Would a GTX 980 be overkill just for 1080p gaming at 60FPS?

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

The card i use now is an MSI R9-290 and i was going to cross fire it with another but instead i may buy a new GPU and give my wife my MSI R9-290. The card i will get is the EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Hybrid 4GB or the EVGA GTX980 CLASSIFIED ACX 2.0 4GB. I wish it had more VRAM than just a small 4GB because GTAV at 1080p needs almost 5GB of VRAM to have all settings up all the way. My R9-290 runs it good but the small 4GB is not enough completely and many other games coming out are starting to need more than 4GB. So what do you guys think should i stick with my R9-290 or get a 980? Maybe a 390X?

GlenicoNico · Aug 28, 2015

Ferrariassassin :

For 1080p, stick with the 290. Get the 980 if you know for sure that you will be upgrading to a higher resolution sometime in the future. I have a GTX 970 FTW, and it has been destroying games in 1080p, so the 980 will be overkill for 1080p. I get an average of 68fps in GTA V Online, maxed out settings.

Samat · Aug 28, 2015

With that card personally I would wait for the 16nm parts coming up next year.

spentshells · Aug 28, 2015

@ 1080 P the gpu memory usage appears to be well under 4GB

have a quick peak

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/gta-v-pc-graphics-performance-review,9.html

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

GlenicoNico :

Ferrariassassin :

For 1080p, stick with the 290. Get the 980 if you know for sure that you will be upgrading to a higher resolution sometime in the future. I have a GTX 970 FTW, and it has been destroying games in 1080p, so the 980 will be overkill for 1080p. I get an average of 68fps in GTA V Online, maxed out settings.

if your card has only 4GB it is impossible to max all settings out unless you disable the memorylock on GTAV. but yea i get what you mean.

FunSurfer · Aug 28, 2015

to OP - Your post contradicts your question, how can a GTX980 be an overkill for 1080p if you acknowledge that 4GB is not enough?
The 390X on the other hand has 8GB VRAM, so if you are concerned about VRAM get a 390X and crossfire it later.

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

spentshells :

Those benchmarks are BS.

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

FunSurfer :

But the 390x is a clone of the R9 290x and does not run many AAA games on ultra at 1080p 60fps. My R9 290 struggles on almost all modern AAA games and can barely run any games such as GTAV, Witcher 3, and such at a 60 FPS so even though the 390X has more ram it may be to underpowered for 1080p.

Samat · Aug 28, 2015

Ferrariassassin :

You should be looking at GTX 980TI then maybe. It would also be more future proof with more vram.

FunSurfer · Aug 28, 2015

Ferrariassassin :

My answer was based on your claim that you were satisfied with your R9-290 performance ecxept the 4GB VRAM, so basically you have to choose from two options if you want to play new games on very high settings: GTX 980 Ti or R9-390/R9-390X Crossfired.

GlenicoNico · Aug 28, 2015

Ferrariassassin :

GlenicoNico :

if your card has only 4GB it is impossible to max all settings out unless you disable the memorylock on GTAV. but yea i get what you mean.

Uummm it is maxed out, i don't use the "optimized" settings from nvidia. I can't really show you a screen shot, cuz i broke my monitor, and I'm currently using 720p tv.

spentshells · Aug 28, 2015

Ferrariassassin :

Please clarify how these are bs. Guru3d... seriously? I havent played gta for pc yet but i'd like to see the "real" benchmarks.

DeathRabit · Aug 28, 2015

Stick with R9 290 and check maybe you can unlock it to full R9 290X
http://www.overclock.net/t/1567179/activation-of-cores-in-hawaii-tonga-and-fiji-unlockability-tester-ver-1-6-and-atomtool

* You will get additional boost in Future DX12 http://www.overclock.net/t/1571095/could-amds-recent-results-in-dx12-benchmarks-be-due-to-there-double-float-point-power

** Some early game bench under DX12
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/08/directx-12-tested-an-early-win-for-amd-and-disappointment-for-nvidia/

FastGunna · Aug 28, 2015

If you want to upgrade now and you looking at the EVGA 980 Hybrid, stop right there. Watercooling is nice but with such a small price gab between the 980 Hybrid and 980 Ti your better off getting the Ti because it is much faster and your not going to make up the difference with overclocking. In my opinion we are not to the point where any single GPU is to much for 1080p because even right now my 980 FTW falls just shy of 60 FPS in games like Witcher 3 in demanding areas and games aren't going to get any less demanding on 1080p just because there are higher resolutions available. So if I struggle to hold 60 FPS on 2-3 AAA games this year, what will happen when next year rolls around and games are just a bit more demanding?

