Is GTX 980 Worth it?

[Iyeeke]

So the 980 ti just came out and offers some great performance for the price. I was looking at getting one but $650 is just a little too much at this point. I noticed the GTX 980 lowered in price by $50. Would it be worth it to get a strix or g1 gaming 980 and then overclock, or save for the 980 ti? My friends also warn me not to go with AMD, but I'm open to any alternatives.

 

[Speedstang]

So the 980 ti just came out and offers some great performance for the price. I was looking at getting one but $650 is just a little too much at this point. I noticed the GTX 980 lowered in price by $50. Would it be worth it to get a strix or g1 gaming 980 and then overclock, or save for the 980 ti? My friends also warn me not to go with AMD, but I'm open to any alternatives.

AMD isn't bad, it's just GeForce cards are higher quality, but that also means they are more expensive. The GTX 980 ti is a lot more of a performance increase compared to other ti versions of cards, mainly because the 980 ti is basically a GTX Titan X. A 980 ti will be considerably more powerful than a regular 980, but unless you're gonna be doing some crazy gaming, you don't really need the extra power, the 980 should be able able to handle practically anything you throw at it, especially with the overclock. The 980 ti is technically a better value, but as I said before, you don't really need that kind of power. What kind of stuff will you be using it for?

 

[Iyeeke]

AMD isn't bad, it's just GeForce cards are higher quality, but that also means they are more expensive. The GTX 980 ti is a lot more of a performance increase compared to other ti versions of cards, mainly because the 980 ti is basically a GTX Titan X. A 980 ti will be considerably more powerful than a regular 980, but unless you're gonna be doing some crazy gaming, you don't really need the extra power, the 980 should be able able to handle practically anything you throw at it, especially with the overclock. The 980 ti is technically a better value, but as I said before, you don't really need that kind of power. What kind of stuff will you be using it for?

I will mostly be gaming on it. Witcher 2&3 and some other random titles. I plan on getting a 2k monitor later down the road. Would it be smart to get a card cheaper than the 980 ti and then buy my monitor and pascal at the same time? My build is: i7 4790k 4.6 GHz, 16gb g.skill sniper, corsair rm650, fractal design define r4, asus z97 usb 3.1, samsung 850 evo.

 

[Speedstang]

AMD isn't bad, it's just GeForce cards are higher quality, but that also means they are more expensive. The GTX 980 ti is a lot more of a performance increase compared to other ti versions of cards, mainly because the 980 ti is basically a GTX Titan X. A 980 ti will be considerably more powerful than a regular 980, but unless you're gonna be doing some crazy gaming, you don't really need the extra power, the 980 should be able able to handle practically anything you throw at it, especially with the overclock. The 980 ti is technically a better value, but as I said before, you don't really need that kind of power. What kind of stuff will you be using it for?

I will mostly be gaming on it. Witcher 2&3 and some other random titles. I plan on getting a 2k monitor later down the road. Would it be smart to get a card cheaper than the 980 ti and then buy my monitor and pascal at the same time? My build is: i7 4790k 4.6 GHz, 16gb g.skill sniper, corsair rm650, fractal design define r4, asus z97 usb 3.1, samsung 850 evo.

Yeah, you'd probably need a GTX 980 ti for max performance on Witcher 3 with the 2k monitor, just get a lower priced graphics card for now, and upgrade to the 980 ti when you get the 2k monitor, and by then the price should have probably dropped at least a little. It'd be a waste of performance right now with a standard monitor.
Nice system though.

 

[Iyeeke]

Thanks for all the quick replies! Is the 980 a good lower priced card to get then?

 

[Speedstang]

Thanks for all the quick replies! Is the 980 a good lower priced card to get then?

The GTX 970 costs nearly half the cost of the GTX 980, and the 970 also has a lot of overclocking room. You would save more by just overclocking the 970, then upgrading to the 980 ti when you get the 2k monitor. I don't think there's any games that wouldn't run smoothly on an overclocked 970 with a normal screen. The 970 is currently around $330, while the 980 is $500. I think you'd be saving a lot more money with the overclocked 970, as long as you won't be playing anything more demanding than Witcher 3. (Not that I even know of any games more demaning than it 😛 )