To spread a little light on the situation at hand I'm going to introduce a little scaling. This is based on performance for value/cost.
R9290x>
R9290>
R9280x>
R9280>
R9270x>
GTX960>
GTX770>
GTX760>
R9270
This is consistent over most titles besides the few that favour Nvidia heavily and even then it only changes to.
R9290x>
R9290>
R9280x>
GTX960>
R9280>
GTX770>
R9270x>
GTX760>
R9270
As for sound levels the 960 is barely ahead at roughly between 33-38db under load compared to R9280 35-40db under load, Though Sapphire's Vapor-X cards smash thru with some 280X and 290x models being able to achieve less than 30db under load. R9290and 290X models beat the 960 hands down. Only one thing changes this...EVGA GTX 960 SSC.
![:drool: :drool:](/images/Smileys/sFun_drool.gif)
I have two of these puppies on my work computer, these bad boys wont even turn on their fans until you hit temps above 50 odd degrees celsuis, quietest PC in the shop, besides the bosses.
The 960's best asset is power consumption, being significantly less than its AMD counterparts.
The biggest factor here is that you'll get better performance from an AMD card for the price you pay than you will paying the same price for a Nvidia card. Not to mention AMD is soon to release their 300 series soon meaning even more price drops for cheaper AMD cards.