GTX 980 vs. GTX 970 SLI

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Pretty A

Pretty A

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Jun 23, 2014
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I'm wondering if I should get a single GTX 980 or I should go for dual GTX 970 since I'm already planning to dish out 600-700USD for graphics card(s).
 
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Novuake
Been saying this since the GTX9xx release.

The GTX970 is 10 % slower than the GTX980, BUT the GTX980 is 60%+ more costly.
2 x GTX970s would GREATLY outperform a single GTX980 and cost less than 100$ more.

Normally I would agree with you Rally0078, but when it comes to top tier cards, the highest tier card price just isn't the extra cost, EVER.

Especially considering that MOST GTX970 reviews indicate is can easily be overclocked to GTX980 level of performance.
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Novuake

Novuake

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Been saying this since the GTX9xx release.

The GTX970 is 10 % slower than the GTX980, BUT the GTX980 is 60%+ more costly.
2 x GTX970s would GREATLY outperform a single GTX980 and cost less than 100$ more.

Normally I would agree with you Rally0078, but when it comes to top tier cards, the highest tier card price just isn't the extra cost, EVER.

Especially considering that MOST GTX970 reviews indicate is can easily be overclocked to GTX980 level of performance.
 
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Guest

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Check out that review. 970 SLI gives more bang for your bucks, but only in apps/games optimized for SLI. A good example in that review is Wolfenstein: New Order, which doesn't care for SLI and displays worse results with it than with single 970.

In any case, the power of dual 970 is quite an overkill for today (it's cool to have 100 fps, but you don't really need them, especially for well extra bucks). Get one 980 and in future, when you really need that power, you'll get a second one for way less than it's worth now. That's what I'm going to do.
 
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piklar

piklar

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Mar 5, 2012
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Agree 100% . Unless SLI is not an option? Why buy a 980 when $100 more gets you double the performance with OCed 970s in SLI?

An sure all 4K gamers would agree..
 
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Bernard Rossouw

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I'm running msi gtx 970's in sli with a 750 watt psu. Also core i7 4790k oc to 4.6 ghz,6 case fans, corsair h105i watercooling, 256gb ssd + 1tb wd hd and red led strip.

My screen refresh rate is 60hz so All my games are limited to 60fps, but i'm very happy! All my games run smoothly at 60fps including assassin's creed unity, the crew, evil within etc... all at ultra everything.

Wolfenstein does ignore my second card but on everything maxed out ,even shadow quality, it still runs at 60fps smoothly, looks very beautiful I might add.

It's overkill at the moment but definitely future proofs your pc for a good price.
 
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RyleeCurrie6

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Dec 25, 2014
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If you dont mind me asking whats the rest of you pc specs? Im planning on building a pc soon and this sounds like exactly what I want
 
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noob2masterace01

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A single card solution is almost always better. There are no issues with scaling and you can always sli later. So as a rule of thumb purchase the most powerful card you can and then sli down the road if you still need/want to. The 980 will play 1080p ultra 60+ and 1440p ultra 60fps all day. Even 4K high 50+ fps is possible depending on your settings/game. When you think you need more performance sli 980's scale better than 970's in every single benchmark you can dig up. A single 980 is more expensive than a single 970 however a single 980 is at least 110 bucks less than 970 sli. So it comes down to what you want to achieve with what budget? Having said that, for 4k on the cheap 970 sli out of the gate makes a lot of sense.
 
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ahmed872100

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Nov 9, 2012
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Ok speaking from experience here
I always used to get the high end card planning to SLI in the future (Never did) either the high end card is no longer an options since it's no longer being produced or the new tech offering is too good to pass up and for this time I went with SLI GTX 970 and I have to say I don't have a single regret on going that way and I have to say it's most defiantly the best option since almost everyone who gets a one card to SLI later never does and the 970 SLI is just one hell of a deal
 
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OprahFTWinfree

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Apr 7, 2015
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If price isn't a consideration, definitely the 980, generally speaking, it is ALWAYS better to get a single better GPU than to get 2 lesser in SLI. SLI can be unstable and isn't always supported. The 970s are considered to be the best bang for your buck card on the market and the 980 isn't too far ahead of it. That aside, the 980 IS better but if price comes into play, well then your answer is kinda clear lol. The SLI 970s will outperform the 980 most of the time PROVIDED that SLI is supported, if it isn't then the 980 wins out. Me personally I'll be getting the 980 just because I like reliability. Then later I might add a second if I get the money.
 
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