gtx 970 SLI vs 295x2

[mstringer06]

I have an opportunity to trade in my two 970s and maybe get a 295x2. Would it be worth the hassle to do so? (I only have a couple of days to make up my mind and I cant decide which way to go)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

-If you have a 4k monitor take the 295X2 and buy a PSU 200 watts bigger than you have now.

-If you have a 1440p monitor, and use the cards "outta the box" with no overclocking via Afterburner, get the 295x2 and buy a PSU 200 watts bigger than you have now.

-If you have a 1440p monitor, and overclocking via Afterburner, keep the 970s

-If you have a 1080p monitor, keep the 970s

The above assumes PhysX, G-Sync, Shadowplay, heat have no bearing on the purchase.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i agree with jack. 900w quality psu recommended for the 295x2.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The Seasonic X01050 , EVGA G2 1000 and EVGA GS 1050 would be my choices.... the the Seasonic Snow Silent - 1050 just has to be bought if ya got a white case .... even if it's under a shroud.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

The Seasonic X01050 , EVGA G2 1000 and EVGA GS 1050 would be my choices.... the the Seasonic Snow Silent - 1050 just has to be bought if ya got a white case .... even if it's under a shroud.

would add the antec hcg-900 as a more budget choice but very solid unit
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story5&reid=211

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The 900 will work if you are not overclocking anything. It's a fine PSU but for $2 Id take the GS ... my heart lies with the $250 Snow just cuz its so perty

The HCG 900 is $129
http://www.outletpc.com/uk6741-antec-900w-80-plus-bronze-power-supply.html?utm_source=uk6741-antec-900w-80-plus-bronze-power-supply

The EVGA G2 1000 is $143
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGYCNG2/?tag=pcpapi-20

The EVGA GS 1050 is $131 (made by Seasonic)
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=105449

The Seasonic X-1050 is $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151110

 

[mstringer06]

-If you have a 4k monitor take the 295X2 and buy a PSU 200 watts bigger than you have now.

-If you have a 1440p monitor, and use the cards "outta the box" with no overclocking via Afterburner, get the 295x2 and buy a PSU 200 watts bigger than you have now.

-If you have a 1440p monitor, and overclocking via Afterburner, keep the 970s

-If you have a 1080p monitor, keep the 970s

The above assumes PhysX, G-Sync, Shadowplay, heat have no bearing on the purchase.

Well I would really like to take it to 4k. Does CF work as well as SLI? What about all the nvida only features on games, will I miss out by not having access to them? Oh, and can you not OC the 295x2?

 

[jerdle]

Crossfire works as well as SLI. You wont notice the absence of physX on any new games, though its possible you'll notice its absence on games you already play that have it enabled.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

To my eyes, this generation comes up just a bit short at 4k. Right now the big dream, is the new Acer IPS 27" 1440p monitor w/ G-Sync. The G-Sync feature seems to have eliminated the Ghosting issues with IPS.

With two cards CF is pretty much the same as SLI with the main exception being ya wait a bit longer for multi card profiles. The nVidia only features are piling up. While Mantle makes an impact at the budge level end, it doesn't have any impact at the upper. But where "I don't care about Phys-X was a reasonable statement .... it's getting harder I think to say "I don't care about Phys-X, ShadowPlay, G-Sync, ....

You can OC the 295X2 but no where near as high as you could two 290x's on SLI. When they take two 290x GPUS and put them on one PCB, the heat increase is double and the ability to dissipate heat is not. So for example, we see the 290x behind the 970 at 1080p... then we see the 970 behind the 290x at 1440p outta the box. However, the 970 has a lot more overclocking headroom so when both are OC'd, the 970 equals or passes the 290x by a bit more often than not.

 

[mstringer06]

-If you have a 4k monitor take the 295X2 and buy a PSU 200 watts bigger than you have now.

-If you have a 1440p monitor, and use the cards "outta the box" with no overclocking via Afterburner, get the 295x2 and buy a PSU 200 watts bigger than you have now.

-If you have a 1440p monitor, and overclocking via Afterburner, keep the 970s

-If you have a 1080p monitor, keep the 970s

The above assumes PhysX, G-Sync, Shadowplay, heat have no bearing on the purchase.

My goal is to go to 4k eventually. I just don't want to purchase the monitor and not be able to use it. Some people are saying that the 295x2 is definitely better at 4k than the 970s SLI but other people say otherwise. I'm dizzy trying to understand all of this.

For example these articles say that the difference is negligible at best:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_970_sli_review,22.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_970_SLI/20.html

 

[renz496]

just my opinion but i think you should just stay with 970s for now. if you want to upgrade probably wait for nvidia pascal next year. also drivers. not saying that CF is bad or anything but there is a big time gap between AMD omega driver and current 15.3 beta. before AMD come up with 15.3 beta some of cross fire user are not pleased that AMD not releasing any new drivers (CF profile) for games that comes out in 2015. Catalyst 15.3 beta is AMD first driver in 2015. in the mean time nvidia already release 4 drivers. it is not perfect but there are initiative from nvidia to release SLI profile for games that comes out since january 2015. anyway it is your decision to make.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

My goal is to go to 4k eventually. I just don't want to purchase the monitor and not be able to use it. Some people are saying that the 295x2 is definitely better at 4k than the 970s SLI but other people say otherwise. I'm dizzy trying to understand all of this.

For example these articles say that the difference is negligible at best:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_970_sli_review,22.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_970_SLI/20.html

Yes those were my sources.... but again the performance differences are small but make sure to include in the decision.

-Twin GPUs run hotter than separate cards
-One adds an extra 179 watts of heat inside your case.
-One gets you two copies of Witcher 3 (put $50 back in ya pocket by selling one at $10 discount)
-One requires you to buy a 200 watt bigger PSU
-The waits for multi GPU profiles are not the same
-One has G-Sync, PhysX and Shadowplay
-If one dies and needs to be returned for warranty, you can still play for the 2-3 weeks it takes for replacement to arrive.