So I would say if you can, get a 980 Ti. If you cant stretch your budget to that, consider a standard Fury (assuming you could find one) as it offers better performance than a 980 and cheaper than a 980 hybrid would be. If you can't find or dont want a Fury get the 980 Classified. I personally wouldn't get a 390/x as an upgrade from a 290 because in my opinion you dont really gain much aside from extra VRAM but if the extra VRAM is worth buying a marginally better card to you than go for it. I do agree that sticking with the 290 would not be a bad choice as well.

Alpha3031 · Aug 28, 2015

^Actually, if VRAM isn't a problem, you could probably make the difference. The problem with that though, it that the 980TI is overclockable too

. @OP Are you playing max textures with everything? Take a step back (say, high instead of ultra) and you probably won't notice a thing. The R9 290 is still one of the fastest cards out there. Maybe try overclocking it a bit, if it isn't too hot?

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

spentshells :

Becuase evry card is differyent and you cand go buy what "ONE" guy got on his benchmark and compare it to yourself. Some people have used 5GB at 1080p. It may just be the game being glitch but its true. It uses random amounts of VRAM for every card.

spentshells · Aug 28, 2015

Computers are not random machines, not at this point anyway. Quantum computing is a long ways off.

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

spentshells :

When i say random i mean like every GPU is different because it is impossible for 2 things to be 100% identical. Just like for example say you have a 980 and overlclock it than you buy another same exact one but it wont overclock as high as the other one. They bay be the same but not not exactly.

spentshells · Aug 28, 2015

That would not apply in a computer program where all parameters are set.

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

Alpha3031 :

if its not Ultra i wont play it lol. If i was going to put things under ultra ill just go back to console lol. I mean i have the money id like to get the GTX 980Ti Hydro thing. The one thats water cooled but everyone says its overkill for 1080p. I mean i would be willing to buy a 1440p monitor if it would run games on ultra slo at that res but almost all videos i have seen of games running at 1440p the games are on medium or low settings. I would rather play games at 1080p on ultra than play them at 1440p with low settings. And my MSI R9 290 is OC to 1150MHz core "can run 1200MHz core but i fear it may fry it even though its temps and stuff are stable" and 1500MHz memory. it stays under 88 degrees under full load and 100% fan speed. It is stable also and i have not toughed the voltage meter as i fear i may need a more wattage PSU to do that adn i fear i may fry it lol.I have ran 48 hour stress test and it still runs great no artifacts or crashing.

Reaper_7799 · Aug 28, 2015

The benchmarks from guru 3d clearly shows 2x msaa...you can run up to 8x msaa or 4x msaa plus txaa and it takes a lot more vram to do it. I'll go take a screenshot in 1080P too.

Reaper_7799 · Aug 28, 2015

You can run in 4x msaa though with txaa and be under and it looks good. It barely goes over the 4 GB. And that's completely maxed, including advanced.

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

Reaper_7799 :

But it needs to be 8xMSAA to count as completely maxed out. And you are going over 4Gb of VRAM when you use it also. and is it normal to loose a 30FPS when using 8XMSAA?

Reaper_7799 · Aug 28, 2015

Ferrariassassin :

I use it on 1080P if I play at 1080P but I normally play at 1440P or 4K with this card. I did a quick comparo vid of this out in the country in gtav with 1080P fully maxed at 8x msaa and advanced full and it doesn't hit constant 60fps out away from the city at all, even with this card. In the city maybe but not out on the highway. I'll see if I can grab a screenshot from it.

Ferrariassassin · Aug 28, 2015

Reaper_7799 :

Ferrariassassin :

I use it on 1080P if I play at 1080P but I normally play at 1440P or 4K with this card. I did a quick comparo vid of this out in the country in gtav with 1080P fully maxed at 8x msaa and advanced full and it doesn't hit constant 60fps out away from the city at all, even with this card. In the city maybe but not out on the highway. I'll see if I can grab a screenshot from it.

My R9 290 plays all maxed out on GTAV at 60fps but when i put MSAA4x or 8x i get 20fps why? And its at 1080p

Would a GTX 980 be overkill just for 1080p gaming at 60FPS?

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