Gtx 970 vs 980
- Thread starter Jkasch727
- Start date
Solution
joshyboy82
Distinguished
- Nov 8, 2010
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Or, alternately, you could get a refurbished 970 for cheaper. I bought an open-box from Microcenter that cost me $280, came with a $20 rebate and The Division. If those sound like something you want, then my card only cost $200+tax.
- Jul 15, 2014
- 22,627
- 8
- 60,960
If you're building new, I wouldn't be surprised if you are doing things like watercooling or overspending on the motherboard which can be reduced in costs for a 980Ti.
- Feb 20, 2015
- 2,201
- 3
- 12,465
honestly if your upgrading from a 960 wait and see what the next gen has mostly because it comes out soon and a 960 is a good card for 1080p
- Feb 20, 2015
- 2,201
- 3
- 12,465
the next nvidia gpus should come out sometime between april and july this year. for 3 1080p monitors a 970 or even a 980 is really not good you need the vram of a 390 or 980 ti to do that
photonboy
Titan
- Jun 20, 2006
- 21,566
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WAIT?
Since you already have a GTX960 then absolutely. Let me add some more info:
1) Dates-> uncertain, hopefully we'll know more info in the next few weeks. What models, pricing etc is not clear either. Even when we get pricing these cards may easily be SOLD OUT for a long time. There is a lot of interest as they are a new architecture and die shrink.
2) 3x monitors->
I really hate triple monitor setups for gaming. Suit yourself, though have you actually USED a setup? I much prefer something like a single 27", 2560x1440 setup.
(I think benchmarks showed an average of HALF the frame rate vs a single 1920x1080 monitor for gaming. Like 30FPS vs 60FPS for same settings.)
3) NVidia vs AMD->
I generally prefer NVidia, though if AMD comes out earlier and/or cheaper, you should know AMD is improving their drivers. For most people they're probably going to be comparable.
4) Currently FREESYNC monitors are cheaper than GSYNC (asynchronous monitors provide smoother gaming). I suggest a minimum of 100Hz for asynchronous monitors anyway, but note for FREESYNC you need a minimum of 2.5X min to max asynch mode. For example, 30Hz to 60Hz is no good, but 30Hz to 75Hz is good. It has to do with frames dropping below the minimum (which happens more than you might think).
Other monitor:
-IPS vs TN
(IPS better color, 5ms max response time recommended though)
-refresh rate
(60Hz or 144Hz? Faster is better though more expensive and you must plan such as using Adaptive VSYNC if it makes sense)
-GSync/Freesync or not
(do you want a better SINGLE monitor, or inferior quality triple-monitor setup?)
Example: 2560x1440, 25", IPS, 4ms, 60Hz (fairly inexpensive IPS, high-res monitor)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/acer-monitor-umkg7aa002
Dell's is similar (Dell UltraSharp U2515H) but more expensive with a much better Warranty (3-year, zero dead pizel, pre-paid waybill for RMA).
High-res makes a huge difference for any game with small text.
5) Current GPU's (hardware only)?
a) AMD-> too hot for my room
b) NVidia-> not enough video memory, and lack of hardware asynch compute support
6) *Future GPU recommendation?
a) 6GB VRAM minimum
b) GTX980 or higher performance (note that performance relative to GTX900 series for FUTURE games should increase, especially when they optimize for things like asynch compute where the current NVidia cards are lacking)
c) value (price per FPS) makes sense
d) no quality issues
e) VR HUD support? (i.e. like the EVGA 980Ti VR version-> http://www.evga.com/articles/00981/evga-geforce-gtx-980-ti-vr-edition/
f) type of VRAM (i.e. GDDR5X? HBM2?
- ignore the debate of memory types. What matters is benchmarks.
Since you already have a GTX960 then absolutely. Let me add some more info:
1) Dates-> uncertain, hopefully we'll know more info in the next few weeks. What models, pricing etc is not clear either. Even when we get pricing these cards may easily be SOLD OUT for a long time. There is a lot of interest as they are a new architecture and die shrink.
2) 3x monitors->
I really hate triple monitor setups for gaming. Suit yourself, though have you actually USED a setup? I much prefer something like a single 27", 2560x1440 setup.
(I think benchmarks showed an average of HALF the frame rate vs a single 1920x1080 monitor for gaming. Like 30FPS vs 60FPS for same settings.)
3) NVidia vs AMD->
I generally prefer NVidia, though if AMD comes out earlier and/or cheaper, you should know AMD is improving their drivers. For most people they're probably going to be comparable.
4) Currently FREESYNC monitors are cheaper than GSYNC (asynchronous monitors provide smoother gaming). I suggest a minimum of 100Hz for asynchronous monitors anyway, but note for FREESYNC you need a minimum of 2.5X min to max asynch mode. For example, 30Hz to 60Hz is no good, but 30Hz to 75Hz is good. It has to do with frames dropping below the minimum (which happens more than you might think).
Other monitor:
-IPS vs TN
(IPS better color, 5ms max response time recommended though)
-refresh rate
(60Hz or 144Hz? Faster is better though more expensive and you must plan such as using Adaptive VSYNC if it makes sense)
-GSync/Freesync or not
(do you want a better SINGLE monitor, or inferior quality triple-monitor setup?)
Example: 2560x1440, 25", IPS, 4ms, 60Hz (fairly inexpensive IPS, high-res monitor)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/acer-monitor-umkg7aa002
Dell's is similar (Dell UltraSharp U2515H) but more expensive with a much better Warranty (3-year, zero dead pizel, pre-paid waybill for RMA).
High-res makes a huge difference for any game with small text.
5) Current GPU's (hardware only)?
a) AMD-> too hot for my room
b) NVidia-> not enough video memory, and lack of hardware asynch compute support
6) *Future GPU recommendation?
a) 6GB VRAM minimum
b) GTX980 or higher performance (note that performance relative to GTX900 series for FUTURE games should increase, especially when they optimize for things like asynch compute where the current NVidia cards are lacking)
c) value (price per FPS) makes sense
d) no quality issues
e) VR HUD support? (i.e. like the EVGA 980Ti VR version-> http://www.evga.com/articles/00981/evga-geforce-gtx-980-ti-vr-edition/
f) type of VRAM (i.e. GDDR5X? HBM2?
- ignore the debate of memory types. What matters is benchmarks.
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