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[KKRT00]

As not quite distant GTX 970 owner i must say i dont like this thread very much

Still 3.5gb is enough for me, so i hope that Nvidia at least will release some driver that will not only mitigate issue, but will allow to block those 0.5-0.6gb of RAM permanently.
I will be moving to Pascal anyway asap, so 'just' 3.5gb doesnt seems like a problem, imho.

 

[mephixto]

As not quite distant GTX 970 owner i must say i dont like this thread very much

Still 3.5gb is enough for me, so i hope that Nvidia at least will release some driver that will not only mitigate issue, but will allow to block those 0.5-0.6gb of RAM permanently.
I will be moving to Pascal anyway asap, so 'just' 3.5gb doesnt seems like a problem, imho.

Same, also I have no options bought the cards from Amazon at launch but it was an international shipping so returns are a pain in the ass and wallet.

 

[wazoo]

As not quite distant GTX 970 owner i must say i dont like this thread very much

Still 3.5gb is enough for me, so i hope that Nvidia at least will release some driver that will not only mitigate issue, but will allow to block those 0.5-0.6gb of RAM permanently.
I will be moving to Pascal anyway asap, so 'just' 3.5gb doesnt seems like a problem, imho.

Blocking the 0.5GB will only make your gaming even slower, since you will increase your swap through the PCI express bus to fetch textures on the -even-slower main RAM.

 

[Ramza]

I was gonna build a PC with an i7-4790k and a 970. Would it be worth it to go with an i5-4690k and a 980 instead?

 

[jfoul]

 

[NJDEN]

Do we know for sure that the 900 series cards will fully take advantage of DirectX 12? I read from an article that Maxwell cards would be fully supported, but other places say only next generation hardware will work.


I'm half debating returning mine, but at the same time I don't imagine gaming on anything higher than 1080P and if it fully supports DirectX 12 then I feel like this purchase can be justified.

 

[pestul]

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=5002403#post5002403

A Nvidia rep chatting live with forum members about the issue.

Here's the question I just asked:

Thanks for taking the time MrBenB. Why does GPU-Z and other vBIOS tools indicate the incorrect specs?

And, will there possibly be a discounted upgrade program to the GTX980 for those who like the architecture, but are unsatisfied with the 4GB memory configuration?

 

[CyanideFuse]

I kind of want to return mine and get my money back. Don't really have any games that need much horsepower and I still have my 670. I'll probably get another card for The Witcher 3.

I am in the same position; I still have my 670 for my secondary PC.

I shouldn't have been so bloody impulsive. Even before these revelations I was annoyed at myself for buying the card as the games I was/am playing are more than fine with the 670 (I am not averse to dropping settings).

I will give it until early next week to think about what to do. I want to see if more benchmark tests crop up and not just Shadow of Mordor. Is Dying Light a good test or is that game currently a complete performance mess regardless?

 

[wazoo]

So 4 stutters in 28secs where fps actually double (double avg frame time) and they say that this is not perceivable? Hmmm
Compare that to the 3Gb chart (V High settings), were any spikes are very close to the avg frame times.

Nitpicking at its best.

The game runs at insane settings and you barely see anything different.

You can even see peaks in the lower curves that do not appear in the upper curve, like between 20 and 25 sec.

 

[HT UK]

I'm in the exact same boat as that guy. Would've just bought a single 980

 

[LilJoka]

Nitpicking at its best.

The game runs at insane settings and you barely see anything different.

You can even see peaks in the lower curves that do not appear in the upper curve, like between 20 and 25 sec.

Well it depends if both runs were in the same environment, they dont say. That would mean its irrelevant where the spikes occurred.

Also they only used ~60Mb of the 512Mb segment at 3600MB, so they should do some benches with 3900MB in use or similar. 980 vs 970. That would be the best way.

 

[KKRT00]

Blocking the 0.5GB will only make your gaming even slower, since you will increase your swap through the PCI express bus to fetch textures on the -even-slower main RAM.

I mean blocking, like faking to windows that additional 0.5gb does not exist, like on 1gb vram cards, 2gb does not exist.

 

[LilJoka]

I mean blocking, like faking to windows that additional 0.5gb does not exist, like on 1gb vram cards, 2gb does not exist.

Here is the thing, if nVidia optimises it right per game, that I see the 512Mb helping, if not (like possibly in a year when GTX 1000 is released), then it might be a hindrance. Only in that scneario could it be better using 3.5Gb capped.

It wouldn't be using system ram unless you went over the 3.5Gb cap.

 

[ISee]

so has anyone returned, or is anyone planning to return their 970 in light of this information?

