GTX 970 vs 980: Does it REALLY matter?

Justice2K

Honorable
Jan 2, 2015
35
0
10,530
Hello all,

I built my first gaming rig last December. Among its components are an Intel Core i7-4790K and a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming 4GB. As it happens, there have been a bunch of updates to NVIDIA's cards -- namely the Titan X and 980ti.

I try to keep my games running as decently as possible without dropping Titan X dollars, but I'm wondering seriously if there's any significant difference in performance between the 970 and the now-cheaper 980. If so, is it worth it to try to sell my 970 to upgrade?

Bear in mind I'm not 4K gaming yet. I game on my 60-inch Samsung Smart TV.
 
Solution
The 970 is under the R9 280, so I would say if you want to upgrade for cheap, go for that one, but I would say that the 970 and the 980 don't have to much of a performance difference, if you really want to see a difference with those high end cards, I would say switch to the 980ti, but it will be more pricy.

AaronNazzy1

Reputable
Sep 30, 2015
50
0
4,640
The 970 is under the R9 280, so I would say if you want to upgrade for cheap, go for that one, but I would say that the 970 and the 980 don't have to much of a performance difference, if you really want to see a difference with those high end cards, I would say switch to the 980ti, but it will be more pricy.
 
Solution

stl522013

Reputable
Mar 15, 2015
1,076
0
5,360


Did you just say the R9 280 is better than the GTX 970?
 

AaronNazzy1

Reputable
Sep 30, 2015
50
0
4,640


I mean to say r9 280x.
 
I also own a Samsung LCD TV. It's 60 Hz, but marketed as 120 CMR (Clear Motion Rate). The HD image is refreshed 60 FPS but the scanning backlight is refreshed 120 FPS. In essence, I'm being shown every single frame twice. Pretty much all the LCD manufacturers play this marketing trick. My point is, I don't think you'll notice any performance increase greater than 60 FPS on your television.

I personally haven't liked the GTX 980, since the introduction of the GTX 980 Ti. I don't think a new 980 represents a good value; maybe it would if you could buy a used or refurbished one for the price of a new 970. But generally I think the 980's only ideal fit is for 21:9 2560 x 1080p wide screens. I'm not a fan of that resolution either, but regardless, I think a GTX 980 @ 60 Hz is a good match to it.

* These are the cards I would purchase depending on resolution:

1080p @ 60 Hz = GTX 970 or R9 390

1080p @ 144 Hz = 980 Ti

1440p = one or two 980 Ti

4K = two 980 Ti