Maxwell or Pascal?

[LexCalifornia]

Hey boys aaaaand girls!

 

So, uhm, I just ditched my GTX 970 Strix from Asus. This thing was practically almost DOA and worked only with the 358.78 driver. Otherwise games would crash and it would give me blueish squares. (I'm pretty sure the memory was dead right from the start)

 

Sadly I bought it when it was on offer by a soon after closed company and Asus wouldn't RMA it over here in Europe (No thanks to you ASUS!)

 

And now I'm on the verge of buying myself a new GPU (probably for my birthday as I'm my only presenter tho  )

 

But I'm quite not sure what to get. Do I stay with Maxwell since prices dropped like hot potatoes or do I upgrade to Pascal? Do I need Pascal? Is it worth it? I would like to get some opinions from you guys. Like Pro's and Con's.

 

Atm I'm gaming on 1080p and I didn't plan to upgrade to higher resolutions in the near future. Games are the usual Suspects like Battlefield Series (interested in BF1? Probably), I wanna be prepared for the new Mass Effect (Man, I love this series!) and Far Cry 4 (yep, still didn't finish that one) and I really wanna play Doom (yep, I've read the shitty reviews but whatevs.). Otherwise I would like to go on, recording gameplay and processing it through Adobe Premiere. That's about it. The other stuff (including CS:S on 1080p res can be simply handled by my HD 4600  )

 

So, now here's - finally - my question:

 

• Should I go with another GTX 970? Prices are pretty decent in Europe actually starting at around 260.-
• Or should I go with a GTX 980 ti since there are also some decent offers for around 400 bucks.
• Or should I upgrade to a 1070? I'm not sure if I really wanna spend 500 bucks on one of those cards since I really not plan to upgrade to a higher res display atm.

 

What are the advantages / disadvantages of Pascal over Maxwell or the other way around?

 

Oh and for manufacturers I would like to stay with either MSI or EVGA since their cards never let me down in the past. And I really would like to get the blower version because I really like that design more. 

 

System specs in signature.

 

Thanks folks! Have a nice week!

 

-Lex

[HKZeroFive]

Pascal is more power efficient, has an extra 2GB of video memory, better at VR and likely to be supported longer than Maxwell. Maxwell overclocks better, to the extent that an overclocked GTX 980Ti can reach or surpass overclocked GTX 1070 levels.

 

SLI (and Crossfire) sucks, and seeing that the GTX 980Ti is basically $100 cheaper than the GTX 1070 makes me inclined to recommend the GTX 980Ti.

[SeanAngelo]

20 minutes ago, LexCalifornia said:

Hey boys aaaaand girls!

 

So, uhm, I just ditched my GTX 970 Strix from Asus. This thing was practically almost DOA and worked only with the 358.78 driver. Otherwise games would crash and it would give me blueish squares. (I'm pretty sure the memory was dead right from the start)

 

Sadly I bought it when it was on offer by a soon after closed company and Asus wouldn't RMA it over here in Europe (No thanks to you ASUS!)

 

And now I'm on the verge of buying myself a new GPU (probably for my birthday as I'm my only presenter tho  )

 

But I'm quite not sure what to get. Do I stay with Maxwell since prices dropped like hot potatoes or do I upgrade to Pascal? Do I need Pascal? Is it worth it? I would like to get some opinions from you guys. Like Pro's and Con's.

 

Atm I'm gaming on 1080p and I didn't plan to upgrade to higher resolutions in the near future. Games are the usual Suspects like Battlefield Series (interested in BF1? Probably), I wanna be prepared for the new Mass Effect (Man, I love this series!) and Far Cry 4 (yep, still didn't finish that one) and I really wanna play Doom (yep, I've read the shitty reviews but whatevs.). Otherwise I would like to go on, recording gameplay and processing it through Adobe Premiere. That's about it. The other stuff (including CS:S on 1080p res can be simply handled by my HD 4600  )

 

So, now here's - finally - my question:

 

• Should I go with another GTX 970? Prices are pretty decent in Europe actually starting at around 260.-
• Or should I go with a GTX 980 ti since there are also some decent offers for around 400 bucks.
• Or should I upgrade to a 1070? I'm not sure if I really wanna spend 500 bucks on one of those cards since I really not plan to upgrade to a higher res display atm.

 

What are the advantages / disadvantages of Pascal over Maxwell or the other way around?

 

Oh and for manufacturers I would like to stay with either MSI or EVGA since their cards never let me down in the past. And I really would like to get the blower version because I really like that design more. 

 

System specs in signature.

 

Thanks folks! Have a nice week!

 

-Lex

I'd go with a GTX 980Ti... since you're only playing 1080p it should be able to run most games at any settings.... if you were getting a 1440p monitor in the near future then I would have recommended the GTX 1070

[LexCalifornia]

17 hours ago, HKZeroFive said:

Pascal is more power efficient, has an extra 2GB of video memory, better at VR and likely to be supported longer than Maxwell. Maxwell overclocks better, to the extent that an overclocked GTX 980Ti can reach or surpass overclocked GTX 1070 levels.

