Joined Oct 2004
9K Posts | 1+
Los Angeles, CA
Update for this thread. We're way into the 900 series of GTX (Maxwell series of GPUs) graphics cards life span but even with new cards scheduled to appear from both AMD and Nvidia in the next few months, they're still great cards. For you budget gamers, there's even a sweet little card for you and still able to play nearly all games in medium/High settings in 1080p. The 900 series GPUs have Nvidia's new Anti-Aliasing called MFAA and include DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution). DSR is a method of downsampling, which is basically rendering a game at a higher resolution than your monitor/TVs native resolution. This creates an image that is much more clearer and crisp than traditional AA methods that we're all used to. As GPUs get much more powerful, I would not be surprised if DSR eventually phases out all other AA.
Budget
GTX 750Ti 2GB - $149
Although the 700 series is all based on the Kepler architecture, Nvidia decided to release their first Maxwell card as the 750 Ti.
This little card has been proven to handle many of the latest games at 1080p. They may not run at Ultra settings or even at High at 60 fps, but they still can rock nearly all games at Medium/High settings with rock solid 30fps performance. When paired with a decent CPU (eg. Intel Core i3 and up), they basically match, and at times exceed, the latest consoles in visual fidelity. All for the low price of $149. Oh and this card requires so little power, it doesn't even need a dedicated cable from the Power Supply like most high end cards. It draws all of its power straight from the motherboard. So there's a very good chance you don't even need to upgrade your PSU if you have one in the 400/500w range. There is one version, from Zotac, that does require a 6-pin connector but that's because it's overclocked by them, so it requires a little more power than all the other versions from other vendors
Review
Mid-Range
GTX 960 2GB/4GB - $199/$230
The lower end of the 900 series but by no means a slouch. This card can do 1080p gaming and, as shown by Grindspine below, it can even go beyond on some games. There are two variations of this card. There's the 2GB version and the 4GB version. The 2GB version is just fine and plenty for 1080p gaming but if you plan to play with higher resolutions, it's best to get the 4GB. Although, if that's the route you want to go with, it would be more advisable to go with any of the higher cards like the 970 or 980.
2GB MSRP $199 - Review
4GB MSRP $230 - ASUS Strix Version
GTX 970 4GB - $349
This card is what is considered the "sweet spot" in terms of price for performance ratio. This card is basically as powerful as the original GTX Titan that cost $999 back in February of 2013, except for the low price of $349. This card pretty much handles all games with ease at 1080p/60fps at Ultra settings. It can even handle gaming at 2560x1440 with a lot of games. You might have to turn down a few settings, like Anti-Aliasing, but the graphics still look great. You can't really go wrong with this card.
There's a slight caveat to this card's performance though. It has been revealed that this card can take a hit in performance when a game tries to access more than 3.5 GBs of memory. The reason for this is because the last .5 GBs of memory are on a separate controller that runs slower than the first 3.5 GBs. Despite this though, the card still runs great and there's a very, very low chance of hitting those last .5 GBs of memory. Usually it only gets hit when you're attempting to hit 4k resolutions or some other type of extreme graphical fidelity.
Review
Some more info regarding the memory "issue"
High End
GTX 980 4GB - $550
There might be some who would disagree with this being considered high end, I would still place it there since this card sits at $550. Which I would argue is quite a bit for the average gamer. Not to mention this card matches the GTX Titan Black which also launched at $999 a year after the original Titan. Still though, whether it's considered High End or Mid Range, it's still a beast of a card and will easily last someone through the current gen of games. Really, there's not much more to say about this card other than you will max out nearly all games at 1080p and beyond. This GPU also does not have the memory split up the same way as the 970.
Review
Titan X 12GB - $999
The highest of the High End. This card is for gamers who have the money to spend and want the best of the best right now. With the most powerful GPU combined with a whopping 12GB of memory, there's really no game that will give you any trouble right now and even into the next few years. 2560x1440 is no problem at all, although 4K gaming might still be a little much. Just like it's Titan predecessors, this GPU is priced at $999.
Review
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Previous GTX 700 Series
Budget
GTX 750Ti 2GB - $149
Although the 700 series is all based on the Kepler architecture, Nvidia decided to release their first Maxwell card as the 750 Ti.
