Nvidia Launches GTX 980 And GTX 970 "Maxwell" Graphics Cards ($549 & $329)
- Thread starter georgc
- Start date
Don't worry so much about max settings.
If you are indeed a 'noob' at this, you'll likely not be able to tell the difference between many of the High vs Ultra settings anyways. Shit, I often cant unless I see them in a side-by-side comparison.
Well.....I suppose I've gotta ask why you're asking this? Consumer advice? Curiosity? Settling an argument?
Naked Snake
Member
Depends on the game. For most games, yes. But some games/areas from games will be CPU limited, and some games are limited even on the fastest processors currently available.
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Inkvoterad
Member
So i will be upgrading to one of these cards from an AMD Radeon HD 7850.
Hell, Dragon age is around 35 with drops for me with this card on high-medium settings, and i really wanna play witcher 3 on my pc.
I was gonna get the Gigabyte version, but is there any significant difference between them?
Hell, Dragon age is around 35 with drops for me with this card on high-medium settings, and i really wanna play witcher 3 on my pc.
I was gonna get the Gigabyte version, but is there any significant difference between them?
Yup, games are CPU limited somewhere and GPU limited somewhere else.
Dries
Member
Allright..... But if I'm CPU limited in a specific area then that doesn't mean that my GPU isn't performing at 100% of it's full potential, right? I mean, even if I'm CPU limited in some area it will always keep running at 4.4Ghz; it just so happens that maybe 4.4Ghz won't be good enough for some instances of whatever game, but 4.4Ghz would still be enough to keep my GPU performing at 100% potential it seems to me.
I just want to know if my CPU (2500K @ 4.4Ghz) is capable enough of making a 980 perform at it's full potential.
I just want to know if my CPU (2500K @ 4.4Ghz) is capable enough of making a 980 perform at it's full potential.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Any sales online or anyone selling a 970?
opticalmace
Member
The tl;dr of it is that your CPU is fine, grab yourself a 970 or 980.
Your CPU is fine, but it sounds like you're misunderstanding any relationship between the CPU and GPU a bit. You can have the best CPU on the market and still be CPU-limited in certain games. And when you're CPU limited, it doesn't mean that your GPU isn't working 100%, it means that throwing more GPU power at the game wont improve your framerate anymore. So maybe in that particular game, even a GTX680 might achieve the same framerate as your GTX980 does. But any sort of settings that aren't CPU-dependent(like resolution) might still benefit from having a really powerful GPU. You just wont make the game run any faster, framerate-wise.
daninthemix
Member
That CPU is absolutely fine. A system will always have bottlenecks, and by replacing one you immediately create another. Be a PC gamer, not an obsessive neurotic!
Dries
Member
Yes, this is how I'd thought it to be too. Good to know.
I doub't you'll see any substantial 970 sales. Those things are constantly going in and out of stock, so I don't see anyone needing to do a sale to get them out the door.
I cannot state this enough. I don't know why so many GAF people insist on Ultra for each setting, when most of the time there's no perceptible difference from Very High
There will not be any sales on 970 for a while. Too much demand, so you may as well get one now unless you want to wait for at least 6 months
SliChillax
Member
Sell the 780's and get two 970's.
Easton Dark
Member
And it only matters if you pay much attention to those specific features, anyway.
I rarely ever look (and I mean REALLY LOOK) at shadows. They can be black blocks and I probably wouldn't notice. I do notice water quality, though.
That wouldn't even make sense. That's literally a side grade lol.
opticalmace
Member
Waste o' money imo. You'll just regret it in 4-6 months when new cards come out...
At least get some life out of them (unless you are able to sell them for a fantastic price).
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Well, what else were you planning to do? Throw the 780s in the trash after you got the 980s?
FC4 is a great game and a great looker too, if you want something to push your new hardware.
http://a.pomf.se/pafycb.webm
http://a.pomf.se/pafycb.webm
My 970 Strix came in the mail this morning. Put the beast to work immediately and so far I'm pretty impressed with the results. Boosts at 1455mz (without me having done anything to the clocks).
However, the buzzing is much louder than my previous MSI 780. It does not coil whine yet.
However, the buzzing is much louder than my previous MSI 780. It does not coil whine yet.
Just got my EVGA 980 today and ran Firestrike. I'm new to this, so do these numbers look solid?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4862119?
Nothing is OCd -- just plain stock for now.
Also: when it hit high temps around 80C, I smelled a faint plastic-like burning odour. Reminded me of the smell of a space heater. Is this the card just breaking in or is this worrysome?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4862119?
Nothing is OCd -- just plain stock for now.
Also: when it hit high temps around 80C, I smelled a faint plastic-like burning odour. Reminded me of the smell of a space heater. Is this the card just breaking in or is this worrysome?
Make sure you take the plastic off the little window on the GPU. I didn't see it until I saw an air bubble accidentally.... a month later.
Also make sure your fan is working, and if the problem persists and you are really worried either return it or double check your PSU is not fucking up somewhere.
CyanideFuse
Member
Shadows will always be the first setting I reduce if I have frame rate issues to see if that helps. I cannot say I notice much difference in them so they are easily the one setting I can live with cutting back.
