GTX 980 worth the $170 over the GTX 970?

[fred_mertz]

I currently have an i5 4690K, 8gb ram and a GTX 960 2GB.  I'm only doing 1080p gaming and I'm seeing the ceiling of my 960 being hit.

 

My PSU is 500 watt Cooler Master with 2 12V rails at 18A each.

I have explored the AMD route.  The R9 390 in particular.  That route would cost me $330 for the gpu and another $70 for the 700 watt PSU.  So I'm looking at $400.

 

My easy solution would be a GTX 970 for $330 and not have to replace my PSU.  970 and 390 trade blows with one another.  The promise of DX12 is still a few years from now so the 8GB of the R9 won't matter until it catches on.  Even then, by that time the gpu may already be outdated.

 

If I go the AMD route, I might as well go for the GTX 980.  The cheapest one I found is MSI GTX 980 GAMING 4GB GDDR5 $489.  It would cost me $90 over AMD and $170 more over the 970.  My current PSU looks like it will handle the 980.

 

Is the 980 worth the price over the 970 and 390?

[Chasem121]

You can run a 390 on your current psu, 500 watts is more than enough.

[Coaxialgamer]

No.

Just get the 390x if you want better performance while still being cheaper than a 980.

[don_svetlio]

Honestly, that PSU is not suited for anything beyond a 960 so even if you go to a 970 chances are you will either have stability issues and need a new PSU or it will flat out not work.

[App4that]

Yes, and no. Yes it's a increase in performance, but it's not cost effective at it's current price. Best to move up to the 980ti, or stay with the 970/390. Even if it means sticking with the 960 for a bit while you save for the 980ti it's well worth the wait.

[TymmVonD]

For what you pay for? No. There is generally gonna be a premium price for a top tier product. 

[don_svetlio]

Yes, and no. Yes it's a increase in performance, but it's not cost effective at it's current price. Best to move up to the 980ti, or stay with the 970/390. Even if it means sticking with the 960 for a bit while you save for the 980ti it's well worth the wait.

Cooler Master Elite 500W T_T - That is like a CX without a fan....

[App4that]

Cooler Master Elite 500W T_T - That is like a CX without a fan....

It's not the greatest PSU, but it's enough. If you want to prioritize your PSU you're welcome to do so.

[don_svetlio]

It's not the greatest PSU, but it's enough. If you want to prioritize your PSU you're welcome to do so.

A 980 Ti with a PSU worse than a CX500. Really? I mean, this is....no....

[App4that]

A 980 Ti with a PSU worse than a CX500. Really? I mean, this is....no....

If I can survive 2000 dollar rigs built in 40 dollar cases, you can survive a 980ti temporarily attached to a cheap PSU

[don_svetlio]

If I can survive 2000 dollar rigs built in 40 dollar cases, you can survive a 980ti temporarily attached to a cheap PSU

Temporary is the perfect way to describe it as the GPU and PSU will both be dead by the time you finish booting up the game ._.

[App4that]

Temporary is the perfect way to describe it as the GPU and PSU will both be dead by the time you finish booting up the game ._.

Prove it. Sure there are cases where problems arise from using cheap PSU, but the hysteria comes not from Cooler Master but no name PSU usage.

 

Is it optimal, no. Is it dangerous, no. Truth always lies in the middle.

[TheCaptain53]

@fred_mertz, remember to follow your topics.

I am slightly inclined to agree with @don_svetlio. Slightly.

You could upgrade and get a GTX 970, however, I would also be inclined to upgrade your PSU as well. It is, in my opinion, THE MOST important part of any rig, gaming or not. You can compromise on the PSU to within a certain degree, but it's best to get a good quality PSU.

