GTX970 SLI or GTX1070?

[Skeeter]

I have a GTX970 and a 1920x1080 24" monitor. I play a range of games from GTA5 through Rocket League and then some FPSs.

 

I am thinking of getting a 34" Ultrawide monitor as I sometimes work from home and I really like the extra real estate of multiple/bigger monitors, especially when coupled with my laptop for multiple screens (my desk at work has 2x 22" 1080 monitors plus my 15" laptop).

 

But, the jump to 3440x1440 in a 34" Ultrawide is going to stretch my exisitng GTX970 a bit far, so I would need to upgrade. I could throw in another GTX970 for about £150 and SLI them, or I could sell my existing GTX970 and spend the combined ~£300 on a (second hand) GTX1070.

 

What would you recomend? I've always avoided SLI as it always felt like it was more annoying than it should be, and inconsistent. Plus you only get one cards worth of VRAM, don't you? If I don't stick with the 970, what would be the best way to spend that ~£300? 

 

Cheers

[Castdeath97]

I would get a single 1070 personally, the 970 SLI will be more powerful overall but you aren't guaranteed support or at least consistent frame times in some games. 

[Skeeter]

Just now, Castdeath97 said:

I would get a single 1070 personally, the 970 SLI will be more powerful overall but you aren't guaranteed support or at least consistent frame times in some games. 

This is key to me. I am very much a fan of stuff that "just works" and if SLI doesn't then I will rapidly get frustrated with it. Its the main reason I've always avoided it in the past.

[Cryptonite]

8 minutes ago, Skeeter said:

I have a GTX970 and a 1920x1080 24" monitor. I play a range of games from GTA5 through Rocket League and then some FPSs.

 

I am thinking of getting a 34" Ultrawide monitor as I sometimes work from home and I really like the extra real estate of multiple/bigger monitors, especially when coupled with my laptop for multiple screens (my desk at work has 2x 22" 1080 monitors plus my 15" laptop).

 

But, the jump to 3440x1440 in a 34" Ultrawide is going to stretch my exisitng GTX970 a bit far, so I would need to upgrade. I could throw in another GTX970 for about £150 and SLI them, or I could sell my existing GTX970 and spend the combined ~£300 on a (second hand) GTX1070.

 

What would you recomend? I've always avoided SLI as it always felt like it was more annoying than it should be, and inconsistent. Plus you only get one cards worth of VRAM, don't you? If I don't stick with the 970, what would be the best way to spend that ~£300? 

 

Cheers

trust me get the 1070 and never look back.

[MekaStrix]

9 minutes ago, Skeeter said:

I have a GTX970 and a 1920x1080 24" monitor. I play a range of games from GTA5 through Rocket League and then some FPSs.

 

I am thinking of getting a 34" Ultrawide monitor as I sometimes work from home and I really like the extra real estate of multiple/bigger monitors, especially when coupled with my laptop for multiple screens (my desk at work has 2x 22" 1080 monitors plus my 15" laptop).

 

But, the jump to 3440x1440 in a 34" Ultrawide is going to stretch my exisitng GTX970 a bit far, so I would need to upgrade. I could throw in another GTX970 for about £150 and SLI them, or I could sell my existing GTX970 and spend the combined ~£300 on a (second hand) GTX1070.

 

What would you recomend? I've always avoided SLI as it always felt like it was more annoying than it should be, and inconsistent. Plus you only get one cards worth of VRAM, don't you? If I don't stick with the 970, what would be the best way to spend that ~£300? 

 

Cheers

1070 all the way although if your going 3440 it might still be a bit of a stretch as my 1080 even struggles but I don't use my pc enough to warrant paying out for the ti

[grimreeper132]

1070 will work without fiddling, if you like fiddling then 970 SLI, but there is problems which comes in with like, like compatibility, as it's not always supported, also if you want to do the 970 SLI you also need to deal with more power constraints and other shit, in other words, don't do it, IT'S A TRAP

[Cryptonite]

9 minutes ago, MekaStrix said:

1070 all the way although if your going 3440 it might still be a bit of a stretch as my 1080 even struggles but I don't use my pc enough to warrant paying out for the ti

how so? 3440 x 1440 shouldn't pull much more than regular 1440p and my 1070 handles it quite well. he isn't going 4k or anything.

[MekaStrix]

6 minutes ago, Cryptonite said:

how so? 3440 x 1440 shouldn't pull much more than regular 1440p and my 1070 handles it quite well. he isn't going 4k or anything.

in normal 1440p my 1080 struggles in some games but mostly due to poor optimisation but there's so many poor optimised games on pc but then I like to keep my framerates 80 or above.

