I brought an old(er) gaming rig back to life for my GF. It has two GTX 580's in it currently with a 1366 i7 970 and 12Gb of RAM. I was thinking of replacing the 580's with a single GTX 960. Would the GTX 960 be better than the two 580's? She plays at 1920x1200, and streams TF2 and Minecraft to twitch. I was thinking that for a lot of the odd ball games she plays that don't natively support SLI it might be better but I don't want to cut performance too much. I also want to upgrade her on the cheap for the time being.
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In the end, it depends on what games are played, but...
The 960 is faster than the 580, no doubt. I'd say about 30~60% depending on the game. Overclocked I think it would about as fast as 2x GTX580, while consuming less power than a single 580.
So the choice would be the single 960.
That said. You won't be able to max newer games with the 960. A 970 is clearly better but its an extra $100 bucks.
You may want to look out for a radeon 290 or 290X. I've seen deals for under $250 bucks and both are much better cards than the GTX960
The 960 is faster than the 580, no doubt. I'd say about 30~60% depending on the game. Overclocked I think it would about as fast as 2x GTX580, while consuming less power than a single 580.
So the choice would be the single 960.
That said. You won't be able to max newer games with the 960. A 970 is clearly better but its an extra $100 bucks.
You may want to look out for a radeon 290 or 290X. I've seen deals for under $250 bucks and both are much better cards than the GTX960
KickAssCop
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970
Admiral Equinox
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not sure why a poll was needed on whether or not to spend a few extra bucks on someone you supposedly care about. you have a job yes? get her a damn 970 and be done with it.
He's asking whether or not the performance in SLI would be better, not for your opinion on the value of his relationship.
OP: Go 970. (I'd reckon 960 would also be perfectly acceptable, but the 970 would give a lot more future wiggle room)
defaultluser
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Get the 970 if you want to max things out. But the 960 is quite competent at 1080/1200p.
One other benefit you'll get is NVENC support, which will drastically lower the CPU required for streaming her matches.
One other benefit you'll get is NVENC support, which will drastically lower the CPU required for streaming her matches.
not sure why a poll was needed on whether or not to spend a few extra bucks on someone you supposedly care about. you have a job yes? get her a damn 970 and be done with it.
Not that the poll is about.
He's asking whether or not the performance in SLI would be better, not for your opinion on the value of his relationship.
OP: Go 970. (I'd reckon 960 would also be perfectly acceptable, but the 970 would give a lot more future wiggle room)
You got it! And thank you for the input!
Get the 970 if you want to max things out. But the 960 is quite competent at 1080/1200p.
One other benefit you'll get is NVENC support, which will drastically lower the CPU required for streaming her matches.
Thank you all for the input! I will see if I can find a good deal on a 970 or R9 290x.
HeavensCloud
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Keep what you have or get at least a 970. There's my vote.
not sure why a poll was needed on whether or not to spend a few extra bucks on someone you supposedly care about. you have a job yes? get her a damn 970 and be done with it.
Found OP's girlfriend
http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8&family=GeForce+900+Series+Family
^^ i would keep an eye out for cheap b stock 970/960 depending on your budget.
B stock only got a 1 year warranty though.
^^ i would keep an eye out for cheap b stock 970/960 depending on your budget.
B stock only got a 1 year warranty though.
http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=8&family=GeForce+900+Series+Family
^^ i would keep an eye out for cheap b stock 970/960 depending on your budget.
B stock only got a 1 year warranty though.
You da' man!
Seriously consider a solid, used (non-mined) 290X. You can really score good deals if you look. Otherwise, yeah - look for a 970 as others have stated. No real point to the 960 when you have the 290X or 970 as comparable options price-wise (used/etc.).