nikoli707 :
are 3gb gk110 users feeling the same issues that 970 users are feeling?
i dont understand how a 970 can run any higher settings than 780ti users are running.... yet, we havent heard about this vram issue yet. its been almost 2 years now and we have had less vram just as powerful card.
i call bs on the performance issues.
you are misunderstanding the problem. this isn't about having x amount of vram isn't enough, type of thing. If this card was a 3gb card or a 3.5gb no one would complain. However it was SOLD as a 4gb card with a 224bit bus.
- It doesn't have a 224bit bus, it has a 196bit bus for the first 3.5gb of ram. + 28bit bus for the last 500mb of ram
- it doesn't have 4gb of gddr5 ram it has 3.5gb of gddr5, and 500mb of gddr5 ram that runs at ddr3 speeds (or slower)
- it doesn't USE 4gb of gddr5 ram unless it absolutely has to, then the whole memory structure slows down to roughly ddr3 memory speeds (not just the last 500mb) in order to balance out the memory interactions with the gpu. This causes a DRASTIC reduction in the performance of the gpu, micros stuttering being the most obvious example of what happens.
- it doesn't have the advertised 64 ROPs, it has 56
- it doesn't have 2mb of l2 cache it has 1.75
this is not the card it's claimed to be on the box. and if you're in a situation that calls for 3.5gb of vram or more, your Ferrari will rapidly turn into a pinto. Remember people chose this card over a r9-290x, a card which has a FULL 4gb of vram, primarily because it drew half the power under load, and performed pretty much identically. Well guess what. in heavy vram using games it won't perform identically, it will perform worse.
which is why people are upset. they bought a card with the best information they had available at the time, thinking it was the best card for their needs, and in the end it turns out the r9-290x probably would have met their needs better (mostly, depends on why they chose the 970. there certainly are buyers of the 970 who are not and never will be affected by this, that said many of the reasons for buying this card over the similarly priced 290x are invalidated by these actual specs)