gpu for my new build

[WeaponMaster]

I am trying to decide wether to get a gtx 980.  But i am now considering 2 gtx 970, or even 1.  I would like to know what would be my best bet.  Thanks!

[Sheldon_King]

I am trying to decide wether to get a gtx 980.  But i am now considering 2 gtx 970, or even 1.  I would like to know what would be my best bet.  Thanks!

The best solution is to have the fewest physical GPUs as you can get by with, so I would suggest the 980 out of the options you provided. A 970 will only be a few % slower if money is a concern though.

[givingtnt]

The best solution is to have the fewest physical GPUs as you can get by with, so I would suggest the 980 out of the options you provided. A 970 will only be a few % slower if money is a concern though.

yeah. but to a recent mistake of mine. aparently sli is more powerfull with 2 970's than one 980. although not all games ''support'' it or deal with it very well.

[LemonSpice]

I am trying to decide wether to get a gtx 980.  But i am now considering 2 gtx 970, or even 1.  I would like to know what would be my best bet.  Thanks!

two 970's will destroy anything single cars

[Sheldon_King]

yeah. but to a recent mistake of mine. aparently sli is more powerfull with 2 970's than one 980. although not all games ''support'' it or deal with it very well.

More power or not, you will always be limited to the game devolper supporting SLI. Get the most powerful single GPU you can now, and later you can SLI if it is not enough.

 

**PS: SLI and CFx ALWAYS create more issues than they solve.

[WeaponMaster]

The best solution is to have the fewest physical GPUs as you can get by with, so I would suggest the 980 out of the options you provided. A 970 will only be a few % slower if money is a concern though.

money is a bit of a concern, is there a big difference in performance beetween the gtx 980 and 970

[Sheldon_King]

money is a bit of a concern, is there a big difference in performance beetween the gtx 980 and 970

There is not a massive difference between them. Here is a comparison of reference cards for comparison. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1351

[Najuno]

money is a bit of a concern, is there a big difference in performance beetween the gtx 980 and 970

Yes there´s a difference but it depends also on the rest of your system as well.

 

I´d go for a GTX970 now, you didn´t specify, if you are looking to play in higher res than 1080p. So for 1080p 1 GTX970 is a fine card. And besides that when money is tight anyways the price to performance is way better with a GTX970. Later down the road you can add another card if  you feel like you need a bit more punch.

 

That SLI/CF create more issues than they solve isn´t true anymore. The latest gens of cards hardly suffer from micro stuttering. And for nVidia SLI there are many SLI profiles available. Also due to the fact that the GTX970 has such a low TDP you can add another one even if you´ve just got a 600+ Watts PSU.

[WeaponMaster]

There is not a massive difference between them. Here is a comparison of reference cards for comparison. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1351

wow those are pretty close, thanks id rather save some money and put it somewhere else

[WeaponMaster]

Yes there´s a difference but it depends also on the rest of your system as well.

 

I´d go for a GTX970 now, you didn´t specify, if you are looking to play in higher res than 1080p. So for 1080p 1 GTX970 is a fine card. And besides that when money is tight anyways the price to performance is way better with a GTX970. Later down the road you can add another card if  you feel like you need a bit more punch.

 

That SLI/CF create more issues than they solve isn´t true anymore. The latest gens of cards hardly suffer from micro stuttering. And for nVidia SLI there are many SLI profiles available. Also due to the fact that the GTX970 has such a low TDP you can add another one even if you´ve just got a 600+ Watt

yes i would be playing in 1080p, the 970 would do just fine thanks for your help

[Najuno]

yes i would be playing in 1080p, the 970 would do just fine thanks for your help

You are welcome .

[Sheldon_King]

That SLI/CF create more issues than they solve isn´t true anymore. The latest gens of cards hardly suffer from micro stuttering. And for nVidia SLI there are many SLI profiles available. Also due to the fact that the GTX970 has such a low TDP you can add another one even if you´ve just got a 600+ Watts PSU.

You do know that there are more issues than microstuttering, right? For the HD7000 generation (r9 280(x)), there are still issues where games refuse to run with CFx enabled, games that flat refuse to run period, and issues where CFx is refused period. That is with the MOST current driver and Black OPs 2, Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, Ghost, Modern Warfare 3, and Battlefield 3. Battlefield runs into Microstutter (I am assuming. It seems life several frames appear at the same time, causing a situation where a second or 2 of game just gets skipped.) sometimes, and Call of duty just refuses to run CFx at all, always 0% usage on teh second card. Metro's troubles are graphical errors with CFx that disappear when it is disabled.**

 

**It happens no matter which card is in the dominant position, and has been tested with each card by itself. The problem is in the CFx drivers/profiles.

