GPU for 4K Gaming

[treyplay]

Hey guys, I'm about to purchase a 4K TV. Was wondering what would be better, GTX 970 SLI or a single GTX 980 and then SLI on down the road. It has to be a 900 series since they are the only cards able to do 4k 60hz 4:4:4 chroma over HDMI. I'm fine with not be able to play on ultra or even high settings in 4K as long as the game play is smooth. This is also not going to be my main monitor, my main is a LG 34UM95, it's more for Netflix and Blu-ray but I will be gaming some on it. Thanks!

[Dicoray]

Go single 980 and then sli down the road if you are not satisfied, one 980 works pretty well for 4k gaming

[j.dirona]

970 SLI will be better, it'll get you more power and won't have a problem running 4k. Costs the same amount too

[Najuno]

Go single 980 and then sli down the road if you are not satisfied, one 980 works pretty well for 4k gaming

And you say that because of?

 

I´ve tested 4K with my GTX980 2way SLI... it´s kind of okay but nothing I would call super enjoyable. 1 GTX980 though will give you best case med/low settings and between 20-40 FPS in newer games.

[Jumper118]

Hey guys, I'm about to purchase a 4K TV. Was wondering what would be better, GTX 970 SLI or a single GTX 980 and then SLI on down the road. It has to be a 900 series since they are the only cards able to do 4k 60hz 4:4:4 chroma over HDMI. I'm fine with not be able to play on ultra or even high settings in 4K as long as the game play is smooth. This is also not going to be my main monitor, my main is a LG 34UM95, it's more for Netflix and Blu-ray but I will be gaming some on it. Thanks!

sli 970's. a single 980 isn't much faster than a single 970 and a single 970 gets murdered by 4k unless you run really low settings which kind of defeats the point in the extra resolution 

[Dicoray]

sli 970's. a single 980 isn't much faster than a single 970 and a single 970 gets murdered by 4k unless you run really low settings which kind of defeats the point in the extra resolution 

You have to remember that not everything supports sli, and some games still have problems with it. Therefore he would be better with going one 980 now and then if he feels like he needs more power he can buy another.

[Tedster]

I'd say just go 1440p.

 

(:

 

But really, SLI 980s.

 

Actually, how good is the 290x?

[Jumper118]

You have to remember that not everything supports sli, and some games still have problems with it. Therefore he would be better with going one 980 now and then if he feels like he needs more power he can buy another.

i haven't come across anything that doesn't support sli yet, that would be demand enough to need both cards.

I'd say just go 1440p.

 

(:

 

But really, SLI 980s.

 

Actually, how good is the 290x?

290X are great value, but only if you have an 850w psu to start with.

[Najuno]

You have to remember that not everything supports sli, and some games still have problems with it. Therefore he would be better with going one 980 now and then if he feels like he needs more power he can buy another.

C´mon really?

 

As if you could not activate the second card for every game? Games like The Forest don´t have a given SLI profile so, read a bit and come up with one yourself. And again a single GTX980 in 4K is nothing to recommend...

[treyplay]

That's actually my main concern is all the problems that come with SLI. Also one of the main games I play (World of Warcraft - don't hold that against me lol) does not work with SLI I hear.

[barsnbolts]

Personally, I would always go for the more powerful single GPU over SLI because of the problems with running SLI (if budget allows it) 

[Cheddle]

my single gtx980 runs COD:AW on maxed settings (AA off, kinda not required at such high res) at 60fps flat. bashing that vsync limiter.

 

farcry 4 on the other hand its about 25-40 fps... i drop to 1440 and get 60 fps flat... vram is an issue in farcry 4 @ 4k even on the lowest settings at 4k its using it all

 

OP have you considered a display port compatible 4k tv? might open up AMD options like the r9 290x 8gb http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sapphire-vapor-x-r9-290x-8gb,3977-6.html

 

the r9 290x 8gb is better performing @ 4k than the 970 (the 980 would likley still be faster than the 290x 8gb)

 

if not then I would suggest you get two gtx980's for a great experience. otherwise a single gtx980 and downscale to 1440.  

 

the difference in performance between a gtx970 and gtx980 is about 20% 

[Cheddle]

Personally, I would always go for the more powerful single GPU over SLI because of the problems with running SLI (if budget allows it) 

 

agree - my experience with crossfire was terrible. 

