Nvidia Launches GTX 980 And GTX 970 "Maxwell" Graphics Cards ($549 & $329)
- Thread starter georgc
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ThoseDeafMutes
Member
I took the HDD cages out of my Bitfenix Prodigy so I've got room for it.
I'm definitely not comfortable doing any sort of handiwork. I'd probably end up wrecking something or another.
Probably also need re-apply the thermal paste on my CPU. I put it on, spread it around with a glove, put the cooler (Hyper 212) on, then took it off, then slid it around, and then spread the paste around some more with my glove.
The CoreTemp program says my CPU temperatures are at 20*C. That makes no sense because my friend's liquid-cooled, stock-clocked CPU hovers around 50*C.
I'd wager something else is up. In my experience it's usually the Valley benchmark that will let you know first hand when an OC is unstable. Especially with memory overclocks. Then again, you've got a gifted 780ti, so it's ultimately up to you.
Definitely a stop-gap, yes. I do fully intend to upgrade again next year when Skylake is released. Will hopefully upgrade the whole thing then.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
They're modular in my case, they just slot out and back in.
I, for better or worse, don't have the sort of cash lying around to be spending $400+ on stop-gaps.
I fully intend for this card to last for at least 4 years. If it turns out current-gen games require more than 4GB of VRAM, I will be screwed (but it's the risk I'm willing to take).
Some poster way earlier in this thread convinced me based on two factors:
#1 - No guarantee that 20 nm process will bring jaw-dropping performance increases.
#2 - If there are fantastic gains in performance, I wouldn't bet on nVIDIA pricing the cards in a competitive manner as they have with the GTX970.
I was thinking the same thing. I'm not satisfied with my R9 290... I prefer the NVIDIA ecosystem better and hopefully the 970 can last me 3 years... I will SLI to add more longetivity later on.
But then I was thinking the 980 would be more future proof... and so I'm back again deciding between the 970 or the 980... ugh.
The + offsets you're posting are useless. What's the core actually boosting to in games and benchmarks?
Because +50 for me could be very different than +50 for you. Mine is an EVGA superclocked, so +50 puts me at 1400Mhz core. Compared to stock, that would actually be +273 because default core clock on these GPUs is 1127Mhz.
I'm using 4.0. That's the latest full release, I believe.
What's the card size clearance on that? The Gigabyte 970 fit into my old Coolermaster which supported a max card size of 304mm.
Ok, I think I'm done tinkering for the day. I'll try to see if I can get a better OC tomorrow. Here is my latest stable 3DMark run. The CPU is definitely holding me back.
How's the GPU score though, fellow 980 owners? Decent?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4197384?
How's the GPU score though, fellow 980 owners? Decent?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4197384?
I barely squeaked by in my Silverstone RV02-E, that motherfucker is long. Didn't have to remove an Air Penetrator at-least, like when I had an Artic Accelero Xtreme equipped 6950.
I'm having trouble finding hard statistics. It's mostly nonsense like "supports full-length graphic cards" which means potatoes to me.
A quick google search reveals a forum post (from TomsHardware) stating that it supports up to 310mm. But it's a forum post. :'(
A Reddit post collecting all the 970 sizes shows 60mm/6cm difference between the shortest (EVGA) and longest (Gigabyte).
In terms of length, mine is shorter than yours by 0.08".
I think you're probably going to be good, it's just going to be tight.
D
Deleted member 102362
Unconfirmed Member
My EVGA 970 fits much better than my AMD 5970 did. It's a nice change.
Ok, I think I'm done tinkering for the day. I'll try to see if I can get a better OC tomorrow. Here is my latest stable 3DMark run. The CPU is definitely holding me back.
How's the GPU score though, fellow 980 owners? Decent?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4197384?
That's pretty good, but you could probably do better than that. Say, if you don't touch the memory and overclock the core by +104Mhz, or 13Mhz x 8, with both power and temperature sliders all the way to the right. What does that net you? That's usually where I start with factory SC cards.
Check the previous page/pages.
A few of us have it. Mine is a MSI card though, not gigabyte.
! Thanks man, I got +200 in unigine valley (3252), wasn't going up anywhere near that high before with higher clocks.
Could I trouble you for more guidance on what you do next? I tend to get graphical errors at higher clocks like +120 instead of +104 - is there a number scheme to it that helps stability? Or perhaps I need to touch memory to get higher...?
-I get artifacts at +104 too after a while, shame.
Self_Destructive
Member
You're right, however it's pretty easy to surmise that my offsets were from stock clocks. You did the math yourself... it's pretty easy. 1400mhz boost isn't anything impressive for these cards. Even if your card is the superclocked sku, a +50 offset is still low.
Anyway, I've already said I'm boosting to 1500 not even 2 pages ago, and I stated why my core clocks were at 1365mhz which is already +100 over yours.
