Titan X vs SLI GTX 980

[atoff]

So, the price of the Titan X has just been revealed to be $999 MSRP, cheaper than 2 GTX 980's.  I still have my 980's unopened.  I'll probably lose money on one of them because it's past the return period, so would have to sell it (probably see a profit of $475 - loss of $140 since I paid $615 after tax), but the other should still be returnable.   Should I do that and pick up the Titan X instead?

 

 

[TheSLSAMG]

No, the GTX 980 SLI will perform better either way. We're talking an around 10FPS difference from single card to single card.

[DarkRift5]

SLI 980s should (in theory) be more powerful than a single Titan X, assuming the SLI is done correctly in the game. What resolution will you be at? The only thing I can think of is the VRAM, unless you need the workstation stuff it has.

[SuperPug]

Dual GTX 980 are much faster than a TitanX. Difference between TitanX and 980 is 30% to maybe 40%.

[atoff]

Thanks, makes me feel a little better.  I'm sure I'm not alone in being frustrated about having to build a new gaming PC when all the new stuff is just around the corner.  

I won't need the workstation stuff.  Might get a little Solidworks usage here and there, but nothing more than that and gaming.  Oh, and resolution.  2k-4k.  Currently 1080p, but I'm waiting for those 2k or 4k 144hz monitors to hit the shelves. 

[Zulkkis]

So, the price of the Titan X has just been revealed to be $999 MSRP, cheaper than 2 GTX 980's.  I still have my 980's unopened.  I'll probably lose money on one of them because it's past the return period, so would have to sell it (probably see a profit of $475 - loss of $140 since I paid $615 after tax), but the other should still be returnable.   Should I do that and pick up the Titan X instead?

 

390X and whatever the cut down version of Titan X will be, will hit the market. I'd say either of those will be a more sensible option.

[rockmassif]

Better get the Titan X, it's always much better and trouble free to have one single powerful GPU instead of 2 lesser ones.

Plus it has 12GB VRAM. 4GB is just not enough for 4K, assuming that's what you were going for with SLI. 12 is kinda overkill but 4 is just not good enough for 4K.

Also when you think about future, adding 3rd 980 won't really give you any noticeable performance boost and you will have more trouble with SLI and still the same low amount of VRAM, but 2 years from now, adding a second Titan X into your setup would be more than you need for 4K. That's why they decided to go with 8GB VRAM on consoles, because they are planning to use it in the next years. Even now some games with max settings on 4K uses close to/more than 6GB.

[atoff]

390X and whatever the cut down version of Titan X will be, will hit the market. I'd say either of those will be a more sensible option.

 

Right, but I already have the 980's, and the 390x doesn't have a release date or pricing yet.  

[Zulkkis]

Yeah, idk. I never though of a 980 as much of a value option even at high-end given how much VRAM it had - it doesn't make much sense in SLI, and that 256-bit will hit you back at 4K. Especially at launch since 970 had equal specs, though that turned out to be false.

 

Titan X is a great card for 3D-modeling, but even there the price-performance is very much of a questionmark and very much a case of whether you will need a full 12GB RAM sandbox to play with or whether if 6GB or 8GB will suffice. The cut down Titan will probably feature 6GB or so given what 390X has.

 

390X would also feature HBM, more cores so it should fare well at higher resolutions that you're going to be using. That said, the card doesn't even have a release date yet.

 

But none of the alternatives I'd consider are out yet, and you have your 980's already. If you were gaming at lower resolutions it's a great card, even if you only had one of them.

[atoff]

Yeah, idk. I never though of a 980 as much of a value option even at high-end given how much VRAM it had - it doesn't make much sense in SLI, and that 256-bit will hit you back at 4K. Especially at launch since 970 had equal specs, though that turned out to be false.

 

Titan X is a great card for 3D-modeling, but even there the price-performance is very much of a questionmark and very much a case of whether you will need a full 12GB RAM sandbox to play with or whether if 6GB or 8GB will suffice. The cut down Titan will probably feature 6GB or so given what 390X has.

 

390X would also feature HBM, more cores so it should fare well at higher resolutions that you're going to be using. That said, the card doesn't even have a release date yet.

 

But none of the alternatives I'd consider are out yet, and you have your 980's already. If you were gaming at lower resolutions it's a great card, even if you only had one of them.

 

It's pretty frustrating.  I think what's left to do is just stick with the 980's until after the 390x is released and drops in price by at least $40-50, then sell off the 980's and get a pair of 390x's.   I'm sure I could still get $400ea for the 980's in 6 months.  It'll be a $400 hit, but such is life. 

[Bloodraghe]

Personally I want to know what the 980 Kingpin is capable of before buying any of them. Considering the fact that the Titan is sporting one 6 and one 8 pin vs the two 8 pin and one 6 pin, I think 980 Kingpin is going to overclock like a beast.