295x2 or 980ti

[gladiatorgloria]

Which is better for gaming? I can get them both for a similar price.

980ti: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-NVIDIA-GTX-Graphics-DL-DVI/dp/B00YF8L46C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733326&sr=8-4&keywords=980ti

295x2: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-295X2-Graphics-GDDR5-Mini-DPx/dp/B00JMI5HPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733547&sr=8-1&keywords=295x2

 

Also, because the 295x2 is two cards stuck together, does it work as an 8gb card or like in sli?

[Speaker1264]

Which is better for gaming? I can get them both for a similar price.

980ti: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-NVIDIA-GTX-Graphics-DL-DVI/dp/B00YF8L46C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733326&sr=8-4&keywords=980ti

295x2: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-295X2-Graphics-GDDR5-Mini-DPx/dp/B00JMI5HPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733547&sr=8-1&keywords=295x2

 

Also, because the 295x2 is two cards stuck together, does it work as an 8gb card or like in sli?

 

It acts as if it were two 4gb cards in crossfire.  I would personally get the 980 ti.

[Sam Z Man]

The 295X2 is better then the 980ti, but only has 4gb of effective vram.

Another great option is.

Dual 290X's if they are cheaper because they are identical to a 295X2.

Dual 290X 8gb, or dual 390/390X, if you want that extra vram for something like triple 1440p.

[lani100]

Which is better for gaming? I can get them both for a similar price.

980ti: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-NVIDIA-GTX-Graphics-DL-DVI/dp/B00YF8L46C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733326&sr=8-4&keywords=980ti

295x2: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-295X2-Graphics-GDDR5-Mini-DPx/dp/B00JMI5HPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733547&sr=8-1&keywords=295x2

 

Also, because the 295x2 is two cards stuck together, does it work as an 8gb card or like in sli?

I would say 980ti a single card often performs better and Nvidia because the better driver support and updates.

[chamath]

980Ti

 

295x2 works on crossfire, with current technology, crossfire is not doubling your VRAM, you'll be having 4GB. 

 

Benchmarks are usually showing higher performance with 295x2, but frame rates aren't everything. Usually crossfire profile is released later after a new game is released which means you'll have to wait for sometime. Not all the games support crossfire. There is also micro stuttering and with 295x2 your system will draw more power (295x2 rated as 500W TDP and 980ti is rated as 250W TDP).

[Sam Z Man]

I would say 980ti a single card often performs better and Nvidia because the better driver support and updates.

Lately nvidia shit the bed on drivers so badly that AMD has beaten them in that regard.

[Hieb]

Benchmarks are usually showing higher performance with 295x2, but frame rates aren't everything. Usually crossfire profile is released later after a new game is released which means you'll have to wait for sometime. Not all the games support crossfire. There is also micro stuttering and with 295x2 your system will draw more power (295x2 rated as 500W TDP and 980ti is rated as 250W TDP).

 

I don't speak from experience here since I prefer single-GPU setup (for consistent results), but from everything I've heard frame pacing has come a long way and microstuttering isn't an issue anymore with CFX.

[lani100]

Lately nvidia shit the bed on drivers so badly that AMD has beaten them in that regard.

Well ....... I have to agree on some points but still Nvidia drivers are superior.

[Speaker1264]

980Ti

 

295x2 works on crossfire, with current technology, crossfire is not doubling your VRAM, you'll be having 4GB. 

 

Benchmarks are usually showing higher performance with 295x2, but frame rates aren't everything. Usually crossfire profile is released later after a new game is released which means you'll have to wait for sometime. Not all the games support crossfire. There is also micro stuttering and with 295x2 your system will draw more power (295x2 rated as 500W TDP and 980ti is rated as 250W TDP).

 

Forgot to mention heat and noise, although its probably a given with that TDP.

[Sam Z Man]

Well ....... I have to agree on some points but still Nvidia drivers are superior.

Not at the moment, nvidia slowed down and AMD stepped up there game and passed them.

I don't speak from experience here since I prefer single-GPU setup (for consistent results), but from everything I've heard frame pacing has come a long way and microstuttering isn't an issue anymore with CFX.

Crossfire got way better in the past few months, it no longer has the problems it used to, it now also scales better then SLI, so yea AMD suddenly got on the ball.

[Hieb]

Lately nvidia shit the bed on drivers so badly that AMD has beaten them in that regard.

 

How so?

 

Not gonna pretend Nvidia's drivers are good (I've had on and off issues since 2013 and lately a fair amount of driver crashing, so does my friend with 980s), but in my experience with my friend's build who uses an R9 270 AMD's drivers aren't good either. In what way can you gauge that one company has better drivers? Nvidia's have better performance in current games due to lower CPU overhead and better multi-threading, but what makes AMD's better?

[gladiatorgloria]

Shame the 295x2 doesn't give 8gb vram. Then again, apparently a r9 390 crossfire seems to be a better setup and for cheaper. Would that give better results (and with 8gb vram) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Nitro-Graphics-PCI-E-GDDR5/dp/B00YXSL4Z0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1435734371&sr=8-3&keywords=r9+390

[Hunter7263]

Which is better for gaming? I can get them both for a similar price.

980ti: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-NVIDIA-GTX-Graphics-DL-DVI/dp/B00YF8L46C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733326&sr=8-4&keywords=980ti

295x2: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-295X2-Graphics-GDDR5-Mini-DPx/dp/B00JMI5HPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435733547&sr=8-1&keywords=295x2

 

Also, because the 295x2 is two cards stuck together, does it work as an 8gb card or like in sli?

If you are going for the 295x2 consider getting 2 390 (non X) instead. The 295x2 is just 2 290x's and currently the 390 (non X) is outperforming it and has 8gb per card which means its 8gb of usable memory instead of the 4 on the 295x2.