I will return it and then wait for r380x benchmarks before I decide wich GPU I am going to buy next. Till then my HD4400 will be enough for normal office and web browsing and my PS4 for gaming.

Some retailers in germany already started to refund gtx 970 cards (independent of manufactorer) others (like mine) are right now talking with NVIDIA and waiting if they are going to offer something (money, free games) before they start to refund the cards.
We should know more by the end of the week.

 

[SpotAnime]

I'm in the exact same boat as that guy. Would've just bought a single 980

Yeah I would have gone with the 980 or simply grabbed a 7XX at the time, as they were on fire sale and really, really cheap then.

Because the older Nvidia lines are discontinued, the only options are budget cards or the 980. Nice of them to give us options when forcing our hand to return or keep.

I'm returning my 970. I didn't spend $370 on a card that would have had the same shelf life as a 7XX card at half the price. I have a 560Ti, will be using that for the time being.

 

[Mengy]

I'm returning my 970. I didn't spend $370 on a card that would have had the same shelf life as a 7XX card at half the price. I have a 560Ti, will be using that for the time being.

Yeah I went from a 560Ti to this 970 too, but I just can't go back now. I'm too spoiled now by my games on max settings which my 560Ti couldn't do. Euro Truck Simulator 2 alone is reason enough for me to keep this 970, it's SOOO damn nice and fluid at full settings.

Even flawed as it is, I love my 970, and it was worth the money for me. I may regret it down the road, but I'll simply have to tweak graphics settings if I come across a game that hits the 3.5GB wall so to speak.

 

[harSon]

I was hoping to purchase this card since it's currently the best upgrade for my Alienware X51 r2

 

[The Omega Man]

I fear those nvidia driver modifications are going to be similar to the so called fixes they implemented at driver level to fix the FX 5800 aka the dustbuster.

 

[Dictator93]

Just advised my brother to return his 970s. Potential stuttering for almost 800 USD of GPUs is unacceptable in my book. He is at 1440p and aims for some high quality graphic presets. I couldnt in good conscience let him the keep the cards

In the mean time he will be spooling along with a 560 level GPU until The witcher 3 comes out. Which is the whole reason why I advised him for the 2x970s and the 1440p mintor in the first place.

 

[pestul]

I fear those nvidia driver modifications are going to be similar to the so called fixes they implemented at driver level to fix the FX 5800 aka the dustbuster.

That's the question I just posted to MrBenB Nvidia rep on Guru3d.

Thanks MrBenB. I'm sure many of us who are concerned would upgrade to a GTX980 at a discounted price.

As for the driver modifications, as long as NVidia is transparent in what alterations they have to make to improve memory performance on the GTX970, that would be satisfactory. I don't believe anyone wants to see corners cut in say reducing image quality to maintain near 3.5GB usage.

 

[Dictator93]

That's the question I just posted to MrBenB Nvidia rep on Guru3d.

That would also be something I would tell him to look into tbh. The main thing is that he doesnt have the 970s in HIS system any longer. I mean, the card is fine for certain builds obviously. Is great in fact. But not for his.

 

[KKRT00]

Here is the thing, if nVidia optimises it right per game, that I see the 512Mb helping, if not (like possibly in a year when GTX 1000 is released), then it might be a hindrance. Only in that scneario could it be better using 3.5Gb capped.

It wouldn't be using system ram unless you went over the 3.5Gb cap.

The problem is that some games just use as much as they see free, like for example Frostbite 3 uses as much VRAM there is, so artificially 'blocking' the amount, would definitely helped in some way.
Well, i will just use Nvidia Inspector more often to analyse VRAM usage it seems, if performance will be spiking.

 

[harSon]

Do you think it's worth purchasing a 970 to throw into my Alienware x51? I'm not going to be purchasing a new gaming PC anytime soon, and even with its problems, it's still by far the best video card I can get for the thing.

 

[SpotAnime]

Be aware, if you purchased through Amazon they will try to ding you with a restocking fee if it's outside of the return window. I ordered mine on September 22, and yes, they are returning it. I also told them I would not return if I got hit with a fee, which they said they have noted on my account to wave. Skeptical, but I have the chat transcript.

And that restocking fee, it's assessed by the warehouse and is not explicitly stated in the policy as a dollar value or percentage. So if they do decide to ding me, I have no idea how much that would be. Nice...

There's no way Nvidia can call this a 4GB card if they are going to cap at 3.5GB. And since many justified the price paid against that VRAM, that .5GB does indeed have a dollar value attached to it that they are expecting the consumer to eat.

