GTX 980 and GTX 970

[ZmanFTW]

hoping for 970 sli

 

That will be some sweet SLI! The 970 is obviously the sweet spot for the price since it's better than 780 for under $350. I also noticed that the 980 was winning the poll but now the 970 is winning. Obviously not the only one who knows a great deal when he see it! I really feel like they should have had a launch price of $429.99 reference on the GTX 980. Then I think 980 would still be winning.

[Jumper118]

That will be some sweet SLI! The 970 is obviously the sweet spot for the price since it's better than 780 for under $350. I also noticed that the 980 was winning the poll but now the 970 is winning. Obviously not the only one who knows a great deal when he see it! I really feel like they should have had a launch price of $429.99 reference on the GTX 980. Then I think 980 would still be winning.

the second fastest card is always the best bang for the buck. even if i get 3 way sli they will still be fast enough to outpace 2x980's while still costing the same . that won't be happening for a while. i'll probably get one 970 in January then another one in march or april.

[ZmanFTW]

the second fastest card is always the best bang for the buck. even if i get 3 way sli they will still be fast enough to outpace 2x980's while still costing the same . that won't be happening for a while. i'll probably get one 970 in January then another one in march or april.

 

That's a really good point and as far as 3 or 4 cards, I hear many good things about SLI. Many people think it will be problematic but it's really not. It is more of a question of what games are SLI friendly. 4GB vRAM in SLI by itself is sweet. I would love to hear the benchmarks when you get 2 or even later with 3. Please keep us posted!

 

http://www.geforce.com/games-applications/technology/sli

[Jumper118]

That's a really good point and as far as 3 or 4 cards, I hear many good things about SLI. Many people think it will be problematic but it's really not. It is more of a question of what games are SLI friendly. 4GB vRAM in SLI by itself is sweet. I would love to hear the benchmarks when you get 2 or even later with 3. Please keep us posted!

 

http://www.geforce.com/games-applications/technology/sli

yeah, well i'm getting myself a 4k monitor for Christmas so i need to be able to do things at high setting at least. i will definatly be doing 1080p , 1440p and 4k benchmarks with them if amd don't get there arse into gear that is. if amd bring out some super low power 20nm cards i might get them instead

[ZmanFTW]

Holy crap! I know that this can't be true for ALL games, but damn!

 

 

...and quiet!

 

[ZmanFTW]

yeah, well i'm getting myself a 4k monitor for Christmas so i need to be able to do things at high setting at least.

 

 

OC a lil bit and you'll be well above 30 FPS at 4K.

[Jumper118]

 

OC a lil bit and you'll be well above 30 FPS at 4K.

which is why i'll get 2. that will be perfect. i'm aiming for 45fps with a bit of aa and everything maxed out

[MEC-777]

Ok, I may have to change my vote... Now that I've watched some of the 980/970 reviews, the 970 is looking extremely temping, even though it's about $100-150 more than I was planning to spend, it's still priced incredibly well considering you're getting 780/290X performance.

 

Now the question is, which 970 to go with...?

 

The Strix looks pretty cool and is priced a bit lower than some of the other OC'd variants...

[ZmanFTW]

Ok, I may have to change my vote... Now that I've watched some of the 980/970 reviews, the 970 is looking extremely temping, even though it's about $100-150 more than I was planning to spend, it's still priced incredibly well considering you're getting 780/290X performance.

 

Now the question is, which 970 to go with...?

 

The Strix looks pretty cool and is priced a bit lower than some of the other OC'd variants...

