In the realm of PC gaming, last week belonged to Nvidia. The green team officially revealed their next-generation of Maxwell GPUs, which outperform the competition while costing less at retail and in the power consumption department. The GTX 970 in particular was thoroughly impressive in terms of performance per dollar, but things could go even cheaper next month.
As is standard with Nvidia launches, the manufacturer is set to reveal a new mid-range GTX 960 that should retail for less than the 970. Problem is, there’s not that much known about the card yet, other than the fact that it will probably launch next month. Some smaller rumours suggest that the card will have half the memory of its two older siblings, with only 2GB of GDDR5 memory. The card will also reportedly aim for a sub $300 asking price, directly competing with AMD’s Tonga line.
It makes sense that a GTX 960 is on its way, considering that Nvidia never discontinued the GTX 760 last week. After the reveal of both the GTX 980 and 970, the GTX 780 and 770 were immediately discontinued. The 760 could just be keeping the 960’s spot warm for when it decides to arrive.
That said, it’s going to face stiff competition from its own bench. The GTX 970 is an extremely tempting offering, coming close to the 780Ti in terms of performance and costing just over $300. It’ll be interesting to see how much cheaper the GTX 960 could be in order to compete, because it’ll need to be quite significant.
Last Updated: September 22, 2014
Admiral Chief 0
September 22, 2014 at 09:17
Does it also have an affinity for strange vocal noises?
Dutch Matrix
September 22, 2014 at 09:19
Mistah Sheffield!!!!
Admiral Chief 0
September 22, 2014 at 09:19
Hahaha, someone got it!
HvR
September 22, 2014 at 09:28
And who would have thought a couple of years later Gracie would riding Agent Mulder like a second hand pony while beating the crap out of him.
geelslang
September 22, 2014 at 09:59
I hope team red has a few cards up its sleeve because they are being beaten like a red headed stepchild atm. I am pretty much sold on the 970, great price for phenomenal performance with overclocking potential. The MSI version looks like the one to get with, they have a great cooling system, quite and efficient.
Speely
September 22, 2014 at 15:47
I just picked up a used 280X to replace my CF 7850’s and keep me happy until AMD comes up with an answer to the GTX900 series. I’ve been pretty solidly AMD since the Athlon 64 days, but if Red brings out the R9 300 series and they don’t stand up, I may be switching to the 970.
Kikmi
September 22, 2014 at 10:00
GTX 870? Ke?
Guest
September 22, 2014 at 10:01
also, what? “It makes sense that a GTX 960 is on its way, considering that Nvidia never discontinued the GTX 760 last week. “
Speely
September 22, 2014 at 15:50
The point was, immediately upon the release of the 980 and 970, the 780 and 770’s were discontinued. But they did NOT discontinue the 760. Which may be a hint that the 960 is yet to arrive.
It’s a lot of assumption and wishful thinking, and I’m not entirely sure it would be a good idea in my opinion. Releasing a 960 will only cut into the sales of the 970.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew
September 22, 2014 at 10:05
It would have to cost at most $200 dollars if it’s going to see any market life
geelslang
September 22, 2014 at 10:44
Im guessing $250
Sir Rants A Lot Llew
September 22, 2014 at 11:17
It won’t sell. If it’s $250 then for less than $100 extra you get a far stronger card. It won’t sell as it will be overlooked 9 times out of 10 for the superior card at a much cheaper price point
geelslang
September 22, 2014 at 11:30
I hear you. $200 would be a killer price and a cheap entry into PC gaming. If somebody told me the 960 would be $200 a couple of weeks aga I would have laughed. Im still guessing a bit more but we will know soon enough.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew
September 22, 2014 at 17:22
Indeed will. Interesting times ahead
Doug Green
September 23, 2014 at 14:58
I would buy it if it came in a mITX version, like the 760. I simply can’t fit a full size GPU card in my Lian-Li PC-TU100B chassis, but I want the most powerful and power efficient card possible in there.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew
September 23, 2014 at 15:40
This is why I don;t purchase mITX chassis. Too much hassle. It’s a pity though because those chassis are really amazing
Doug Green
September 23, 2014 at 16:23
Oh man, I love my small form factor. I mean it has a freaking carrying handle. Its just plain awesome, they’re coming out with more powerful itx GPUs also. I just saw sapphire released an R9 285 itx, might get that if they don’t come out with a GTX 960 before then.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew
September 23, 2014 at 17:14
Isn’t heat a problem in such small chassis though? I’ve always wondered
Doug Green
September 23, 2014 at 17:16
Of course, but with the maxwell architecture TDP will drop dramatically. You just have to be smart about your parts when building.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew
September 22, 2014 at 10:10
Also thanks to that stupid header I now have that woman’s voice in my head. GAH!!! Y U DO DIS?
http://images1.fanpop.com/images/photos/1700000/Mr-Sheffield-Fran-fran-and-maxwell-1756411-290-218.jpg
DLieft1960
September 22, 2014 at 10:17
Joye77 Carson. you think Richard`s remark is amazing, last week I bought a brand new Mitsubishi Evo after making $9971 this-past/4 weeks and-just over, 10 grand last-month. this is certainly the most-rewarding I’ve had. I began this 5 months ago and pretty much straight away was bringin in more than $81 p/h. I follow the details on this straightforward website,..
http://best-earning.,…….
Brady miaau
September 22, 2014 at 10:23
Some things are just better left in the past.
Who wrote this?
“I am a little snowflake, and you can all call me Sandy until I figure out how to edit this thing, which is probably never. Also, Geoff’s a bastard”
Yeah right. Snowflake, yes. Thanks for that, buddy!
CodeName Tailgunner
September 22, 2014 at 12:28
Oh Mr. Sheffield!!!!
Wyzak
September 22, 2014 at 13:19
Somehow just over $300 turned into R5,999 on Takealot’s website.
DJSkippy
September 22, 2014 at 14:43
Takealot of your money…
eurorootz
September 26, 2014 at 05:46
I picked up an EVGA GTX 770 with the titan cooler for $160 from an eager beaver that wanted to cash out to buy a 970. Yes the 970 and 980 are truly impressive but considering all of my gaming still takes place on my 27″ 1080p monitor the 770 will be more than enough for a while. Going to wait until sometime next year when things settle down and the Ti models are released and I upgrade to a 1440 or 1600.