Comparing video cards, history

[adamgm]

Hi all,
What should I be looking at when comparing video cards to upgrade? Can anyone link somewhere where a history of generations is listed?

I'm looking to upgrade (honestly, mostly because of the release of Fallout), and I'm not as up with these things as I used to be.

Recommended specs for that game mention the NVidia 780 3gb. I believe something like that 950 or 960 are newer, but would the 2gb versions be better or worse?

Anyone have a good site that just straight up compares any 2 cards?

 

[master_shake_]

x80 in the nvidia camp are the top of the hill gaming cards.

titan are the halo cards (top, top of the heap) in nvidias camp.

amd cards 7970, 290x, and fury x are top of the heap for their generations.

so to answer your question the 960 isn't as good as a 780.

 

[Techhog]

950 and 960 are both slower than the 780, even the 4GB versions. You'd want an R9 290, R9 390, or GTX 970 to get something better than the 780. As for comparisons, there are sites like that, but they suck. Your best bet is to look at the performance summary in the newest review on TechPowerUp.

 

[crisium]

Tomshardware has a GPU hierarchy chart, but it has a great many mistakes so I hope no one posts it. The Voodoo Power chart (VP) was a very promising idea but sadly it hasn't had activity in years.

Aggregate benchmarks are the way to go. Techhog listed Techpowerup, a popular one. Here's some more.

Computerbase:

Sweclockers doesn't include the GTX 780 anymore, but I think you have an idea of where it stands by now (it would fit in between the Radeon 380X and Radeon 290):

Any before anyone links him Fallout 4 release benchmarks, are you certain they have been updated for the newest drivers? It might not be wise to post outdated launch benchmarks.

 

[Mondozei]

I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned the venerable Anandtech GPU benchmark tool. You can find it here.

Select any two cards there and you get a ton of matchups in various games.

I've linked the GPU 2015 edition. If the press the big arrow to the right of the list you can get GPU 2014 which covers a lot of older GPUs for comparison, which might be useful if your own card is too old to be on the list in GPU 2015.

If you look at game specific benchmarks then the links provided to you by other people are more than enough, but generally speaking you should never buy a GPU for a single game, even one as large as fallout 4.

 

[tential]

Get the best deal between the R9 390 and the GTX 970. I think the GTX 970 may come with a game, so if that game is worth it to you, then the GTX 970 may be ahead. Just get the best deal between the two though... That's your best bet in enjoying fallout 4 in the best bang for your buck. Both GPUs will be receive multiple driver updates for this game and no review will capture these GPUs performance over the lifespan of you playing the game, and no 5% FPS difference will matter to you.

So just get the best deal.

 

[AtenRa]

I wouldnt upgrade on another 28nm GPU if i had the 780 now. I would wait for the 16nm GPUs.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

What cpu, gpu and how much ram do you have now?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

An over clocked 960 or 280X will lose to a 780. Irrespective of the VRAM.

To match/beat a 780 you need:

780/Ti
690 (Not recommended)
7990 (Not recommended)
290/X
380X (Perhaps, not sure)
390/X
970/980
And of course other faster GPUs.

 

[Seba]

I don't think that he has a GTX 780.

Recommended specs for that game mention the NVidia 780 3gb.

So recommendation for a graphics card should be based on his budget (probably around $150-$200 since he is looking at GTX 950 and GTX 960) and the only game that he mentioned (Fallout 4).

Current configuration, power supply, case and monitor resolution should also be useful.