GTX 970 SLI vs Single GTX 970 or 980s

[Turbo1337]

Hello,

I am thinking of building a new pc and I want a silent but powerful pc. Im not sure if I should get 2 970s or a single 970 or 980s. I won't be playing games like crysis 3 on max settings but I would like to play most games at a high resolution with a high FPS.

 

[jimthenagual]

What resolution are you gaming at? If it's 1080p, then a single 970/980 is more than enough. If you are 1440p or higher, then consider an SLI setup.

 

[ONKI]

Will u be playing multiplayer?
if yes then go for an sli coz u need higher fps
if not then 1 card will be more than enough.

I would consider GTX970 sli better than 1 GTX980

 

[Lalith Reddy]

the 970 sli is better but some games dont render well on sli so i would suggest the 980 as a single card is still better for now

 

[chenw]

While 980 would benefit all games equally while some games simply do not do SLI (for example, W:TNO), those are by and large somewhat small minority. Games generall not scale perfectly for SLI (though some games like Crysis 3 do scale almost perfectly), but those that scale at all, a pair of 970 will more likely than not beat out on 980 in performance, and 980 only gains in games that do not support SLI.

However the whole still requires taking other things into account, such as:

1. What games do you play? (This gives a general idea of the FPS you will be achieving)
2. What resolution and refresh rate does your monitor support? (This is also important)
3. Does your rig require any modification to support SLI? (Mobo and PSU may require changing, which adds to the cost of the SLI setup)
4. Do you mind playing with background settings to get the optimal gaming experience? (Some, perhaps most, do not like working with background settings. I personally will do whatever it takes for my game to run, and I do not mind it either).
5. If you do not wish to go SLI, do you prefer bang for the buck or the best single GPU experience?

My opinion is, I lean heavily in favor of 970 over 980 in almost all circumstances, except when running quad sli or when it's a 3x 970 vs 2x 980 debate. I would even expect 980ti to be a better bang for the buck than 980 is.

 

[nikoli707]

single 970 for now then gm210 when it comes out next year. dont waste your money on a single 980 which is at the price point the gimped gtx1000 will be likely coming in at. and you would hate to sli 970s now to watch very good overclocked gtx1000ti come very close to equal performance like the 780tis did the sli 670/760s, but all without the hassle of more heat, more power, and driver issues.

 

[chenw]

single 970 for now then gm210 when it comes out next year. dont waste your money on a single 980 which is at the price point the gtx1000 will be coming in at. and you would hate to sli 970s now to have a good overclocked gtx1000ti come very close to equal performance like the 780tis did the sli 670/760s.

GPU market grows relatively quickly, having a 780ti beating a pair of 670's is what I would expect of GPU power growth. It'll be a never ending cycle of "If I do this now, something better will come along", because things will keep improving. The same argument can be applied to 780ti in sli when GTX 1080 gets released that pounces it in performance, etc etc etc.

 

[Turbo1337]

What resolution are you gaming at? If it's 1080p, then a single 970/980 is more than enough. If you are 1440p or higher, then consider an SLI setup.

Im going to be playing at around 1080p so I guess 1 is enough.

Thanks

 

[nikoli707]

single 970 for now then gm210 when it comes out next year. dont waste your money on a single 980 which is at the price point the gtx1000 will be coming in at. and you would hate to sli 970s now to have a good overclocked gtx1000ti come very close to equal performance like the 780tis did the sli 670/760s.

GPU market grows relatively quickly, having a 780ti beating a pair of 670's is what I would expect of GPU power growth. It'll be a never ending cycle of "If I do this now, something better will come along", because things will keep improving. The same argument can be applied to 780ti in sli when GTX 1080 gets released that pounces it in performance, etc etc etc.

well the gk110 has been out for over a year and a half and gm204 isnt really power "growth", its more of a price drop. but being on the verge of the release of gm210 and bermuda which will be the flagship chips for likely the next 2 years, spending mass amounts of money on sli setups now isn't really ideal. one would be better off continuing to wait on the next gen flagship chips, or grab the lower tier and a discounted price. its just generally not a great idea to buy video cards right before a generational release... nor is it recommended to sli/cfx a lower than flagship tier cards if there is a considerably faster single gpu card.