technology The Glorious PC master race thread

[long gone 8,929]

I'd get the R9 280 due to the extra gig of Vram it has.

Don't forget the wider memory bus. The 280 has a 384-bit bus whereas the 960 is a 128-bit card.

[MountainDrew 1,876]

Don't forget the wider memory bus. The 280 has a 384-bit bus whereas the 960 is a 128-bit card.

Oh yes, almost forgot about that.

 

I remember being so excited when the 960 was announced, but then Nvidia revealed the specs and then...yeah (the 2GB of Vram and 128-bit bus kinda ruined it for me).

 

I know that it's supposed to be a lower-tier card but still, I think that they could've done more with it.

[long gone 8,929]

Oh yes, almost forgot about that.

 

I remember being so excited when the 960 was announced, but then Nvidia revealed the specs and then...yeah (the 2GB of Vram and 128-bit bus kinda ruined it for me).

 

I know that it's supposed to be a lower-tier card but still, I think that they could've done more with it.

I was really hoping the 960 would have a 192-bit bus and 3GB VRAM. That would be more desirable than a 128-bit card with 2GB RAM.

[MountainDrew 1,876]

I was really hoping the 960 would have a 192-bit bus and 3GB VRAM. That would be more desirable than a 128-bit card with 2GB RAM.

Yeah, and for some reason this performance chart looks a bit...odd, imo.  At least the 900 series and Titan X portion of it.

 

The 960 barely beats the 760, and the 970 soars above the 960.  Also the Titan X and 980 Ti are basically tied (is that why the 980 Ti was made?  So that it could "Ti" with the Titan X in terms of performance?).

 

[long gone 8,929]

Back at PAX East, this EVGA guy (I want to think it was Jacob Freeman) told me that upgrading from a 760 to a 960 would make no sense unless I wanted some extra things, like a 0RPM fan mode and some extra power efficiency, but it's otherwise not worth it upgrading from a 760 to a 960. Also, I'd lose 128 cores and a lotta bandwidth by doing such an upgrade.

[AccountNoLongerUsed 741]

@@MountainDrew, Wanting to play the game? PCs are better than consoles in power and graphics, but until they become more simple to use, i am sticking to consoles.

 

Though, i wonder why console makers wont allow people to add non-cheating mods on console games? Wouldnt more people buy consoles if that was an option? and games could continue being update with unofficial patches.

[Jon C 229]

Thanks guys, looks like I'll get the 280.

 

 

 So that it could "Ti" with the Titan X in terms of performance?

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,732]

@, If you ask me, I think it would be greatly beneficial for console gamers if developers game them graphical options (higher graphics at 30FPS and lower graphics at 60FPS).

 

Was considering upgrading GPU this year, but I think I will wait next year to do so. For this year, among some upgrades/devices I plan to add onto my PC is backup battery to prevent potential power problems killing my PC. Does anyone know of any good ones?

[VictiniStar101 214]

Back at PAX East, this EVGA guy (I want to think it was Jacob Freeman) told me that upgrading from a 760 to a 960 would make no sense unless I wanted some extra things, like a 0RPM fan mode and some extra power efficiency, but it's otherwise not worth it upgrading from a 760 to a 960. Also, I'd lose 128 cores and a lotta bandwidth by doing such an upgrade.

What are the real-world benefits from an extra 128 cores and more bandwidth exactly?

[long gone 8,929]

What are the real-world benefits from an extra 128 cores and more bandwidth exactly?

More bandwidth means faster access to GPU resources. More cores means better GPU acceleration in applications that rely on GPU acceleration.

[galaxysquid 2,121]

I have a a Toshiba laptop with Windows 8. I reserved a download of Windows 10. :^)

[MountainDrew 1,876]

@Wyllow, PCs are pretty simple to use and construct imo.  All that PC gaming requires is a little bit of research into what parts you need/want and what software you need/want (unless if you purchase a pre-built).  

 

Well that's all that I needed to do when I started gaming on PC that is. 

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

As cool as a gaming mouse would be, all the ones cheap-enough I'd consider buying them (well say $60 and under) are wired I've become spoiled to how convenient and highly-mobile a wireless mouse is.  

[Lagrangian 64]

I can't stand wireless.

 

I currently have a Razer Naga and I went ahead and bought a Logitech G710+ last week because the retention spring in my previous keyboard died.

[Celli 4,335]

Yeah, me neither, I don't like having to keep replacing batteries in stuff.

[long gone 8,929]

The last wireless mouse I regularly used was the Logitech G700. What was nice about it was that it was rechargeable, and I could still use it as a wired mouse while it was rechargeable. But after a few years of using it I decided to go wired and chose the Steelseries Rival as my mouse of choice.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

I've really been getting pissed off with the PC gaming market lately.

 

For the entire time that I've had my AMD graphics card, it crashes in certain games. It's not just this particular card—it happens to other AMD cards, and I believe it's a driver issue as it only happens in certain games. It's not because of some unstable overclock or temperatures being too high. Some games are fine, some games crash after five minutes. It has to be something on the software side of things.

 

I'm thinking it's getting time to start looking at buying an Nvidia card, but I don't want to do that. I'm growing sick of Nvidia's practices of sabotaging performance on AMD cards with their gameworks crap, but what really irks me is that they're starting to sabotage performance on their previous generations of cards, too. No matter how you slice it, that's complete bullshit.

[long gone 8,929]

I've noticed my average frame rate in GTA has gone down from 79 - 86 to 59 - 68 since I updated my driver. That's honestly quite bullshit, that I and other Kepler card owners are getting screwed over because we don't have the latest and greatest Maxwell cards.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

Yeah. I don't think I could convince myself to buy an Nvidia card again just for that very reason. I can't condone that type of business practice.

[long gone 8,929]

I've been recommending AMD cards more often for that reason, because Nvidia is saying "Fuck you" to Kepler card owners.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

I might just buy a new AMD card when they come out with the 300 series, then RMA it if it has the same problem. Since I know what games cause it I could probably test to see if the new card has that problem within a day. Repeat that process until I get one that doesn't crash on me.

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

Yeah, me neither, I don't like having to keep replacing batteries in stuff.

 

Odd, because I only use cheap Dollar-Store batteries but I still can't remember the last time I has to replace the batteries in this.

 

Stick some high-end Duracell's in there and the batteries might outlast the mouse. 

[long gone 8,929]

I dunno about you guys but the R9 290 for $250 is wicked tempting.

[MountainDrew 1,876]

@Daring, it would be a huge upgrade from that 760 and you wouldn't have to deal with Nvidia's bullshit anymore.

 

I'd say go for it.

Also I had no idea that Nvidia was failing this hard with the Kepler cards.  Kinda glad I have my 970s but I'm also pissed off at the same time that Nvidia is screwing over Kepler users.

 

I'm going to wait and see what the R9 300 series has to offer.  Who knows; maybe the R9 390x will be my next GPU (if Nvidia decides to screw over regular Maxwell users when "Big Maxwell" arrives).

[long gone 8,929]

Only thing that worries me is AMD's driver support. I have not heard good things about it.