[treyplay]

Cheddle, I did consider the DP route but on the 4K TV when using DP it is MST instead of SST with HDMI and I hear MST can cause lots of problems. It would be different if I was going for a 4K monitor instead of a TV. This is the model I'm purchasing http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN55HU9000FXZA. I really wish they would make a 8gb GTX 980 or 970 but I heard that was a rumor. 

[Cheddle]

Cheddle, I did consider the DP route but on the 4K TV when using DP it is MST instead of SST with HDMI and I hear MST can cause lots of problems. It would be different if I was going for a 4K monitor instead of a TV. This is the model I'm purchasing http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN55HU9000FXZA. I really wish they would make a 8gb GTX 980 or 970 but I heard that was a rumor. 

 

MST vs. SST as far as I know is panel specific... this is the whole panel stitching yeah? where MST makes your pc see two panels?

 

my Samsung u28d590d is a single tile over display port - my pc only sees it as one screen. never had any issues 

[treyplay]

It is panel specific but the only "4k TV" that can do 4k 60HZ 4:4:4 chroma over DP is the Panasonic AX800 series and it uses MST. If I buy the GTX 980 i'll be buying the one you own, G1 Gaming, are you happy with the purchase Cheddle? Thanks!

[Cheddle]

its a great card, very quiet and powerful. my complaint against it was that it is a quite expensive card - even for a 980... any other complaints are not brand specific but more related to nvidia. I wish I had two of them :-)

 

GPUboost 2.0 reduces core overvolt as early as 70 degrees but it dosnt reduce the core speed enough so there is some potential overclocking loss unless you run the fans high to keep the temps extra low.

[applesuxD]

Hey guys, I'm about to purchase a 4K TV. Was wondering what would be better, GTX 970 SLI or a single GTX 980 and then SLI on down the road. It has to be a 900 series since they are the only cards able to do 4k 60hz 4:4:4 chroma over HDMI. I'm fine with not be able to play on ultra or even high settings in 4K as long as the game play is smooth. This is also not going to be my main monitor, my main is a LG 34UM95, it's more for Netflix and Blu-ray but I will be gaming some on it. Thanks!

Get a single r9 295x2

And crossfire it next time

Gtx 980 on a freaking Tv is not enuf

[Jumper118]

That's actually my main concern is all the problems that come with SLI. Also one of the main games I play (World of Warcraft - don't hold that against me lol) does not work with SLI I hear.

you can just disable it if it doesn't work in a game all you have to do is right click on the desktop, open nvidia control panel and disable sli. 

 

my single gtx980 runs COD:AW on maxed settings (AA off, kinda not required at such high res) at 60fps flat. bashing that vsync limiter.

 

farcry 4 on the other hand its about 25-40 fps... i drop to 1440 and get 60 fps flat... vram is an issue in farcry 4 @ 4k even on the lowest settings at 4k its using it all

 

OP have you considered a display port compatible 4k tv? might open up AMD options like the r9 290x 8gb http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sapphire-vapor-x-r9-290x-8gb,3977-6.html

 

the r9 290x 8gb is better performing @ 4k than the 970 (the 980 would likley still be faster than the 290x 8gb)

 

if not then I would suggest you get two gtx980's for a great experience. otherwise a single gtx980 and downscale to 1440.  

 

the difference in performance between a gtx970 and gtx980 is about 20% 

i have no idea what farcry 4 is doing at 4k i can play maxxed out with 4x msaa at 1440p at 80fps. 4k lowest settings with no aa, vram maxxed out 14-40fps! wft. 

[Cheddle]

you can just disable it if it doesn't work in a game all you have to do is right click on the desktop, open nvidia control panel and disable sli. 

 

i have no idea what farcry 4 is doing at 4k i can play maxxed out with 4x msaa at 1440p at 80fps. 4k lowest settings with no aa, vram maxxed out 14-40fps! wft. 

 

i have no idea what the heck its doing either but it definitely cranks the vram, and to be honest it looks fairly bad at 4k... its like the grass / texture / object detail is set too close and you can easily make out the lack of detail at distance with the resolution set to 4k, and the object "blocking" fade in looks sooo bad i find it looks better on my 1080 tv from the couch than it does at my desk in 4k... i just remind myself that if I got it on ps4 I wouldn't be getting 60fps and I feel better about the whole thing lol.

 

it would look so ridiculously good if the detail distance was 4 times further away and it was running on some crazy future tech gpu. the potential is there.

[Clarkey]

Wait for the rumoured 8gb 980.

[Syraz]

This would work  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125727