1080 vs 970 SLI

[reptileexperts]

So, its looking like my wife picked me up at GTX 1080 for Christmas, its due in today, and she wont tell me anything about it (branding, cooling, etc) so we'll find out shortly, but the question for me remains, is it really worth keeping? I dont want to insult my wife, but in all honesty, if the upgrade was worth it, I would've done it long ago. Comparing fire strike scores on my 970 SLI rig, I hit 20,308 on my highest score, yet the 1080 with a comparable build overclocked a max score of just over 20,000. However, running the same overclocks as before, my 970 SLI rig only scores around 18,000? So it becomes a gray area for me. 

 

Is there a real upgrade to the 970 SLI to a 1080 that will make gaming at 1440p more enjoyable? Currently running an ROG Swift 1440p 144hz G-sync monitor. I have no problem hitting 100+ fps in most games on ultra, with the exception of things like witcher 3, and division. Did anyone out there make this upgrade? And did you feel it was worth it? And if I leave a 970 as a dedicated phys-x card, will I see diminishing returns on value given the current value of 970's? 

[aisle9]

Dedicated PhysX cards are a joke. If you've got a 1080 incoming, ditch the 970s. Here's why:

-Lower power consumption

-Less heat

-Better architecture

-No worries about iffy SLI support

 

Sell the 970s, keep the 1080, game on, bro. Game on.

[App4that]

Yeah, if you have the 1080 incoming enjoy it.

 

And does your wife have a sister?

[Java]

Well remember that not all games support SLI.  And even in games that do support SLI, it doesn't always scale perfectly.  Typically you upgrade your GPU every other generation; however since your wife seems to have already gotten it for you, consider it a substantial upgrade.  I've upgraded from my 970 to the 1080 since I saw a good deal on it from ebay, and have been pleasantly surprised with the performance gain (usually about 40-50 fps on certain titles).  

 

For the option of keeping the 970 as a physx card, refer to this vid: 

 

[AdamH96]

sell the 970s and keep the 1080, use the money in the future to buy another GPU or SLI 1080s. I am enjoying mine but i upgraded from a single 970 so i'm not sure the performance difference. though you are looking a a VRAM upgrade from 4GB to 8GB which is good nowdays, i can easily eat up 5-6GBs at 4K (7.5GB in Mirrors edge Hyper settings)

[reptileexperts]

alright, I'll keep that in mind - again I believe the only titles I own that are not SLI optimized are the division and witcher 3. So for now those are the only upgrade on FPS. With the 1080ti confirmed, it may be worth sending it back to hold onto the funds till we see a better solution since, after all, I'm pretty content. She just saw me drooling a while back, and I think she's trying to feed that thirst. 

[App4that]

Bro I get amazing scaling in the Witcher 3 and the Division.  Do you use Nvidia inspector?

 

You could always use one of the 970s for a HTC too.

[Vellinious]

Not all games support SLI.  Even less support PHYSX.  

Even on games that do support it, gains are minimal.  

IMHO, it's useless.

[App4that]

27 minutes ago, Vellinious said:

Not all games support SLI.  Even less support PHYSX.  

Even on games that do support it, gains are minimal.  

IMHO, it's useless.

Wildly inaccurate. 

 

SLI works in almost every game I own, and if it doesn't I ether use Nvidia inspector to go every other, or use a single card. 

 

The only reason people hate on SLI is a lack of experience,  which is not a reason to post on this forum.

[Dabombinable]

6 minutes ago, App4that said:

Wildly inaccurate. 

 

SLI works in almost every game I own, and if it doesn't I ether use Nvidia inspector to go every other, or use a single card. 

 

The only reason people hate on SLI is a lack of experience,  which is not a reason to post on this forum.

To be fair, older Nvidia cards with SLI support don't seem to scale well. Unlike the original 3DFX implementation which as far as I've seen so far in my games scales perfectly (I've got SLI Voodoo2 12MB in my Windows ME rig, my Windows 7 rig has 2x GTS 250 1GB on the way to go with its Xeon X5450, and this desktop will eventually get a second+better GTX 970).

[App4that]

6 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

To be fair, older Nvidia cards with SLI support don't seem to scale well. Unlike the original 3DFX implementation which as far as I've seen so far in my games scales perfectly (I've got SLI Voodoo2 12MB in my Windows ME rig, my Windows 7 rig has 2x GTS 250 1GB on the way to go with its Xeon X5450, and this desktop will eventually get a second+better GTX 970).

True, I think people expect more than is resonable. I'm happy with 30% scaling if it's smooth as that puts me over 1080 performance. I get way more than that in a few titles, but it's not as common. 

 

Plus SLI is fun to play around with, and gives my over compensating power supply a reason to be.

