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[WccfTech]Nvidia to discontinue 2 GB GTX 960 versions

M

Mondozei

Golden Member
A Chinese website, HWBattle.net, is reporting that NV plans to discontinue the 2 GB VRAM versions of the GTX 960. This is via WccfTech.

Frankly, a 2 GB VRAM budget GPU today makes almost no sense. A lot of games, and it aint just Shadow of Mordor, are VRAM-bound at 2 GB or less even at 1080p.

It was amazing to me how so many tech sites could recommend the 960 in reviews given that they must have known this. While this isn't officially confirmed yet it makes all the sense in the world to just be selling the 4 GB version.
 
The problem is Newegg still has a lot of GTX960 2GBs on sale, the cheapest of which is an MSI version for $170. MSI also sells the GTX960 4GB for $185. Since such small amounts separate the 960 2GB and 4GB, and R9 380 can be regularly purchased for $180 in the US, the pricing of the 960 2GB is simply too high.

Unfortunately, there are still many 960 2GB models in the US and Canada, many less informed/unsuspecting gamers will buy this card.

The faster we move to 4GB as the mainstream VRAM amount, the less game developers will be held back by texture/art assets for future games. Hopefully with HBM2 next year, we see increases in VRAM across most pricing segments.

While one of the worst examples of a PC console port, this is probably the direction of PC games going forward as we get into 3rd year of PS4/XB1 console ported PC titles in 2016 and beyond.

http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Batman_Arkham_Knight__GPU_v_2.0-test-vram.jpg


The last time GameGPU tested Batman AK, it was not possible to enable HQ textures at 1080P without a card with at least 3GB of VRAM.
http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Batman_Arkham_Knight__GPU_v_2.0-test-1920_h.jpg


285 2GB and GTX960 2GB need to do and replaced by 380 4GB and 960 4GB.

There is one positive, if 960 2GB is discontinued, it might be possible to buy a 960 2GB for less $ than a 950 2GB for budget gamers should 960 2GB drop below $150 on its final sales.
 
Rannar said:
So you really recommend 4GB 750 TI over 2GB one?
What about 730? 4GB DDR 3 better than 2GB DDR 5?

....
Click to expand...

730 is not a good gaming GPU, it should be happy with 1GB, and 2GB DDR5 would be way better than 4GB DDR3.

as for the 750 Ti, I also don't think there is enough GPU power there to justify 4GB, but it would probably benefit in some games from the added memory,

the 960 2GB seems to be fine with most games at 1080p, but not always, so having it 4GB only, specially now with the 950 replacing the 960 2GB is probably not a bad thing.
 
Rannar said:
So you really recommend 4GB 750 TI over 2GB one?
What about 730? 4GB DDR 3 better than 2GB DDR 5?

....
Click to expand...

Do you honestly think with 17000+ posts I don't know the difference between memory bandwidth and memory capacity or that I don't know that lower end GPUs such as GTX750Ti cannot take full advantage of more than 2GB of memory?

My post is specific to the 960 level class of GPU, and similar price ranges, which means a 960 2GB buyer could have easily purchased a 280X, a far superior product.

deadrising3_1920_1080.gif

som_1920_1080.gif

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Also, notice how in Batman AK, 280X which is priced similarly to a 960 2GB is getting > 60 fps averages but a 960 2GB cannot even utilize HQ textures?

Sooner or later 2GB of VRAM will not be enough for most games. I presume gamers who buy budget GPUs in the $200 range aren't the type who upgrade every 12 months. As next generation games have higher quality textures, the settings that wipe the floor with 2GB cards now will eventually make their way to 1080P next gen AAA games.

http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Mortal_Kombat_X_-test-mkx_2560.jpg


Well, it's already happening (see above examples).

Even if/when NV discontinues the 960 2GB, it's still a bad buy because R9 380 4GB/280X are better at similar price levels, while R9 290 crushes the 960 in price/performance. 960's performance in Star Wars Battlefront also looks horrid.

index.php


What NV should have released is a 960Ti but this generation is almost done and millions of gamers spent $200 on a bad product that has a GPU that's crippled for DX12 games and is VRAM crippled as well. Worse is that many more gamers will be buying 950 2GB/960 2GB cards before they are EOL. Fingers crossed that with 16nm HBM2 GPUs we have 3GB as minimum in the $200 space in 2016.
 
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Nvidia can't discontinue the "GTX 960 2GB versions" because there is only one variant of GTX 960 GPU. The graphics card manufacturers are deciding if they put 2GB or 4GB on the GTX 960 card.
 
