Need opinion for 4k GPU setup, please advise

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xxxlun4icexxx

xxxlun4icexxx

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Jun 13, 2013
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Hi all,

I just recently upgrade my whole PC to the following below.

Mobo - gigabyte x99 g1 wifi
CPU - i7 5930k
GPU - 1x gigabyte g1 windforce 980
RAM - 16gb ddr4 2600
Power - evga 1300W supply.
Case - Corsair 500R

However, with my current GPU I can only run bf4 (the most important one to me) on medium (at a good 80 fps, on high it is around 60 but still not as smooth, I always use vsync). I just want to get it up to max.

Anyways, my question is, what would be your advice for GPUs with what's currently out to get the best performance? I don't have a budget issue, so even if you said to get the best performance I'd need to go a different direction, I could always sell my 980 to go that way. Should I just get another 980 and go from there? I've heard the radeon 295 is pretty good... I've never used a radeon card though, and I'm not sure if the water cooler would fit in my case. The options I were thinking about are below. Which set would be the best performance/most likely to fit in my case lol. Needless to say, I am only planning on using 1 monitor, that's all i need to refresh. I'm just worried that with new titles coming out like bfhl that with only 4GB of vram in a 980 newer titles this year will destroy it:

2X/3X GTX 980

2x R-295x

1x/2x Titan black

1x Titan Z

which comp?


Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you very much,

Thanks guys,
 
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werberman


SLI and Crossfire do have their...
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quilciri

quilciri

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Mar 16, 2012
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A second 4gb 980 is your best choice since you already have one. There is no benefit to 8gb RAM even at 4k.

I'd like to clarify one other thing:

970 SLI performs better at 1080p, but at 4k, the smaller memory bus on the 970's hurts the card.

At 4k, 290x in cossfire (or 295x2) performs better than SLI 970's
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/11/19/nvidia_geforce_gtx_970_sli_4k_nv_surround_review/2#.VLakoSvF-4I

Why Nvidia chooses to choke all their cards like this is beyond me. Nearly all AMD cards have wider memory buses than Nvidia's, and as you increase resolution beyond 1080p, the AMD cards go up in performance relative to the Nvidia cards.

 
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xxxlun4icexxx

xxxlun4icexxx

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Jun 13, 2013
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Thanks David, I have 3 more quick questions for you if that's alright.

#1:Would the power supply in my system be enough for 3x gtx 980, or would I have to get an upgraded power supply? And to be honest if I could, I'd rather just stick with the 980s.

#2: for 4k, why are the 980s/970s better than the titan black/titan Z. Does the extra 2 GB of vram not make a difference? Is it just because the 980s/970s are newer?

#3: this is just on 4k in general. 4k is heavily dependent on VRAM correct? Well SLI kind of confuses me when it comes to 4k. Because, when you use SLI, you don't combine your VRAM, you still only have 4GB VRAM if your cards are 4 GB by themselves. So if you hit the mark where you are using more than that, you get crappy performance. However, why is it then that whenever you add an extra card, you still none the less get a performance boost? That still puzzles me. Can any1 offer an explanation on that? Does that boost have nothing to do with VRAM?


 
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davidarad02

davidarad02

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1. the power supply should be fine, as even 1000w is enough for 3 980's.
2. the titan black/titan Z are mainly for pro users, as they have a ton on CUDA cores - for adobe applications, and they are completely overpriced for gaming.
3. 4k isn't really vram dependent. yes, it will take more then 1080p, but the 4gigs in the 980s should be just fine for a 4k monitor. and thats the way sli works. it will scale pretty bad for every card you add, but since the 980s are the top of the line, its the only way to get the best performance possible. btw, if you this the 295x2 is a single card, you are wrong, as it is basically 2 290x's in crossfire
 
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davidarad02

davidarad02

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the titan black and the 980 are similar, yet the titan black is way more expensive. if he really has the money, 980s are the way to go.
 
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quilciri

quilciri

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I already said the 980 and the black were the same :D. The Z, however is a lot faster.

In a more practical world, I agree with you and I already recommended a second 980 for the OP.

a pair of 295x2 is by far the best performance on your budget; the issue is that few games support more than 2 GPU's (that would be 4). I'd worry about your PSU's ability to support those cards (470 watts each at peak)
 
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davidarad02

davidarad02

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dude. the titan z is basically the nvidia equivalent of the 295x2. its 2 titan blacks. get the 980s instead. power consumption, heat output and overclocking potential is way better then the titans, because its based on maxwell, when the titans are based on kepler
 
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xxxlun4icexxx

xxxlun4icexxx

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Jun 13, 2013
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Just an update on this I ended up getting 3 gigabyte 980s and well, 3 pretty much performs the exact same as 1 because i can only use 1! Basically, most recent titles must just have bad SLI optimization because none of them are playable with SLI. I've tried a number of different settings but the only one that works well is battlefield 4. battlefield hardline, dying light, and a few others are unplayable in SLI. I've heard some other people telling me they are running SLI setups for those games and it's fine, but for some reason I can't get mine to work well. It's just odd because bf4 works fine so i'm assuming it's not a hardware or install error. Just something going on on the back end.
 
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werberman

werberman

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For cost, 3x 980s is probably your best bet if you really want to stay nVidia. Unfortunately, 4k gaming uses pretty near 4GB of VRAM, so in the future, it's likely that you'll have to start turning things off. The only way around this is either a Titan Z (which is about the same as 2.3x GTX 980s) which has 6GB per GPU or two Titan Blacks (which is more cost effective and has slightly better performance).

Ideally, you should grab a R9 295x2 for $1500 and call it a day - only has 4GB per GPU, but will blow everything else out of the water in terms of performance per dollar
 
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werberman

werberman

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4K resolutions require 4 times the amount of VRAM as 1080p - this means if you're using 800MB for a single task at 1080p, you'll need 2.4~ GB at 4k. This is, of course, assuming you keep the same filtering (MSAA x8, for example). There's a great chart tomshardware posted a month or so ago somewhere....
 
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werberman

werberman

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SLI and Crossfire do have their disadvantages (compatability and stability are the most irritating). Most people with the R9 295x2 seem to love them - actually has a higher driver rating that the Titan Z!
 
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