Need an entry / budget card? Under $150 preferable.

[texasnightowl]

Been using integrated graphics. Finally need to upgrade to an actual gpu.

system is an i5-2500k (OC'd to 4.5) on an Asus P8-Z68 board. Corsair HX520 psu (older but no problems yet). I do not have a 1080p monitor yet. It is on my upgrade list also...will be a pretty basic one though.

Usage...light photo editing. Some screen recording (OBS) and light video editing. Light gaming. Older games at the moment. (PS3/PS4 gets most of my actual gaming like The Witcher, Tomb Raider, etc.)

I was originally thinking the 750 Ti would be fine, but it looks like I can get a gtx 950 for nearly the same price. Alternately, a 4gb R7 370 is a possible. And of course, at a stretch, if I increase my budget a little, a gtx 960 may be possible.

Any reason to consider other options or should I make my choice from the gtx 950/r7 370/gtx 960?

 

[Techhog]

GTX 950 is you want to stick ton that budget, R9 380 if you're willing to stretch just a little bit. I'd say stretching it is very much worth it in this case.

 

[MustISO]

You should be able to find a 960 on sale for that price range. eVGA b-stock is around $160, when they are in stock.

Used cards if that is an option would be cheaper, even GTX 770's are around $150.

 

[Seba]

Obviously a GTX 960 4GB would perform better than the other choices. If you can afford it, it makes no sense to go below that level.

 

[texasnightowl]

Obviously a GTX 960 4GB would perform better than the other choices. If you can afford it, it makes no sense to go below that level.

It seems like I have missed some sales, or prices have gone back up the closer we get to Christmas. I haven't seen a 4GB 960 for less than $190 (after MIR) at the moment. :\ Even 2gb 960's seem a bit high at the moment.

Maybe I need to watch and wait a little longer...keep an eye on the evga b-stock page, etc.

I'm not necessarily ruling out going over-budget, but definitely not over $200. And the closer to my original $150 the better.

If the choice comes down to a 2gb 950 for $140 and a 2gb 960 for $160, is it worth the extra $20 for the 960?

 

[xorbe]

If the choice comes down to a 2gb 950 for $140 and a 2gb 960 for $160, is it worth the extra $20 for the 960?

960 has 33% more cores but only clocks in 10-20% according to the TPU chart I'm looking at. They are both strangled by the 128-bit vram bus, imo. So 15% more money is getting you about that in performance. Maybe just go for the cheapest 950 and call it a day.

I see evga b-stock 960 4GB for $199, that's crazy talk. D:

 

[Seba]

If the choice comes down to a 2gb 950 for $140 and a 2gb 960 for $160, is it worth the extra $20 for the 960?

Hard to say at that price difference. At $130 I would say that GTX 950 2GB is the better deal. But when GTX 950 2GB is $140 and GTX 950 2GB is $160, there is no clear choice if the criterion is price/performance.

Maybe the choice would be easier if you specify the exact models of each card.

 

[Techhog]

960 has 33% more cores but only clocks in 10-20% according to the TPU chart I'll looking at. They are both strangled by the 128-bit vram bus, imo. So 15% more money is getting you about that in performance. Maybe just go for the cheapest 950 and call it a day.

I see evga b-stock 960 4GB for $199, that's crazy talk. D:

Then get the 950 if you're against the 380 I linked for some reason.

 

[texasnightowl]

So here are the $130 950 and $160 960 models. These prices are reliant on a "new user" code at jet.com. I've never ordered there...heard some good and some bad...but might be worth a try.


EVGA GTX 950 : 02G-P4-2957-KR : 2GB SSC ACX 2.0; this is one of the 8-pin power connector models
-> $139.99 at newegg (also technically has a $10 MIR though I hate dealing with MIR's so you could say $129.99)
-> $149.99 at jet.com but possible 15-20% off as new user = $127.49 or less

EVGA GTX 960 SC 2GB : single fan shorter for mitx : 02G-P4-2962-KR
.> $199.04 (overpriced) - 20% (jet.com new user code) = $159.23


Putting that out there in writing...I feel like I should just go with the 950 if I want to stay in budget and call it a day. I'm going to go take another look at the R9 380 reviews first to see if I want to blow the budget or not. But I feel like writing off the 960's.