 

Even though the MSI Gaming is clocked a little higher, between ASUS, EVGA, and MSI...ASUS has been the most silent for me. Both MSI-G and ASUS STRIX include backplate which is also a nice added bonus when you have to buy them separately from EVGA. I had to dismantle an MSI Twin Frozr because of noisy fans after about a year and use sewing machine oil on the fan bearings. After that it stayed quiet for the rest of the time I owned it but it was just a pain. My EVGA 760 FTW started off noisy and got quiet all by itself. I'm assuming that the lubrication needed friction to heat up a bit. But I want my rig quiet and my ASUS GTX 670 TOP was the most silent card I ever owned. So I will most likely run ASUS from here on out...unless they prove differently. I have still never owned a Gigabyte yet and I'm not sure where they are at as far as silence and backplates but these are 2 major selling points for me.

[ZmanFTW]

OK well I guess Gigabyte is out for silence! Does have backplate though...10dB difference from ASUS STRIX

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_970_g1_gaming_review,10.html

 

Same with MSI... 39dB @ load

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_970_gaming_review,10.html

 

ASUS STRIX = 29dB @ load

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/24.html

 

Would like to see what Guru3D says about it though. Maybe the test is conducted differently.

[MEC-777]

Even though the MSI Gaming is clocked a little higher, between ASUS, EVGA, and MSI...ASUS has been the most silent for me. Both MSI-G and ASUS STRIX include backplate which is also a nice added bonus when you have to buy them separately from EVGA. I had to dismantle an MSI Twin Frozr because of noisy fans after about a year and use sewing machine oil on the fan bearings. After that it stayed quiet for the rest of the time I owned it but it was just a pain. My EVGA 760 FTW started off noisy and got quiet all by itself. I'm assuming that the lubrication needed friction to heat up a bit. But I want my rig quiet and my ASUS GTX 670 TOP was the most silent card I ever owned. So I will most likely run ASUS from here on out...unless they prove differently. I have still never owned a Gigabyte yet and I'm not sure where they are at as far as silence and backplates but these are 2 major selling points for me.

 

 

OK well I guess Gigabyte is out for silence! Does have backplate though...10dB difference from ASUS STRIX

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_970_g1_gaming_review,10.html

 

Same with MSI... 39dB @ load

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_970_gaming_review,10.html

 

ASUS STRIX = 29dB @ load

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/24.html

 

Would like to see what Guru3D says about it though. Maybe the test is conducted differently.

 

Yeah, I'm going to wait for some more reviews to hit the web and give it some thought. Right now the Strix is probably my first choice.

 

My last GPU, which just died on me the other day (how convenient... ) was a Gigabyte Windforce 7950. It was a great card and delivered really strong performance. I could run Crysis 3 at 1080p on ultra with only the AA dialed back a bit at 40-50fps average with a mild overclock. That being said, I found the triple fan cooler to be a bit noisy, especially when they ramped up to 50%+.

[ZmanFTW]

Yeah, I'm going to wait for some more reviews to hit the web and give it some thought. Right now the Strix is probably my first choice.

 

My last GPU, which just died on me the other day (how convenient... ) was a Gigabyte Windforce 7950. It was a great card and delivered really strong performance. I could run Crysis 3 at 1080p on ultra with only the AA dialed back a bit at 40-50fps average with a mild overclock. That being said, I found the triple fan cooler to be a bit noisy, especially when they ramped up to 50%+.

 

That's valuable information since I have never owned a Gigabye card. Gigabyte makes great motherboards though. Unless they are going to start doing aftermarket cooled video cards differently then maybe they should stick to motherboards. Now that every part in a PC can be power efficient there is really no need for noise. If a part has to be noisy now days then the manufacturer has taken shortcuts. The more power efficient video cards can become the more silent they should be. Overclocking potential should also improve.

 

I was expecting the implementation of the ARM core but maybe when 20nm comes. My biggest hopes for Nvidia is that they will use the ARM core for more than automatic driver updating. GeForce Experience, PWM fan control, and most importantly CPU/GPU optimization are my hopes. If Nvidia can come up with a way for the CPU & GPU to communicate, harmonize and optimize in a way that has never been done before then it may be an epic improvement. I don't understand enough about ARM cores to know if all these things are possible for sure but it's just what I would like to see in future video cards.