 

SLI (and Crossfire) sucks, and seeing that the GTX 980Ti is basically $100 cheaper than the GTX 1070 makes me inclined to recommend the GTX 980Ti.

Thank you for your opinion!

 

Yeah, unfortunately SLI isn't an option anymore after monitoring the nVidia forums for about a year. (That was initially my thought by going with that huge PSU I have.)

 

6 GB of GPU memory should last for a while gaming on 1080p, shouldn't it? After the 3.5 GB desaster of the 970 I'm just waiting for the 1070 having just 7.5 GB high bandwith memory

 

Also the 980 ti is a fully loaded Maxwell while the 1070 is a chopped down version of the 1080. Ugh, sorta a hard decision.

 

But after seeing two offers for a

 

• Gainward GTX 980 ti Golden Sample bulk for € 399.- brand new (about $ 440 US)

or a

• Zotac GTX 980 ti blower style for € 380.- 4 months old (about $ 420 US)

I'm actually bouncing forth and back between those two altho the Gainward is pretty ugly in my opinion.

 

The 1070 is GPU power wise at the same level as the 980 ti so spending 100 bucks more doesn't seem fair. Also I'm a bit concerned about newer nVidia GPUs since there were enough problems at the 900 series release.

 

So, final question

 

The Gainward or the Zotac?

 

My last Gainward was a GTX 295 which was an amazing card, my last Zotac was a 760 which had fan failure after a little more than 2 years (but I used it on a daily basis).

 

Airflow shouldn't be a problem due to enough room, 200mm intake and two 120mm outtakes so also the Zotac (featuring that nice looking blower cooler) shouldn't run that hot, right?

 

Any opinions here?

 

Thankies!

 

-Lex

[LexCalifornia]

17 hours ago, SeanAngelo said:

I'd go with a GTX 980Ti... since you're only playing 1080p it should be able to run most games at any settings.... if you were getting a 1440p monitor in the near future then I would have recommended the GTX 1070

The only reason to upgrade to a 1440p monitor would be due to a bigger display anyway like a 27 inch. But actually I'm fine with my 23". I thought about a bigger display but getting an IPS 27 inch with 1440p is a pricy thing. Good ones (I like Dell for their non glossy monitors ) are about the same amount as the GPU itself and I'm not really in the mood to spend that.

 

I always bought sorta mid range till today but having the option to either get the 980 ti or the 1070 sorta bugged me a bit. I mean, sure, having the newest technology is a nice thing but I'd rather have a 900 series GPU where problems are nearly sorted out these days.

 

I've seen you're running a Zotac GPU. I had a 760 from Zotac that quitted with fan failure after more than 2 years. How are the 900 series GPUs quality wise? I got an offer for a 980 ti blower style by Zotac for around € 380 (kinda 420 Dollars US) and I really would fancy that cooler over others (yes, just because the style  ). Any opinions here?

 

Thank you!

 

-Lex

[HKZeroFive]

12 minutes ago, LexCalifornia said:

-snip-

6GB of VRAM is going to last a long, long time for 1080p gaming. And to be fair, the GTX 980Ti is a cut down chip from the Titan X.

 

Not a fan of blower solutions. I prefer the Gainward in this case and just overclock it.

[LexCalifornia]

1 minute ago, HKZeroFive said:

6GB of VRAM is going to last a long, long time for 1080p gaming. And to be fair, the GTX 980Ti is a cut down chip from the Titan X.

 

Not a fan of blower solutions. I prefer the Gainward in this case and just overclock it.

True, I always forget that the Titan X exists because that price point is seriously out of my league.

But also it's just half the price of a Titan X. Well, at the moment way more. 

 

I'm actually gettin offers for a Gigabyte G1 980ti, it's just a price question because the dude wants 475 but I don't wanna pay that.

 

And I think, if it comes to the Gainward, a Linus style can repaint would make it look way better

 

Are the blower coolers really that bad? I haven't overclocked anything since my GTX 295 and the Core 2 Quad back then and the power the 980 ti delivers should do for a while. 

 

Thankies!

 

-Lex

[SteveGrabowski0]

Maxwell isn't very good in DX12 and this is looking like the year DX12 hits the mainstream, so go Pascal all the way. A GTX 1060 will easily play Far Cry 4 at 60 fps ultra. My 970 crushed that game at launch in 2014 and a 1060 is about 15% faster than the 970 and will have the benefit of a year and a half worth of patches in FC4. I saw some video of Battlefield 1 Alpha on a 970 running pretty amazing, like 80 fps at 1080p high/ultra, so I'd venture the significantly stronger 1060 will be a really strong card for that game too. I'd buy a 1060 or a 1070, Maxwell isn't worth it any more and the gap will likely increase substantially over the next couple of years just like Maxwell did vs Kepler. DX12 will likely exacerbate this difference even further.

[HKZeroFive]

2 hours ago, LexCalifornia said:

Are the blower coolers really that bad? I haven't overclocked anything since my GTX 295 and the Core 2 Quad back then and the power the 980 ti delivers should do for a while. 

