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

I really should stop reading stuff about the 970, it just makes me want to get one and I don't currently use my PC enough to get one (my 660 is still fine for most games still).

That said I'm probably gonna have to do a complete new build for my next upgrade as my CPU/ motherboard combo (socket 1155) is getting a few years old...
 
Rosur said:
I really should stop reading stuff about the 970, it just makes me want to get one and I don't currently use my PC enough to get one (my 660 is still fine for most games still).

That said I'm probably gonna have to do a complete new build for my next upgrade as my CPU/ motherboard combo (socket 1155) is getting a few years old...
Click to expand...

I have the same socket and ordered a 970 even though I had a 770. Couldn't resist.
 
Hip Hop said:
So is Super Clocked worth the extra $10? I'm going with EVGA as I haven't had a problem with them and my GTX 670. I really like their warrantys.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NI64A7C/?tag=neogaf0e-20

This one is $20 more, what is the difference, just the cooler?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NI45AUU/?tag=neogaf0e-20

which one would you guys recommend?
Click to expand...

I would recommend against either of these cards, its suspected they are using the same cooler as the GTX 460 did, which wasn't very good.
 
Hip Hop said:
So is Super Clocked worth the extra $10?
Click to expand...
The factory OC'd versions are for people who don't want to tinker with the overclocking settings themselves, so you're basically paying for them to have done a very mild overclock on it before sending it to you. Up to you whether that's worth it or not.

Its quite easy to do yourself though, so if you're not averse to a tiny bit of settings tinkering, you can easily get the same result and better while saving money.
 
ThoseDeafMutes said:
I settled for an AOC set, 1080p. I didn't want to move up to 1440p just yet so it was my only real option in Australia :(
Click to expand...

I've heard good things about the AOC monitor, but I want those extra Ps man. I have 24" 1080p set now, and I want to get something bigger, without losing DPI.

And obviously it needs to be Gsync (and 3d and high hz and all that, but obviously you don't get a Gsync panel without those features right now).

I guess I wait with tightly crossed fingers, and everyone can hate me in the mean time for running 3 way SLI on a 60hz 1080p panel.
 
Seanspeed said:
The factory OC'd versions are for people who don't want to tinker with the overclocking settings themselves, so you're basically paying for them to have done a very mild overclock on it before sending it to you. Up to you whether that's worth it or not.

Its quite easy to do yourself though, so if you're not averse to a tiny bit of settings tinkering, you can easily get the same result and better while saving money.
Click to expand...

Take this with a grain of salt.....but I usually buy a superclocked card in the hopes that a card that was tested to run at that overclock has a better shot at overclocking even further. I remember EVGA used to deny that they binned gpus this way, and it's still possible to get a great overclocker with a stock card, but for $10 you at least get those few mhz of headroom and a card that has already been tested to overclock (at least a bit)
 
So after some research I found that MSI, ASUS & Gigabyte all offer similar 3 year warranties.

Both ASUS & Gigabyte only offer one model of the 970 while MSI offers two, but I'm only going to consider their 4G card.

On Amazon the cards prices vary:
PNY -$329.99 -1178 MHz Boost Clock
ASUS - $339.99 -1253 MHz Boost Clock
MSI - $359.99 - 1279 MHz Over Clock Mode
Gigabyte - $369.99 -1329 MHz Boost Clock
------------------------------
EVGA(FTW ACX 2.0) -$369.99 -1367 MHz Boost Clock
Zotac (AMP Extreme) -$XXX.XX -1355 MHz Boost Clock
As far as I can tell the price of these cards scale with the performance... I excluded EVGA due to their current ACX cooler issues, however it should be noted that they have the best warranty at 5 years if you buy before X day in October (I think).

So logically, since the 970's are considerably cheaper than initially thought, wouldn't it make since to go with the higher preforming card IE: Gigabyte and pay a little more for that factory OC? Plus I hear that Windforce is the best cooler?
 
hoserx said:
Take this with a grain of salt.....but I usually buy a superclocked card in the hopes that a card that was tested to run at that overclock has a better shot at overclocking even further. I remember EVGA used to deny that they binned gpus this way, and it's still possible to get a great overclocker with a stock card, but for $10 you at least get those few mhz of headroom and a card that has already been tested to overclock (at least a bit)
Click to expand...

This is my experience as well. I've owned an MSI lighthing edition and an MSI power edition... both cards clocked a lot higher than reference cards. Perhaps I've just won the silicone lottery, but I think it makes sense that factory OC'd cards would make use to chips that perform better than reference.
 
I'm receiving my EVGA 970 today but when UPS shows up I'm just gonna stick the return shipping label on it and give it right back to him. With all the bad stuff about noise and the cooler being crappy and no backplate I decided to return it and I'll get the Gigabyte which is what I shoulda done to begin with. I'm so mad at myself for not getting it.

The only thing is Newegg shows the Gigabyte as being Sold Out with no Auto-Notify button. Usually they only do that when they won't be getting anymore in so I',m a bit worried. Amazon started charging tax in my state so they're pretty much out of the running cause I don't feel like paying 30 bucks extra.
 
