GTX 970 Should I upgrade to GTX 980?

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce' started by CmlDexter, Mar 12, 2015.

  1. CmlDexter

    CmlDexter Guest

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    After all the fuzz about the 3.5vram that probably has been discussed to hell on fourms. I still don't know if I should keep the darn thing or upgrade to a 980.

    My only concerns are the following:

    -My original plan was to buy another GTX 970 and put them SLI

    -As of now I have the cash to upgrade to a GTX 980 (If Amazon honors the return, The card is less than two months old).

    I am satisfied with the performance but is not everyday that I upgrade my GPU so I want to be a little more future-proof. I don't see myself gaming on 4K until they actually release a card capable enough to play over 30FPS at an affordable price (not gonna drop 1000+ on a titan card)

    Can someone give me some advice on what I should do?
     
  2. brendanvista

    brendanvista Master Guru

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    My personal opinion would be to just go ahead and buy the other 970. Most games aren't using the full 3.5GB of vram @1080p and really not at 1440p either, and the performance increase of SLI would be sweet. That being said, it wouldn't be a "wrong" move to upgrade to a 980.
     
  3. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    One hand you're happy with the 970 performance, the other hand you want future proofed / have the cash for a 980

    I wouldn't call the 980 future proof, but if you have spare cash and the option to return the 970, and you're making this thread, Id say you're looking for people to push you into getting the 980, and because of that, Id say go for it

    Ive not used a 970, but the 980 is a very good card
     
  4. CmlDexter

    CmlDexter Guest

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    why you don't think is future proof? just curious
     

  5. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Well the future is 4k, much graphically heavier games, higher refresh rates 120/144Hz - the 980 is not a card that can do that on it's own, maybe 3-4 of them
     
  6. CmlDexter

    CmlDexter Guest

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    So you think is best to just stick with the 970 and when I want better performance just get another. 4K monitors as of now are way out of my budget I don't see myself buying one this year. Maybe a 1440p monitor but that would have to wait.
     
  7. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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  8. A M D BugBear

    A M D BugBear Ancient Guru

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    My 2 970 gtx's @ almost 1600mhz is doing prettie good.

    At 4k??? Depending on the game, you will have problems as it will go way beyond its total frame buffer.

    Older games no problem, but today's games with settings jacked up so high, you will need at least 3.5gb as a bare min, some games like farcry 4, running at 4k? Forget it, out of frame buffer, even worse, assassins creed: Unity, hogs alot of power out of the gpus @ even 2560X1600 resolution, anything higher with maxed in-game quality settings, runs slow then very fast out of frame buffer.

    I am really looking into windows 10,titan-x and the new Ati/Amd Offering thats coming out soon supposedly this summer or so.

    If you need more HP(Horsepower), go with another GTX 970, if you are very concerned about the 3.5gb bracket, sell the 970 and get 2 980's, thats what I would do.

    Personally I would just go with another gtx 970 as they overclock like one bad MOFO.

    If your second pci-e slot is X8 speed, no problem, I even tested the card myself, using one card on the X16 speed and the other in the X8, One card at a time, the difference is absolutely Nil, there was some testing stuff done on this already on some other site as well, google it.

    Where my clock speed is at, its already just as fast or slightly faster then a 980(stock performance) already.

    One of my 970 is clocked @ 1590mhz(Est Max) and the other one is @ 1560(Est Max), rock stable with very low voltage tweaking. Memory on both cards is around 7700mhz. Temp wise, one card is topping about 70'c, the other one is like 60, tops.

    I also changed the stock intake side fans on my coolermaster had 932 Adv Case with 4 120mm fans, did it help, yes it did.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
  9. deathfrag

    deathfrag Guest

    best choice is the 980 if you can return your 970 ,sli 970 is juste epic fail with 2015 upcoming games you can max your games but you dont have enough vram result stutter and low fps even at 1080 !!!!
     
  10. Darkest

    Darkest Guest

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    Wat?

    Your 970 is absolutely fine mate. Grab another if you want better performance, you'll likely not notice a jump from a 970 to 980.

    The majority of people making a fuss about the VRAM issue were inept children more interested in shouting and screaming than listening to reason. People who were decided from the start, and proven wrong right and left. Ignore them - you should be better than that.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 13, 2015

  11. ---TK---

    ---TK--- Guest

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    Say what now? I`m at 1440p and do not experience any of the symptoms you addressed? Maybe 1080p is tougher on cards than 1440p??:stewpid:
     
  12. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    Says the person with a 780? If a 970 can't max games because it "doesn't have enough VRAM", than a 780 can't either. And I for sure know that's not the case.

    Stop parroting this crap, please. You've been warned.
     
  13. Carfax

    Carfax Ancient Guru

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    If you game at 1080p, I would stick with the GTX 970. 1440p and above though, definitely go with the GTX 980.

    I went from GTX 970 SLI to GTX 980 SLI and I definitely noticed differences since I have a 1440p monitor. Even at the same frame rates, 980 SLI is noticeably smoother.

    Quite a few games will go above 3.5GB at 1440p, whereas at 1080p, it will be hard to find one that does.

    It's possible though that in single card configuration, a GTX 970 will be OK at 1440p. But in SLI, there is more pressure on the memory system so it makes sense to go with the GTX 980 at that point.
     
  14. Darkest

    Darkest Guest

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    Can you support this at all?
     
  15. D4rKy21

    D4rKy21 Banned

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    True wise words.
     

  16. Noisiv

    Noisiv Ancient Guru

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    Which part? I believe him.

    And that's roughly my takeaway on the whole issue. from doing bunch of reading
     
  17. Darkest

    Darkest Guest

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    The 1440p part, since I run at a greater resolution than that and talk to those running higher regularly. There's multiple sources that can argue that 1440p is just fine on a 970 - because memory usage is not important to any real degree.

    A double negative, well done!
     
  18. Noisiv

    Noisiv Ancient Guru

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    its not that its not fine at 1440p
    but the more you push it upwards, the more the issue rears its ugly head
     
  19. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    I can find quite a few games that "will go" over 3.5gb at 1080p. These are the exact same games that "will go" over 3.5 gb at 1440p. Can you name a single game that "will go" over 3.5gb at 1440p but not at 1080p?

    No, you can't. Now what? Trollfest over? I guess so.
     
  20. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    Guys, he's sharing his personal experience. Real or imagined, it is what it is. Let it be. I doubt he read the OP's actual situation regardless.

    We're not starting up the VRAM train again.
     

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