Nvidia Launches GTX 980 And GTX 970 "Maxwell" Graphics Cards ($549 & $329)

JaseC said:
You can use it at any resolution on any display. That's the draw.
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not sure if you can select any resolution. the settings give multipliers. So eg 1.2x, 1.5x, 1.78x, 2x. Can't remember exactly how many there were but not that many.

And sometimes even if you've clicked all of those, the higher resolutions don't show up in game - the game has to support the higher res I think.
 
mrklaw said:
not sure if you can select any resolution. the settings give multipliers. So eg 1.2x, 1.5x, 1.78x, 2x. Can't remember exactly how many there were but not that many.

And sometimes even if you've clicked all of those, the higher resolutions don't show up in game - the game has to support the higher res I think.
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The "it" in that sentence refers to DSR scaling; what I meant is that your display resolution doesn't impact your (general) ability to use the feature since the internal rendering resolution just scales upwards by whichever factor you choose.
 
Anyone have a good breakdown/review link of all the different 970 models? I'm having a tough time deciding.

I'm leaning toward the ASUS Strix since I currently have (and am very happy with) an ASUS superclocked 660ti with the DirectCU II cooler. But the Gigabyte looks like it may have the best cooler of the bunch. The MSI isn't too bad either.

I generally like getting a factory OC'd card so you at least have that much of an overclock with the chip lottery.

EVGA is usually a favorite of mine with their warranty but their coolers look like reference :( Probably hot and noisy.
 
mrklaw said:
And sometimes even if you've clicked all of those, the higher resolutions don't show up in game - the game has to support the higher res I think.
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Well, yes, that's always the case with downsampling (unless you get into game specific hacks of course).

Anyway, DSR is basically driver-level, easier to use and more compatible GeDoSaTo (with somewhat fewer features of course). And that's fantastic. But it#s still a downsampling method, so it will have the same issues those always have with some games (UI scaling or unsupported resolutions).
 
garath said:
Anyone have a good breakdown/review link of all the different 970 models? I'm having a tough time deciding.

I'm leaning toward the ASUS Strix since I currently have (and am very happy with) an ASUS superclocked 660ti with the DirectCU II cooler. But the Gigabyte looks like it may have the best cooler of the bunch. The MSI isn't too bad either.

I generally like getting a factory OC'd card so you at least have that much of an overclock with the chip lottery.

EVGA is usually a favorite of mine with their warranty but their coolers look like reference :( Probably hot and noisy.
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I'd love this info as well. Any reviews look at all the cards?
 
Important question. Does 970 supports sending [5.1] audio via HDMI cable?

I know that Radeons got that ages ago [and I used it], but Nvidia didn't have it.
 
DieH@rd said:
Important question. Does 970 supports sending audio via HDMI cable?

I know that Radeons got that ages ago [and I used it], but Nvidia didn't have it.
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This has been a standard feature on Nvidia cards for a few generations now.

I did it on my 480, doing it now on my 660's and will do so on my 970's when they arrive.
 
kevm3 said:
Getting two 980s right now would be throwing money down the toilet. There's really no game that would utilize all of that extra power, and by the time there is, you can get a card with similar power that would actually utilize that power for much cheaper.
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Do you know what downsampling is? Do you know some folks play on 4K monitors? Do you know that some people actually play games spanned across 3 monitors (for some reason)?

There are numerous (and legitimate) reasons for wanting to buy 2-3 980s right now. Maybe there's a better card around the corner waiting to be released, but there's ALWAYS a better card around the corner.
 
Widge said:
Would one of those single fan and covered up cards work well, venting directly out the back? And would they be able to compete on a noise level aspect with the Frozr?
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I think Linus tested this and said the blower type (one fan) is best for those sorts of cases.
 
Hmm with driver level downsampling, should i even care about 4K monitors now?
I mean, my whole point of getting 4K small monitor [22'] was hassle free downsampling and perfect scaling of 1080p content.

Now with Maxwell i got all of it covered.
Is there any other advantage of having native 4k resolution on 22' screen, except for high pixel density, so native downsampling of the image?
I cant personally think of anything.
 
KKRT00 said:
Hmm with driver level downsampling, should i even care about 4K monitors now?
I mean, my whole point of getting 4K small monitor [22'] was hassle free downsampling and perfect scaling of 1080p content.

Now with Maxwell i got all of it covered.
Is there any other advantage of having native 4k resolution on 22' screen, except for high pixel density, so native downsampling of the image?
I cant personally think of anything.
Click to expand...

