Should i get a 970 or a 980 ti when gaming?

[BigB123]

I don't have a very large budget, and still ant to be able to play games on ultra w/ 60+ fps (Such as BF4, Battlefront, GTA V, CS: GO, Titanfall, BF3, Crysis 3, and other such graphics hungry games).. So would I still be able to achieve what I want with the 970? Because if not, I will have a summer job for 3 months, and with the money I earn from that I could buy the 980 ti (but I would also have to pay back my parents for borrowing money from their tax return) but I should have enough by that point.
So what do you think? Can a 970 achieve the fps I want, and when do you think the best time to get the 980 ti would be?
I feel I should get it after they release their next line of graphics cards.

 

[sadams04]

Those cards are in different performance levels AND much different price levels. For a single monitor at 1080 resolution (and maybe a 1440 display), then the 970 is an easy choice. If you have multiple monitors or a single 4k display, then the 980 or 980Ti would be in order to ensure 60+ FPS.

At what resolution are you gaming? What monitor(s) are you using? Please try to be specific..

 

[Rogue Leader]

the 980ti is the better bet for the performance you want now as well as into the future. And the price may drop a little on leftover stock in a few months when Pascal arrives.

 

[BigB123]

Those cards are in different performance levels AND much different price levels. For a single monitor at 1080 resolution (and maybe a 1440 display), then the 970 is an easy choice. If you have multiple monitors or a single 4k display, then the 980 or 980Ti would be in order to ensure 60+ FPS.

At what resolution are you gaming? What monitor(s) are you using? Please try to be specific..

I would be using the ASUS VG248QE, it runs at 1920x1080 and is @ 144Hz. I would probably be upgrading to 2 of the same monitor at a later point in time

 

[quilciri]

Some of the games you listed are graphics-intensive (e.g. Crysis 3), some aren't (CS:GO). When you say 60 fps, do you mean an average of 60fps, or a minimum of 60fps?

 

[sadams04]

...it runs at 1920x1080 and is @ 144Hz. I would probably be upgrading to 2 of the same monitor at a later point in time

Then go with the largest GPU you can afford. The GTX 980Ti would be nice, but GTX 980 might be a good balance of performance and cost. Both would serve you well.

 

[BigB123]

Some of the games you listed are graphics-intensive (e.g. Crysis 3), some aren't (CS:GO). When you say 60 fps, do you mean an average of 60fps, or a minimum of 60fps?

An average of 60 fps with dipping no lower than 50- 55, and I mean I kinda want to get a min. of 60 on the not-so-graphics intensive games, but w/ Crysis 3 it's perfectly fine if it dips into low 50s, given it is a very graphics hungry game.

 

[BigB123]

Then go with the largest GPU you can afford. The GTX 980Ti would be nice, but GTX 980 might be a good balance of performance and cost. Both would serve you well.

Yeah but the only thing is it's $300 more(the 980 ti), but like what Rogue Leader said, when Nvidia releases the Pascal line, the price would probably drop down a bit.
So i feel i should just wait until Pascal is released, if I'm going to be getting the 980 ti that is, because it is a pretty future proof card

 

[Rogue Leader]

Then go with the largest GPU you can afford. The GTX 980Ti would be nice, but GTX 980 might be a good balance of performance and cost. Both would serve you well.

Yeah but the only thing is it's $300 more(the 980 ti), but like what Rogue Leader said, when Nvidia releases the Pascal line, the price would probably drop down a bit.
So i feel i should just wait until Pascal is released, if I'm going to be getting the 980 ti that is, because it is a pretty future proof card

Nothing is future proof, ever. That said you should get a decent life out of it.

However you do want to have the money ready to go for when pascal comes out. There is usually a small window where they blow out old stock once they stop producing cards. If you don't get a deal on a card in that time, you aren't getting one. Be patient but ready to pounce.

 

[quilciri]

"future proofing" tends to be the most expensive option. Buying what you need for now and slightly in the future and upgrading as you go will give you better performance on average and be much cheaper as well.

For example, I spend about $250-300 on PC upgrades each year, selling the old components as I go. About 3 1/2 years ago, one of my friends spent $2000 on a beefy gaming system with an I5 3570k & GTX 680 and a 120hz 1080p monitor. At the time I had a phenom II 955/HD 6870 system.

Now, roughly $1100 later for me, I have the same 3570k, but with a GTX 970, 16GB RAM to his 8GB, a pair of SSD's in raid 0 vs. his HDD, and a 1440p, 144hz, freesync monitor (acer xg270hu) . I'll probably upgrade to a regular fury or possibly a polaris card this year to take advantage of the freesync and sell my 970.

He won't be upgrading his system for at least another year, and will probably spend around $1500 to do so when he does.

Upgrading over time allows you to take advantage of the best deals (I got the monitor for $330 off slickdeals). I also buy ~1 year old used video cards made by Asus or Gigabyte off Craigslist, as those companies have 3 year fully transferable warranties.

 

[BigB123]

"future proofing" tends to be the most expensive option. Buying what you need for now and slightly in the future and upgrading as you go will give you better performance on average and be much cheaper as well.

For example, I spend about $250-300 on PC upgrades each year, selling the old components as I go. About 3 1/2 years ago, one of my friends spent $2000 on a beefy gaming system with an I5 3570k & GTX 680 and a 120hz 1080p monitor. At the time I had a phenom II 955/HD 6870 system.

Now, roughly $1100 later for me, I have the same 3570k, but with a GTX 970, 16GB RAM to his 8GB, a pair of SSD's in raid 0 vs. his HDD, and a 1440p, 144hz, freesync monitor (acer xg270hu) . I'll probably upgrade to a regular fury or possibly a polaris card this year to take advantage of the freesync and sell my 970.

He won't be upgrading his system for at least another year, and will probably spend around $1500 to do so when he does.

Upgrading over time allows you to take advantage of the best deals (I got the monitor for $330 off slickdeals). I also buy ~1 year old used video cards made by Asus or Gigabyte off Craigslist, as those companies have 3 year fully transferable warranties.

Yeah I may actually stay with the 970 for now, because yes the 980 ti is by far faster, i AM on a budget.. So i was thinking i could get a 970, purchase a 980 ti in a year or so once the pirce for it drops a bit, and then i would be set. But yet again given a budget, the 970 would be the wiser choice in my case. Plus given my main games are just Battlefield 3/4 and GTA V, i think I would be fine with the 970.

I linked my build below if anyone is interested in taking a peek, or giving suggestions!
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/x6hwGX