[Dabombinable]

1 minute ago, App4that said:

True, I think people expect more than is resonable. I'm happy with 30% scaling if it's smooth as that puts me over 1080 performance. I get way more than that isna few titles, but it's not as common. 

 

Plus SLI is fun to play around with, and gives more over compensating power supply a reason to be.

Considering I only bought my CX850M because it has 2x FDD connectors, and a 25A 5V rail. Not because of its strong 12V rail and 4x 6+2 PCIe power connectors....

[App4that]

1 minute ago, Dabombinable said:

Considering I only bought my CX850M because it has 2x FDD connectors, and a 25A 5V rail. Not because of its strong 12V rail and 4x 6+2 PCIe power connectors....

I bet our over sized power supply store will be laughed at in 10 years.

 

But I dygress. 

[Vellinious]

1 hour ago, App4that said:

Wildly inaccurate. 

 

SLI works in almost every game I own, and if it doesn't I ether use Nvidia inspector to go every other, or use a single card. 

 

The only reason people hate on SLI is a lack of experience,  which is not a reason to post on this forum.

Actually, what I said is NOT inaccurate.  I said not all games support SLI.  Which is undeniably true.  I also said, even less support PHYSX, which is also....undeniably true.

Your logic is flawed.  I've been running SLI since Fermi.  I prefer it.  

....and the truth shall set ye free....

/wink

[App4that]

2 minutes ago, Vellinious said:

Actually, what I said is NOT inaccurate.  I said not all games support SLI.  Which is undeniably true.  I also said, even less support PHYSX, which is also....undeniably true.

Your logic is flawed.  I've been running SLI since Fermi.  I prefer it.  

....and the truth shall set ye free....

/wink

 

2 hours ago, Vellinious said:

Not all games support SLI.  Even less support PHYSX.  

Even on games that do support it, gains are minimal.  

IMHO, it's useless.

I took the liberty to put your bullshit in bold. 

 

 

[Vellinious]

2 minutes ago, App4that said:

 

I took the liberty to put your bullshit in bold. 

 

 

Yeah, gains from PHYSX are minimal.  Maybe I should have spelled it out.....might have helped some of us understand.  lol

[App4that]

1 minute ago, Vellinious said:

Yeah, gains from PHYSX are minimal.  Maybe I should have spelled it out.....might have helped some of us understand.  lol

You were talking about SLI as well, unless you'd like to retract the statement.

 

And even in Physx you can get some pretty impressive gains, in like 3 games. So not worth it, but the gains are there. 

[Vellinious]

I never said that there are no gains in SLI.  I've been running it forever.  I was talking about PHYSX.  Seemed pretty apparent to me.  I guess some people just need it spelled out for them.  So, let's try that.....THERE ARE SOME GAMES THAT DON'T SUPPORT SLI, EVEN FEWER OF THEM THAT SUPPORT PHYSX....OF THOSE THAT DO, GAINS ARE MINIMAL.

My god, man....do you need some other assistance?  I'm sure tutoring would help....I'm not that guy.  You can't afford my services.  lol

[App4that]

1 minute ago, Vellinious said:

I never said that there are no gains in SLI.  I've been running it forever.  I was talking about PHYSX.  Seemed pretty apparent to me.  I guess some people just need it spelled out for them.  So, let's try that.....THERE ARE SOME GAMES THAT DON'T SUPPORT SLI, EVEN FEWER OF THEM THAT SUPPORT PHYSX....OF THOSE THAT DO, GAINS ARE MINIMAL.

My god, man....do you need some other assistance?  I'm sure tutoring would help....I'm not that guy.  You can't afford my services.  lol

I hope you don't tutor English, though that would explain Trump. pew pew

[Vellinious]

Must be a Clinton worshiper.....you knew the word "digress".....just not how to spell it.  

Enjoy your evening.  = )

[App4that]

3 minutes ago, Vellinious said:

Must be a Clinton worshiper.....you knew the word "digress".....just not how to spell it.  

Enjoy your evening.  = )

Nope, voted Trump, just an observation. 

[Vellinious]

Just now, App4that said:

Nope, voted Trump, just an observation. 

Same thing

[reptileexperts]

Well, that was derailed rather quickly.

 

Key points - yep, I prefer SLI and am very comfortable with it. The witcher 3 may be scaling better than I think at this point, I changed the profiles a while back in NV inspector and can put them back on default if that's the case. I also did the SLI fix for the division, but with my cards very OC'd I see around 45-55 fps maxed out at 1440p, with g-sync its fine but still prefer better of course.

 

Card was delayed so it'll arrive tonight pending that is what she went with - she seemingly let it slip last night that my thoughts were confirmed. However, I'm also extremely picky about aesthetics, so it may have to go back simply to match my build and preference. IF that is the case, perhaps SLI 1070 ftw?

 

Has anyone tried using DX12 Multi-card support to run a 900 series with a 10 series?