[Sam Z Man]

How so?

 

Not gonna pretend Nvidia's drivers are good (I've had on and off issues since 2013 and lately a fair amount of driver crashing, so does my friend with 980s), but in my experience with my friend's build who uses an R9 270 AMD's drivers aren't good either. In what way can you gauge that one company has better drivers? Nvidia's have better performance in current games due to lower CPU overhead and better multi-threading, but what makes AMD's better?

The issues with g-sync lag and chrome they had recently, last month it was a complete shit show.

[Sam Z Man]

Shame the 295x2 doesn't give 8gb vram. Then again, apparently a r9 390 crossfire seems to be a better setup and for cheaper. Would that give better results (and with 8gb vram) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Nitro-Graphics-PCI-E-GDDR5/dp/B00YXSL4Z0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1435734371&sr=8-3&keywords=r9+390

Solid choice

[Hieb]

The issues with g-sync lag and chrome they had recently, last month it was a complete shit show.

 

I haven't heard of either of these issues and didn't have any Chrome performance or stability issues. How widespread was the Chrome issue?

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

How so?

 

Not gonna pretend Nvidia's drivers are good (I've had on and off issues since 2013 and lately a fair amount of driver crashing, so does my friend with 980s), but in my experience with my friend's build who uses an R9 270 AMD's drivers aren't good either. In what way can you gauge that one company has better drivers? Nvidia's have better performance in current games due to lower CPU overhead and better multi-threading, but what makes AMD's better?

 

AMD isn't better. They're just as good/bad as nvidia in drivers. 

[Sam Z Man]

I haven't heard of either of these issues and didn't have any Chrome performance or stability issues. How widespread was the Chrome issue?

Well if you type in "nvidia driver issues" on Google the first page is almost nothing but discussing the chrome issue that happened for the past month.

[Sam Z Man]

AMD isn't better. They're just as good/bad as nvidia in drivers.

This actually is the best way of putting it, they each have there ups and downs.

[Hieb]

AMD isn't better. They're just as good/bad as nvidia in drivers. 

 

Yeah neither one seems to particularly excel to me. They have different kinds of issues. I've been using GeForce cards since late 2012 with my GTX 560, and have had a GTX 760 for about 8 months now... and I've experienced all sorts of crashing issues, GPU getting stuck at idle speeds, and other issues caused by the optional components of the GeForce driver (Nvidia 3D Vision, Miracast Audio). But then my friend who I built a system for using the R9 270 has to do full clean installs often or else runs into severe performance issues. For example when he started playing GTA V at release, it worked perfectly... even without the GTA V optimized driver. Then for some reason he started getting like 20 fps and game freezes, even after updating to the GTA V optimized driver... had to use DDU to fully remove all AMD drivers from registry and then do clean install to get good performance again.

 

So it seems both Nvidia and AMD have plenty of their own issues... I can't imagine how someone can say either one is definitively better since they have such a wide array of issues that affect their userbase. I'm inclined to say Nvidia purely because of the better optimized DirectX performance... I built 2 of my friends systems using i3-4150. one has the R9 270 and the other has my old GTX 560. The one with the GTX 560 is getting better performance (even though the R9 270 is the stronger card) because the R9 270 is being bottlenecked by the i3-4150 since AMD's drivers require more CPU horsepower.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

This actually is the best way of putting it, they each have there ups and downs.

 

These days there isn't a point for comparing drivers anymore. Both were either shit or solid. You have "crash prone" Nvidia driver, and you have slow driver updates from AMD. 

Neither offer a superior experience. 

[Prysin]

I would say 980ti a single card often performs better and Nvidia because the better driver support and updates.

Nvidia recently tanked their drivers HARD. SO hard that people are unable to use the drivers. They did this for 2-3 drivers in a row.

 

Get off the high horse and realize that Nvidia's driver department is just another driver department. They can screw up too, and truth be told. Ill rather take "bad" AMD drivers, then drivers from Nvidia that simply causes malfunctions.

[Prysin]

Shame the 295x2 doesn't give 8gb vram. Then again, apparently a r9 390 crossfire seems to be a better setup and for cheaper. Would that give better results (and with 8gb vram) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Nitro-Graphics-PCI-E-GDDR5/dp/B00YXSL4Z0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1435734371&sr=8-3&keywords=r9+390

R9 390 CF would be faster then 295x2. And in the event of CF not working, 390 > single 290X of the "295X2".

 

 

I got a 295x2 myself. It is fantastic and can compete with even OC'd 980Tis, but when you crank it up. The temperature for your room WILL skyrocket up. You can feel the heat it dumps out. Then again, nothing says "WERE WORKING HARD DOWN HERE" more then the roar of a fans and subsequent smell of burnt dust once the radiator fan springs to life and dissipates 550W of thermal energy.

[Lethal Seraph]

295x2's vram would be 8gb on DX12. If you're sensitive to noise, I would avoid the 295x2 cause you can't control the fan speed so it's always on full load.

[Hunter7263]

295x2's vram would be 8gb on DX12. If you're sensitive to noise, I would avoid the 295x2 cause you can't control the fan speed so it's always on full load.

True and untrue at the same time. The developers COULD program SLI and Crossfire to work differently than it does now with dx12. Basically they have to program it so that one renders one half of the screen and the other the other half instead of the current alternating frames. This requires extra work (programming) so I think it will be seen less and you might run into other problems. What if one half is easier to render than the other half to the cards just output half a frame? can a monitor read it like that. If not do you slow down the other card so it can send out one full frame? If thats the case you always are moving at the slowest speed.