 

[texasnightowl]

Then get the 950 if you're against the 380 I linked for some reason.

Not really against it...except for being over budget.

Well, that and the radeon's have always had a bigger power draw, yes? Though really, with just one card I guess it isn't a big deal for my system. I am going to have another look at some reviews on the 380.

 

[96Firebird]

The 380 is about 17% (42/36) faster than the 960 at 1080p, and 35% (42/31) faster than the 950 at 1080p, according to TPU's latest review. The PowerColor for $160 is a good deal, if you don't mind rebates.

Edit - The PowerColor 380 will use about 80W more than the 960 during gaming, if that is a concern for you.

 

[Seba]

EVGA GTX 950 : 02G-P4-2957-KR : 2GB SSC ACX 2.0; this is one of the 8-pin power connector models
-> $139.99 at newegg (also technically has a $10 MIR though I hate dealing with MIR's so you could say $129.99)
-> $149.99 at jet.com but possible 15-20% off as new user = $127.49 or less

EVGA GTX 960 SC 2GB : single fan shorter for mitx : 02G-P4-2962-KR
.> $199.04 (overpriced) - 20% (jet.com new user code) = $159.23

Between those two, and considering the additional $10 MIR for the GTX 950, I'll choose the GTX 950.

R9 380 4GB at $180 ($160 after $20 MIR) would be better, but your power supply has maximum 18A on each 12V rail so that means maximum 216W per each 12V rail. Too close for comfort with a ~180W card.

 

[texasnightowl]

Between those two, and considering the additional $10 MIR for the GTX 950, I'll choose the GTX 950.

R9 380 4GB at $180 ($160 after $20 MIR) would be better, but your power supply has maximum 18A on each 12V rail so that means maximum 216W per each 12V rail. Too close for comfort with a ~180W card.

Ahhh...yes. I'm not up on my "power" math, but agree that 180 on a 216 is a bit close for comfort. Thanks for that. It is looking that the gtx 950 will be the winner.

 

[Seba]

You might need a 8-pin PCI-E adapter (it looks like your power supply only has 2 x 6-pin PCI-E).

 

[texasnightowl]

You might need a 8-pin PCI-E adapter (it looks like your power supply only has 2 x 6-pin PCI-E).

Yeah...or I might go search out one of the 6-pin evga models instead of the 8 pin model. I think the 6 pin models were rated at 110W and the 8 pin models at 125W. Still, both draw much less than the R9 380!

 

[xorbe]

Be careful with Jet.com, poster at [H] ordered a 970 and got a 960!

 

[RussianSensation]

R9 380 4GB at $180 ($160 after $20 MIR) would be better, but your power supply has maximum 18A on each 12V rail so that means maximum 216W per each 12V rail. Too close for comfort with a ~180W card.

I have this exact PSU and it can support a 400W GPUs without breaking a sweat. In fact, it can run GTX970 SLI.

This is Corsair's Professional series PSU, made by SeaSonic, and is rated at 40A (480W) on 12V rail @ 50C, with 105ºC rated industrial grade capacitors:
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/hx520w

There is pretty much no modern single-chip GPU this PSU cannot handle. You can put a Core i7 6700K OC + GTX980Ti OC / Fury X OC with this PSU.

You might need a 8-pin PCI-E adapter (it looks like your power supply only has 2 x 6-pin PCI-E).

Only the earlier versions of the Corsair HX-520 PSU came with 2x6-pin but shortly after Corsair switched to 2x(6+2-pin).

Also, there were articles written about how if you e-mail/contact Corsair with the 2x6-pin power supply versions, they would send you the free 2x(6+2-pin) connectors. I suggest that the OP can try to contact them and see if Corsair will help him out as they have excellent customer service assuming he has the earlier revision of this PSU.

