Graphic Cards Need GPU for medium gaming at 1080p

[vigilante]

I am upgrading my GPU for this below mentioned config.

• CPU – Intel Core i3 4150
• Motherboard – Gigabyte B85M-D3H,
• RAM – Kingston HyperX Fury 8 GB 1866Mhz
• PSU – Corsair VS550
• Cabinet – Cooler Master Elite 311
• HDD – WD Purple 1TB
• Monitor: LG 19" 720p LED (Will probably upgrade to 1080p in next 6 months)

The card that I currently have is HD5670. My budget is roughly 10K, so I had considered 750Ti. But now I can get the card from US in Jan and I have shortlisted GTX 950 which sells currently at 160-170$ (around 10-11K). I am looking for some deals during black friday. Just needed some more confirmation.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-3.html

Also, I don't think any manufacturers offer international warranty. So which one should I prefer? EVGA, Asus, Zotac, others?
My target is 1080p gaming with at least medium settings.

 

[Demon_Ryu]

Asus and EVGA is very good and has good reliability
get 960 if possible esp if you are importing it
price diff with 950 is very minimal but 960 offers more VFM

 

[Crapmypants]

Yes, the above poster (and the ones in the other thread) are right w.r.t. the vfm of the 960.
the 950 is supposed to be a ~12k card but it's ~14k.
so for another 1k and you get the 960 with a ~20% jump in performance.
this is due to the skewed pricing in India.
also, i think evga offers international warranty.
and the evga superclocked 960 is considered the best of the lot.
others that are close behind are asus and msi.

 

[vigilante]

US prices have a significant difference between 950 and 960. 960 prices are around 190 - 210$ (that's 12.5 - 13.7K) which is a significant increase in my budget.
Considering these prices, is it still a vfm increase over 950?
Will my above mentioned i3 based config prove a bottleneck with 960? Crapmypants, you had mentioned in one of my earlier threads about this possibility in some CPU intensive games like GTA. But can this be prominent enough to factor-in?

Current benchmark with Radeon HD 5670 on COD Ghosts:
Settings: low to medium, Res: 1366 x 768, FPS: 25 outdoors, 30 indoors. Furmark gives very poor performance.
Can I hope for a significant jump in performance with increased settings and resolution?

 

[Demon_Ryu]

US prices have a significant difference between 950 and 960. 960 prices are around 190 - 210$ (that's 12.5 - 13.7K) which is a significant increase in my budget.
Considering these prices, is it still a vfm increase over 950?
Will my above mentioned i3 based config prove a bottleneck with 960? Crapmypants, you had mentioned in one of my earlier threads about this possibility in some CPU intensive games like GTA. But can this be prominent enough to factor-in?

Current benchmark with Radeon HD 5670 on COD Ghosts:
Settings: low to medium, Res: 1366 x 768, FPS: 25 outdoors, 30 indoors. Furmark gives very poor performance.
Can I hope for a significant jump in performance with increased settings and resolution?

Absolutely even a 1.5k increase is a VFM as you get 20% jump in performance , a native h264 decoder built in.
i3 4150 will support upto gtx 970 so no bottleneck

4150 will last you at least 1-2 years with this card at 1080p high/ultra

 

[SamDaMan]

I would recommend a 960 over a 950 if you can stretch your budget so it will last you a little longer.

however if you are going with a 950, the Extreme Gaming 950 from gigabyte would be a solid bet however your cost factor might be an issue as it is currently at $179 on newegg though i assume it will come down on black friday.


you can check out a slightly older thread where people were discussing 950 performance, including the extreme gaming 950. You shouldn't have a problem with medium settings on 1080p.
https://www.techenclave.com/communi...ming-gtx-950-performance.176462/#post-2053934

hope this helped
all the best

 

[vigilante]

i3 4150 will support upto gtx 970 so no bottleneck

Glad to hear that!

i assume it will come down on black friday

Yup, that's what I'm counting on. I did go through that thread you mentioned today itself after posting which finally came down to 960 being a better vfm than 950.
Budget is bit of a constraint. An increase of budget in GPU might just push my plans for a 1080p monitor further. I'll have to factor that in as well.
So, I'll follow something like this while looking for deals. Please correct or enhance this. Regular 960 > Extreme gaming 950 > Regular 950
Also, since EVGA offers global warranty, should it be my first preference over others irrespective of deals?

 

[Ayush Sharma]

I ended up picking a G1 gaming 960. got a good deal on a pre owned one, served me pretty well since then.

So, I'll follow something like this while looking for deals. Please correct or enhance this. Regular 960 > Extreme gaming 950 > Regular 950
Also, since EVGA offers global warranty, should it be my first preference over others irrespective of deals?

Yes that would be the correct order however considering India is a hazardous place for cards, a global warranty would be a very wise decision though i would look into local RMA procedures for EVGA before finalizing your decision. What good is a warranty if service and reach isn't there right?

 

[vigilante]

I ended up picking a G1 gaming 960. got a good deal on a pre owned one

How much did you get it for? In warranty? I want something that lasts me for a couple of years.

i would look into local RMA procedures for EVGA before finalizing your decision

Right on! I'm trying to read up on that but would be glad if anyone here can enlighten me about this.
Thanks for all the info guys.[DOUBLEPOST=1446616914][/DOUBLEPOST]http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...e=UTF8&qid=1446615775&sr=1-9&keywords=gtx+950
How good is this at 140$ ? Looks very tempting, is there something I missed? Newegg has same deal with extra 10$ mail-in rebate (not sure how that works or if it's even worth).
Can I expect better deals and offers?