Seba said:
Nvidia can't discontinue the "GTX 960 2GB versions" because there is only one variant of GTX 960 GPU. The graphics card manufacturers are deciding if they put 2GB or 4GB on the GTX 960 card.
Click to expand...

^^ This.

But I think its a preparation for the upcoming VRAM inflation with next gen GPUs. I wouldn't be surprised if 4/8/16GB would become the norm in the 3 segments.
 
Seba said:
Nvidia can't discontinue the "GTX 960 2GB versions" because there is only one variant of GTX 960 GPU. The graphics card manufacturers are deciding if they put 2GB or 4GB on the GTX 960 card.
Click to expand...

The manufacturers can only build the configurations which are allowed by Nvidia. If Nv says 2gb on 960 are discontinued, then no one will build it.
 
@Russian.

Sarcasm.
But you should look into context. Lower end cards can not use more than 2GB anyway for fluid gameplay. 960 is in kind of in the middlezone- 4GB offers marginally better frame rates at high res but is still too low to be enjoyable or really useful.
 
ShintaiDK said:
^^ This.

But I think its a preparation for the upcoming VRAM inflation with next gen GPUs. I wouldn't be surprised if 4/8/16GB would become the norm in the 3 segments.
Click to expand...
I agree but hate to think I'll be at the low end of the totempole!🙄
 
Rannar said:
@Russian.

Sarcasm.
But you should look into context. Lower end cards can not use more than 2GB anyway for fluid gameplay. 960 is in kind of in the middlezone- 4GB offers marginally better frame rates at high res but is still too low to be enjoyable or really useful.
Click to expand...

When a poster has to bring up their post count to prove anything, you know they're a joke.

Is the 380 2GB going away as well? Why is nobody upset over this card, but the 960 2GB is the worst card in existence?
 
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96Firebird said:
When a poster has to bring up their post count to prove anything, you know they're a joke.

Is the 380 2GB going away as well? Why is nobody upset over this card, but
the 960 2GB is the worst card in existence?
Click to expand...

When a tech site or AMD post something about discontinuing 380 2GB cards I bet he would be more than happy to discuss that.

Why do you feel the need to try really really hard to devolve this thread into AMD vs Nvidia?

Mods can we please clean this thread, half dozen posts in and people can't seem to stop attacking everything.
 
^exactly and RS has already said the 380 and 960 was not a good or good value card when its so close to the price of the 290 that offers much better performance. Fanboyism at its best. 2gb cards really need to go even at 1080p as more and more games are requiring 3gb and more for good frame rates and to enable certain settings.
 
This is great news, I hope this drives their price to junk in the used or clearance market. I would love to get a $150 960 on BF for my hackintosh...
 
poofyhairguy said:
This is great news, I hope this drives their price to junk in the used or clearance market. I would love to get a $150 960 on BF for my hackintosh...
Click to expand...

I'm sad it looks like r9 390s will be $200-250. I may pick up an R9 390 to crossfire with my 290 lol....
 
So are they going to still see the 4gb version. It doesn't really have the horsepower to make use of that does it?
 
This kinda shuts the door on a 960TI or further cut down 970 with 192 bit because it will be a tough sell with 3GB to the average consumer.
 
Rannar said:
Lower end cards can not use more than 2GB anyway for fluid gameplay. 960 is in kind of in the middlezone- 4GB offers marginally better frame rates at high res but is still too low to be enjoyable or really useful.
Click to expand...

You posted this after seeing the graphs that demonstrate that a 4GB comparable card gets much more playable frames than a 2GB?

Often times the averages without minimums hide the stutter when it is low on memory:

960-4v2gn-far-cry.jpg


Notice the 1080 results on the bottom of the above pic. Both cards get 53-54 average, however 24 minimums are far worse and more noticable than 32.

960-4v2gn-acu.jpg


Many players would find 30 minimums and 39 average acceptable. But the 2GB card? 5 minimums!

Just look at all the VRAM usage at 1080.

960-4gb-vram-consumption.jpg


This will only get worse as time goes fon. As the base textures get more complex in games, even turning down other effects may still leave you with a VRAM problem moving forward.

The only reason to buy a 2GB card in 2015 is on the low end like 750 Ti or slower or if you find a nice deal on a used older 2GB card and your upgrading from an ancient 1GB or lower card.
 
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Why oh why didn't they use the same clockspeeds for both cards?! It really isn't that hard to do, and NOT having the same clockspeeds just adds another variable...
 
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