At least I didn't have to go through this convoluted process that Nvidia has set forth for consumers, which is a) create a forum account on some board or Reddit; b) contact the Nvidia social media guy; c) Pray that they can do something to help. What a bunch of baloney that solution is...nice and friendly for the problem they created.

 

[Marlenus]

Do you think it's worth purchasing a 970 to throw into my Alienware x51? I'm not going to be purchasing a new gaming PC anytime soon, and even with its problems, it's still by far the best video card I can get for the thing.

Yes, there is nothing wrong with card really. What is wrong is how NV handled the information around launch. If you buy it now, with full knowledge of its potential short comings, then great as it is still a good card and you are making an informed choice. Where a lot of people are taking issue is that they were not afforded the opportunity to make a truly informed choice and now have a card that may not be suitable for their needs.

I might suggest waiting a week or 2 to see if there are any deals that come about due to it so you can save a bit more money.

 

[Dambrosi]

Which one ? If don't mind me asking

If you mean the case, it's an AeroCool Dead Silence. Living up to its name so far.

if you mean the card, it's a PNY XLR8 GTX 970.

 

[Mad Season]

knowing what we know, it seems the 980 is the card to really go for...

 

[opticalmace]

knowing what we know, it seems the 980 is the card to really go for...

I dunno. There are fewer issues but it's quite a bit more expensive for not a huge increase in performance.

 

[pestul]

knowing what we know, it seems the 980 is the card to really go for...

Well, we all bought the GTX970 because it had great performance and it was significantly cheaper than the 980. Most of us can't shell out $500+ on a single gpu. Because AMD offers two competitive cards in the 290/290x that offer full bandwidth access to 4GB GDDR5, it was easy to assume that the Maxwell line would as well. And we were led to believe that it was in fact similar.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

knowing what we know, it seems the 980 is the card to really go for...

I agree, I just initiated the step up process with EVGA. it still sucks to know im going to spend another $200. Watch AMD come announce a 6 GB card this year. I'll be so pissed. lol

 

[Naked Snake]

What other places are you guys following this story? Seeing how Nvidia representatives are replying to people elsewhere but not here, seems like NeoGAF is low on Nvidia's radar. I know Andy (AndyBNV) is here but he's been completely absent from this discussion.

 

[pestul]

I agree, I just initiated the step up process with EVGA. it still sucks to know im going to spend another $200. Watch AMD come announce a 6 GB card this year. I'll be so pissed. lol

Err, I would have waited on that. I mean, get the conversation started with EVGA, but not do it yet. You really have no way of knowing how Nvidia will respond to this for upset 970 owners. Nvidia rep MrBenB on Guru3d Forums said that he would pass on my query to corporate about a cheaper step up for 970 owners.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too much yet, but I certainly wouldn't shell out an extra $200 now when there very well could be compensation after the fallout settles. Personally, I think they're only going to go with the return/refund option, but we'll see.

EDIT: Oh b0bbyJ03, you're probably stepping up from an older gen card aren't you, not the GTX970? Because I didn't think stepup was offered for cards in the same architecture line.

 

[Zane]

That's the question I just posted to MrBenB Nvidia rep on Guru3d.

What was his answer?

 

[pestul]

What was his answer?

No answer on it yet.

 

[Naked Snake]

Err, I would have waited on that. I mean, get conversation started with EVGA, but not do it yet. You really have no way of knowing how Nvidia will respond to this for upset 970 owners. Nvidia rep MrBenB on Guru3d Forums said that he would pass on my query to corporate about a cheaper step up for 970 owners.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too much yet, but I certainly wouldn't shell out an extra $200 now when there very well could be compensation after the fallout settles. Personally, I think they're only going to go with the return/refund option, but we'll see.

Sorry for attempting to burst your bubble, but if they offer a full refund for 970s (which seems to be the way they're going) then I don't see asking for a discounted step-up justified. If they're giving you your full money back, you should have to pay full price for the 980 like everyone else. (Or deduct the price of the 970 from the 980's price, which is the same thing). Just my opinion.

 

[pestul]

Sorry for attempting to burst your bubble, but if they offer a full refund for 970s (which seems to be the way they're going) then I don't see asking for a discounted step-up justified. If they're giving you your full money back, you should have to pay full price for the 980 like everyone else. (Or deduct the price of the 970 from the 980's price, which is the same thing). Just my opinion.

While I agree with you, I'm just offering an angle that might suit their business model better. A lot of people who choose the refund option would likely switch over to AMD. The same people who spend $300-400 on a videocard are not going to suddenly spend $500+ on the GTX980. And to them, because Nvidia does not offer anything in that segment, the only option is AMD (or wait).

