameworks titles, go for 970. You get batman and witcher 2 free with an 970/980.

MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition can be had at a good price.
 
What case+PSU and board do you have?

Case- does the new GFX card fit in it?

PSU - is it good enough?

Board - Some need a BIOS update to work with new cards.
 
That Inno 3D GTX 960 with Witcher 3 is an absolute bargain !

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-043-IN

GX-043-IN_105142_350.jpg


Nice cooler, has 3 x Display-ports / HDMI / DVI. £150 from OCUK. That's what I would go for, perfect upgrade from GTX 660.

Save the rest of your money or get a nice SSD >>>>>>>> http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18670112
 
Last edited:
RavenXXX2 said:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1038?vs=1039

Poor upgrade, the 960 is slightly faster than an 760 which is a bit faster than an 660. 970 is the way to go for the latest titles.
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Yeah personally I can't recommend the 970 due to the memory gimping.

For the cheap price / performance. A £150 GTX 960 with Witcher 3 represents great value, above that I would recommend a R9 290 or R9 290X.

Tbh at 1080P a 960 does a great job, uses little power and is cheap.

GTX 960 > GTX 1060 next year would be the path I would choose, if I didn't already have Titan X I would do the same.
 
Manic1002 said:
Case is a Zalman Z9 Plus

PSU is Corsair CX750M

Board is M5A97 Evo Rev 2.0
Click to expand...

Case has 290mm of space apparently, so thats good enough for the MSI Gaming GTX970 or the EVGA SSC GTX970 or KFA2 Infin8.

PSU is fine.

Board is probably fine, but check its up to date anyway.
 
Manic1002 said:
Memory gimping?
Click to expand...

It's a weird memory design that when more than 3.5GB is used it resorts to 0.5GB of slower memory causing stutter FPS drops.

Nvidia were shifty about the whole thing, so for that reason I personally would avoid that card. However the 960 / 980 / Titan X are all great cards that perform as intended for their performance / price tiers.

The 960 at £150 with Witcher 3 is the best deal atm. Followed by R9 290 / 290X as you go up in price.

I would pick from these at the different price points to stick within the budget.

GTX 960 £150
R9 290 £200
R9 290X £235
 
So because I won't be running 4k gaming will the 970 give me high to ultra 1080 graphics easily or would it still be struggling slightly?

Likewise how would the 960 hold up to high to ultra 1080 graphics?

Also whats the probability of the 970 dropping in price when the new 980TI comes out and any idea how much that might cost?
 
There is no need to advise to get a card just because you own it boom talk about biased recommendation. You know very well 3.5gb of good memory > 2GB of good memory. Especially when many recent games use over 2GB at 1080p and it doesn't look like a trend that will change.

Op get a 970 that's a very good upgrade and getting a proper upgrade now could serve you better in the long run than baby stepping to a 960 that will struggle quicker and need an upgrade sooner.
 
Manic1002 said:
So because I won't be running 4k gaming will the 970 give me high to ultra 1080 graphics easily or would it still be struggling slightly?

Likewise how would the 960 hold up to high to ultra 1080 graphics?

Also whats the probability of the 970 dropping in price when the new 980TI comes out and any idea how much that might cost?
Click to expand...

The 970 will have much better performance than the 960 but costs almost twice as much. Prices may get a shakeup when AMD Finally launch some new cards (Rumoured to be June).

I still think for 1080P gaming the average gamer will be happy with the 960, take a look at the reviews on the link I gave you.

If you go 290X you will get full use of 4GB memory and have similar performance to 970 but a bit more power use.

I just can't personally recommend the 970, all the other Nvidia cards are great but pricey. So imho these are best current picks at different price points within your budget.

£150 > GTX 960
£200 > R9 290
£235 > R9 290X
------------------
£450 > GTX 980
£850 > Titan X
 
RanxZy said:
There is no need to advise to get a card just because you own it boom talk about biased recommendation. You know very well 3.5gb of good memory > 2GB of good memory. Especially when many recent games use over 2GB at 1080p and it doesn't look like a trend that will change.

Op get a 970 that's a very good upgrade and getting a proper upgrade now could serve you better in the long run than baby stepping to a 960 that will struggle quicker and need an upgrade sooner.
Click to expand...

I'm using a Titan X, so not sure what this post means. I was saying for me personally I do not recommend the 970. That doesn't stop others, nor would I get argumentative with them for doing so. Your forcing your opinion on me not the other way around.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Not recommending the 970 is mine.

Take it easy.
 
980Ti will probably be at least £500 but could go up to £650. The 980 is most likely to get a price drop as it's pretty overpriced already. 970 should be less likely to get a big price drop because it's not really too much over priced although it would be even sweeter in the £200-£220 range like the 290.
 
Boomstick777 said:
I'm using a Titan X, so not sure what this post means. I was saying for me personally I do not recommend the 970.
Click to expand...

You got rid of your 960 already? Fair enough mate couldn't have been that great then eh. Never mind me then I'll take my chill pills.
 
RanxZy said:
You got rid of your 960 already? Fair enough mate couldn't have been that great then eh. Never mind me then I'll take my chill pills.
Click to expand...

Ha, no I had 960 that I tested for another PC. I use a Titan X in my main PC and before that a GTX 980, before that 290X etc..

When I get a build come up I test the parts I use sometimes to show what they can do. Sold all spare parts recently. Think I only have an R9 270 to get rid of now :)

I found the 960 really capable at 1080P, and at £150 with a game it's a bargain. The 970 is almost twice the cost and I wouldn't personally want one due to the memory / stutter issue. (The 2 x free games do make 970 / 980 more tempting though).

In light of that a cheaper 290X would be my pick, but like I say at £150 I would find it hard to look past a 960 with the Witcher 3.
 
For 1080p a 970 with TW3+Batman still represents pretty good value,even with the memory gimping.

If the OP is lookin at grabbing those games its a no brainer IMO

Edit: 660>960 is pointless IMO
 
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