[WereCat]

Just get 1070, SLI is not worth the hassle even if it provided extra performance in every single game... there is more problems with it than its worth it.

[RollinLower]

11 minutes ago, WereCat said:

Just get 1070, SLI is not worth the hassle even if it provided extra performance in every single game... there is more problems with it than its worth it.

The only pro is that dual GPU setups look fuckin' sick. The rest is just cons to be honest.

[Cryptonite]

16 minutes ago, MekaStrix said:

in normal 1440p my 1080 struggles in some games but mostly due to poor optimisation but there's so many poor optimised games on pc but then I like to keep my framerates 80 or above.

ok yes, for 80+ frames I'd agree but I'm more of a 50+ fps kinda guy.

[Dabombinable]

4 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

The only pro is that dual GPU setups look fuckin' sick. The rest is just cons to be honest.

Which is why I am going to make do with only having Voodoo2 in SLI instead of getting a second GTX 970 (I'll probably end up with a second hand 1080)

[Abhishek sharma]

Go for GTX 1070.

[arkashiks]

Hi there,

 

Unfortunately two cards won't double performance. In games which will support SLI properly you probably will get 30-35% increase in average, which would be roughly same as single 980Ti.

 

1070 itself already gives same performance as 980Ti with much more lower TDP. As result, you will get more or less same performance boost with lower power consumption, less complicated setup as you will have less requirements for cooling, more modern GPU architecture and less problems with games which doesn't have proper SLI support.

 

I would state that SLI out of two 970s is very marginal upgrade. Get single 1070 and make your life easier =)

 

If you have an option to save a bit and review other cards - then I would definitely recommend you 1080Ti for 3440x1440 resolution. 1070 is a great card, but it is mainly designed for 1080p at high refresh rates (such as 90+ fps) or 2k at 60fps. If you want to play at 3440x1440 at 60fps or 2k at 90+ fps - 1080Ti is your best option on the market.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

[Skeeter]

6 hours ago, kaputt said:

Hi there,

 

Unfortunately two cards won't double performance. In games which will support SLI properly you probably will get 30-35% increase in average, which would be roughly same as single 980Ti.

 

1070 itself already gives same performance as 980Ti with much more lower TDP. As result, you will get more or less same performance boost with lower power consumption, less complicated setup as you will have less requirements for cooling, more modern GPU architecture and less problems with games which doesn't have proper SLI support.

 

I would state that SLI out of two 970s is very marginal upgrade. Get single 1070 and make your life easier =)

 

...

This all seems like good advice, thanks...

6 hours ago, kaputt said:

...

 

If you have an option to save a bit and review other cards - then I would definitely recommend you 1080Ti for 3440x1440 resolution. 1070 is a great card, but it is mainly designed for 1080p at high refresh rates (such as 90+ fps) or 2k at 60fps. If you want to play at 3440x1440 at 60fps or 2k at 90+ fps - 1080Ti is your best option on the market.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

And you threw all the internet brownie points out the window by suggesting I use my £300 to buy a £700 graphics card!

 

If I was in the market for 1080Ti's I wouldn't even have considered the second 970

[arkashiks]

2 hours ago, Skeeter said:

And you threw all the internet brownie points out the window by suggesting I use my £300 to buy a £700 graphics card!

 

If I was in the market for 1080Ti's I wouldn't even have considered the second 970

It was optional comment, just wanted to highlight this to you so you will know what to expect performance wise from 1070 at 3440x1440 resolution. 1070 is a great card, but you will need to sacrifice a bit in level of details for your chosen resolution. I have now 1070 paired with 2k display @144Hz, and although it delivers excellent performance at its price, it is not sufficient for modern titles at ultra settings; I'm getting max 60-90 fps with some minor setting tweakening (depending on game).

 

Also, I would advise you to check if your new monitor have G-Sync. If so, then you will have very nice gaming experience even with 1070, if your frame rate will stay equal or above 35-40 fps. This may be another option for you to increase level of details, sacrifice a bit in frame rate but still have very nice and smooth gaming sessions.

[Skeeter]

G Sync/Freesync are very nice but often push prices skywards.

 

I've umm'ed and aah'ed about this long enough to decide its just not worth it. A 34" 1440p would be brilliant for work, but I don't need it that badly that I will basically kill my gaming to get it. A 34" (curved) monitor plus the GPU to drive it reliably for a few years is heading well into £1000+ territory which is just stupid.

 

I've started looking at 29" 1080p Ultrawides instead as its not that many pixels more than my current 24", is about the same height (and therefore pixel density) as my current screen, but I get extra screen area each side for work and play. I'm going to head over to the monitor section and see whats good.