Yeah...or I might go search out one of the 6-pin evga models instead of the 8 pin model. I think the 6 pin models were rated at 110W and the 8 pin models at 125W. Still, both draw much less than the R9 380!

I would strongly recommend you skip all 2GB models unless you feel like turning down settings or upgrading much sooner. 2GB cards are DOA.

The minimum you should be looking at is GTX960 4GB or R9 380 4GB or R9 280X 3GB. 950 is absolutely horrible for the price, and GTX960 2GB should be skipped when R9 380 4GB is $10 more.

Open your case and look if your PSU has 2x6-pin or the 2x(6+2-pin arrangement). The cables state PCIe on them.

Not only is the R9 380 4GB the best card for the $ at $160 against the 950/960 cards but it also beat 960 in 2/2 DX12 benchmarks:

Usage...light photo editing.

Another win for the R9 380. You get OpenCL GPU acceleration in Adobe Photoshop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x7llTIWXc

If you don't mind going used, you can also look into HD7950/7970 cards as they can often be found for $80-100 on eBay. You get performance of a 960/R9 380 for close to half the price.

Putting that out there in writing...I feel like I should just go with the 950 if I want to stay in budget and call it a day. I'm going to go take another look at the R9 380 reviews first to see if I want to blow the budget or not. But I feel like writing off the 960's.

950 offers the worst price performance among 960/R9 380 4GB and it only has 2GB of VRAM. If you are not going to be gaming much, get a GTX750Ti for $95.

$20 over the 950 gets you way more performance and double the VRAM on the R9 380 4GB. Considering how many modern games eat VRAM like it's going out of style, the 950 for $140 is a bad card - its GPU horsepower anemic and VRAM gimped.

Here is GTX960 @ 1495mhz still losing in almost all tests to an R9 380
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66yhd36PdYg

Here is GTX950 OC losing badly to an R9 380 in 2 games that favour NV: GTA V and TW3. 950 OC has no chance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yewgkkO-8Ok

 

[texasnightowl]

I have this exact PSU and it can support a 400W GPUs without breaking a sweat. In fact, it can run GTX970 SLI.

There is pretty much no modern single-chip GPU this PSU cannot handle. You can put a Core i7 6700K OC + GTX980Ti OC / Fury X OC with this PSU.

Only the earlier versions of the Corsair HX-520 PSU came with 2x6-pin but shortly after Corsair switched to 2x(6+2-pin).

Open your case and look if your PSU has 2x6-pin or the 2x(6+2-pin arrangement). The cables state PCIe on them.

You are being extremely compelling. Which in this case is bad for my budget!!!

That said, I both took a look at my PSU AND went through my "closet of doom" (ie...where the pc parts are stored). The back of the PSU has only 6 pin plugins (no cables attached since I was using integrated). HOWEVER...I actually found the Corsair "pouch" that came with the PSU in my closet and within it...2 PCI-E cables that go from 6-pin to 6+2. So...presuming that Corsair would not have included them if you shouldn't use them, I should be all set no matter if whatever gpu I choose is 6 pin or 8 pin.

So, I am reconsidering the R9 380. I may just have to keep an eye on prices for a few weeks. It seems like I missed a sweet spot a few weeks back and prices have gone up a little for the holidays. So we will see how things go.

 

[boozzer]

why not buy used? a 280x used is well within your budget or lower. right now it is about 120-130$ usd.

280x is 20% better than 960 trash.

 

[Seba]

This is Corsair's Professional series PSU, made by SeaSonic, and is rated at 40A (480W) on 12V rail @ 50C, with 105ºC rated industrial grade capacitors:

It's a "professional series" PSU from 10 years ago.

That 40A is on all 12V rails combined, not 40A one 12V rail (which would indeed be plenty).

Even Johnny Guru was not sure on what goes on each rail.

Last time we tested a Corsair PSU, an assumption was made that the rails were split up like other 3 rail power supplies on the market: CPU on it's own rail to conform with ATX12V specs and the PCI-e connectors on their own rail so they can be loaded up to that rail's maximum capability.

