GTX980 Now vs GTX970 with Christmas Add On SLI (Buying soon)

[luisbvs]

Hello everyone...

I am still in the research and part pickup part of my soon to be new PC with a $1000 to $1400 budget... And thinking a lot of this...

 

>>> Which should I buy, a GTX980, or a GTX970 and better parts elsewhere and another GTX970 arround christmas and SLI them? <<<

That is my basic question. If you rather have more details is basically this: I have already picked most of my parts and separately my accesories. I am focusing on the main components and if I go for the GTX980 now, I will simply lower my PS from 750 to 650 as I won't be doing SLA. Also I might need to go from 16GB (2x8) to 8GB (2x4), the memory is not focused for gaming only, I like to work with multiple apps running and would like the 16GB configuration, also might need to even go from i7-4790K to i5-4690K, this is a personal pick, this is my shallowness and ego wanting to have an i7 just because is "le creme dela creme" and algo going back to my running multiple apps at the same time.

Thanks for your answers...

[Aniallation]

>>> Which should I buy, a GTX980, or a GTX970 and better parts elsewhere and another GTX970 arround christmas and SLI them? <<<..

Get a 970 now and SLI later on.

[iDeJayDzn]

970 SLI. More powerful than a single 980 card.

[Zweihander]

980 is a waste of money IMHO, unless you're "richie rich". 

 

...or you need some awesome power. 

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

970 SLI hands down bro ,much more powerful than 980 and much better value 

[Sauron]

Definitely a 970. 980s make literally no sense for the price.

[Najuno]

Since you didn't state what resolution you want to go with I have to assume you want to play in 1080p. Get a GTX970 and you will be fine. Also that will strech your budget to the point where you can afford an i7.

A GTX980 is even though it has the big performance GM204 a highend card and you won't need it in 1080p. The 980s are awesome but more in higher resolutions needed or for benchmark whores .

[Real_PhillBert]

Since you didn't state what resolution you want to go with I have to assume you want to play in 1080p. Get a GTX970 and you will be fine. Also that will strech your budget to the point where you can afford an i7.

A GTX980 is even though it has the big performance GM204 a highend card and you won't need it in 1080p. The 980s are awesome but more in higher resolutions needed or for benchmark whores .

*has a 980 for 1080*

I'm no whore!!

OP, go with a 970 unless you really need the extra HP for something.

[Najuno]

*has a 980 for 1080*

I'm no whore!!

OP, go with a 970 unless you really need the extra HP for something.

But I'm a benchmark whore through and through .

[Real_PhillBert]

But I'm a benchmark whore through and through .

I know you are, and I have dabled a bit, my name is on all of the ltt spreadsheets I went with the 980 for cuda core count, I do a lot of engineering analysis that can take advantage of cuda calc.

I would really like to add another 980 for good measure.

[Najuno]

I know you are, and I have dabled a bit, my name is on all of the ltt spreadsheets I went with the 980 for cuda core count, I do a lot of engineering analysis that can take advantage of cuda calc.

I would really like to add another 980 for good measure.

Well yeah in your case the GTX980 was a very good choice. Haha yeah you are in the spread sheets more than once .

[luisbvs]

I am working on some stuff and still thinking about this, and just remember I forgot something important... and just like I thought, you guys have pointed out already... sorry...

 

Just like Najuno mentioned: "Since you didn't state what resolution you want to go with."

Well, I am running 3x 1080p monitors and I am very interested to do Surround gaming. So based on your answers and my own investigation, I think that dual 970 in SLI would be the best.

Still would love to now what you all think and what those of you who answered would change your mind or not based on this new information.

 

Thanks!

[SteveGrabowski]

I'd get the 970 and the i7, since a few games run better on i7's than i5's (Dragon Age Inquisition, Battlefield 4, Watchdogs).

[Najuno]

I built in late 2014 a PC for a friend with an i7 4790K and a GTX970 2way SLI. This the absolut sweet spot for a Surround 1080p setup. He plays pretty much every game maxed out and Surround got improved by a lot. It works flawless.

[BSpendlove]

I built in late 2014 a PC for a friend with an i7 4790K and a GTX970 2way SLI. This the absolut sweet spot for a Surround 1080p setup. He plays pretty much every game maxed out and Surround got improved by a lot. It works flawless.

 

I'm planning on getting myself another 970 for Surround 1080p.

 

I should be fine with the 4690k correct? I plan on giving this cpu to a close friend and buying the Broadwell i7 if they actually are compatible with the Z97 Mobos.

[Najuno]

I'm planning on getting myself another 970 for Surround 1080p.

 

I should be fine with the 4690k correct? I plan on giving this cpu to a close friend and buying the Broadwell i7 if they actually are compatible with the Z97 Mobos.

The 4690K is just fine for a 970 2way SLI no worries. It won´t bottleneck nothing at all bandwidth wise. The only thing is the i5 will have a disadvantage to an i7 as soon as applications/games support more than 4 cores. But this will still take a while until most games are optimized for more than 4 cores. I could see this happening more with DirectX 12 and 2016.