[Satlen]

Don't get SLI.....ever.

[Najuno]

You do know that there are more issues than microstuttering, right? For the HD7000 generation (r9 280(x)), there are still issues where games refuse to run with CFx enabled, games that flat refuse to run period, and issues where CFx is refused period. That is with the MOST current driver and Black OPs 2, Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, Ghost, Modern Warfare 3, and Battlefield 3. Battlefield runs into Microstutter (I am assuming. It seems life several frames appear at the same time, causing a situation where a second or 2 of game just gets skipped.) sometimes, and Call of duty just refuses to run CFx at all, always 0% usage on teh second card. Metro's troubles are graphical errors with CFx that disappear when it is disabled.**

 

**It happens no matter which card is in the dominant position, and has been tested with each card by itself. The problem is in the CFx drivers/profiles.

 

I can´t see any SLI or CF config of latest GPUs in you systems. I am running SLI system for a long time already (running a GTX980 2way SLI atm) and what you described isn´t true anymore for the latest nVidia GPUs. I am very sensitive to micro stuttering and I play in 1440p with preferebly Ultra details and without a powerful SLI or CF this isn´t possible.

 

Yes there might be other stuff than just micro stuttering but like I wrote before there are many SLI profiles available and if you know what you are doing you can come up with your own profile.

 

Sorry for me a R9 280X is a very outdated GPU at this point.

[Sheldon_King]

I can´t see any SLI or CF config of latest GPUs in you systems. I am running SLI system for a long time already (running a GTX980 2way SLI atm) and what you described isn´t true anymore for the latest nVidia GPUs. I am very sensitive to micro stuttering and I play in 1440p with preferebly Ultra details and without a powerful SLI or CF this isn´t possible.

 

Yes there might be other stuff than just micro stuttering but like I wrote before there are many SLI profiles available and if you know what you are doing you can come up with your own profile.

 

Sorry for me a R9 280X is a very outdated GPU at this point.

For the First part, You clearly did not even look. ". HD7950 Boost CFx" )direct copy and paste. Also, more proof: Untitled by wolfeking, on Flickr

 

I understand you can not run 1440p at ultra with what most accept as useful FPS without SLI or Crossfire, but that still does not get rid of the issues. SLI may not see them, but I will guarantee that CFx DOES see them, and for me it makes the second card almost useless, however I would not get my investment back if I got rid of it, so it is still in there.

 

There are plenty of CFx profiles out there too, but for me, the games I play, there are none that just work. Again, I may be biased towards Nvidia, or an Idiot, but I prefer my GPUs to just work. I don't want to have to search the web deep to find a profile that may or may not work (or for that matter a driver that will work).  Again, back to the OPs question, ALL of these problems would not be there not be capable of being there with a single GPU.

 

The 280x may be outdated to you, but also remember that not everyone has $400+ to spend once a year on a GPU. Not everyone even wants to spend their money on a new GPU yearly. I personally replace mine every 3 or so years, My last card was a GTX480, and it was used for years and is still a great GPU for 1080p. I would love to use it again, if it did not mean $200 wasted on these POS AMD cards.

 

 

EDIT: I realize I sound like an ass here, but the problems exist, wheather you have them or not.  1 card is still the prefered and best option for 99% of gamers.

[Najuno]

For the First part, You clearly did not even look. ". HD7950 Boost CFx" )direct copy and paste. Also, more proof: Untitled by wolfeking, on Flickr

 

I understand you can not run 1440p at ultra with what most accept as useful FPS without SLI or Crossfire, but that still does not get rid of the issues. SLI may not see them, but I will guarantee that CFx DOES see them, and for me it makes the second card almost useless, however I would not get my investment back if I got rid of it, so it is still in there.

 

There are plenty of CFx profiles out there too, but for me, the games I play, there are none that just work. Again, I may be biased towards Nvidia, or an Idiot, but I prefer my GPUs to just work. I don't want to have to search the web deep to find a profile that may or may not work (or for that matter a driver that will work).  Again, back to the OPs question, ALL of these problems would not be there not be capable of being there with a single GPU.

