Need help deciding on GPU.

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

SO the 980 Ti came out today and it looks marvelous. But I don't know what I should do.

I currently have a 980 SC which has a marvelous bin of 91%. I have that card stable at 1540mhz which in game runs around 1680mhz.

I have that in the Step UP program. I can get a 980 TI for only 125 bucks. The problem with the step up program is they would send me reference module not the SC model of the 980 ti.

So I cant decide if I should SLI the 980 by getting another 980 SC or if I should just get a single 980 Ti fro 150 even though it isn't a SC edition.

Or should I just use the money I was going to use to buy the second 980 and add 150 or so and get a second 980ti to sli it with the 980 ti they would give me?

I currently play at 1080p but I cant turn on every setting to ultra on a few games and still hit that 60 fps mark I want. Thats why I want to SLI or get the Ti. I also use DSR if I have the extra power. But I am not looking at native 2k or 4k resolutions till next year .

kwa-e · Jun 1, 2015

The last option would be preferable, Even without overclocks the 980ti is going to be a significant increase in performance and Nvidia stock coolers aren't all that noisy anyway.

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

I dont care for the noise. I play game with headphones. Its the temps I am concerned about. But I dont see anyone pushing the 980 ti past 1400 mhz when my 980 does 1680 currently. You think two 980 ti at roughly 1350 mhz will out beat two 980 running at 1680?

Tchota · Jun 1, 2015

If your monitor have a refresh rate of 60hz, until you get a different monitor (2k or 4k), you shouldn't buy any new card. it will be a waist of money.From now to the time when you get a new monitor prices will most likely drop and since its only then you will need a new GPU, you should only buy it then.

Until the single GTX 980's performance becomes unsatisfactory, there is no point in getting a new card.

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

Tchota :

Well thats why I am thinking about doing it. With my single 980 even at those speeds I cant get games to run at 1080p/60fps with ultra. Lets take Witcher 3 for example. If I turn everything to ultra/Max even with hair-works off I get around 50ish fps and I dont do that. With hair works on it gets around 42ish.

So thats why I want to upgrade. 980 SLI should be enough of a gain to stay at stable 60 fps at ultra on 1080p. But I also use DRS sometimes and I read SLI doesnt support DSR? But anyway back to the point.

I did the price breakdown. Getting another 980= 540+ SH . Getting 980 TI ACX with stepup is 117. Getting 980 Ti ACX SLI is 775.

Is it worth spending 775 when next year pascal comes out which is supposed to destroy these 900 cards (Unless I read it wrong) .

Tchota · Jun 1, 2015

Thx for the clarification.

For 235$ more I would go with 2xGTX 980 Ti.

But the best option seems to be a single GTX 980 Ti, its can do the job you need to be done, even at 1440p (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-ti,4164-5.html), plus its the least expensive, and avoids any problems with DRS.

If you find out that you need more than one GTX 980 Ti you can start thinking in SLI.

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

But do you think that a single 980 Ti maybe OC to 1240/1900 will beat out a 980 OC to 1680/2000?

Tchota · Jun 1, 2015

most likely yes, you are getting only 50fps average while playing The Witcher 3, and I found benchmarks where a GTX 980 could average 60 fps. So your overclock is not reflecting much on your gaming experience.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/1947-witcher-3-pc-graphics-card-fps-benchmark

Here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-ti,4164-5.html it manage to average 50 fps (settings: Post-processing Preset: High, Graphics Preset: Ultra, HairWorks: Off)

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

They have vsync off where as I have it on. I'm just worried I'll send my 980 sc and get a 980 ti and due to low clocks it actually performs worse. That asci quality is hard to come by.

Tchota · Jun 1, 2015

how much do you get without vsync?

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

I dont really know. I have never tried it as I hate screen tearing. I play on a 50 inch plasma. So no G-Sync capability. I would have to try when I get off work.

Tchota · Jun 1, 2015

Do it, the results might help you decide. You can compare them with those achieved by GTX 980 Ti at Tomshardware benchmark. You need to get about 15 fps more than what 98 Ti got at 1440p.

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

How would the results help me? Even if with Vsync off I get lets say 80 fps I doubt it would be a stable 80. It would be all over the place and I would have screen tearing.

cptmold · Jun 1, 2015

negru08 :

The real question here is whether you want a second GTX 980 or a Titan X, with either card being almost the same price. 980ti IS the Titan X, just with half the VRAM. It's capable of maxing out a lot of games, though you'll still want to SLI for some of the games out there (looking at you, Witcher 3). Either option is beneficial, but upgrading to a 980ti is definitely something to consider... especially if you want to put THOSE in SLI.

negru08 · Jun 1, 2015

I have never SLI before. I have always been of put by the issues that I always read about like micro stutter and not being supported. How true is that? And this upgrade is only a temporary one. I hear Pascal is supposed to put the 900 series in the grave and planned on buying a Pascal graphic card if that is true.

Tchota · Jun 1, 2015

Sry, i didn't made my self clear. You should check the average fps you get, if its about 15 fps better than the GTX 980 Ti at 1440p (i.e. around 76fps), its because your GTX 980 have similar performance of an GTX 980 Ti. In this case you could go with 2x GTX 980.

Depending on the difference between those values you can check which one have a better performance and decide how much money the difference is worth it.

But bare in mind that the GTX 980 Ti performance might increase when new drivers are released.

cptmold · Jun 1, 2015

negru08 :

It depends on the game. Some games scale well, while others (especially mediocre ports) are prone to those sorts of issues.

That's why you usually have people tell you to get the single top card instead of two weaker cards. Of course, that changes once you get to the level of GTX 980, but the basic principle still stands... until DX12, SLI and Crossfire can be a bit unreliable.

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