Again, I don't think it will happen, but if they want customers to stay loyal to the brand, I think any and everything is on the table personally. And what can it hurt to go for it. Most videocard buyers suffer remorse almost instantly when a new architecture is launched that is both faster and cheaper. It would be another thing GTX980 buyers would just put up with.

 

[Thrakier]

I agree, I just initiated the step up process with EVGA. it still sucks to know im going to spend another $200. Watch AMD come announce a 6 GB card this year. I'll be so pissed. lol

200$ for 500MB. We are back in the 90s.

 

[IronRinn]

Skimmed through this thread. Fucking cuh-razy. Now I guess I have to decide if I'm going to return my two MSI 970s.

 

[LicenceToK1ll]

Wow reading this fuckup makes me happy i went with a 280x 3GB last year around this time. made me good money with mining too.

ill wait it out till the 6GB+ ,stacked ram 16nm Pascal goodness come out.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

Err, I would have waited on that. I mean, get the conversation started with EVGA, but not do it yet. You really have no way of knowing how Nvidia will respond to this for upset 970 owners. Nvidia rep MrBenB on Guru3d Forums said that he would pass on my query to corporate about a cheaper step up for 970 owners.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too much yet, but I certainly wouldn't shell out an extra $200 now when there very well could be compensation after the fallout settles. Personally, I think they're only going to go with the return/refund option, but we'll see.

EDIT: Oh b0bbyJ03, you're probably stepping up from an older gen card aren't you, not the GTX970? Because I didn't think stepup was offered for cards in the same architecture line.

so here is my situation, i purchased my 970 at launch which means I'm past the point were a step up was even an option. as far as stepping up from the same architecture, im not sure about but I used the "false advertising" on Nvidia's part as an argument to why they should let me step up an they said yes.

200$ for 500MB. We are back in the 90s.

lol, not exactly, you're also forgetting the performance increase all together. tbh im just using this as an excuse to get the 980, which I originally wanted but did not want to pay the price for.

 

[Duxxy3]

I go back and forth between AMD cards and Nvidia cards from one upgrade to the next. This news puts a black mark in Nvidia's book for me. I guess we'll see how Nvidia makes it right for the people that bought the card.

 

[kanuuna]

Reading all about this has made me a little bit uneasy about the PC I'm having assembled with selected parts. I think I could still maybe turn the SLI 970 setup I had gone for a single GTX 980, if I were to call the shop tomorrow (and get a refund for the difference). Would it be the better choice?
I'm hoping to play games for some time to come at 3440x1440.

 

[pestul]

One hitch I can think of with the upgrade discount idea is in Nvidia figuring out where the cutoff point is. How recent of a GTX970 purchase do you allow it to occur from?

Yeah, it ain't going to happen. And I'll be keeping my 970 anyway. I don't think I was ever going to go SLI with 4GB.

 

[holygeesus]

Can anyone explain why someone would genuinely return a 970 and buy a 290X when the Nvidia scores better in benchmarks at higher resolutions, almost across the board? People need to look at real-world performance rather than numbers on a spec-sheet.

Just my opinion.

 

[Korezo]

Anyone tried to return to Newegg outside of return window yet?

 

[Mengy]

Can anyone explain why someone would genuinely return a 970 and buy a 290X when the Nvidia scores better in benchmarks at higher resolutions, almost across the board? People need to look at real-world performance rather than numbers on a spec-sheet.

Just my opinion.

Yep, that's why I'm keeping mine. Even flawed, it's still a great card and it's working fantastic for me at 1080p.

 

[wazoo]

Can anyone explain why someone would genuinely return a 970 and buy a 290X when the Nvidia scores better in benchmarks at higher resolutions, almost across the board? People need to look at real-world performance rather than numbers on a spec-sheet.

Just my opinion.

People are in 1/ hysteria mode or 2/ get a benefit/free game/three 3 cards, who knows ?

 

[Haint]

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=5002403#post5002403

A Nvidia rep chatting live with forum members about the issue.

Here's the question I just asked:

Weren't people expecting a 6GB or 8GB 970 to come out at some point, or are the specifics of the design issue such that the core 970 hardware can never access more than 3.5GB at the expected badwidth? If it is solvable, it'd probably be more realistic to ask about free upgrades to a 6GB or 8GB 970 revision, not a 980.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

Anyone tried to return to Newegg outside of return window yet?

I did. They said no

 

[Dictator93]

I did. They said no

Are you being serious? I am contacting Nvdia then...