 

The 280x may be outdated to you, but also remember that not everyone has $400+ to spend once a year on a GPU. Not everyone even wants to spend their money on a new GPU yearly. I personally replace mine every 3 or so years, My last card was a GTX480, and it was used for years and is still a great GPU for 1080p. I would love to use it again, if it did not mean $200 wasted on these POS AMD cards.

 

 

EDIT: I realize I sound like an ass here, but the problems exist, wheather you have them or not.  1 card is still the prefered and best option for 99% of gamers.

No you don´t sound like an ass at all. Not even close! I appreciate always qualified opinions, and sorry my bad I looked at your specs but seems like I was blind .

 

Yeah I´m very greedy when it comes to hardware, that´s why I´m always on the bleeding edge of hardware. I mean my last "upgrade" coming from a watercooled GTX780Ti 2 way SLI to a GTX980 SLI doesn´t make sense for many people out there. I know a bunch of people that use cards like the 7970 and they are super happy with them.

 

I have to admit that I bought a single R9 290X when they came out but never had the 2nd card to CF it. I saw it live though with 2 R9 290 at one of my friend´s pc and it seemed okay. But nVidia did this time a lot of things right with Maxwell GM204 and I´m already waiting on the launch of the big Maxwell.

 

I will always tell people, that are looking for advice, that 1 card is always better than multi GPU systems. And in all reality as long as you stay in 1080p having something like a GTX970, GTX980 SLI is a bit of an overkill. One of my friends just upgraded from a 7970 to a 2way GTX970 SLI and for him it was a huge improvement due to the fact that he plays 1080p 3 monitors. But for 1 display I´d always stay with 1 card in 1080p.

I´ve tested my system with 1 GTX980 and it´s okay to play in 1440p but the card starts struggeling when it comes to newer titles with very high settings. This really always depends on the person and situation.

 

Thanks for sharing your point of view.

[Sheldon_King]

No you don´t sound like an ass at all. Not even close! I appreciate always qualified opinions, and sorry my bad I looked at your specs but seems like I was blind .

 

Yeah I´m very greedy when it comes to hardware, that´s why I´m always on the bleeding edge of hardware. I mean my last "upgrade" coming from a watercooled GTX780Ti 2 way SLI to a GTX980 SLI doesn´t make sense for many people out there. I know a bunch of people that use cards like the 7970 and they are super happy with them.

 

I have to admit that I bought a single R9 290X when they came out but never had the 2nd card to CF it. I saw it live though with 2 R9 290 at one of my friend´s pc and it seemed okay. But nVidia did this time a lot of things right with Maxwell GM204 and I´m already waiting on the launch of the big Maxwell.

 

I will always tell people, that are looking for advice, that 1 card is always better than multi GPU systems. And in all reality as long as you stay in 1080p having something like a GTX970, GTX980 SLI is a bit of an overkill. One of my friends just upgraded from a 7970 to a 2way GTX970 SLI and for him it was a huge improvement due to the fact that he plays 1080p 3 monitors. But for 1 display I´d always stay with 1 card in 1080p.

I´ve tested my system with 1 GTX980 and it´s okay to play in 1440p but the card starts struggeling when it comes to newer titles with very high settings. This really always depends on the person and situation.

 

Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Honestly, I have herd that most are happy with 7950/7970s also, but I was/am far from happy with mine. I mean it is awesome with a single card, or even just using the second as a render card, but for crossfire, I have had nothing but issues. It may seem stupid that I even went CFx for 1080p, but the original plan was to get a 1440p screen and use them for 2-3 years, but I ran out of budget first (and ran into driver issues at 1080p that made me think that 1440p/4k would be useless).

 

I understand how it is being greedy with hardware. When I started out, I was the same way with laptops (note: I was traveling 100ish miles every weekend to see father, so back then desktops were not an option), but after a while I ran into an issue of diminishing returns that made a new one every generation almost useless (remembering that GTX200m to GTX400m was a decent upgrade, but 400m to 500m was basically a rebrand, and 500m to 600m was less than 10% increase iirc. 700m and 800m were rebrands with the exception of the 680m to 780m.). Staying on that bleeding edge cost a lot of money, and I am just as happy to spend that money on other things, like faster internet or tools rather than computers.

 

Anyways, I think we have sufficiently derailed the thread. I am glad you did not think I was being mean or anything (for me mean = an ass) in presenting my issues with CFx.