Report: GeForce GTX 980 Will Cost $599

[Chris Droste]

if this retails for more than a 290x that has a decent 3rd party cooling solution, personally that's a fail for me. ignorant masses may snatch one up on the nomenclature alone (see?! it's a 980! that's _TWO_ generations over the 780!! /sarcasm ) but energy savings really isn't saving if it costs as much if nor more than the current-gen flagships. I'll reserve my final verdict til they actually release but the 980 needs to be a sub $500 card.

 

[Farapon]

And if they profit and do 1 dollar = 1 euro I will not be able to afford it.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I did see that, all it means is that only someone who doesn't understand the concept of overclocking would interpert the data as stated in the article. Aka, wrongly.

Or there might be an NDA in place restricting what and how things can be said?

 

[airborne11b]

I'm sorry but this generation is kind of a fail on desktop if the 980 truly is no stronger than the 780 Ti. Now Laptops will get a VERY nice boost, but still this leaves Nvidia open for a massive reaming from AMD if they are not careful. If AMD really does release a 3072 SP monster with 7GHz memory and Tonga improvements they could stomp the 980 by at least 20-30%. That would be worth the power consumption too for ANY enthusiast.

Why would it be a fail? You're comparing apples to oranges here. The 980 GTX is the replacement for the 780 GTX, Not the 780ti GTX. The 980 GTX will be about 20% faster than the 780 GTX is, and then Nvidia will probably release a 980TI GTX sometime down the road that will be 15 - 20% faster than the 780ti GTX.

I'm not sure why you're comparing a TI to a non-TI.

Also, hopefully this generation we'll get a dual GPU card at a reasonable price point. That's what I'm holding out for. I want 2x 990 GTXs for Quad SLI so I can push over 144 FPS in new games on my ROG Swift. Hopefully at around a $1000 per-card price point.

The last one we got was the Titan Z, which was priced at $3000 for a hybrid gamer/professional card.

I'm waiting for something like the 690 GTX, but in the latest 900 series.

 

[burmese_dude]

So what happened to GTX 880, is generation 8 being skipped?

 

[hannibal]

The TDP will definitely support dual GPU cards for 980...

 

[aberkae]

At $500 i was thinking of purchasing 2 to replace my aging gtx 690 but at 600 a pop ill just wait for the r9 390x or 980 tis price wars

 

[nikoli707]

I'm sorry but this generation is kind of a fail on desktop if the 980 truly is no stronger than the 780 Ti. Now Laptops will get a VERY nice boost, but still this leaves Nvidia open for a massive reaming from AMD if they are not careful. If AMD really does release a 3072 SP monster with 7GHz memory and Tonga improvements they could stomp the 980 by at least 20-30%. That would be worth the power consumption too for ANY enthusiast.

Why would it be a fail? You're comparing apples to oranges here. The 980 GTX is the replacement for the 780 GTX, Not the 780ti GTX. The 980 GTX will be about 20% faster than the 780 GTX is, and then Nvidia will probably release a 980TI GTX sometime down the road that will be 15 - 20% faster than the 780ti GTX.

I'm not sure why you're comparing a TI to a non-TI.

Also, hopefully this generation we'll get a dual GPU card at a reasonable price point. That's what I'm holding out for. I want 2x 990 GTXs for Quad SLI so I can push over 144 FPS in new games on my ROG Swift. Hopefully at around a $1000 per-card price point.

The last one we got was the Titan Z, which was priced at $3000 for a hybrid gamer/professional card.

I'm waiting for something like the 690 GTX, but in the latest 900 series.

At $500 i was thinking of purchasing 2 to replace my aging gtx 690 but at 600 a pop ill just wait for the r9 390x or 980 tis price wars

the 980ti, if it exists, would be the full gm204 chip without any gimps. the gm210 chip will likely be the gtx1000 and 1000ti in its full and gimped form, and maybe some in-between double floating point version like the titan.

 

[faive123]

I have a i7 4770K and 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz with two GTX 780 SC on SLI. I play at 1080p on a 32" HDTV and like playing with everything maxed out (ultra). Do you think that at said resolution I would experience a difference if I buy two GTX 980 to replace my two GTX 780 or should I stick with those cards and wait for 4K to become more common and buy the newest video cards by then and a 4K display?

 

[Farapon]

So what happened to GTX 880, is generation 8 being skipped?

yes

 

[JackNaylorPE]

We are comparing stock clocked 980 to overclocked 780 Ti. Id like to see what factory overclocked GTX 980s can do before we declare it a failure.