Smushroomed
Banned
Can we move coil whine whine into a separate topic
Oh, thanks, I missed those two little plastic parts on the edges. That seems to have done the trick. No more odour!
Dictator93
Member
What is the performance difference like in the games you play?
Well, not huge at all but I knew that.
Like a 15/20% boost on a limited range of games (Metro Last Light, Unity,Thief, Far Cry 4, Shadow of Mordor, Lords of the Fallen), nothing at all in games like Metro 2033, Splinter Cell Blacklist, AC4, Tomb Raider).
My Unigine Valley score has barely gone up (4056 on my 780, 4319 on my 970).
Unigine Heaven :
780 - 1937
970 - 2006
But as I said I knew my 970 would be a sidegrade for the most part. At least 4gb should not limit me too much for future releases but I've already given up all hope of 1080p/60fps/max settings in 2015 heavy hitters.
No...but going from GTX 780 to GTX 970 wouldn't even be worth the hassle since the 2 cards are literally within 5-10% of each other.
my local retailer has put up one of the 970s on sale. (US$298)
found its Amazon link - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNXVPS2/?tag=neogaf0e-20
any thoughts on this?
it's by Zotac
found its Amazon link - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNXVPS2/?tag=neogaf0e-20
any thoughts on this?
it's by Zotac
ISee
Member
Not a too dramatic special offer, the standart price is ~300-310 here.
The standart Zotac 970 is a gtx 970 card, there is nothing else to say. It's louder, hoter, cheaper and has a lower OC potential then the MSI, Gigabyte, Asus etc.
Is it a bad card? No. Is it a superb card? No.
Are you looking for a low budget gtx 970? Go for it or take a look on the Palit GTX 970 Jetstream. Normaly it's only ~10 bucks more expansive and better (faster OC, better cooling, more quiet). A good low budget GTX 970 imo.
paolo11
Member
Actually I can tell the difference. Also, I got the cards so I might as well tell you guys the FPS. I am going to ask a question about MSI afterburner and fan curves.
a) Witcher 2 1080p max settings with ubersampling. Averages 100 fps dips to 66fps GPU 1 temps 78 or 75 GPU 2 temps 63
b) Crysis 3 1080p max settings even mSAA Averages between 60 to 85fps, it goes to 100 indoors. same GPU temps as Witcher 2
c) Arkham City max settings GPU 1 is 53 degrees while GPU 2 is 38
d) AC UNITY max settings but msaa 4x. For the life of me. I cannot get it to constant 60fps. Its mostly 60 fps but in some crowded areas or some areas, t goes to 50 to 40. What's even worse is that my temps for GPU1 is 80 to 85 and GPU 2 is 68. Then it crashes. I did a custom fan curve in MSI afterburner for 75 speed on 70 degrees and 100 speed on 80 degrees and above is this normal?
And speaking of custom fan curve, If i do that fan curve playing Unity for 3 hours everyday, will it kill my fans very quickly?
Felix Lighter
Member
This was posted in the ASUS ROG Swift thread. It's a hotfix so it's not something that will autoupdate. Give that a try.
the only other card at that price is the Palit with the reference single fan cooler
Singapore retail
EDIT - would this Zotac 970 GTX be a definite upgrade over my Asus 280X though?
awesome, thanks for much for the link
opticalmace
Member
Yep
CyanideFuse
Member
Do you have your own fan profile applied? I tend to make the fans kick it up a bit to stop getting to those temps.
Naked Snake
Member
Speaking of PSUs, there's a cheap brand called Huntkey that's popular in budget builds in Asia, when I went shopping every store would show me a 500W Huntkey PSU when I asked for the best one they had. The box looked cheap as hell and it cost like $35, and even the shop keepers said "it's not really 500W as it says on the box". I shuddered and put it back on the shelf.
To my dismay, when I went to return my MSI 970 with the faulty fans to the shop, to test it the technician quickly put together a barebones rig (literally with no case) from parts he had laying all over his repair room, and proceeded to hook up that same 500W Huntkey PSU to power the rig to test the 970. I felt nervous and asked him if he thinks that PSU is enough, he said yeah it'll do.
He ran several tests of FurMark and to my surprise the card didn't go up in flames.
Edit: apparently the consequences of having an inadequate PSU is far less dramatic:
Source
To my dismay, when I went to return my MSI 970 with the faulty fans to the shop, to test it the technician quickly put together a barebones rig (literally with no case) from parts he had laying all over his repair room, and proceeded to hook up that same 500W Huntkey PSU to power the rig to test the 970. I felt nervous and asked him if he thinks that PSU is enough, he said yeah it'll do.
He ran several tests of FurMark and to my surprise the card didn't go up in flames.
Edit: apparently the consequences of having an inadequate PSU is far less dramatic:
guru3d said:
Source
That was my problem with the strix too. I RMAd it for an evga FTW. It also buzzes but not nearly as loudly. It is bearable now.
What worries me with EVGA is that only 2 heatpipes make contact with the chip, I'll probably try the MSI when it will be back in stock.
Naked Snake
Member
There's a good deal on the Gigabyte 970 Gaming... must resist. Keep telling myself the card is too long, wait for the MSI...
<_<
<_<
The FTW doesn't have that problem. New heat pipes. Its more expensive though
If it fits in your case what's the problem?