If you're going to upgrade your GPU, I would upgrade your PSU at the same time. You could forego it, but I REALLY wouldn't skimp on such a crucial part. It can kill (@don_svetlio, emphasis on the CAN, you don't have to throw out such convictions) your components very suddenly, so I would get a new PSU. Not just that, the quality of the DC output from the PSU may not be that good, leading to a shorter lifespan of your components. Something like an EVGA 550/650 GS/G2 are good shouts.

On to your question...

What games do you mainly play?

[don_svetlio]

@fred_mertz, remember to follow your topics.

I am slightly inclined to agree with @don_svetlio. Slightly.

You could upgrade and get a GTX 970, however, I would also be inclined to upgrade your PSU as well. It is, in my opinion, THE MOST important part of any rig, gaming or not. You can compromise on the PSU to within a certain degree, but it's best to get a good quality PSU.

If you're going to upgrade your GPU, I would upgrade your PSU at the same time. You could forego it, but I REALLY wouldn't skimp on such a crucial part. It can kill (@don_svetlio, emphasis on the CAN, you don't have to throw out such convictions) your components very suddenly, so I would get a new PSU. Not just that, the quality of the DC output from the PSU may not be that good, leading to a shorter lifespan of your components. Something like an EVGA 550/650 GS/G2 are good shouts.

On to your question...

What games do you mainly play?

HardwareSecrets showcased the Elite series being unable to even output rated wattage. Buyer beware

[fred_mertz]

@fred_mertz, remember to follow your topics.

I am slightly inclined to agree with @don_svetlio. Slightly.

You could upgrade and get a GTX 970, however, I would also be inclined to upgrade your PSU as well. It is, in my opinion, THE MOST important part of any rig, gaming or not. You can compromise on the PSU to within a certain degree, but it's best to get a good quality PSU.

If you're going to upgrade your GPU, I would upgrade your PSU at the same time. You could forego it, but I REALLY wouldn't skimp on such a crucial part. It can kill (@don_svetlio, emphasis on the CAN, you don't have to throw out such convictions) your components very suddenly, so I would get a new PSU. Not just that, the quality of the DC output from the PSU may not be that good, leading to a shorter lifespan of your components. Something like an EVGA 550/650 GS/G2 are good shouts.

On to your question...

What games do you mainly play?

Thanks.

Crysis series, GTAV, racing, Euro Truck... to name a few.

[App4that]

Thanks.

Crysis series, GTAV, racing, Euro Truck... to name a few.

Really suggest holding out for that 980ti then. Don's right, that PSU needs to go regardless. So have a plan of action of how to get both the graphics card and PSU.

[TheCaptain53]

Thanks.

Crysis series, GTAV, racing, Euro Truck... to name a few.

In that case, a GTX 970 or R9 390 should be plenty, especially for 1080p. I got away with using a GTX 970 for a while at 1440p and I had a great experience (albeit with anything other than FXAA turned off). I was able to push high/ultra settings in pretty much everything and was getting a rock solid 60 fps.

Be reasonable with your expectations and experience, though. I've tried GTA V maxed out on a Titan X at 1440p, and it didn't look much different to my usual slew of mainly ultra/high settings with 2x MSAA, but instead of getting 60 fps with about 80% utilisation, I got 20 fps. Shit performance for not a lot of gain. Some things don't need to be 'super duper ultra', I couldn't tell the difference. Maybe I'm just a shill, but who knows.

In either case, I would still upgrade the power supply. An R9 390 and a nice new 650W PSU from the likes of EVGA, Seasonic, XFX, Superflower etc etc would be excellent. Remember to read reviews. I would also stay away from the Asus AMD cards, many people have bad experiences. 

[Majestic]

No.

Just get the 390x if you want better performance while still being cheaper than a 980.

 

No

390X is not faster AND cheaper. It's only cheaper, depending on your region. Faster vs. a stock 1216mhz 980 in some games, sure. Not against out-of-the-box overclocked 980's running 1350-1400mhz.

 

980 trades blows with the Fury (and the nano), which is what AMD positioned that card against.

