Time to upgrade GPU - Is the GTX980 overkill for me?

[SlabOnGrade]

I have just complete my Architect Registration Exams and I got a $600 reimbursement check for my last several exams. Time for an upgrade.

I would love some help determining how to upgrade my PC and/or a confirmation of my assumptions. I welcome any input.

I have:
CASE: Corsair 300R
MOtherboard: AsRock Extreme 4 Z87
CPU: Intel 4670K
GPU: XFX R9 270
PSU: Corsair 450 Watt
Ram: 16GB DDR3 1866 CL9
Hard Drives: Mushkin 120GB SSD - Primary, WD Black 500GB HD - page file and moved all of my downloads, documents, etc., WD Black 3TB HD Steam and Gaming drive

I'm only at 1080p and I don't have too much interest in upgrading the display. I've been impressed with downsampling from 1440 but my GPU can't usually handle it.

I believe my CPU is still in a good place. I upgraded early last year on a great deal. Obviously I need a better GPU and PSU.

I've narrowed it down for the PSU and I'm going with an EVGA G2 750W or 850W depending on which has the better deal first. I don't think I have any need for 850 even if I SLI in the future -probably won't. Feel free to comment here if you don't agree but there seems to be an overwhelming consensus on these two.

So, I need input on the GPU:
I'm underwhelmed by AMD's r9 300 offerings. I could wait for the r9 nano but I'd rather not wait until... what? September assuming no delays? And who knows what I would be getting at that point.

So I am thinking I would like to get as much longevity out of this as I can. That makes me think of the GTX 980. It's dropped in price a little. I've seen sales as low as 485 on the MSI Gaming and EVGA Superclocked variants. I might wait for that again or spring for 499 which can be found readily.

The question is whether I am wasting my money and would I actually be happy with a 970?
The 970 ram thing bugs me. Yes, I'm only looking at 1080p but it seems that some of the newest games are giving even the highest tier cards issues at 1080 so that makes me think a 970 won't last as long. Please let me know what you think and thank you.

 

[rcald2000]

Power supply: Love your choices there and I agree 100%. I'm a huge EVGA G2 fan and I agree with your wattage choices.

GPU: I had the MSI 970 4G Gamer card and loved it. As for the 980, it's a great card, but I'd love it more if the 980 Ti didn't exist. I jumped from the 970 to the 980 Ti, and I've never looked back. Granted, I came into a little extra bit of money that prompted me to upgrade. Question: You mention that you 1080p game. Does your monitor go up to 60 Hz or 144 Hz? I usually recommend that people not upgrade to just the regular 980 unless they already own one and are going to SLI them. Most people here may not agree with me, but that's my opinion on the matter. But if your budget is $600 (not including the power supply) then I'd say add the extra $50 and buy the 980 Ti. But if it's $600 (including the power supply) then obviously the Ti isn't an option. But honestly I did really love my 970. Don't know it'll hold you over for years, but for now it's a great value.

 

[Mohd Mamat]

You can max out games in 1080p with a 970 though(with some games MSAA is turned off). The VRAM allocation (3.5+0.5GB) fiasco is overhyped that most users didnt really feel or notice any differences in gaming as opposed to the ones who signed the petition or voiced their anger. But its their choice, this time nvidia screwed up on advertising segment, and they bear the responsibility of it. Nonetheless, the 970 is a potent card for its category and the best bang for buck and power efficiency and overclocks fairly easy if you need some FPS boost in certain GPU heavy/bound games.You'll love it,trust me.Had a Dual-X 270X before,died after a few months with me,upgraded to 970 and never looked back,even I have a 290X laying around.
EDIT:as the poster above, you should get the 980TI rather than getting a 980 if you had the extra budget.

 

[SlabOnGrade]

Power supply: Love your choices there and I agree 100%. I'm a huge EVGA G2 fan and I agree with your wattage choices.

GPU: I had the MSI 970 4G Gamer card and loved it. As for the 980, it's a great card, but I'd love it more if the 980 Ti didn't exist. I jumped from the 970 to the 980 Ti, and I've never looked back. Granted, I came into a little extra bit of money that prompted me to upgrade. Question: You mention that you 1080p game. Does your monitor go up to 60 Hz or 144 Hz? I usually recommend that people not upgrade to just the regular 980 unless they already own one and are going to SLI them. Most people here may not agree with me, but that's my opinion on the matter. But if your budget is $600 (not including the power supply) then I'd say add the extra $50 and buy the 980 Ti. But if it's $600 (including the power supply) then obviously the Ti isn't an option. But honestly I did really love my 970. Don't know it'll hold you over for years, but for now it's a great value.

