970 SLI or not?

[Mrsrs]

I bought this computer in march 2014. It was pre-built so i wasnt expecting too much out of it. Now the GPU is not doing it anymore, and Im upgrading in a couple days. I have the money for a GTX 980 or two GTX 970s in SLI. Or is it better to get one GTX 980 now, and another one in the future? Maybe even SLI an 980 Ti when it comes out.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

One GTX 980 should be enough.

 

[sizzling]

What resolution and what fps do you want?

 

[geofelt]

If you are gaming on a single monitor(less than 4k) then it is hard to imagine that a GTX970 is not doing the job.

How do you know you have a GPU problem, and not a CPU problem?

Dual cards will always have a few issues such as games that do not do well with dual cards.
You will be exposed to tearing and stuttering because of minute differences in the capabilities of two cards.

I might suggest the GTX980 would be a better experience, but the benchmark frame rates will not be as good as GTX970 sli.
I presume you have a X8/X8 sli capable motherboard and the requisite 850W psu.

 

[photonboy]

1) Buy a single GTX970 and if it's not sufficient buy another.

2) Here's how the frame rate compares in a specific scenario which assumes 80% SLI scaling:

1.80/1.15 x100% = 56% (the 1.15 is the 15% advantage of the GTX980 on average)

Thus 2xGTX970's will get 56% higher frame rate. Put another way you'd get 40FPS with the GTX980 and almost 63FPS on the 2xGTX970 setup.

3) ADVANCED SLI info:
SLI isn't perfect in every game but there are workarounds to get the ideal experience. In some cases you might get a bit of stutter that a single card wouldn't have but here's some tips:

a) Try the game with a single GTX970 and in SLI 2x970. If SLI stutters more consider using only a single GTX970, especially if the game doesn't really need SLI (i.e. already at 60FPS max quality).

b) PHYSX - can allocate one GTX970 to PhysX. For example, in Batman Origins. If the game stutters normally a bit with SLI 2x970 then this way it will just run the main game on a single GTX970 but PhysX will just all be done on the second GTX970.

In this case at 1920x1080 you should get a solid 60FPS at maximum quality in Batman Origins (not saying it's a great game just an example). It's also the type of game where SMOOTHNESS is pretty important as any stutter is usually quite obvious when fighting or gliding.

Other:
At some point in the future consider a G-Sync monitor. You'd still want to apply all the tips above though.

 

[Mousemonkey]

1) Buy a single GTX970 and if it's not sufficient buy another.

2) Here's how the frame rate compares in a specific scenario which assumes 80% SLI scaling:

1.80/1.15 x100% = 56% (the 1.15 is the 15% advantage of the GTX980 on average)

Thus 2xGTX970's will get 56% higher frame rate. Put another way you'd get 40FPS with the GTX980 and almost 63FPS on the 2xGTX970 setup.

3) ADVANCED SLI info:
SLI isn't perfect in every game but there are workarounds to get the ideal experience. In some cases you might get a bit of stutter that a single card wouldn't have but here's some tips:

a) Try the game with a single GTX970 and in SLI 2x970. If SLI stutters more consider using only a single GTX970, especially if the game doesn't really need SLI (i.e. already at 60FPS max quality).

b) PHYSX - can allocate one GTX970 to PhysX. For example, in Batman Origins. If the game stutters normally a bit with SLI 2x970 then this way it will just run the main game on a single GTX970 but PhysX will just all be done on the second GTX970.

In this case at 1920x1080 you should get a solid 60FPS at maximum quality in Batman Origins (not saying it's a great game just an example). It's also the type of game where SMOOTHNESS is pretty important as any stutter is usually quite obvious when fighting or gliding.

Other:
At some point in the future consider a G-Sync monitor. You'd still want to apply all the tips above though.

Running 3D mark a couple of times last night I was seeing double the framerates with two 970's, have you actually tried a pair of 970's or are you just making that stuff up?

 

[Mrsrs]

What resolution and what fps do you want?

Im running 2 monitors atm, 1080p, but buying another one in a few weeks.

 

[Mrsrs]

If you are gaming on a single monitor(less than 4k) then it is hard to imagine that a GTX970 is not doing the job.

How do you know you have a GPU problem, and not a CPU problem?

Dual cards will always have a few issues such as games that do not do well with dual cards.
You will be exposed to tearing and stuttering because of minute differences in the capabilities of two cards.

I might suggest the GTX980 would be a better experience, but the benchmark frame rates will not be as good as GTX970 sli.
I presume you have a X8/X8 sli capable motherboard and the requisite 850W psu.

I need a new PSU either way, doesnt matter what card Im buying as I only have a 500W. Eh, Im getting triple monitors very soon and Ive heard that SLI 970 do much better, for a little more money. And yes, I have an SLI capable MOBO. Also for the CPU, Im video editing and rendering and whatnot, so an i5 4570 isnt doing it either, instead Im getting an i7 4790K.