Compute power =/= better gaming performance. The 290x has about 25% better single precision and approx. 4x double precision performance compared to the 980, yet it's weaker in games. OT: Damn that card looks good. Don't see any fans though, watercooled? But on a more serious note, the 4GB cap would put this card in a weird spot if it performs comparably to the Titan X. I mean two of these babies in CFX might just drive 4k properly, but those 4GB of RAM will not be enough. Unless, of course, DX12 introduces stackable VRAM in SLI/CFX.
See I doubt I would get that much of an increase as I game at 2560x1440 with settings on high (No AA) for the most of my games. Average around 50-70 with dips to 30-40 during heavy action. Witcher 3 is the only game to really tank the pc at such settings and I was expecting that. And with the launch of the VR from both Valve and Facebook next year looking for a real upgrade in performance to go with either setups. And crossfire isn't something I would do as I prefer single GPU setups. Less hassles with new games till drivers come out to fix them from either Nvidia or AMD.
Not me, I do not plan 4k. At best 1440p. And for that I do not need more than 4GB, even 3GB are ok, till I go crazy and try to get 8+ texture pixels per screen pixel textures. Tilled resources will help with vram utilization quite well.
Looking at some benchmarks it looks to be around that sort of figure, 50% is probably more on the highend though. It depends on what games your playing really too, the last few games I smashed was Metro 2033, Last Light and Crysis 3. I also game at 1440p so I can assure you I needed all the GPU power I could get from my 2 7970s to run those games at very high details at that res, forget 4K lol I know what you mean about running one single powerful GPU, have been thinking about myself, but I run a large case (Switch 810) and feel kinda silly not having more than one in there lol Honestly I fancy one of those Phanteks Enthoo Primo cases with 2 Quad rads and 3 GPUs lol Yeah I'm really curious to get a Rift, when the time comes I was thinking about having it downstairs in my Living room and building a HTPC to hook it up too, may look into a 980Ti for that. At the end of the day the 300 series is going to be here soon, so waiting is the obvious choice, I can see the 390X beating the GTX980, wouldn't be surprised if its at least on par with the 980Ti and no doubt priced similarly.
Right after 980Ti xD You know why... Spoiler To take wind from its hype sails. As nVidia makes people want new GPU, AMD jumps in and cashes on desire.