Neither can I.
 
KKRT00 said:
Hmm with driver level downsampling, should i even care about 4K monitors now?
I mean, my whole point of getting 4K small monitor [22'] was hassle free downsampling and perfect scaling of 1080p content.

Now with Maxwell i got all of it covered.
Is there any other advantage of having native 4k resolution on 22' screen, except for high pixel density, so native downsampling of the image?
I cant personally think of anything.
Click to expand...
Well, for productivity (e.g. programming in my case) those extra pixels can help a lot in terms of having more space for text / windows. Even if you need to increase the rendering size you can still fit more code when it's sharper.

But at a small size like 22" the advantage probably isn't too big. It's also a matter of how far you are from the screen of course.
 
I find that a 2560x1440 monitor is a happy medium between practicality and productivity. On a 27" 4K monitor, I feel like everything would have to be scaled so up far so I could see them that it actually wouldn't boost productivity at all. Things can only get so small before you can't read it anymore.

As far as image quality is concerned, a game rendering at native 3840x2160 would look better than 3840x2160 downsampled to 1920x1080. But then you're kinda forced into playing games at 4K minimum (unless you like upscaling). I like having 2560x1440 to fall back on if 4K is too demanding.
 
jim2point0 said:
I find that a 2560x1440 monitor is a happy medium between practicality and productivity. On a 27" 4K monitor, I feel like everything would have to be scaled so up far so I could see them that it actually wouldn't boost productivity at all. Things can only get so small before you can't read it anymore.

As far as image quality is concerned, a game rendering at native 3840x2160 would look better than 3840x2160 downsampled to 1920x1080. But then you're kinda forced into playing games at 4K minimum (unless you like upscaling). I like having 2560x1440 to fall back on if 4K is too demanding.
Click to expand...

That's how I feel right now too, 4K is just top expensive. 1440p is a happy medium where you can still run with near max settings at 60 FPS easily.

4K on a 27" monitor will have the perfect PPI though.
 
Xyber said:
Seems like you can't go wrong with either MSI, ASUS or Gigabyte, they all perform pretty much the same. EVGA does not seem on par with the others right now.
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I was going to go with the EVGA SC with the aftermarket cooler since it was the highest OC out of the box and lowest profile. However, in the review they mentioned that the ASUS and MSI cards have replacement power delivery with 6 phases each and the 4 phase EVGA has a whine that comes from it under load. There's no way I could tolerate that. Stuff like that bothers me immensely. My PC is right on my desk next to me. I'd hear it for sure. The EVGA also doesn't have a silent mode like MSI or ASUS. The fans are always running.

So I'm scratching the EVGA off the list. I'd go MSI for sure as it's the better stock overclock but it's also $20 more than the ASUS. The ASUS is starting to look like the winner for me.
 
Waikis said:
get a Display port - DVI-D adapter?

c03140368.png
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This specific one wouldn't work, you need an active DVI Dual Link adapter that plugs into USB to be able to run a 2560 x 1600 monitor on displayport.
 
paskowitz said:
Wow, that review sold me on the msi.
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Yeah. The MSI seems the best out of that bunch. I don't like that it's $20 more though. I think the ASUS is a good second choice for a lower cost.

Now Newegg does have the MSI for $10 less than Amazon making it only $10 more but they have $7 in shipping.

I need to find a review of the Gigabyte card.
 
DieH@rd said:
According to my [angry] friend, that's only for stereo and not 5.1.

Does 970 supports sending surround sound?
Click to expand...

Of course. I'm sending LPCM 5.1 to my receiver for videos and games. There's a HDMI audio tick box when you install the drivers.

Slight issue I'm having related to HDMI is that my MSI 970 only outputs an HDMI signal when it gets to the desktop. Can't even see the bios or boot up screens unless I hook up DVI.
 
jim2point0 said:
Do you know what downsampling is? Do you know some folks play on 4K monitors? Do you know that some people actually play games spanned across 3 monitors (for some reason)?

There are numerous (and legitimate) reasons for wanting to buy 2-3 980s right now. Maybe there's a better card around the corner waiting to be released, but there's ALWAYS a better card around the corner.
Click to expand...

Even 1440p can be too much for a single card. I can't max out Metro: 2033 REDUX, even without AA, and get a smooth 60 FPS on a single 780 ti and I doubt one 980 would be enough either.
 
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