[Coaxialgamer]

No

390X is not faster AND cheaper. It's only cheaper, depending on your region. Faster vs. a stock 1216mhz 980 in some games, sure. Not against out-of-the-box overclocked 980's running 1350-1400mhz.

980 trades blows with the Fury (and the nano), which is what AMD positioned that card against.

I think i didnt say it properly. I meant that its performance is close enough, while being cheaper.

[Guest]

I currently have an i5 4690K, 8gb ram and a GTX 960 2GB. I'm only doing 1080p gaming and I'm seeing the ceiling of my 960 being hit.

My PSU is 500 watt Cooler Master with 2 12V rails at 18A each.

I have explored the AMD route. The R9 390 in particular. That route would cost me $330 for the gpu and another $70 for the 700 watt PSU. So I'm looking at $400.

My easy solution would be a GTX 970 for $330 and not have to replace my PSU. 970 and 390 trade blows with one another. The promise of DX12 is still a few years from now so the 8GB of the R9 won't matter until it catches on. Even then, by that time the gpu may already be outdated.

If I go the AMD route, I might as well go for the GTX 980. The cheapest one I found is MSI GTX 980 GAMING 4GB GDDR5 $489. It would cost me $90 over AMD and $170 more over the 970. My current PSU looks like it will handle the 980.

Is the 980 worth the price over the 970 and 390?

980 and 390x are both not great value. 970 is a very capable 1080p card and is also very energy efficient so your PSU should handle it fine. That being said, out of the choices you provided, I would recommend new PSU and 390. It's important to have a good reliable psu to ensure stability and the safety of your hardware, 390 is good value, and your money will be best spent overall

[Majestic]

I think i didnt say it properly. I meant that its performance is close enough, while being cheaper.

 

But they're not close, I said it trades with the Fury. It's a cheaper card, with less performance. There's a reason it's $90-$100 dollars cheaper..

[Bhav]

I wouldnt get a 980 over a 970. Theres at most £50 worth of difference between the two, not £150.

 

Either get a 970 or 980 Ti / AMD equivalent.

[fred_mertz]

Thanks for your input guys.

I will be staying with 1080p for a while.  What I do want is to turn every dog gone setting up.  I want to enjoy all eye candy stuff including AA and remain above 60fps.

 

My 960 with 2gb of vram runs out of memory on games like GTAV.

Like I said, I want 1080p with every eye candy turned up.  970, 390 or 980.  Which ever will allow me to do that for the least amount of money is what I would buy.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Thanks.

Crysis series, GTAV, racing, Euro Truck... to name a few.

 

The 970 is really nice for GTA V. Crysis 3 you'll have to play on a mix of High and Very High, the Very High system spec just punishes the 970 way too much and your framerates can often be in the 40s. That has been my experience with my 970 at 1418 MHz. Very High also needs an i7 in Welcome to the Jungle when you're trying to lock to 60 fps.

 

I wouldn't pay almost $500 for a 980. If the 980 was around $400 it would be a great buy, since it's 15% or so stronger than the 970 and has a better memory subsystem (4GB full speed vs the 970 being an effectively 3.5 GB card). I wouldn't worry about vram though, the 970 has a huge amount for 1080p and a still solid amount for 1440p.

 

You might feel like a sucker buying a 970 now though when Polaris and Pascal will probably have something significantly better in a few months, considering they're doing pretty significant node shrinks to 14/16 nm from 28 nm, and these node shrinks often correspond to lower power and significantly more performance (see Nvidia's 600 series vs its 500 series). If you were playing an old GTX 560 Ti, an HD 7770, or something weak I'd say just get the 970, but unless you just hate playing on your 960 I think I'd hold out for a few months.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Thanks for your input guys.

I will be staying with 1080p for a while.  What I do want is to turn every dog gone setting up.  I want to enjoy all eye candy stuff including AA and remain above 60fps.

 

A 970 won't do that even at 1080p. Neither will a 980.