I need the best graphics card for money (after the whole 970 3.5GB incident)

Ragnarous

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I'm thinking of replacing my graphics card and i was so damn near 970 but after i found out the 3.5 gb i thought there is no reason to get it if i already have a 3gb card (despite the core clocks etc..) So my question is.. After finding out about 970 what is the best option for me? a 980 or AMD cards?
 
Solution
Certainly not, Titan Z for some reason has charged $1000 just to put two Titan Blacks onto the same PCB and make it a triple slot card. Besides, Titan Z/Black, while they have massive amount of VRAM, lacks in GPU power (970 and 980 competes in performance against Titan Black). If I were to SLI Titan Blacks, I would buy two and use the $1000 to upgrade my system to be SLI compatible.

The card I would be waiting for is the cut down Titan X (as most call it, 980ti), it should have titan like performance, half the VRAM (but still higher than 980) and cost less than current Titan X. That or wait until 300 series.

Of course if you were in the market for used cards that'd be a different story. But I am not. I avoid any and all refurbs and...

TripleBullet

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If you are going to game above 1440p then and only then does the 3.5G vRam issue matter. 3.5G is more than enough for 1080p and 1440p. Otherwise the 970's performance itself is amazing.
 

Ragnarous

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Current card EVGA gtx 660 SUPERCLOCKED and display 1920x1080 but i also have my old monitor installed which is 1366x768
 

Ragnarous

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The problem is I want it to be really futureproof.. I noticed far cry on ultra settings was getting 2.7GB out of my card on 1920x1080 and it isn't even THAT too much of a game for graphics.. Imagine what will happen when games get a little bit better better.. If it was 4GB i would gladly buy it but not 3.5!
 

Ragnarous

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In current gaming yes, but will it be after about a year or two? I'm not gonna spent 450 euros (my country price) for a graphics card which won't last me for a long time!
 

mrhippo900

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Depending on what you do with the card. It might be able to last 3-4 years max.
 

Ragnarous

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The problem is I want it to be really futureproof.. I noticed far cry on ultra settings was getting 2.7GB out of my card on 1920x1080 and it isn't even THAT too much of a game for graphics.. Imagine what will happen when games get a little bit better better.. If it was 4GB i would gladly buy it but not 3.5!

 

mrhippo900

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I'm only gonna say this once, there is no such thing as "future proof" computer technology evolves so quickly which makes it very hard to keep up. Again 3.5GB is enough VRAM for gaming, but if you think its a problem (Which in my opinion you really shouldn't) Get a 980 or something with more VRAM.
 

TripleBullet

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It won't really matter unless you're going to get a higher resolution monitor. Another .5GB isn't going to make that much of a difference in the near future. The 970 is fine. The only alternative is a 980 or R9 290x.

Again though. Most people will still be 1080p for probably another 5 years. 1440p is the next step before 4K. So I don't think you have much to worry about. Also EVGA has the step up program you can use to get a better card and trade in your old one towards it to save $ when you need to upgrade.
 

Spudmaster

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I feel very far behind i'm still playing at 1366x768 XD
 

TripleBullet

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At least it's widescreen lol! :wahoo:
 

Ragnarous

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I didn't know that!! :O My evga gtx 660 got fried and i requested an RMA but they only agreed to send me a new one of the same model! Do you think i could tell them to give me a discount on their 970 or 980?
 

chenw

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Much of the controversy around 970 is the fact that nVidia somehow managed a very large 'miscommunication', and completely missed it until the whole VRAM segmentation was finally unearthed. Most of the benchmarks that showed how 970's performed when VRAM use was over 3.5GB were mostly proof of concept, as most of the benchmarks were using unrealistic conditions to 'force' 3.5GB VRAM usage.

The only technical issue this ram segmentation arises is when you are using 970's for 4k, but reviews had already revealed that 970 was performing somewhat subpar compared to 980 or 290x, just that the reason behind it was assumed to be a combination of GPU power limit and 256 bit bus limit.

If you are still looking for alternatives, 980 does not have that segmentation problem, but it's over 60% more expensive, and you may just be paying that just for the sake of avoiding the issue (it is not often that game's VRAM usage would fall right in that gap). 290x is a similar offering from AMD, but unfortunately drivers has been lacking from them lately, and games that favor nVidia favor it to a greater degree than games that favor AMD.

In short, in principle, nVidia wronged many people, and people were angry, especially the way they handled it. However, 970 still perform exactly as it did in reviews, superbly.

Although that coil whine issue...
 

Ragnarous

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Thats the point! Even if NVIDIA is recommended, that best buck for 970 left us really dissapointed! I tried to look at the other side for AMD but in no way AMD is now a good choice.. And since the almighty NVIDIA disappointed me I have no idea what to spend my money on now... 980 is not worth the extra money, but 970 removed the most important feature for me (0.5 gb vram) So what do i do now?

 

chenw

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Yeah, I know, dealing with the devil on both sides.

Just as one of the forum members post it, when nVidia and AMD does something awesome, they also do something equally un-awesome as well... Newton's law of expectation I guess...

In my situation I went to the company that would offer me a product most closely resembles the experience I am looking for, in this case it's nVidia. As much as I don't like how they handled the 970 RAM segmentation issue, but AMD is not exactly offering a product up to par right now. 290x is great card in raw power, driver is just lacking, Xfire profiles even worse.

The way I concluded was, 970 still has 4GB VRAM, and that 0.5GB VRAM is still a good bit faster than dumping the data onto the system RAM instead, and the chances of games that land right in between 3.5GB and 4GB is not going to often at all, and probably will only require turning down a few details to alleviate. It is because of this 0.5GB ram that I have decided to stand by 970's, and avoid 980's even more. In the light of the VRAM issue, and reports that games are hitting this VRAM mark, I am of the opinion that 980 won't have that much longer, 0.5GB VRAM isn't going to 'futureproof' 980's for very long, especially we are still in the console transition period, so VRAM requirements will probably creep up eventually.

If I were in a market for new card now, I would definitely settle for nothing less than 6GB.
 

Ragnarous

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So shall I pretty much buy a TITAN Z? =D
 

chenw

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Certainly not, Titan Z for some reason has charged $1000 just to put two Titan Blacks onto the same PCB and make it a triple slot card. Besides, Titan Z/Black, while they have massive amount of VRAM, lacks in GPU power (970 and 980 competes in performance against Titan Black). If I were to SLI Titan Blacks, I would buy two and use the $1000 to upgrade my system to be SLI compatible.

The card I would be waiting for is the cut down Titan X (as most call it, 980ti), it should have titan like performance, half the VRAM (but still higher than 980) and cost less than current Titan X. That or wait until 300 series.

Of course if you were in the market for used cards that'd be a different story. But I am not. I avoid any and all refurbs and second electronic equipment, so I have no idea what would be a 'worth it' price for the old Titan Blacks.
 
Solution

Ragnarous

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True i did the mistake of buying a refurbished motherboard and it only lasted for a month.. Now i have it on my shelf for its handsomeness! Ok then i'll wait a bit more ! Thanx a lot :)
 

TripleBullet

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For the step up program to work you have to have your GPU registered on their website within 30 or 90 days of purchase. I am also unsure on how exactly the step up program works but many say it is wonderful. If you would like to try and see if you could use the step up program here is the link.

http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/

Even if you can not use the step up program the 970 is still probably the best way to go. Good luck!