This little card has been proven to handle many of the latest games at 1080p. They may not run at Ultra settings or even at High at 60 fps, but they still can rock nearly all games at Medium/High settings with rock solid 30fps performance. When paired with a decent CPU (eg. Intel Core i3 and up), they basically match, and at times exceed, the latest consoles in visual fidelity. All for the low price of $149. Oh and this card requires so little power, it doesn't even need a dedicated cable from the Power Supply like most high end cards. It draws all of its power straight from the motherboard. So there's a very good chance you don't even need to upgrade your PSU if you have one in the 400/500w range. There is one version, from Zotac, that does require a 6-pin connector but that's because it's overclocked by them, so it requires a little more power than all the other versions from other vendors
Review
Mid-Range
GTX 960 2GB/4GB - $199/$230
The lower end of the 900 series but by no means a slouch. This card can do 1080p gaming and, as shown by Grindspine below, it can even go beyond on some games. There are two variations of this card. There's the 2GB version and the 4GB version. The 2GB version is just fine and plenty for 1080p gaming but if you plan to play with higher resolutions, it's best to get the 4GB. Although, if that's the route you want to go with, it would be more advisable to go with any of the higher cards like the 970 or 980.
2GB MSRP $199 - Review
4GB MSRP $230 - ASUS Strix Version
GTX 970 4GB - $349
This card is what is considered the "sweet spot" in terms of price for performance ratio. This card is basically as powerful as the original GTX Titan that cost $999 back in February of 2013, except for the low price of $349. This card pretty much handles all games with ease at 1080p/60fps at Ultra settings. It can even handle gaming at 2560x1440 with a lot of games. You might have to turn down a few settings, like Anti-Aliasing, but the graphics still look great. You can't really go wrong with this card.
There's a slight caveat to this card's performance though. It has been revealed that this card can take a hit in performance when a game tries to access more than 3.5 GBs of memory. The reason for this is because the last .5 GBs of memory are on a separate controller that runs slower than the first 3.5 GBs. Despite this though, the card still runs great and there's a very, very low chance of hitting those last .5 GBs of memory. Usually it only gets hit when you're attempting to hit 4k resolutions or some other type of extreme graphical fidelity.
Review
Some more info regarding the memory "issue"
High End
GTX 980 4GB - $550
There might be some who would disagree with this being considered high end, I would still place it there since this card sits at $550. Which I would argue is quite a bit for the average gamer. Not to mention this card matches the GTX Titan Black which also launched at $999 a year after the original Titan. Still though, whether it's considered High End or Mid Range, it's still a beast of a card and will easily last someone through the current gen of games. Really, there's not much more to say about this card other than you will max out nearly all games at 1080p and beyond. This GPU also does not have the memory split up the same way as the 970.
Review
Titan X 12GB - $999
The highest of the High End. This card is for gamers who have the money to spend and want the best of the best right now. With the most powerful GPU combined with a whopping 12GB of memory, there's really no game that will give you any trouble right now and even into the next few years. 2560x1440 is no problem at all, although 4K gaming might still be a little much. Just like it's Titan predecessors, this GPU is priced at $999.
Review
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Previous GTX 700 Series
Nvidia just released the GTX 700 series. These are the top of line cards at the moment for Nvidia. Only behind the beast, AKA, GTX Titan. So I'm putting some info about these cards in this thread for anyone who needs a quick reference. Enjoy!
GTX TITAN - Review
GTX 700 series:
The GTX 600 series is still around, but the 700 series is ramping up and you get better performance for a cheaper price than the 600 series. I'm sure there will be a few more models to be released. I will add them as soon as they are. But if anyone wants info on the 600 series, or any others in the Nvidia line, ask away.
I also added the TITAN since that is what the GTX 780 is based off of. It's still the single fastest GPU out right now.
GTX TITAN - Review
GTX 700 series:
The GTX 600 series is still around, but the 700 series is ramping up and you get better performance for a cheaper price than the 600 series. I'm sure there will be a few more models to be released. I will add them as soon as they are. But if anyone wants info on the 600 series, or any others in the Nvidia line, ask away.
I also added the TITAN since that is what the GTX 780 is based off of. It's still the single fastest GPU out right now.