980 / 980TI / R3XX? Which GFX to buy.

tom7792

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Sep 27, 2011
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Hey guys, trying to figure what GPU I should get to my (slightly old) system.

My current hardware is :

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Video Card 1 GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570
Video Card 2 GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570
Memory 8.2 GB
Max Resolution 2560x1440

Motherboard : Z68X - UD4 - B3

Currently trying to decide between going for 970GTX, 980 GTX or waiting for the summer for a new line up (?) heard theres something new coming but i have no idea really what it is.

Also my PC monitor is 27" 1440p, and will have 4K TV at some point next year.

mainly gaming purposes but also doing motion design (graphical animation) at home.

got the budget for both cards, can anyone tell me how I should proceed ? just trying to give my PC another 2-3 years of lifespan gaming wise, cheers!!
 
well its waiting for a month and abit, if thats to get something that I get more from while paying the same budget than Im up to it, regardless im trying to figure what can i compare the 980 with, is the 980ti going to be around the same price, and same goes for the 390
 
any competition between nvidia and amd can only be good for buyers

will nvidia release the 980ti before the new amd cards? and think we might see a 960ti as a more affordable option for those who cant afford the top cards

or do nvidia wait for amd and then hit back with 980ti?

will new amd cards be in short supply at launch due to hbm memory production

its all a guessing game--but i got a gtx970 recently so i will be sticking with that for a while anyway
 
alright narrowed down my options, seeing as 980ti is coming out only in september, im trying to decide between the current 980, the new 390, 390x i guess are the best options, i think the 390x will go a little over my budget, question is now is between the 390 and 980gtx
 
hey so i was asking some people i know, they key pet saying that its going to take a while until the modified versions of the GPUs are going to be out and up to few months or even christmass... saying i might aswell get the 980 normal instead of the ti or the amd new cards, is that true ? and is it that bad to get stock cards ?
 


No it will not bottleneck the i7 2600k. A single 980 will fit just fine.

No it is not overkill for 1440p , you will be able to push graphics to ultra at higher frames per second. Including enabling AA and all the likes.
 


The 980Ti is basically an unlocked core on the GPU , thus increasing its CUDA cores. As such it will feature the same CUDA cores as the TItan X.

"Normal" GTX 980 that you refer to are more commonly called stock or reference cards. They are manufactured by Nvidia. Partners like Asus , Gigabyte , Msi , Evga and Galax take these reference cards and build their own capacitors and PCB boards on the card including their own cooler style fans to cool the GPU more efficiently, thus they are called Non - reference cards.

Non reference card, will be able to attain highler base and boost clocks because of them operating at lower temps - which equates to better performance / graphics.

As rumored, when the GTX 980Ti launches it will have a reference model and also non reference models just like the existing GTX 980.

However, if you are watercooling your GPUs you should always buy a Reference card. But I dont think this is what you are going for.
 
fair enough, ill go for one of them new cards, i feel like buying a card that has been on the market for more than 6 months is just too much..

i rather get an nvidia just cause they have cooler features, but yeah ill just wait for the new cards, by the way will my i7 is able to run them cards (and the r3xx series) but will it be able to run pascal ? (not going to far am i ? 😛)
 


Yes you i7 will be able to run the nvidia and 3xx series cards from AMD without a problem.
Pascal is going to be a new architecture from Nvidia, although news snippets of it is being released, even I am unable to tell the future if the CPU will suffice to run Pascal.

On the bright side, shouldn't wait unless you're on the brink of a product release. Pascal will only be launch in rumored Q2 2016 earliest.

Best bet is to go for the Non ref 980 or the Non ref 980 Ti that will be coming out soon. Im eliminating the AMDs since you said you prefered Nvidia.