Nvidia Launches GTX 980 And GTX 970 "Maxwell" Graphics Cards ($549 & $329)
- Thread starter georgc
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OnionPowder
Member
What CPU do you have?
paolo11
Member
4790K
So, after entering Redcliffe village in Dragon age today and see the frame-rate tank to the low 20's on medium/low settings, I think it is finally time to order a gtx 970 to replace my old gtx 460. Will be the first time that I replace a GPU myself, so is there anything I should know?
http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
http://www.overclock.net/t/1150443/how-to-remove-your-nvidia-gpu-drivers
What's your PSU ? Wattage + amps on the single 12v rail. I think the 970 needs 28-30 amps and 500W.
What's your CPU ? You don't want your shiny new 970 to be strangled by an ancient CPU.
Make sure to check the dimensions of the GPU as well.
You need to plug your GPU into the PCI-E 16 slot.
I got the nzxt s340
PSU: http://www.game-debate.com/psu/index.php?ps_id=1161&psu=Chieftec CTG-500-80P (the data on that site doesn't seem to be completely correct, for example, it says that it only has one 6 pin connector, even tho it has two).
CPU: i7 870 @ 2,92 ghz.
I plan on getting the zotac gtx 970, and the dimensions are almost the same as my old zotac gtx 460, so that should not be an issue.
Your CPU if not OC'd will bottleneck you pretty hard on newest games. I don't have to tell you what you have to do but if I were in your shoes I would upgrade the PSU and CPU before the GPU. Your PSU has two 12v rails and it might be preferable to have one.
I would strongly advise you against upgrading your GPU until you have the other parts up for the task. There are many very cheap and quality PSUs in the 500-600w range.
Check this list out :
http://www.overclock.net/t/183810/faq-recommended-power-supplies#user_500-599W
opticalmace
Member
An 870 with a gtx 460... and you think he should upgrade the cpu first? Let's just say I rather disagree.
Don't know anything about that PSU though.
This CPU has some life left in it for sure but it's showing its age, especially considering it's not overclocked. Many new games are very CPU hungry, I would advise him to upgrade the CPU in order to make the most out of his 970.
It's his choice at the end of the day.
It's not a reputable brand, I would also change it ASAP.
I can't recommend anything because I don't know how much he's willing to spend on a new PSU.
Alright, thanks for the advice. I will wait for a bit until I can upgrade my cpu/psu/gpu and motherboard all in one go.
Well you can still buy a 970 now, and upgrade the rest later. But don't be surprised if the latest games don't run as they should because of your CPU.
EDIT : Hum..If you really want to go for a new GPU I would also change the PSU.
opticalmace
Member
No reason why he can't OC it though. An 870 at 3.5 or 4GHz would be a good pairing with a 970 for now. Here's one at 4GHz on firestrike.
I plan to upgrade my cpu+motherboard next year anyway, so that was always kinda the idea.
Also, is it dangerous to just try the GTX 970 with my old PSU? If it works, great, and if it doesn't, I will replace it. It wouldn't damage the card or something?
i wouldn't hold your breath for it.
No announcement, no ETA, and rumors that an 8GB model wouldn't even have fast enough throughput to properly utilize it.
opticalmace
Member
Get yourself a new PSU and a GTX 970. Shitty PSUs can damage your system if things go wrong. Not worth the risk.
Also OC your CPU a little, it'll make a difference.
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in but I don't trust your PSU at all even though a 970 is not much power hungry. In fact I never heard of your PSU brand until now and that's not a good thing.
I don't know where you are located but there's got to be quality stuff available and not horribly expensive.
You need a 500/550W with 28-30 amps on the 12v rail.
Source :
https://forum-en.msi.com/faq/article/printer/power-requirements-for-graphics-cards
A few models which IMO are good enough and not expensive :
Antec HCG 520W
Cooler Master VS550
Seasonic S12G 550
XFX Pro 550W is great and affordable as well.
Replacing a PSU is a pain, though. Would like to know what he has first.
Edit: oh ok yea, I wouldnt trust that PSU, either. 970 is low power for the horsepower it has but its still a substantial, desktop GPU.
XFX is a very good brand as well but less popular where I live hence why it didn't spring to my mind immediately.
Here is his PSU :
http://www.chieftec.eu/en/psus/a-80-series/ctg-500-80p.html
I would not put a 970 in the hands of such PSU.
Yeah definitely going to do that later. There isnt much space between the two.
How hot do they get? I thought my one has little room to breathe.
Seems like one card gets to the mid 70s while the other goes to low 80s. Going to try a few different fan configurations and etc to bring it down a bit. Definitely better than my 290s in CF though lol
You are good.
paolo11
Member
opticalmace
Member
Just google "980 sli review", there are a bunch with benchmarks.
I'm seeing less reports of coil whine but that could be due to 970s selling in much bigger numbers than 980s. No idea why they're so prone to that, I've ordered a 970 Strix and I'm already mentally prepared to face coil whine.
Depends on the model. Gigabyte has the longest card I think with Inno3D.
paolo11
Member
I did but I could not find benchmark numbers for AC Unity and Witcher 2.
