2x GTX 770 2GB or GTX 980, or distant future card?

[apcs13]

Hello everyone,

Currently in my PC I have a GTX 770 2GB graphics card(other specs can be seen in signature), and will be faced with a decision within the next year or so that I would like to plan my budget for, since I don't have tons of money to throw at a PC at all times. In maybe no earlier than 6 months, probably more like a year, I will be doing sort of an overhaul. I will be getting an SSD, making the switch to a higher-end Intel CPU (unless AMD does something radically new, which doesn't seem likely), and getting a quality motherboard to go with it. Obviously, this is probably going to cost upwards of $600, and if I sell my old stuff it might come down to a total of $450 out of my own pocket, since in mint condition my CPU and Mobo (which aren't yet a year old) were a little over $200 total and have been treated very carefully, and can overclock very well.

Anyways, my question is this: The reason I have always been reluctant on SLI with 2x GTX 770 2GB is due to the lower quantity of VRAM compared to other graphics cards, such as the GTX 780 or even R9 280X, and i thought that if I spent a bunch of money on a second 770, it would be wasted due to a VRAM bottleneck, and since it has also been proven that >2GB VRAM on a 256-bit bus is rendered very inefficiently used. However, I am beginning to doubt the need for higher VRAM since the latest highest end GPU from NVIDIA, the GTX 980, only comes standard with 2GB VRAM on a 256-bit bus, which was odd to me since even the current 780 comes with 3GB on a 384-bit bus.

Anyways, when I do decide to upgrade, should I:

A. Add a second 770 2GB and get a larger power supply
B. Sell the 770 along with other items and get a 780, with intent to SLI with another in the future
C. Sell the 770 with other parts and get a GTX 980
D. Make the switch to AMD's latest offering (even though I hate their drivers still, with my laptop having AMD graphics causing many driver issues)
E. Forget about that and keep the 770 and save money with a faster CPU
F. Forget about ALL of it and keep PC as is


I will be going off to college in not too long so I am now thinking as I type I might be forced to go with F... haha.

Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks!

 

[jasonite]

Well, remember that unless you are using multiple monitors or a 4k monitor, more than 2gb is a waste as no game on the horizon requires it. Honestly I think it's too early to begin planning this, wait another 9 months before you start thinking about it and just enjoy your system now. In terms of cost, by this time next year you'd get more performance by replacing your GPU than buy another GPU and a new PSU on top of it. Knowing how quickly prices drop though, it might be cheaper to go the SLI route.

J

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

You're wrong my friend. The 970 and 980 come with 4GB's of VRAM standard.

 

[razvan_mz]

I believe your motherboard only supports crossfire, not sli. I'd pair your FX-6350 with R9 285, which is equivalent to GTX 770. so option F.

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

I think razvan is right actually. Your motherboard only supports crossfire. I have a 7970 (the 280x is just a rebranded 7970 with a few tweaks) that I currently have running with my 6350 at 4.7GHz and it runs BF4 and Watch dogs quite at 55-60 FPS at max settings. I just put the 6350 in my system to see how far I could overclock it with my CM Hyper Evo 212. I have just been too lazy to switch back to the 8350. I think you would be very happy with a 285 or 280x, and then you can always buy another one and crossfire in the future.

 

[apcs13]

Well, remember that unless you are using multiple monitors or a 4k monitor, more than 2gb is a waste as no game on the horizon requires it. Honestly I think it's too early to begin planning this, wait another 9 months before you start thinking about it and just enjoy your system now. In terms of cost, by this time next year you'd get more performance by replacing your GPU than buy another GPU and a new PSU on top of it. Knowing how quickly prices drop though, it might be cheaper to go the SLI route.

J

Thanks for the feedback, I know it is a long way off but as you may have guessed from certain details I'm still comparatively young and making decent wages is hard enough without balancing school work and extracurriculars, so I need to plan pretty far ahead haha. What you suggested is probably what I will end up doing though.

 

[apcs13]

You're wrong my friend. The 970 and 980 come with 4GB's of VRAM standard.

You're entirely correct, my memory mislead me. The reason that I made that error is because I have done so much reading on GTX 770 4GB vs 2GB, and all of my research has shown that there is almost no difference in performance between those two cards, even in situations that use more than 2GB VRAM, because both 770s use 256-bit memory buses, and it seemed odd that the 980 uses one too, even though other cards with that amount of memory (R9 290 and 290X come to mind) use 512- bit memory buses.

 

[apcs13]

I believe your motherboard only supports crossfire, not sli. I'd pair your FX-6350 with R9 285, which is equivalent to GTX 770. so option F.

From my original post, it seems you may have missed this part:

I will be getting an SSD, making the switch to a higher-end Intel CPU (unless AMD does something radically new, which doesn't seem likely), and getting a quality motherboard to go with it.

I realize that my current motherboard only supports CrossFire, and not even fully effectively at that, but as you can see I mentioned that I was going to be upgrading to a higher end Intel board in some amount of time, which all of those do support SLI.

Also, you are mistaken, the R9 285 is actually slightly lower than the performance level of an R9 280X, and a GTX 770 trades blows with but more frequently than not bests the 280X in terms of gaming performance, so I don't exactly see why I would sell my 770 and get a less powerful card when my aim is to play at more demanding settings and achieve higher framerates...

 

[apcs13]

I believe your motherboard only supports crossfire, not sli. I'd pair your FX-6350 with R9 285, which is equivalent to GTX 770. so option F.

I think razvan is right actually. Your motherboard only supports crossfire. I have a 7970 (the 280x is just a rebranded 7970 with a few tweaks) that I currently have running with my 6350 at 4.7GHz and it runs BF4 and Watch dogs quite at 55-60 FPS at max settings. I just put the 6350 in my system to see how far I could overclock it with my CM Hyper Evo 212. I have just been too lazy to switch back to the 8350. I think you would be very happy with a 285 or 280x, and then you can always buy another one and crossfire in the future.

From my original post, it seems you may have missed this part:

I will be getting an SSD, making the switch to a higher-end Intel CPU (unless AMD does something radically new, which doesn't seem likely), and getting a quality motherboard to go with it.

I realize that my current motherboard only supports CrossFire, and not even fully effectively at that, but as you can see I mentioned that I was going to be upgrading to a higher end Intel board in some amount of time, which all of those do support SLI.

Same as with what razvan said, I am not quite sure why you think I should sell my 770 for the slightly less powerful 280X, or even less potent 285, it just doesn't seem to make too much sense to me, but maybe you could explain?

 

[razvan_mz]

I believe your motherboard only supports crossfire, not sli. I'd pair your FX-6350 with R9 285, which is equivalent to GTX 770. so option F.

From my original post, it seems you may have missed this part:

I will be getting an SSD, making the switch to a higher-end Intel CPU (unless AMD does something radically new, which doesn't seem likely), and getting a quality motherboard to go with it.

I realize that my current motherboard only supports CrossFire, and not even fully effectively at that, but as you can see I mentioned that I was going to be upgrading to a higher end Intel board in some amount of time, which all of those do support SLI.

Also, you are mistaken, the R9 285 is actually slightly lower than the performance level of an R9 280X, and a GTX 770 trades blows with but more frequently than not bests the 280X in terms of gaming performance, so I don't exactly see why I would sell my 770 and get a less powerful card when my aim is to play at more demanding settings and achieve higher framerates...

I didn't say change it to an R9 285, I said option F, let it as it is. I only give it as an example of cpu/gpu max. optimum choice, and I think if you go more than GTX770, fps and framerates, will 'suffer' a bit with your processor.