Eh, blower style coolers just provide inferior cooling to custom coolers and IMO, only really suited for where there's a lack of airflow. The Gainward would likely provide better cooling and knowing Maxwell's overclocking capabilities, give you a good boost.

[LexCalifornia]

2 hours ago, HKZeroFive said:

Eh, blower style coolers just provide inferior cooling to custom coolers and IMO, only really suited for where there's a lack of airflow. The Gainward would likely provide better cooling and knowing Maxwell's overclocking capabilities, give you a good boost.

I've just read some test about the Gainward and like wow, it can be overclocked to nearly 150% of the initial performance the 980 Ti brought with. So it really should suite me for a while, even if I have to overclock it someday.

 

Yeah, Airflow isn't really a problem. I just like the design of the blower style cards, it looks way more industrial than the custom coolers but otherwise my pc is under my desk so I shouldn't be concerned about the optic, righ?

[LexCalifornia]

4 hours ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Maxwell isn't very good in DX12 and this is looking like the year DX12 hits the mainstream, so go Pascal all the way. A GTX 1060 will easily play Far Cry 4 at 60 fps ultra. My 970 crushed that game at launch in 2014 and a 1060 is about 15% faster than the 970 and will have the benefit of a year and a half worth of patches in FC4. I saw some video of Battlefield 1 Alpha on a 970 running pretty amazing, like 80 fps at 1080p high/ultra, so I'd venture the significantly stronger 1060 will be a really strong card for that game too. I'd buy a 1060 or a 1070, Maxwell isn't worth it any more and the gap will likely increase substantially over the next couple of years just like Maxwell did vs Kepler. DX12 will likely exacerbate this difference even further.

I'm not concerned about DX12 at all since I don't plan to upgrade to Windows 10. I don't like it and I don't like the lack of control I would lose over Windows 8.1. So I'm sticking with 8.1 till there's no other option left.

 

Well, I have a budget and sure, the 1060 would match it. But, as I've seen back then with the 760, I'm really not about to buy myself the lower end of the line card anymore. The 980 Ti is still faster. And like HKZeroFive said it, it's overclock potential is way better.

 

nVidia is pushing new chipsets each year and most likely next year they'll bring the Volta generation. So it looks like - at least to me - that Pascal is a bit like a place holder to keep the fight between AMD and nVidia going.

 

I've read myself through a lot of tests and even if the 10xx series seems to give me a little bit of extra performance, I've also read that there are - like in the early days of the 900 series - some issues, mostly driver related - hopefully ha! - that I really don't need.

 

I want a fast card that suits my needs and I would - personally - more opt for a high end model of last gen cards than for a low-end model of the actual generation. And it's just a 70 bucks difference between - for example - the Gainward 1060 and the Gainward 980 Ti but it's a 25% performance boost the 980 Ti gives me over the 1060. And I think that's pretty decent.

 

But still thank you for your opinion.

 

[HKZeroFive]

1 hour ago, LexCalifornia said:

I've just read some test about the Gainward and like wow, it can be overclocked to nearly 150% of the initial performance the 980 Ti brought with. So it really should suite me for a while, even if I have to overclock it someday.

 

Yeah, Airflow isn't really a problem. I just like the design of the blower style cards, it looks way more industrial than the custom coolers but otherwise my pc is under my desk so I shouldn't be concerned about the optic, righ?

More of a question of whether you prefer performance, lower temps and noise against aesthetics. For me, the answer is clear enough but some people prefer the latter. Anyway, since it's below your desk, I'd take Gainward for being quieter.

[SeanAngelo]

6 hours ago, LexCalifornia said:

I've seen you're running a Zotac GPU. I had a 760 from Zotac that quitted with fan failure after more than 2 years. How are the 900 series GPUs quality wise? I got an offer for a 980 ti blower style by Zotac for around € 380 (kinda 420 Dollars US) and I really would fancy that cooler over others (yes, just because the style  ). Any opinions here?

 

Thank you!

 

-Lex

The quality of 900 series GPUs are not that bad.... my Zotac is amazing, runs perfectly fine without any problems. I mean, if you want a blower style cooler then go for it, but personally I would look at the other brands with non-blower cooled cards

[alphaproject]

 

[LexCalifornia]

On 27 July 2016 at 1:23 PM, alphaproject said:

 

Thanks alphaproject!

 

Well, yey, I decided to go with the Maxwell. I'm not paying 100 bucks extra for a slight upgrade. The 980 Ti gives me enough room to play with for a while.

 

Very informative video though. Thanks a lot.

[LexCalifornia]

Thank you all for your opinions. Since I could sleep over my decision at least two nights I've decided to go with the 980 Ti from Gainward. The cooler leaves enough room for overclocking if I'll ever need to do it.

 

Personally I don't think the 'minor' upgrade from Maxwell to Pascal is worth 100-150 bucks over the 400 bucks I will pay for the 980 Ti.

 

Thanks again for all your opinions.