I'm just gaming on a 42" 1080p 60hz tv. I'm used to 30 fps or fewer at times with my 270 since I can't bring myself to drop quality for frames. I'm an architect and I need beauty even if it ends up choppy. because of that 60fps feels like a dream when I can achieve it. I don't have much interest in changing this to a 4k screen for at least a very long time. 4k gaming just isn't there and other types of content are all but non existent. My budget is 600 including the power supply. I can't quite get myself to feel the I could swing 650 plus 100 for a PSU. I can wait for sales and get the best bang for my buck and I am going to pretend that rebates don't count against me.

If I could get 2-3 years that would be perfect. I'd bet at that point 4k gaming will make sense and I'd look to upgrade again.

 

[FreshPineApples]

You can never be sure how long a gpu will be future proof for so if you are looking for longevity go for the gtx 980 I agree that a gtx 980 ti would be even better for future proofing but it is really overkill for 1080p even with a little super sampling. Along with it being overkill you really do have to upgrade that psu and you cant get a ti and a new psu with $600 so a gtx 980 is your best bet.
The r9 390x is also a possibility but I still would go for a 980.

 

[SlabOnGrade]

You can max out games in 1080p with a 970 though(with some games MSAA is turned off). The VRAM allocation (3.5+0.5GB) fiasco is overhyped that most users didnt really feel or notice any differences in gaming as opposed to the ones who signed the petition or voiced their anger. But its their choice, this time nvidia screwed up on advertising segment, and they bear the responsibility of it. Nonetheless, the 970 is a potent card for its category and the best bang for buck and power efficiency and overclocks fairly easy if you need some FPS boost in certain GPU heavy/bound games.You'll love it,trust me.Had a Dual-X 270X before,died after a few months with me,upgraded to 970 and never looked back,even I have a 290X laying around.
EDIT:as the poster above, you should get the 980TI rather than getting a 980 if you had the extra budget.

So, I don't have the budget. I have $600 for the psu and gpu upgrade. It seems I'm hearing that I should either live with a 970 and expect it won't last quite as long or save a little more and get a 980ti if I hope to meet my actual upgrade goals/

It does seem that the 980ti is complete overkill for 1080 however downsampling from 1440 looks great on my screen. I just can't achieve it almost ever with my current card.

 

[Mohd Mamat]

You can max out games in 1080p with a 970 though(with some games MSAA is turned off). The VRAM allocation (3.5+0.5GB) fiasco is overhyped that most users didnt really feel or notice any differences in gaming as opposed to the ones who signed the petition or voiced their anger. But its their choice, this time nvidia screwed up on advertising segment, and they bear the responsibility of it. Nonetheless, the 970 is a potent card for its category and the best bang for buck and power efficiency and overclocks fairly easy if you need some FPS boost in certain GPU heavy/bound games.You'll love it,trust me.Had a Dual-X 270X before,died after a few months with me,upgraded to 970 and never looked back,even I have a 290X laying around.
EDIT:as the poster above, you should get the 980TI rather than getting a 980 if you had the extra budget.

So, I don't have the budget. I have $600 for the psu and gpu upgrade. It seems I'm hearing that I should either live with a 970 and expect it won't last quite as long or save a little more and get a 980ti if I hope to meet my actual upgrade goals/

It does seem that the 980ti is complete overkill for 1080 however downsampling from 1440 looks great on my screen. I just can't achieve it almost ever with my current card.

I bet on the 970 to last a year long in high-end gaming, so if you want the GTX 980, better get a second-hand unit or ones that has sales rebate on it or live with a mid-class GPU that can handle 1080p gaming seamlessly(R9 280X,R9 380,GTX 960) and wait for newer tech nodes and full HBM adoption by both nvidia and AMD as early as Q1 next year (but I guess you wont or didnt want to wait that long,its now or never right? 😛)
390X is optimized for QHD and UHD(4K),performs worse on 1080p than its predesessor,290X

 

[SlabOnGrade]

You can max out games in 1080p with a 970 though(with some games MSAA is turned off). The VRAM allocation (3.5+0.5GB) fiasco is overhyped that most users didnt really feel or notice any differences in gaming as opposed to the ones who signed the petition or voiced their anger. But its their choice, this time nvidia screwed up on advertising segment, and they bear the responsibility of it. Nonetheless, the 970 is a potent card for its category and the best bang for buck and power efficiency and overclocks fairly easy if you need some FPS boost in certain GPU heavy/bound games.You'll love it,trust me.Had a Dual-X 270X before,died after a few months with me,upgraded to 970 and never looked back,even I have a 290X laying around.
EDIT:as the poster above, you should get the 980TI rather than getting a 980 if you had the extra budget.

So, I don't have the budget. I have $600 for the psu and gpu upgrade. It seems I'm hearing that I should either live with a 970 and expect it won't last quite as long or save a little more and get a 980ti if I hope to meet my actual upgrade goals/

It does seem that the 980ti is complete overkill for 1080 however downsampling from 1440 looks great on my screen. I just can't achieve it almost ever with my current card.