From the data, a 6% OC'd 980 is 17% faster than a 6% OC'd 780 Ti ..... Ti's can OC 30% ./.... dunno what 980's will do.

Why would it be a fail? You're comparing apples to oranges here. The 980 GTX is the replacement for the 780 GTX, Not the 780ti GTX. The 980 GTX will be about 20% faster than the 780 GTX is, and then Nvidia will probably release a 980TI GTX sometime down the road that will be 15 - 20% faster than the 780ti GTX. I'm not sure why you're comparing a TI to a non-TI.

People are comparing a 31 % overclocked 780 Ti to the stock 980.

The same graph includes a 6% OC 980 and a 6% OC 780 Ti .... the 980 w/ 6% OC is 17% faster than the 780 Ti w/ 6% OC.

So what happened to GTX 880, is generation 8 being skipped?

On the desktop yes ..... there are various 8xxM models ... 820M, 830M, 840M, 850M, 860M, 870M and 880M.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I went from a 2g to a 4g because of higher resolution prospects for down the road. I do monitor how much memory is cashed in the video memory and often it does exceed 2g's and I have seen it as high as almost 4g's at 1080p. I do want to game at 4k eventually, when it is affordable, and I can do it at 60hz for now in a CF configuration. Now I understand with the new DP 1.3 can provide 120hz so It's now the graphic cards and panel/monitor/TV makers turn to supply the interface. So, if you're OK with 1080p resolution, then going over 2g's of video memory might be unnecessary in most current games but what about games released in the next year or two? I would avoid 2g cards for the enthusiast gamer.

Yes DP1.3 should bring 144 Hz triple monitors to AMD .... never did quite understand why nVidia could do it and AMD couldn't, as i recall was related to the fact that Eyefinity required DP. Unfortunately no DP 1.3 on the 980. I don't have a horse in the race so to speak having 3 GB cards but I just don't understand with all the talk about VRAM, ya think more sites would have tested it.

Used to be easy back in the old days ..... resolution x color depth / 8

I remember when I bought a $2.1k Eizo 1600 x 1200 ..... and looking for cards with a then whopping 8 MB of VRAM

1600 x 1200 x 32 / 8 = 7.68 MB

I have a i7 4770K and 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz with two GTX 780 SC on SLI. I play at 1080p on a 32" HDTV and like playing with everything maxed out (ultra). Do you think that at said resolution I would experience a difference if I buy two GTX 980 to replace my two GTX 780 or should I stick with those cards and wait for 4K to become more common and buy the newest video cards by then and a 4K display?

General wisdom is, you need to jump at least 3 tiers to 'notice" a difference in performance. The 780 is two tiers above a 580 so that would one one short..... the 480 would be 4 tiers....a 3 tier jump from the 480 to the 770 is 3 tiers.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel, and you may not even notice any worthwhile difference in performance.

The tiered rankings are on that link.

So .... carrying that forward, to really notice a difference, you'd be looking to upgrade to a pair of 170s (980, 1080, 1170) assuming no more skippies.

 

[The3monitors]

Give me 6-10 gb of vram. (For zbrush) I would be a happy camper.

 

[doomtomb]

Seeing as the 780 ti can be had for just over $600, I can't see the 980 being priced at $599 with performance a little lower than the 780 ti as leaked benchmarks are suggesting. What would be the point?

Exactly.

Every generation for the last many generations it always goes like this:
GTX 460 = GTX 280
GTX 570 = GTX 480
GTX 670 = GTX 580
It's always a one or so bump in the product SKU

These companies like Nvidia know exactly what they are doing before launching new products. Why do you think the GK110 was withheld and branded as GTX 700 series instead of being released as the 680? Because it was so much more powerful than the GK104 branded parts that make up the lower GTX 600 series

 

[fkr]

http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/gtx980-summary.jpg

these are final specs and it just a slower 780ti that is much more efficient. this info originates at videocardz.com

looks like 800 fewer unified cores than the 780ti and r9 290x.

I am glad that people care about power consumption but i would rather put on some good headphones and get solar panels than give up performance.

this new card is seriously clocked

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Those final specs came from the videocardz site linked above.....CHECK THE GRAPHS.

The author compared the reference 980 with a 780 Ti THAT WAS OVERCLOCKED 31%

these are final specs and it just a slower 780ti

No. No. No. The reference 980 is 3% slower than the 780 Ti with a 31% overclock. The reference 980 was never compared with a referEnce 780 Ti.