After the 620W was dissected following the publishing of the review, I found that one PCI-e connector was on one rail with two peripheral connectors while the other PCI-e connector was on another rail with the three peripheral connectors. Assuming that the PSU was following ATX12V specifications, I concluded that the CPU (via 4-pin +12V or 8-pin EPS+12V) was still on it's own rail and that the 12V leads on the ATX connector must be on the rail with the one PCI-e connector and two peripheral connectors.

Now I come to find out, after looking closely at the PCB and speaking with individuals at Corsair, that the PSU actually DOES NOT follow ATX12V specifications and that I was wrong about the rail distribution AGAIN!

I have this exact PSU and it can support a 400W GPUs without breaking a sweat. In fact, it can run GTX970 SLI.

A stock frequencies GTX 970 (TDP 145W) draws less power from one rail than a R9 380 (TDP 190W). So just because GTX 970 is better than R9 380, it does not mean that it also draws more power.

 

[Seba]

950 offers the worst price performance among 960/R9 380 4GB and it only has 2GB of VRAM.

There are just a few games were 4GB instead of 2GB on GTX 960 makes any difference. In a lot more games, it does not matter.

According to the chart that you posted, GTX 960 2GB is 15% better than GTX 950 2GB (75/65 = 1.15).

The price ratio of the same cards is $ 160 / $ 130 = 1.23.

So GTX 960 2GB is 23% more expensive for 15% more performance.

And you say that GTX 950 has worst price/performance?

 

[texasnightowl]

It's a "professional series" PSU from 10 years ago.

That 40A is on all 12V rails combined, not 40A one 12V rail (which would indeed be plenty).

For what it is worth, I was doing some random googling re: the HX520 and found a reference supposedly quoting Corsair that ATX specs changed while they were designing. And that while they initially spec'd the HX series to be triple rail that it actually functions as a single rail. I need to find that again.

And yeah, I get that it is getting old. And maybe I need to assume some drop off in efficiency on top of normal "fudge factors". But if it can do the job...then I don't want to replace it just because.

Here...this is from a Corsair guy on the Corsair forums:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showpost.php?p=324422

The answer is no to each of these, as the PSU is actually a single-rail design.

The reason for this confusion is due to the ATX specification changes from ATX 2.0 to ATX 2.2.

At one point there was a 240va limitation per output, which meant any PSU with more than 20A of +12V output would have to have multiple "rails". As these weren't usually separate +12V sources, they were typically just separate OCP points on each physical trace, thus creating a 20A OCP point on 2 or 3 or 4 or 6 or however many "rails" were in the design.

As we were designing the product, the ATX spec changed from the 240va limitation being a requirement to being merely a recommendation, but we already had packaging, manuals, and labels finished and a significant amount of money in them. The decision was made to change the PSUs functionality so that it only had one "rail", but to leave the specs as they were so we wouldn't take a huge loss of money on packaging and such.

It's a bit confusing but for most users it does not matter. For our customers who want to know (those who read forums or email us) we will answer honestly. It's spec'd as a 3-rail design but functions as a single-rail design.

There is a single OCP/OVP point, a single +12V source inside the HX520/HX620 supplies.

 

[Seba]

Then it means that the 18A limit per 12V rail displayed on power supply label is false.

Maybe the 480W maximum power on 12V displayed on the same label is still true and then it means that a R9 380 would not bring it nowhere near its limit.

 

[texasnightowl]

Yeah, if the 480W max on 12V is true, then that means a total of 40 amps on 12V, right?

Also, fwiw, I mentioned my 2500k is OC'd. And it is. But if it matters, I used offset mode and I ended up with a negative offset. During testing, the max vcore I saw while 1.304 but for most tests (using ASUS RoG Realbench) vcore was in the 1.256-1.264 range. So it is OC'd, but no crazy high vcores. So I would presume that that is good as far as how it affects power draw.

 

[Seba]

Yeah, if the 480W max on 12V is true, then that means a total of 40 amps on 12V, right?

Correct.