 

[Crapmypants]

How much did you get it for? In warranty? I want something that lasts me for a couple of years.

Right on! I'm trying to read up on that but would be glad if anyone here can enlighten me about this.
Thanks for all the info guys.[DOUBLEPOST=1446616914][/DOUBLEPOST]http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...e=UTF8&qid=1446615775&sr=1-9&keywords=gtx+950
How good is this at 140$ ? Looks very tempting, is there something I missed? Newegg has same deal with extra 10$ mail-in rebate (not sure how that works or if it's even worth).
Can I expect better deals and offers?

seems like a good deal. also, the acx cooler from evga is among the best.
w.r.t. better offers, check when the next us holiday is.

 

[vigilante]

seems like a good deal. also, the acx cooler from evga is among the best.
w.r.t. better offers, check when the next us holiday is.

Black friday is at the end of this month, but there are already many good deals on newgg. I'll just wait and see if I can find something on an OC 950 or 960. Otherwise I'll go ahead with this.

 

[vigilante]

While sifting through various GPUs, I am coming across multiple variants of the same ones with varying clock speeds. My understanding is that the ones with more speeds (and with names like BOOST, STRIX, SC, SSC etc) are the factory overclocked ones and hence higher priced. Also, there are single and dual fan variants available for many cards. I am assuming the single fan ones are for mini towers. I have some questions (possibly noob) based on that.
- What is the difference between core clock and boost clock?
- Is going for a higher priced factory overclocked version advisable? I am NOT into overclocking myself.
- For my mobo (Gigabyte B85M-D3H) and cabinet (CM Elite 311), should I prefer a dual fan GPU?
- What is the con if I go for a single fan variant of a GPU which is better priced?
- Finally what would you guys suggest between a factory overclocked GTX 950 and a regular GTX 960? (price diff is 1.5 - 2k)

 

[vyral_143]

While sifting through various GPUs, I am coming across multiple variants of the same ones with varying clock speeds. My understanding is that the ones with more speeds (and with names like BOOST, STRIX, SC, SSC etc) are the factory overclocked ones and hence higher priced. Also, there are single and dual fan variants available for many cards. I am assuming the single fan ones are for mini towers. I have some questions (possibly noob) based on that.
- What is the difference between core clock and boost clock?
- Is going for a higher priced factory overclocked version advisable? I am NOT into overclocking myself.
- For my mobo (Gigabyte B85M-D3H) and cabinet (CM Elite 311), should I prefer a dual fan GPU?
- What is the con if I go for a single fan variant of a GPU which is better priced?
- Finally what would you guys suggest between a factory overclocked GTX 950 and a regular GTX 960? (price diff is 1.5 - 2k)

~Core clock is regular/actual clock speed. Boost clock is increased frequency at which card would run when situation demands. Ascertaining this 'demanding situation' depends on manufacturer's algorithms.
~There is no harm in going for factory overclocked versions. Sometimes they would be having special cooling structure which enables them run cooler and/or quieter during on higher clocks. With reference edition you may or may not achieve that stable OC.
~You should.
~It may not be able to dissipate heat properly and might not OC well. You need to check reviews though for confirming if Single fan is con or not; its not always.
~If price difference is in sync with performance difference then get the one which is near to your budget.

 

[vigilante]

Thanks for the insight mate. That'll be helpful in my decision.

 

[Crapmypants]

if the price difference between the 960 and 950 is under 2k then i'd suggest the 960. it's a solid 20-25% faster than the 950 so the extra money is worth it.
also, overclocking a gpu is very easy (much easier than the cpu). you just need to install msi afterburner and you're pretty much set.
generally a multi fan cooler would be my recommendation over an single fan setup because even if a single fan is sufficient the multi fan option allows more headroom for oc'ing and lower fan speeds (and hence less noise).[DOUBLEPOST=1447578818][/DOUBLEPOST]sorry, i keep forgetting that you're making your gpu purchase in the us.
if you can get a 960 within budget then go for it. even at stock speed it outperforms an oc'ed 950.
evga acx, asus strix and msi twinfrozr are the relevant brands and coolers that are frequently referred to as the best in the market.

 

[vigilante]

Went ahead with EVGA gtx 950 SC+ for 152$ (with tax) from newegg. The 960s were 40-50$ higher (as the tax also increases) so decided to instead spend that extra money on a Redragon gaming mouse.
This has a decent factory OC (1165/1355 MHz), ACX 2.0 and should be enough for my needs. Currently I don't even own a full hd monitor.
Thank you guys for all your suggestions and patience with my queries and helping me with my decision.

 

[vigilante]

Some benchmarks with GTX 950 on 1366 x 768 resolution.
Furmark: Avg FPS - 65
Splinter Cell Blacklist: Settings - Very High, FPS - 60
Far cry 4: Settings - Very High, v-sync on, FPS - 60

All in all, quite happy with my purchase. Thanks everyone for their inputs.