ChrisG683 said:
Aren't all of the blower models just the reference nVidia blower? From what I've seen, the reference cooler has been getting lots of praise.

I ordered the EVGA GTX 980 SC w/ Reference blower, so I'm wondering if I should be concerned or not.
Click to expand...

The 980 has a reference design, its a "Titan" style blower and they are good.

The 970 does not have a reference cooler, so companies are either using their own designs or a design that was used on a previous model.
 
ChrisG683 said:
Aren't all of the blower models just the reference nVidia blower? From what I've seen, the reference cooler has been getting lots of praise.

I ordered the EVGA GTX 980 SC w/ Reference blower, so I'm wondering if I should be concerned or not.
Click to expand...

I don't think Nvidia provided a "reference" blower for the 970. I think all the blowers for the 970s that vendors are providing are either 700 or 600 series blowers.
 
Anyone had success finding 970s in TigerDirect retail locations? I have one right by my apartment that I was hoping to just stop by once I get my paycheck on the 30th, but it sounds like these things might be tough to get a hold of for a bit.
 
Card's been at Fedex destination sort facility since Sunday evening. Not really scheduled for delivery till Tuesday but hoping it'll get here today rather than just sitting in a warehouse all day.
 
Hmm, I'm kind of concerned reading all the negative feedback about the EVGA cards. Mine should be arriving today or tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be louder than my EVGA 560 Ti. I always was a bit unnerved by the noise thinking the card was getting pushed too hard and was on its way out.

Well, I guess this will be a learning experience for my next card. I didn't think Gigabyte or MSI were reliable brands (or at least, reliable like EVGA's longevity), but it seems they may be.
 
Whelp, took the plunge and ordered a 970 off newegg. I picked up the Zotac that was there for 329, the only one available at this point it seems. Maybe a little worried that it might not be as awesome as some of the other ones, but I'm also upgrading from a 560ti, so I should be in for some good times.
 
Corpekata said:
Card's been at Fedex destination sort facility since Sunday evening. Not really scheduled for delivery till Tuesday but hoping it'll get here today rather than just sitting in a warehouse all day.
Click to expand...

Same here. Mines been in the NY Metro Sort facility for three days, it hasn't even cross the border into canada yet. Im probably looking at 5-6 days rather than today or tomorrow =(.
Maybe the tracking stuff is out of date and it's like right outside my house!
 
hoserx said:
Take this with a grain of salt.....but I usually buy a superclocked card in the hopes that a card that was tested to run at that overclock has a better shot at overclocking even further. I remember EVGA used to deny that they binned gpus this way, and it's still possible to get a great overclocker with a stock card, but for $10 you at least get those few mhz of headroom and a card that has already been tested to overclock (at least a bit)
Click to expand...
Nope. The only cards that are binned are their halo offerings, like the Classified, same with the ASUS Matrix and MSI Lightning.
 
My bank declined my Friday GTX980 order because they thought it was a fraudulent transaction and the online store didn't inform me until I called them asking where the hell my GPU were, that I'd paid 24 hour delivery for on Friday.
No more 980s in stock now so I ordered two GTX970s instead, which should (fingers crossed) arrive tomorrow.

Now to find a 60" 4k TV with a low latency mode.
 
OrangeOak said:
This is really great news.
Do we need to still add resolutions by hand like now? I really hate it when I have to do it every time when I am changing drivers.Also I always must do it twice for different screens.
GTX 970 sounds amazing but availability as of now here in poland is very limited and I can't get MSI card anywhere :(
Click to expand...

You don't have to add anything by hand, just select the amount of scaling resolutions you like in the global Nvidia 3d settings. I am running two screens and I only had to do it once.

The only downside to DSR is that it seems to cause some problems with certain games in combination with MSI Afterburner and possible other 3rd party software. (Flickering issues)
 
dIEHARD said:
The 980 has a reference design, its a "Titan" style blower and they are good.

The 970 does not have a reference cooler, so companies are either using their own designs or a design that was used on a previous model.
Click to expand...

teiresias said:
I don't think Nvidia provided a "reference" blower for the 970. I think all the blowers for the 970s that vendors are providing are either 700 or 600 series blowers.
Click to expand...

Ahhh I understand now, thanks =)
 
Did a little test between stock speed on my MSI and my overclock. Ran the very first part of Crysis 3 with the rain up until you get inside which is about 1½ minute long.

All maxed out with medium SMAA at 1080p.

Stock 1114/1253 Boost
Code: 
Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  5347,     93725,  42,  87, 57.050

Overclocked 1314/1453 Boost (reaches 1528 in highest boost)
Code: 
Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
  6135,     93226,  47, 102, 65.808

That should be ~14% better if I'm not mistaken. Not a bad improvement over a pretty decent factory overclock.
 
Snapshot King said:
Same here. Mines been in the NY Metro Sort facility for three days, it hasn't even cross the border into canada yet. Im probably looking at 5-6 days rather than today or tomorrow =(.
Maybe the tracking stuff is out of date and it's like right outside my house!
Click to expand...
Nah, that's typical for super cheap shipping. Packages get held up for no reason/people think lack of priority equals an excuse to not get the package moving.
 
