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Official Nvidia GTX 970 Discussion Thread

CarlosRex
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I was planning an upgrade involving triple 1080p monitors and SLI 970s (http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/299675-advice-for-triple-monitor-upgrade/#entry4069867). After the whole situation regarding the VRAM only being 3.5BGB rather than 4, I'm wondering if these are the ideal cards for my setup, or if I should consider a different pair of cards.

 

Thoughts?

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Vram is still 4GB, it's not 3.5GB, why do people keep saying it's 3.5GB?

 

It's 4GB divided into 3.5GB and 0.5GB, The 0.5GB is running in MUCH slower bandwidth than the 3.5GB.

But there is still 4GB

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I wouldn't worry about the vram issues for surround (unless you care for AA, in which case it could be a problem). However, with the current pricing 290xs offer much better mang for the buck.

Don't ask to ask, just ask... please 🤨

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290x's would be better for that setup

 

This ^

 

290X is the better choice for higher resolutions because of it's much larger memory bus, and can also be picked up very cheap

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.7GHz, 1.3v with Corsair H100i - Motherboard: MSI MPOWER Z97 MAX AC - RAM: 2x4GB G.Skill Ares @ 2133 - GPU1: Sapphire Radeon R9-290X BF4 Edition with NZXT Kraken G10 with a Corsair H55 AIO @ 1140/1650 - GPU2: PowerColor Radeon R9-290X OC Edition with NZXT Kraken G10 with a Corsair H55 AIO @ 1140/1650 - SSD: 256GB OCZ Agility 4 - HDD: 1TB Samsung HD103SJ- PSU: SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 1300w  - Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) - Case fans: NZXT Blue LED Fans- Keyboard: Steelseries Apex Gaming Keyboard - Mouse: Logitech G600 - Heaphones: Logitech G930 - Monitors: ASUS PB287Q and Acer G246HYLbd -  Phone: Sony Xperia Z1

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Vram is still 4GB, it's not 3.5GB, why do people keep saying it's 3.5GB?

 

It's 4GB divided into 3.5GB and 0.5GB, The 0.5GB is running in MUCH slower bandwidth than the 3.5GB.

But there is still 4GB

The last 0.5 GB is 7 times slower than the rest and only 2 times faster than system memory, it perfoms basically as if it was 3.5GB.

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Vram is still 4GB, it's not 3.5GB, why do people keep saying it's 3.5GB?

 

It's 4GB divided into 3.5GB and 0.5GB, The 0.5GB is running in MUCH slower bandwidth than the 3.5GB.

But there is still 4GB

Because it might as well be 3.5GB. It's a helluva lot easier saying "3.5GB" as opposed to "3.5GB efficient VRAM, with .5GB VRAM that is essentially useless".

 

That being said OP, 290Xs are better for the job. I'm personally probably going to attempt to get a refund on my 970s and get a 980 instead.

PCPartPicker link: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/R6GTGX

Привет товарищ ))))

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I don't know too much about the differences in AMD and Nvidia cards. Are there any exclusive features I'd be missing if I went with one over the other? I imagine if one gives better performance over the other, the other has some features that make up for the higher price.

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I don't know too much about the differences in AMD and Nvidia cards. Are there any exclusive features I'd be missing if I went with one over the other? I imagine if one gives better performance over the other, the other has some features that make up for the higher price.

AMD cards run a lot hotter than Nvidia cards. Especially the new maxwell which run very cool. However not an issue if you have sufficient airflow and try to give the cards a decent space between them> alternatively you can pick up 290 reference cards very cheaply and put the corsair HG10 on them and they will be beasts.

 

Nvidia are a bit ahead on features from what i understand shadowplay is a bit better than AMDs version but you arent missing out on a huge amount unless you want the nvidia shield.

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Hmm. I also know the 290x will consume more power, but I think i'll still be fine with my 700w PSU. I'd say my airflow is average. I have a Corsair 200r case with only stock fans. My Asus Direct CU II 7870 runs pretty cool I think. I hope having dual 290x's in there won't be a problem.

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Vram is still 4GB, it's not 3.5GB, why do people keep saying it's 3.5GB?

 

It's 4GB divided into 3.5GB and 0.5GB, The 0.5GB is running in MUCH slower bandwidth than the 3.5GB.

But there is still 4GB

 

Yeah, technically it has 4gb of vram. But I say, GTX 970 has a pseudo 4gb vram at pseudo 224gb/s at pseudo 256-bit.

I love free stuff.

GTX 970 with pseudo 4gb vram at pseudo 224gb/s at pseudo  256-bit with 56 ROPs (corrected from 64) and 1.75mb L2 cache (corrected from 2mb).

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Vram is still 4GB, it's not 3.5GB, why do people keep saying it's 3.5GB?

 

It's 4GB divided into 3.5GB and 0.5GB, The 0.5GB is running in MUCH slower bandwidth than the 3.5GB.

But there is still 4GB

 

because both partitions of memory cannot be accessed at the same time during the same read/write cycle.

 

the 3.5GB partition is running at 196GB/s in a 224bit configuration. when more than 3.5GB of Ram is needed, the 3.5GB partition is gated off while the 0.5GB partition running at 28GB/s with a 32bit bus is in use.

 

at no point ever is the 970 able to access all 4GB or utilize all 256 memory channels during the same read/write cycle. 

R9 3900XT | Tomahawk B550 | Ventus OC RTX 3090 | Photon 1050W | 32GB DDR4 | TUF GT501 Case | Vizio 4K 50'' HDR

 

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because both partitions of memory cannot be accessed at the same time during the same read/write cycle.

 

the 3.5GB partition is running at 196GB/s in a 224bit configuration. when more than 3.5GB of Ram is needed, the 3.5GB partition is gated off while the 0.5GB partition running at 28GB/s with a 32bit bus is in use.

 

at no point ever is the 970 able to access all 4GB or utilize all 256 memory channels during the same read/write cycle. 

Yeah I know that's not what I am saying, I just mean to say that there is still 4GB on the card but 0.5GB of it is almost the speed of system memory

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Yup hard to compare the two. Vram issue or black screen issues with the 290s

You can't be serious.  Hyperthreading is a market joke?

 

 

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Yup hard to compare the two. Vram issue or black screen issues with the 290s

what black screen issue?

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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I have one...

One what?
You can't be serious.  Hyperthreading is a market joke?

 

 

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One what?

290x

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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290x

What relevance does that have?
You can't be serious.  Hyperthreading is a market joke?

 

 

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I would personally go with 2 GTX 970's. Dual gpu setups tend to run hotter and the 290x is already a hot card. Also less power requirements and SLI is slightly better than Crossfire. The 290x is cheaper though and I have heard AMD is better at surround monitors.

"Graphics and gameplay are not mutually exclusive."


"Nvidia, AMD, Intel, or whatever company out there has only one end goal and that is PROFIT.


If you think these companies exist for any other reason you're gonna be disappointed my dear. CAVEAT EMPTOR"

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What relevance does that have?

I never had that issue

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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I never had that issue

Lucky. I did have that issue with 3 of them so did a lot of other people as u can see.
You can't be serious.  Hyperthreading is a market joke?

 

 

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