Looking at a GTX980 or 970 (non-reference, OC'd)

[namelessonez]

Looking at upgrading my existing GPU (see signature), which has served the purpose more than well enough for the past couple of years. But now I feel the need for more horsepower, and memory!

While I'm tempted for the 980 (Asus, MSI), I feel it's gonna be way overkill since I don't plan on upping my current 1920 resolution anytime soon. It's more out of greed/ desire that I'd get a 980.

So, the quick questions are:

1. will the ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix be 'more than' sufficient to run anything at max?
2. will it be compatible with my existing Mobo?
3. Would love to avoid getting a new CPU, for now at least. Will it be a bottleneck?

Many thanks, as always!

 

[Lag]

A GTX 970 is not enough for max settings, even at 1080p, due to the memory limitations of the card. The gtx 970 video memory is divided into two sections. The first one (up to 3.5GB VRam running at 228GB/s, and the second section with 512MB running at 28GB/s. This means that when vram usage exceeds 3.5GB, you will most likely experience stutter or a severe drop in framerates due to the drop in speed. Although Nvidia has optimized this via drivers (stopping it from exceeding 3.5GB vram until it's absolutely necessary, it's not something that can be completely solved since this is a hardware design issue. If you want to play at max settings, the 980 is the way to go. You will most likely regret the 970 when you have to switch it out in a year or two due to said limitations. Good luck to you, hope this helped

And yes, it will be compatible with your current cpu/mobo, but you will experience a bottleneck either way. If you don't want to upgrade your cpu and motherboard, I would go for the GTX 960. But your cpu is getting on in years, so a mobo/cpu upgrade is worth considering.

Article which further explains the memory issues of the 970.

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-memory-issue-fully-explained/

 

[nb7760]

The 970's vram issue is quite disappointing, but that being said it won't be a noticeable issue for at least another year if you plan on playing the average triple-A title on max settings 1080p. http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/original/140/1401492/2615256-http--www_gamegpu_ru-images-stories-test_gpu-action-battlefield_4_china_rising_-test-bf4_vram.jpg As you can see in this graph, vram usage in BF4 4k resolution does not even reach 2.5GB on the 6GB Titan. Scale it back down to 1080p (which is what you're using) and vram usage is under 2GB. It's not really that big of an issue.

The bigger issue here is that your CPU is going to bottleneck both the 970 and 980. A 960 and i5 760 would be fine.

 

[guanyu210379]

More to GTX970 vs GTX980, yes, GTX970 has VRAM issue but as long as you do not above 3.5GB, GTX970 is only 15% slower than GTX980. This makes GTX970 to have the better price/performance card.

 

[namelessonez]

Thanks for the response!

I quite understand that the CPU is way behind it's times. My preferred choice for an upgrade is the i7 4790k (OC'ed to 4+). But that would call for a new mobo as well. Heck, we're looking at a new setup altogether!

I'm not keen on spending on a 960, it's either a 970 or a new rig. The question here is: given that there is a limitation on the VRAM to 3.5gigs on the 970, there aren't any games out there which, presently, utilize more than 3 gigs (of course, that may change in the times to come). That in mind, would the memory issue still pose a threat? Do keep in mind that considering OC'ed/ non reference cards here.

If a new rig is still the solution, could you recommend a good mobo? Will be using a dedicated sound card as well. Resolution still at 1920*1080 though.

Thanks again.

 

[photonboy]

Hey,
First, let's include a benchmark: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_G1_Gaming/30.html
(GTX670 is roughly GTX960)...
*run some math and a GTX970 is about 50% faster than a GTX670. Or 60FPS instead of 40FPS assuming no CPU bottleneck (which you will have a bit for some games with the i5-760i though CPU bottleneck varies quite a bit)

More than 3.5GB of VRAM for a game is actually very, very rare right now.

The "slow memory" issue is actually quite complicated because not every game that uses more than 3.5GB shows noticeable stutter (it depends what is sitting in that slow memory).

*Some games can stutter though, and this will only get more common unless a fix is found, and I've seen no evidence of a solution coming.

Having said that, I'm still rocking a GTX680 2GB and very, very happy with that still. Since you presently have a GTX670 you might not find the update that huge for the price.

**My advice is stick with a GTX970, or else go all the way up to a GTX980Ti (if planning to upgrade CPU/motherboard soonish). Cost comparison:

$320USD - GTX970 (Asus Strix)

$480USD - GTX980 (Asus Strix)

$660USD - GTX980Ti (Asus Strix)

Summary:
- GTX970 gives roughly 50% boost for some games (less for CPU heavy games, but more for those that aren't CPU heavy and support MFAA if you enable MFAA)

- GTX980 gives an additional 15% roughly in benchmarks (on average) but again it won't benefit you as much for CPU heavy games.

- GTX980 has true 4GB. How important that is NOW is basically "not very" but in the future we just don't know.

- GTX980Ti 6GB costs a lot more but also future proofs a lot more. Basically 2X the average performance of a GTX680/GTX770 and more video memory.

*So PROS and CONS to every choice.

I'll discuss the CPU BOTTLENECK issue below...

 

[photonboy]

CPU bottleneck:

It's actually going to be very significant for many games. Here's the comparison for a stock i5-760 and stock i5-4690K:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5+760+%40+2.80GHz
vs
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-4690K+%40+3.50GHz

Basically TWICE the processing power, and if you look at a lot of different benchmarks then you realize that works out to losing over 40% the performance in some cases. Giving an AVERAGE is problematic as it totally depends on the games you choose. Some have minimal bottleneck like Tomb Raider and some are heavily bottlenecked.

Thus your approach to how you upgrade your GPU should factor in when you plan to upgrade the guts of your PC.

So basically I recommend the GTX970 unless you can afford the GTX980Ti and shortly after that can also afford to upgrade your PC.

*But then on the other hand, you might not see much difference in CPU dependant games. In some cases under 25% for sure.

Other:
I realize you are at 3.6GHz for your i5-760i. However, the i5-760 I linked already Turbos to 3.33GHz so you don't really gain much so definitely still a heavy bottleneck for many games.

 

[guanyu210379]

People from C2D and C2Q have mostly moved on, since these processors already too slow for most today's new games.
People with i7 or i5 from H55 generation started to move on either to Skylake or Hasswell. This i5 and i7 generation is on the limit. Yes, on the limit and not yet fully out-of-date. It could be already a big bottleneck for some games but not yet for some.
It is a little bit difficult to say, if you must go for a big system overhaul now or you would rather wait.
It depends on your pocket and plans.

 

[namelessonez]

Thanks, for the plethora of info! I guess an upgrade is in order then. Gonna go ahead with it.

Currently, I'm planning on getting the following components:

CPU: i7-4790k
Mobo: MSI Z97 (Gaming 5 or 9, depends on which is 'enough')
GPU: Asus GTX980 Strix (OC'ed version)
RAM, etc., TBD.

I'm assuming that one of the OC'ed 980's from Asus would be more than enough since I'm planning to stick with the 1080 resolution.

Appreciate any comments.