The reference 980 (1127 Core Clock) is shown getting a score of 12,328
The next highest 980 (1178 Core Clock) is shown getting a score of 12,847 with a 4.5 % overclock
The highest 980 (1190 Core Clock) is shown getting a score of 13,005 with a 5.5 % overclock

The reference 780 ti (876 core clock) is NOT shown
The lowest clocked 780 Ti (928 Core Clock) is shown getting a score of 11,096 with a 5.9 % overclock
The highest 780 Ti (1150 Core Clock) is shown getting a score of 12,702 with a 31.2 % overclock

The 980 (w/ 5.5% OC) with a score of 13,005 beats the 780 Ti (w/higher 5.9% OC) with a score of 11,096 by 17.2% ! That is faster not slower.

 

[soldier44]

So basically if you already own a 780 or 780 Ti its not worth an upgrade. Playing at 4K res with 2 GTX 780 classifieds will do me fine well into 2015 then.

 

[SWDescent]

Really hoping they pulled some magic to make the 980 more powerful than the 780ti, though it's seeming like an over priced low power usage 780, I'd love one to replace my 760, but it's seeming like I should just wait till a 980ti variant comes out.....

 

[SessouXFX]

I think some of you need a reminder what Maxwell was supposed to be, which is, an improvement in efficiency over the current generation. Wasn't supposed to be a powerhouse. I do believe Volta is the solution there.

 

[ayushde]

This thing better beat the 780ti by quite a margin for it to stand a chance to compete.

 

[tomc100]

It's obvious that Nvidia is holding back its tech and waiting for AMD to see what they have. If AMD brings out a faster gpu then expect Nvidia to answer them within months with a 980 Ti model that's faster. In other words, Nvidia is milking their gpu for all it is worth. If AMD gave Intel any challenge on their cpu then expect Intel to do the same.

 

[scolaner]

Hey gang--As you can see above, we've updated this article to address some errors that you folks astutely found.

We want our coverage to be the best you can find anywhere, and we work very hard to be as accurate as possible; even so, sometimes we fall short, which we did here. Rather than hide from our mistake and pull this post, though, we wanted to acknowledge our error and fix it, instead.

Part of what makes Tom's Hardware a special site is our community, which is deeply engaged and frequently displays an extremely high level of knowledge. That's you guys. Your collective sharp eye helps us do better.

Thanks for caring about our content as much as we do.

 

[DarkSable]

Hey gang--As you can see above, we've updated this article to address some errors that you folks astutely found.

We want our coverage to be the best you can find anywhere, and we work very hard to be as accurate as possible; even so, sometimes we fall short, which we did here. Rather than hide from our mistake and pull this post, though, we wanted to acknowledge our error and fix it, instead.

Part of what makes Tom's Hardware a special site is our community, which is deeply engaged and frequently displays an extremely high level of knowledge. That's you guys. Your collective sharp eye helps us do better.

Thanks for caring about our content as much as we do.

Glad to see that, mate.

Hopefully this will get some of the commentators to chill out and realize that not only are they getting what they wanted, but that it's more than enough of a jump in power, efficiency, and a drop in price... and that nobody reasonable expects to upgrade from one generation to the next anyways.

 

[coxbw]

well I have a 760 that is doing everything I want. I run SWTOR mostly and it looks fine. I would like to go to 4k someday so I can wait a small bit.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Hey gang--As you can see above, we've updated this article to address some errors that you folks astutely found.

We want our coverage to be the best you can find anywhere, and we work very hard to be as accurate as possible; even so, sometimes we fall short, which we did here. Rather than hide from our mistake and pull this post, though, we wanted to acknowledge our error and fix it, instead.

Part of what makes Tom's Hardware a special site is our community, which is deeply engaged and frequently displays an extremely high level of knowledge. That's you guys. Your collective sharp eye helps us do better.

Thanks for caring about our content as much as we do.

No worries, pressure is on you guys to get the article up in timely manner..... can't be the "johnny come lately" after everyone else outscooped ya.

But isn't the stock 780 Ti 876 ? At the 928 in the graph, the 780 Ti is already 6% OC'd. Meaning the stock 980 is 11% faster than the 5% overclocked 780 Ti

The 980 is 17% at the same % OC .... not much different than the 780 over the 680 at 21% .... and that's just with Firestrike...... once it's tested with a slew of games, I think it might inch up a little. Anyways, I don't see the big surprise / disappointment. Just 'same ole same ole .... you guys have been saying 3 tiers for years ... 680 +> 780 is just one according to your chart ..... 780 => 980- is one.... so 680 - 980 is still below the THG recommended threshold that will make ya really notice an upgrade.