Felix Lighter
Member
I have SLI GTX 970s and a 5820K. I can tell you AC Unity runs at 60-100 fps for me and the it performs surprisingly consistently, max settings except FXAA for anti-aliasing, 1080p. Witcher 2 is 60-120+. I've only just tested 2 locations briefly and the Witcher 2 is a game that depends a lot on where you are when your measuring framerate. (no uber-sampling)
paolo11
Member
For Witcher 2, is Ubersampling enabled?
Felix Lighter
Member
No but I did use DSR downsampling from 2560x1440 and it performed very well. I can't use DSR right now because I have a GSync monitor now and SLI + GSync currently means no DSR. Your SLI 980s will gat a decent bump over my SLI 970s as well.
Batman AC benchmark results (Max 1080p including Physx): Min: 63 Max: 183 Avg:122
paolo11
Member
How many fps do you get ubersampling or DSR downsampling enabled? 60 to 120fps?
Felix Lighter
Member
I don't know if I tried ubersampling to be honest. I was getting over 60 fps downsampling from 2560x1440 but I don't remember exactly. I was awhile ago when I tested it
turtlesbonanza
Member
I'm still fiddling with the overclocks on my G1 970.
I seem to be able manage a stable +140 on the core with no voltage increase. However any time I change the memory clock I get crashing in game. I haven't seen TDP % go above 79% in GPU-Z despite unlocking it to 112%.
What should my next step be? Is the low TDP a sign that I should increase my voltage to get something out the memory clock? Is not being able to overclock memory at all mean I got a dud or am I doing something wrong?
Temperatures never go above 68C.
As a side note, I can run the memory clock at +350 just fine in the Heaven benchmark but it'll consistently crash in games at +50 or above (I haven't tried anything between +1 and +49).
I seem to be able manage a stable +140 on the core with no voltage increase. However any time I change the memory clock I get crashing in game. I haven't seen TDP % go above 79% in GPU-Z despite unlocking it to 112%.
What should my next step be? Is the low TDP a sign that I should increase my voltage to get something out the memory clock? Is not being able to overclock memory at all mean I got a dud or am I doing something wrong?
Temperatures never go above 68C.
As a side note, I can run the memory clock at +350 just fine in the Heaven benchmark but it'll consistently crash in games at +50 or above (I haven't tried anything between +1 and +49).
I have a question. I seem to notice on suggested a solid state drive as the way to go in the future yet the past year 1TB of room from a hard drive is no longer enough and so far, it seems like 1TB is the highest it can go. Is it still suggested to get one despite 1TB is no longer sufficient for me?
Conkerkid11
Member
1tb isn't enough for you for just gaming? You don't need all 100+ games installed at a time. I would recommend keeping games with long load times, or games you play often on your SSS. It's still viable to keep everything else on a large HDD.
SSD is best for your boot/install drive. It's where your OS and your necessary programs go.
If you can spare it, getting a spare SSD for games can be a great investment for games which take a long time to load, but if you're the type who wants to have a TON of games installed at once then a huge HDD is still a good way to go. Load times won't be as good, but you'll be able to have a lot on there.
Thenn of course, there's always the option to get both and just install specific games on the SSD as needed.
I've got a 500GB HDD, and two 128Gb SSD's - one for my OS/programs and one for my Steam games.
If you can just get one 256GB SSD for games/OS/programs and a HDD for storage, you should be more than set.
Woop I can almost get 60fps in Unity now lol
Sorry for the late/slightly offtopic, but what case/enclosure is this?
I'm not quite knowledgeable with multiple hard drives but it seems like I can't use more complex applications like games from secondary hard drives. My main concern is having to go through different directories just to do something. If Windows 7/Steam is able to identify which goes where without me needing to personal selections beyond choosing the hard drive to install games to then I might be interested.
THough, loading in general is often pretty fast with a HDD for me.
EDIT: Yeah, I noticed I'm going off-topic, just all this talk about CPUs made me forget I'm not in the PC thread but...how that rumor of 8GB of VRAM 900s going? You guys think they'll arrive before Witcher 3 if true?
lordfuzzybutt
Member
Highly unlikely given the fact that the rumor was debunked by Nvidia themselves saying that they are having a hard time producing enough GDDR5 for 4GBs cards alone.
You can use games from secondary hard drives. I run most of my games off of a dedicated Steam SSD.
Installing Steam games to different hard drives as as simple as selecting which drive to use when you hit install. If you don't have a folder, it'll just create a Steam games folder right on the root of the drive and it's easy to access. It's really about as simple as they could possible make it.
Parvum s2.0 (on its side)
Alright, thanks everyone for all the PSU recommendations. Apparently chieftec is an European only brand, so that could explain why a lot of you haven't heard about it. Still, going to be safe and replace my PSU with this one:
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/256222/seasonic-s12ii-bronze-520w/specificaties/
That one should do the trick, right?
SO basically I can now only hope early review copies of Witcher 3 will show me which 970 to get before release.
lordfuzzybutt
Member
Well, all the 970s are more or less the same. Different brands have different overclocks but that is about it. If you want one now, just buy whatever cheapest and/or available for you right now.