TC McQueen said:
Nah, that's typical for super cheap shipping. Packages get held up for no reason/people think lack of priority equals an excuse to not get the package moving.
Click to expand...

I originally chose express shipping and newegg defaulted me back to ground, said that it'd arrive at the same time so they gave me ground.
 
FrontalMonk said:
Whelp, took the plunge and ordered a 970 off newegg. I picked up the Zotac that was there for 329, the only one available at this point it seems. Maybe a little worried that it might not be as awesome as some of the other ones, but I'm also upgrading from a 560ti, so I should be in for some good times.
Click to expand...

I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the Zotac since I'm sick of refreshing the MSI GTX 970 page on Amazon and Newegg every God damned ten minutes so, hoping it'll be in stock. The only thing stopping me is I have no idea how loud the Zotac is, a quiet PC is something I value a great deal - so please post your impressions once you get it installed!
 
Dictator93 said:
Sadly no one is really dropping 970s with impressive blow designs at all. Blowers are pretty much needed for SLI unless you have like a windtunnell tested case and fan config.
Click to expand...

Nah, I am running the EVGA SC SLI and I am getting good temps in a small R3 case. Also no coil whine. My case is well ventilated though.

Zornack said:
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.
Click to expand...

970 SLI eats metro for breakfast. Even the OG version.

Same for Far Cry 3, getting ~120 fps average at 1440p with 2xMSAA. (~90fps with 4xMSAA but I like that 120 feeling). I previously did some false tests with FC3 because I did not know that "Smooth V-Sync setting was". Turns out it tanks performance.
 
DEO3 said:
I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the Zotac since I'm sick of refreshing the MSI GTX 970 page on Amazon and Newegg every God damned ten minutes so, hoping it'll be in stock. The only thing stopping me is I have no idea how loud the Zotac is, a quiet PC is something I value a great deal - so please post your impressions once you get it installed!
Click to expand...

Just order it and you will get it as fast as possible. Amazon is waiting for a shipment so it is going to be no less than a week.
 
DEO3 said:
I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the Zotac since I'm sick of refreshing the MSI GTX 970 page on Amazon and Newegg every God damned ten minutes so, hoping it'll be in stock. The only thing stopping me is I have no idea how loud the Zotac is, a quiet PC is something I value a great deal - so please post your impressions once you get it installed!
Click to expand...
Here two reviews of Zotac 970s:
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/2014/09/geforce-gtx-980-review/
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/190463-nvidia-maxwell-gtx-980-and-gtx-970-review/2

The only problem is that there aren't a lot of reviews that cover stuff like noise for the Zotac cards.
 
Quick question for the owners. Is MFAA something you can enable in the Control Panel or do games specifically have to support it like TXAA?
 
My 2 Gigabyte GTX 970 Gaming G1 cards have been delivered. If all goes well, I'll have all my parts by the end of the week. I'd throw one into my current PC if I wasn't currently using an AMD card.
 
Evo X said:
Quick question for the owners. Is MFAA something you can enable in the Control Panel or do games specifically have to support it like TXAA?
Click to expand...

It's not available yet, and due to come with a future driver update. IIRC, during the Nvidia event they enabled MFAA through the control panel in conjunction with MSAA in games that supported it. The final implementation might differ, however. I'm personally hoping for a "on/off" version of it, compatible with every single game out there. Kind of like how FXAA works.
 
Leckan said:
Anyone have the Fractal Design R4 case and the Gigabyte 970 G1, and if so - does it fit without any issues?
Click to expand...
I've got an R4... not sure about that specific card, but if you go on their website they list the specific dimension for the GPU space within the case. Cross reference that against the length of the card, and you should have an answer.
 
mkenyon said:
Nope. The only cards that are binned are their halo offerings, like the Classified, same with the ASUS Matrix and MSI Lightning.
Click to expand...
Yep, common misconception. It is often believed that GPUs are binned but that's rarely the case. Remember, these are third parties and nvidia is not in the business of binning out on single lines. CPUs are definitely binned, which is why you have varied clock-speeds on chips that use the exact same architecture as lower clocked versions.

For those getting supposed better clocks on pre-OC cards, it's basically luck. I've had higher binned CPUs clock like crap, the lowest stock GPUs scream, and pre-OC cards hit walls on the worst of things, such as VRAM clock. That's from over a decade of overclocking everything I could get my hands on.

For GPUs, the usual items to stress are cooling, noise, and customer service. How high it clocks is up to the silicon gods.
 
edit: oops posted in wrong thread.

Is there any downside to getting a full tower? Apart from the obvious (cost, how much space it takes up).

I was thinking more in terms of whether it is harder to manage airflow because there's a greater volume of air or something like that.
 
Ah well, Alternate.de was clickbaiting on friday it seems. My card is not even shipped cause they don't have any stock. On friday they claimed to have them in stock and my card will be here by today/tomorrow :(
 
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