MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming OC review

Not impressed in the least. The card is castrated to the point that it can't even maintain 60fps average at the tested settings in most games. While I realize that most of the people that buy these cards will be running more realistic settings (even I don't try to run games at max settings unless forced to), some of these games are old enough that a mid-range card should be able to run at max settings at 1920x1200 and maintain 60fps average.

 

It is funny, though, that 400 $ 960 SLI is almost as fast as a single 550 $ 980.

960 Ti SLI will be faster and cheaper than the 980, but more power hungry, and louder.

 

Something I noticed is that EVERY review leaves off the R9 280 on the performance chart (but still includes 280x, 285, 7950, ect). Are you guys copying eachother's homework or was it a payoff?

 

Yes, GTX960 SLI is faster and cheaper than a single GTX980. The same was the case with the GTX660 SLI and GTX680. You'll still get a better overall experience with a single GTX980.

7950BE and R9 280 are close enough in performance that it doesn't really matter.

 

Needless to say, I'm glad I got my 970 instead of waiting. 960 wouldnt cut it at QHD.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I was going to hold off until the rumors of 128bit memory bus. Now I'm glad I didn't. I'm sick of castrated graphics cards.

 

-delete-

 

960 a poor card wish the 660ti and 660ti sli was in the performance charts would make the 960 look a really bad upgrade option hope they bring out a 960ti with better performance

 

And it will be SLi,which means not everything supported, prone to issues many have (but not all, some can handle SLi just fine).

My personal observation:
- benchmarks it does 25% better than 760
- in games it does from 0% to 25% better than 760
- SLi performance can match r9-290x/980

My opinions:
- card is bandwidth starved and that is why quite good GPU does not deliver consistent improvement in all scenarios.
- 4GB version will be pointless if even 2GB version suffocates itself
- SLi for higher than 1080p resolution is bad idea

Going from 770 to 970 or 780 to 980 should be called upgrade.
Going from 760 to 960 is not upgrade at all.

 

I made a little analysis of performance vs. launch price.

660 - 230 $
670 - 400 $, 74% higher price, 34% higher performance in 1080p (same in 1440p)

760 - 250 $
770 - 400 $, 60% higher price, 23% higher performance in 1080p (same in 1440p)

960 - 200 $
970 - 330 $, 65% higher price, 58% higher performance in 1080p (62% in 1440p)


The 970 offers amazing value, it scales so well, unlike the 670, and the insanely overpriced 770.
Hopefully the 960 Ti will fill the huge gap between the 960 and 970.

 

Nice cooler from MSI, but the GPU from NVIDIA is a sidegrade from a 760, I can't think of a reason why the well informed gamer would buy one at current prices.

 

I'm not really sure what Nv were thinking with this card, it's way more expensive than it should be.

 

I think about it in similar way like R9-280 vs R9-285 (evolution). New features, about same performance.

But considering it is step from Kepler to Maxwell (revolution), there should have been performance increase across all games, not just some.

 

looking at a price to power the gtx 960 is not doing so well.

NCIX.COM

current sale price in Canadian 1/24/2015:

cheapest GTX 970 is from PNY ($379.99)
cheapest R9 290X is from Powercolor ($309.99)
cheapest R9 290 is from Gigabyte ($279.99)
cheapest GTX 760 is from Zotac ($223.98)
cheapest R9 285 is from Gigabyte ($239.99)
cheapest GTX 660 is from MSI ($119.99)

cheapest GTX 960 is from Gigabyte ($219.99)

so for $40 dollars more you could get a R9 290 and a better gaming device
(yes using more watts)

 

I like me silents but I am hoping the 960ti is not castrated like the GTX

 

It's exactly half of GM204, but it's full GM206 chip. No fused off parts, but:

If you pay attention, you will notice that PCB most, if not all, of the GTX 960 is intended to accommodate a 192-bit bus. Nvidia assures us against the GTX 960 embeds although a full version of GM206. The latter did not therefore able to operate a 192-bit bus and the PCB are obviously designed to accommodate another GPU, perhaps a model of the Kepler generation or a variant of GM204 which would have been prepared by Nvidia a similar packaging to that of GM206.
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/932-5/specifications-histoire-bios.html

TL;DR GTX 960 Ti should be here soooooon

 

long winded way of saying castrated 960ti hopfull is worth the 250$ tag it should be unless they try increase prices

 

Another thing that is funny is that the 690 and the 7990 are faster than 2 960s in SLI. and Those cards are a couple of years old. Makes me glad that I got my r9 290 tri-x card. 2GB more of Vram and being able to play newer titles beyond 1080p such as 1440p.