I bet on the 970 to last a year long in high-end gaming, so if you want the GTX 980, better get a second-hand unit or ones that has sales rebate on it or live with a mid-class GPU that can handle 1080p gaming seamlessly(R9 280X,R9 380,GTX 960) and wait for newer tech nodes and full HBM adoption by both nvidia and AMD as early as Q1 next year (but I guess you wont or didnt want to wait that long,its now or never right? 😛)
390X is optimized for QHD and UHD(4K),performs worse on 1080p than its predesessor,290X

I think that sums up my feelings well. 970 should be good for a year at high end. I thought with the 15% or so improvement of the 980 I might get another year out of it. perhaps more if I can overclock it well I haven't ever looked seriously at the 980ti since It was always going to be firmly out of my price range. I can look this up myself but opinion wise, Is it really achieving a good performance per dollar ratio so it would be worth spending twice the 970 price?

 

[Mohd Mamat]

You can max out games in 1080p with a 970 though(with some games MSAA is turned off). The VRAM allocation (3.5+0.5GB) fiasco is overhyped that most users didnt really feel or notice any differences in gaming as opposed to the ones who signed the petition or voiced their anger. But its their choice, this time nvidia screwed up on advertising segment, and they bear the responsibility of it. Nonetheless, the 970 is a potent card for its category and the best bang for buck and power efficiency and overclocks fairly easy if you need some FPS boost in certain GPU heavy/bound games.You'll love it,trust me.Had a Dual-X 270X before,died after a few months with me,upgraded to 970 and never looked back,even I have a 290X laying around.
EDIT:as the poster above, you should get the 980TI rather than getting a 980 if you had the extra budget.

So, I don't have the budget. I have $600 for the psu and gpu upgrade. It seems I'm hearing that I should either live with a 970 and expect it won't last quite as long or save a little more and get a 980ti if I hope to meet my actual upgrade goals/

It does seem that the 980ti is complete overkill for 1080 however downsampling from 1440 looks great on my screen. I just can't achieve it almost ever with my current card.

I bet on the 970 to last a year long in high-end gaming, so if you want the GTX 980, better get a second-hand unit or ones that has sales rebate on it or live with a mid-class GPU that can handle 1080p gaming seamlessly(R9 280X,R9 380,GTX 960) and wait for newer tech nodes and full HBM adoption by both nvidia and AMD as early as Q1 next year (but I guess you wont or didnt want to wait that long,its now or never right? 😛)
390X is optimized for QHD and UHD(4K),performs worse on 1080p than its predesessor,290X

I think that sums up my feelings well. 970 should be good for a year at high end. I thought with the 15% or so improvement of the 980 I might get another year out of it. perhaps more if I can overclock it well I haven't ever looked seriously at the 980ti since It was always going to be firmly out of my price range. I can look this up myself but opinion wise, Is it really achieving a good performance per dollar ratio so it would be worth spending twice the 970 price?

Yes, 980Ti's are the best bang for the buck ultra enthusiast card yet, its $350 dollars cheaper than the Titan X, half the memory but same gaming prowess. Some recommended SLI-ing two 970's in favor of a single 980Ti,but I'm more inclined to more VRAM capacity with already proven chip prowess on a single card. Its your pick, stick with the 980Ti for 2-2.5 years and upgrade to another ultra enthusiast cards at that time, or buy the 970 and last it for another year until new product stacks arrive.

 

[Dunndunn]

Being someone who went from 2x 970s to the 980ti, I must say I don't regret it at all! It truly is a beast of a card! No it doesn't blast the 2x 970s performance away but it's right there with em, fps are pretty much the same with a few titles a little higher or lower here and there. But what you gain is the extra vram to give a little comfort for more demanding future titles and the ability to add a second one in a few years after they've dropped in price a good bit. While it still goes over your budget, EVGA does give you a 50% coupon off any PSU with a GPU purchase so keep that in mind!

 

[Dunndunn]

But if you can't squeeze out that extra bit of cash and get the 980ti, I'd strongly suggest getting the 970! It is a great card and the vram thing never really was an issue for me at 1080p. And they seem to be dropping in price pretty regularly so picking up a second later shouldn't be overly expensive. I ran 2x on a 1440p screen and rarely had to turn things down below ultra to stay above 60fps so your DSR scaling should work pretty smooth on that 1080p screen. I'd suggest going with the EVGA GTX970 SSC if going 970 route, it is imo one of the best makes of that line, runs cool and quiet and overclocked pretty high even beyond the "Super Super Clock"...and you get the 50% off coupon for your psu so that extra money you save can be put aside as funding for a second one later on when you save up!