[MEC-777]

That's valuable information since I have never owned a Gigabye card. Gigabyte makes great motherboards though. Unless they are going to start doing aftermarket cooled video cards differently then maybe they should stick to motherboards. Now that every part in a PC can be power efficient there is really no need for noise. If a part has to be noisy now days then the manufacturer has taken shortcuts. The more power efficient video cards can become the more silent they should be. Overclocking potential should also improve.

 

 

Gigabyte have since changed and upgraded their windforce cards and cooler with the newer generations. The cooler on the Windforce 970 is completely different from my 7950 in almost every way except that they both still have 3 fans. Looks like they've changes the design of the fan blades too with added ridges - I'm assuming to help reduce noise. 

 

Check out Jays review of the Windforce 970 (his face says it all, lol). Pretty awesome card. The only think I'm not crazy about is it's length. I'd rather go for a 970 with a shorter/smaller PCB, mainly because I have a mini-ITX system. This is a card meant for overclocking though and has been clearly designed for it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAahjdwfbRw  

 

In Canada, the more "extreme" overclocked versions of the 970 are a bit too expensive for what I can afford. But that's why I'm looking at something like the Strix with a decent factory OC and decent price tag...

[ZmanFTW]

Gigabyte have since changed and upgraded their windforce cards and cooler with the newer generations. The cooler on the Windforce 970 is completely different from my 7950 in almost every way except that they both still have 3 fans. Looks like they've changes the design of the fan blades too with added ridges - I'm assuming to help reduce noise. 

 

Check out Jays review of the Windforce 970 (his face says it all, lol). Pretty awesome card. The only think I'm not crazy about is it's length. I'd rather go for a 970 with a shorter/smaller PCB, mainly because I have a mini-ITX system. This is a card meant for overclocking though and has been clearly designed for it.

 

In Canada, the more "extreme" overclocked versions of the 970 are a bit too expensive for what I can afford. But that's why I'm looking at something like the Strix with a decent factory OC and decent price tag...

 

I don't know...I am still leary of the 39dB @ load. Of course none of us will run our cards at load all the time. But if I decide to game while overclocked then I want it as quiet as possible. I try to keep everything under 30dB and that's only 9dB off. My guess is that when Guru3D finally reviews the STRIX, is that it will be louder than 29dB @ load. My hope is that I am completely wrong! Both TechPowerUp and Guru3D have very good reputations. I know Jay does too and I have watched quite a few of his reviews, he's funny but he knows his stuff. I'm sure it's a great card but for a better comparison the STRIX will have to be released. I wish I knew when it's being released, would you happen to know? Over the years I have heard many things about Windforce cards so it's not just one card that forms my opinion. Finally Gigabyte is including a backplate and that's a competitive step in the right direction. I have my heart set on ASUS STRIX though so I hope it's well worth the wait!

[MEC-777]

I don't know...I am still leary of the 39dB @ load. Of course none of us will run our cards at load all the time. But if I decide to game while overclocked then I want it as quiet as possible. I try to keep everything under 30dB and that's only 9dB off. My guess is that when Guru3D finally reviews the STRIX, is that it will be louder than 29dB @ load. My hope is that I am completely wrong! Both TechPowerUp and Guru3D have very good reputations. I know Jay does too and I have watched quite a few of his reviews, he's funny but he knows his stuff. I'm sure it's a great card but for a better comparison the STRIX will have to be released. I wish I knew when it's being released, would you happen to know? Over the years I have heard many things about Windforce cards so it's not just one card that forms my opinion. Finally Gigabyte is including a backplate and that's a competitive step in the right direction. I have my heart set on ASUS STRIX though so I hope it's well worth the wait!

Lol. Talk about tough decisions. I'm still not sure which 970 to go for. The EVGA superclocked looks like a nice choice too, supposedly very quiet. 