Yeah, that's the conclusion I'm coming to. I was really hoping for 1500+Mhz on this thing. I will keep my order of the Gigabyte G1 on Amazon. If it ships within a couple of weeks, I will return this EVGA to Frys.
Self_Destructive
Member
I know the frustration. Once you get a golden card (in your case a great 780ti) you want all your cards to OC well, or you feel like you're getting a raw deal. It sucks, but it's always a game of luck.
I however am pretty satisfied with both of my 980s. I'm waiting for drivers to mature, which will obviously help with optimization, but drivers can also improve OC'ability which was the case with my Titans. Also, hopefully when Skynet gets a modded BIOS out there with unlocked voltage, then we can really have some fun
I know the frustration. Once you get a golden card (in your case a great 780ti) you want all your cards to OC well, or you feel like you're getting a raw deal. It sucks, but it's always a game of luck.
I however am pretty satisfied with both of my 980s. I'm waiting for drivers to mature, which will obviously help with optimization, but drivers can also improve OC'ability which was the case with my Titans. Also, hopefully when Skynet gets a modded BIOS out there with unlocked voltage, then we can really have some fun
Haha, yep! I flashed my 780Ti with Skynet's BIOS day one. That's part of the reason that card performed so well.
Are you running a pair of EVGAs? Think my 2500k@4.7Ghz will hold me back if I pick another one up for SLI?
Was hoping to ride it out until Skylake.
This is the latest 3DMark score. Inching closer to 15K GPU score. I think I'd be happy with that.
How are your temperatures? The cards themselves use +/- 13Mhz when boosting/downclocking, so you might want to try +91 next? I'd suggest not tweaking the memory until you find a stable core clock.
going from a 580 to a 970 (not to mention a i5 750 to a 4690k and 4gb ram to 16) is going to be crazy isnt it?
wonder if its going to be a bigger jump than my last one (which had a similar 5ish year gap... I dont upgrade often >_>)
wonder if its going to be a bigger jump than my last one (which had a similar 5ish year gap... I dont upgrade often >_>)
Thank you, I will try +91.
Temperature seems to cap at 75 with unigine extreme hd benchmark.
Maybe I should flash the skynet bios Evo X mentions...?
Think it's this here.
Will check back tomorrow, night all.
YES! Cracked 15K.
Also, don't know what the hell was going on with my crashes earlier because I just passed a 3DMark run with a boost clock of 1505Mhz. Think it might have been my CPU, so I raised its voltage a bit. Hasn't crashed since. *fingers crossed*
Do it!
It made my OC's much more stable. And like I said earlier, if you don't screw up the flash, it's perfectly safe. Ran it day in and day out for ~11 months without issue.
Notice I'm the second person on that list.
Also, don't know what the hell was going on with my crashes earlier because I just passed a 3DMark run with a boost clock of 1505Mhz. Think it might have been my CPU, so I raised its voltage a bit. Hasn't crashed since. *fingers crossed*
Do it!
It made my OC's much more stable. And like I said earlier, if you don't screw up the flash, it's perfectly safe. Ran it day in and day out for ~11 months without issue.
Notice I'm the second person on that list.
I take back what I said earlier in the thread. I am VERY satisfied with this Maxwell!
Below are my final overclocks. These ran 3 consecutive runs of 3DMark 100% stable. Hope it stays that way.
Core 1531 Mhz
Memory 7,912 Mhz
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4197901?
I don't exactly know why it was crashing earlier. It might have been due to my CPU. Let's see if this OC remains stable in games.
Below are my final overclocks. These ran 3 consecutive runs of 3DMark 100% stable. Hope it stays that way.
Core 1531 Mhz
Memory 7,912 Mhz
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4197901?
I don't exactly know why it was crashing earlier. It might have been due to my CPU. Let's see if this OC remains stable in games.
So I've started planning an upgrade around a 970 for the end of the year and I've been wondering. Is it worth waiting to upgrade CPU/Motherboard from an i5-2500k at the same time or should I wait a bit longer?
My last jump was 9800GT -> 560Ti. That was only a three year jump and it was pretty striking.
Snapshot King
Member
Anecdotal of course, but I don't have any. I heard the whisper of some for maybe 1 second the first time I ran the windows experience test, but nothing since. It'd definitely not all of them, that's for sure.
Soodanim
Member
Wow, coil whine is nasty and a bit scary given that these cards are the reason most of us buy PCs. That said, that's with no case. If I used a Fractal R4 case, surely that would reduce it, right?
MikeOfTheLivingDead
Grapetastic!
I have an old lian li aluminium case that's perforated like the older mac pro towers. I have a G1 980, two silent 140 mm corsair case fans and an oem fan on my i7. It's near silent even under load and this is a case that does nothing to dampen noise.
