370 or GTX 950

[htpc_user]

I was going to order an R7 370 4gb card this weekend in preparation for Battlefront. Then I decided to take a look at the GTX 950, and I saw that it is faster than the 370 in most games and I know it uses less power. Both are around the same price. The only reason I question it is I'd really like to have that 4gb of RAM. Although I'm not going to be gaming higher than 1080p. Should I just go with the 950?

And I've already set my price point so no need to suggest higher tiered cards or tell me what I can get used.

 

[Darksword]

The two cards are evenly matched in Battlefront. The game will use more than 2GB VRAM at 1080p if your card has more than 2GB VRAM available.

All things being equal I'd opt for the 370 4GB.

 

[TaintedSquirrel]

R9 380's are around $150-$170.

Anyway I'd probably go with the 950 since the 370 is just a rehashed 7850 GCN 1.0 card. Craptastic.
950 overclocks better and sweeps the floor with the 370 in all other games.

 

[DPI]

For the brief time I had a 960 as an interim card, I was surprised how well it overclocked. I played Battlefront at 1920x1200, had it locked at 60FPS with adaptive sync and it never dipped below 60FPS and still had gas in the tank. You should be able to score a used MSI for around $150

 

[alex.rizea]

Look for evga b-stock as i've seen the 960 ftw 4gb at around 160$ with a 1 year limited warranty

 

[atp1916]

If i'm not mistaken, no 950 comes with 4GB ram - only the 960. The 960 is also >$200, too.

So: if you're looking to satisfy your all raw requirements, the R9 370 is the only real fit: (1) 4GB ram, (2) budget matched, and (3) performance that is more or less "in the ballpark."

Decisions, decisions eh?

 

[defaultluser]

4gb ram on a card that can't even max-out battlefront at playable framerates at 1080p? What a waste.

Just get the GTX 950 and be done. This goes double if you have 16GB ram, which leaves you plenty of main memory for fast caching.

 

[Criticalhitkoala]

I have a 960 2 gig on a i5-4590. It's pretty damn speedy. Older games on it at 1080p feel just as smooth as 4k on my dual 980 ti sli. It's my fiancee machine and I'm offering her the spare 970 and she doesn't care for it. Says she's super happy with the 960.

 

[Psycrow]

Wait with the 950 and save more money for a 970 or at least the 980..i have the 970 and allready feel people are starting to have the 980 for standarts...so save more money and dont buy these soon outdated 950

 

[a3venom]

And I've already set my price point so no need to suggest higher tiered cards or tell me what I can get used.

Isn't it surprising most people did exactly that?

You should get the 950 since it overclocks really really well, i used to own a 270x and that was not really near what the 950 is at now when OCed (judging by youtube videos).

The extra 2gb ram is useless in 99% of cases, more of a marketing tool. You don't need 4gb ram on a card in this tier, the 950 will always give you more FPS, just don't be afraid to OC(you can't really damage your card by trying out mild OC).

I don't know if they are the same price though. Some people get really lucky and their 950 OCs to almost match a 960 at stock.