 

One cool thing is that both the Strix and MSI gaming G1 970's shut their fans off at idle and lower loads for silent operation. That has me very tempted because one of the reasons I went water cooled on my 7950 was for silent operation. 

 

They all offer a lot of cool features (and look bad-ass ), but I'm going to wait for more info/reviews of each specific model and their OC'd variants before making a final decision. 

[earlcray]

In-case anyone wants a (very)rough 980 SLI vs 970 SLI benchmark.

 

[ZmanFTW]

In-case anyone wants a (very)rough 980 SLI vs 970 SLI benchmark.

 

What's the deal with Thief at 1080p?! That's just weird. Very good benchmarks though. Thank you. The 980 is obviously better...but is the price difference really worth it? What do you guys think? We need to see 3 970's vs. 2 980's because it's close to the same cost.

[ZmanFTW]

:wub: I am absolutely dying to get my hands on this card!

[earlcray]

What's the deal with Thief at 1080p?! That's just weird. Very good benchmarks though. Thank you. The 980 is obviously better...but is the price difference really worth it? What do you guys think? We need to see 3 970's vs. 2 980's because it's close to the same cost.

It seems as if AA was disabled on the 970 SLI benchmark.

[SkilledRebuilds]

FYI Aussies,......lots of MSY.com.au stores STILL not having them in stock where'as a lot of others retailers do, pretty slow for a common/mainstream Aussie store that almost every Aussie tech knows about and goes to.

Lots of oldie stock to get rid of, but still NO listing at all for 970/980, not even page placeholders.

[earlcray]

I am going with a 980 SLI setup, I can't decide between a non-reference/reference setup.

 

Additionally ASRock(X99 Extreme4) recommends to "Insert one graphics card into PCIE1 slot and the other graphics card to PCIE3 slot." So any other card such as the STRIX which takes up two slots(of space) should be no issue. 

 

Considering all of the above, would a reference 980 SLI be 'better' than a non-reference setup? Also if I were to go with a non-reference card which one should would be best?

Image for reference

 

 

[ZmanFTW]

I am going with a 980 SLI setup, I can't decide between a non-reference/reference setup.

 

Additionally ASRock(X99 Extreme4) recommends to "Insert one graphics card into PCIE1 slot and the other graphics card to PCIE3 slot." So any other card such as the STRIX which takes up two slots(of space) should be no issue. 

 

Considering all of the above, would a reference 980 SLI be 'better' than a non-reference setup? Also if I were to go with a non-reference card which one should would be best?

Image for reference

 

What CPU and how is it? I thought about going X99 but changed my mind and decided to wait for Skylake...

[ZmanFTW]

FYI Aussies,......lots of MSY.com.au stores STILL not having them in stock where'as a lot of others retailers do, pretty slow for a common/mainstream Aussie store that almost every Aussie tech knows about and goes to.

Lots of oldie stock to get rid of, but still NO listing at all for 970/980, not even page placeholders.

 

I only found Amazon for placing a pre-order on ASUS STRIX 970. I contacted them twice and they have no clue when it will be in stock. So yeah...availability is not much better here in the US. I placed my order a little after 3am here which was shortly after they became available so I am hoping that puts me as one of the first 50 in line. We waited this long and now they are making many of us wait even longer...it's like a tease!

[Real_PhillBert]

I am going with a 980 SLI setup, I can't decide between a non-reference/reference setup.

 

Additionally ASRock(X99 Extreme4) recommends to "Insert one graphics card into PCIE1 slot and the other graphics card to PCIE3 slot." So any other card such as the STRIX which takes up two slots(of space) should be no issue. 

 

Considering all of the above, would a reference 980 SLI be 'better' than a non-reference setup? Also if I were to go with a non-reference card which one should would be best?

Image for reference

The reason people recommend reference cards for SLI is that they cool better when stacked right next to another card. In your case you will have an open between the two cards. Because of this, I would go for your favorite aftermarket cooler.

[melias24]

I'm going 770 2 way sli.