I've got it on my Gigabyte 970 as well. It's a buzzing noise in my case that kind of ticks along in certain scenarios (like when I am alt-tabbed out of a game). It's maddening and I'm going to order a replacement 970 and then return my current one. I'm worried the replacement won't fare any better, I'm not very lucky with computer hardware. :/
95% sure it fits, but just in case, I happen to have a Gigabyte G1 970 at the post office and going to install it into my HAF 922 in few hours.
edit: And it fits fine. Maybe 5cm/2 inches of space between the G1 and HDD cage.
Xcell Miguel
Member
Think I finally got a stable overclock on my Gigabyte GTX 970 after having some time to play with it, anything higher/any lower voltage locks up Firestrike completely.
Based on the scores I've seen throughout the thread, I'm pretty content.
How does it run with +150MHz ?
Here is what I get with my Gigabyte (+150 Core, +500 Memory, +0 mV, +112 Power), 1530MHz Boost, stable and does not go over 55-60° when full :
Inferno313
Banned
So I'm finally ready to order the 970... I just can't find any... Are they in stock anywhere online?
Overclockers UK have 1000 MSI's coming in stock tomorrow if that's any help.
plagiarize
Banned
Tiger Direct cancelled the backorder I had on the ROG Swift. >.<
My 980s were not happy to hear that news. Now I have to stalk a monitor that's been selling out in 10 to 15 minutes wherever it goes on sale to try to get one.
Damnit ASUS why didn't you know how popular this thing was going to be! Damnit Tiger Direct for being shit!
My 980s were not happy to hear that news. Now I have to stalk a monitor that's been selling out in 10 to 15 minutes wherever it goes on sale to try to get one.
Damnit ASUS why didn't you know how popular this thing was going to be! Damnit Tiger Direct for being shit!
Fallout-NL
Member
Doesn't that monitor cost a small fortune? Not too surprising they didn't build that many.
diggmcbadass
Member
I think it was more of a production problem type of thing. They are in stock everywhere here though (scandinavia), but on release the first shipments of every store was sold out.
-MD-
Member
Lockjaw333
Member
In hindsight I almost always wish I spent that little bit extra on GPU to lengthen its lifespan. Its hard to justify when you are ready to buy, you feel like saving that $50 or $100 is the right thing to do, but looking back I always end up regretting it.
Spend that little bit extra. Get that card with higher vram. Get it from the better manufacturer, even though its a little bit more expensive.
So yeah, I would just get the 980 if I were you.
Bananajama
Banned
Any news on when we can expect to hear of 960 details?
Superimposer
This is getting weirder all the time
Haha, yep! I flashed my 780Ti with Skynet's BIOS day one. That's part of the reason that card performed so well.
Are you running a pair of EVGAs? Think my 2500k@4.7Ghz will hold me back if I pick another one up for SLI?
Was hoping to ride it out until Skylake.
This is the latest 3DMark score. Inching closer to 15K GPU score. I think I'd be happy with that.
Just got a 780Ti and not that pleased with how much it can OC... only got core up 50Mhz before artifcats in 3DMark Fire Strike. Does flashing the bios affect the OCability? Should I do this?
I'm aware it unlocks more voltage but I don't think I want to up the voltage too much. Will this make me OC better for each given voltage level?
I'm annoyed because I bought a really good aftermarket cooler. GPU temp is not bottlenecking me at all but the card just doesn't want to go as far as I hoped.
Sutton Dagger
Member
What's the difference between the Gigabyte G1 and windforce? Only clock speeds out of the box?
plagiarize
Banned
Well, since the US is basically a month behind everywhere else due to slow actual shipping on ships, hopefully they go in stock relatively easy to find soon here too. That said, Tiger Direct cancelling my back order and pulling the monitor from their site doesn't scream 'soon to be readily available' to me, but I'll keep hunting and eventually I'll find one.
But yeah... I want to see all these frames I'm rendering actually displayed. I'm not going to get price gouged on this (sorry third party sellers on Amazon) and I'm not going to concede resolution, frame rate or gsync (sorry other monitor manufacturers).
I just have to hope that when I get an in stock alert that I'm in a position to dive right on it.
Until then, you can all point and laugh at me for running 3 980s on a 1080p 60hz monitor.
Inferno313
Banned
US here. The MSI's are the ones I want. Hopefully that means most places are getting a shipment.
diggmcbadass
Member
At least you have DSR to bring that frame rate back in to double digits.
plagiarize
Banned
True, true. It looks fantastic on a number of slightly older games. I'd rather the temporal resolution though, or 3D at 1440p.
But yeah, it's fantastic seeing Criterion's Hot Pursuit with good image quality and a locked 60 fps IQ finally.