Worth upgrading 670 sli to 970?

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forerunner

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I have two 670 ftw's and a 3770k@4.5

Is it worth upgrading to a 970? Or should I bite the bullet and get a 980? Also. I'm partial to Evga but I've been hearing a lot about the msi and asus strix variants. Does it really matter at the end of the day to have +\- 15 clock speed?

I also might upgrade to the 6700k if Amazon ever gets them back in stock. Would it even be worth it? I was told recently that he 3770 should be fine and that my one 670 is what's been bottlenecking my performance.

Thanks
 
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10tacle
And if you are curious about how well these 970s overclock, here's a review link to one that was overclocked. :D Good luck whatever you choose! And yeah, that's a killer deal at $335 on Amazon right now.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2015/05/08/evga-geforce-gtx-970-ssc-acx-2-0-review/9

^^Note how much faster just at factory overclock the EVGA card is to MSI's factory overclock variant, especially in minimum FPS. Oh and FYI, two of these in SLI are about 10% faster than a 980Ti.

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10tacle

10tacle

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I'm confused....you state you have 670 SLI now, but then at the bottom state your "one 670" is bottlenecking?

Anyway, it depends on your needs. 670 SLI is roughly equal to a single overclocked 970 in raw speed, but a lot of newer games require more than 2GB VRAM (most of mine run between 2.2GB-3.2GB memory allocation). And yes, at your overclocked CPU would be bottlenecked by a single 670.

Regarding brand, I have two EVGA 970s in SLI (SSC ACX 2.0+). This model, ending in 3975, is the latest Superclocked 970 (SSC) variant. It is a strong overclocker on top of the factory overclock. ASUS and MSI also makes comparable factory overclocked models, so it boils down to who has the best deal. I just am partial to EVGA for their superior customer service and support. And I have these cards overclocked to near 980 speed. The 980 in my opinion is not worth the much higher price tag, especially when overclocking the 970.

Also, there are 970/980 replacements (Pascal) coming out this summer, so you may want to hold off on getting a new GPU at this time.
 
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forerunner

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Well. I'm about to sell my second rig (streaming) to a friend, and the 2 670's might go with it. (One was in each) so patience isn't really an option. I game at 1080 120hz but now that you mention it. I wouldn't hate to upgrade to a 144hz 1440 monitor. Maybe perhaps even instead of the sky lake. Or maybe just 75hz but just a larger screen / resolution? (Mines 23 inch) might make target audition easier? Idk... If I do that though I don't want to just end up back where i am now with just one 670. Struggling to keep it above 60 frames even in games like squad
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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I have a 1440p monitor overclocked to 80Hz and a few games don't even reach that in average FPS with 970 SLI (Witcher 3 specifically) at max quality and some AA. And getting a 144Hz one would be moot unless you can afford two 980Ti's in SLI...and even then you wouldn't see 144FPS in a lot of current games.

Upgrading to Skylake will not be worth it compared to your current Ivy Bridge.
 
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forerunner

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I tend to game at lowest settings for maximum smoothness and visibility. I don't like AA for the added input lag and the rest just tends to add "bluriness." To the picture to me. do you think it would be worth simply upgrading to a larger 1080p monitor like a 27 inch or something? Or even just a 75hz 1440, considering I play in low settings always? I just want to see better and not just see my interface/(gun sights) get smaller . I've never gamed on anything larger than A 23 inch and I do sort of notice myself leaning forward. I have a Samsung 23700ad and I've loved the 120hz experience but to me it seems like asking 2x the performance out f my computer and being upset when I'm barely breaching 60fps average in some games. But as long as I stay above 60 I consider it playable. But 80-90 feels way better.
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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Yes, especially considering smoothness is more important than eye candy to you.



If you dial back settings on a 1440p, it kind of defeats the purpose of spending the money on a higher resolution at the same size IMO (comparing a less expensive 27" 1080p to a more expensive 1440p 27"). Also when you go higher in resolution, things get smaller but they are more detailed (gun sight for example).

You have to make sacrifices somewhere, and the point you made of it being more important to have fluid game play and lower quality visuals means you need to stay at 1080p unless, again like I said, you can afford a lot of GPU horsepower.



 
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forerunner

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So with an EVGA 970 SSC 2.0 Would i be able to realistically handle 1440? would it only be at less than 120hz or? Or would that not even matter, just a matter of if i could afford a 120+hz monitor?

And if im going from 1080 23 inch to 1440 27 inch, wouldnt objects still be larger be comparison to what im used to? I guess i just assumed larger resolution just added a crisper detail and that objects stayed the same size instead of just adding more pixels around the picture.

And ill likely play on the lowest settings anyway, regardless of resolution.
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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A single 970 would not run 1440p at a solid 60FPS without seriously turning down quality settings, so yes, you could run it that way. And a 120/144Hz 1440p monitor isn't cheap.



I was comparing the same 27" size in object/pixel size. At 27" a 1440p's objects and characters will be smaller than one at 1080p. Now if you compare a 1080p 23" to a 1080p 27", sure the 27" objects like Windows icons will physically be larger just due to the larger screen size. Now going up in resolution *and* in screen size offsets that increased object size.

So if I had to guess, object size may be close to the same in physical size on your screen going from 1080p 23" to 1440p 27". I do not have anything here I can put side by side to compare, so that's just an educated guess.

 
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forerunner

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So, worst case scenario I could run a game at 1080p on a 1440 monitor and it probably be a little better than if it was on a 1080 or exactly the same. The major question here would just be the refresh rate. There's a 27 inch fell on Amazon for 600$ with g sync and all that seemingly good jazz. As well as a benqwith similar stats for 450 refurbished (but from a dealer with 50% positive feedback.) so I would probably lean towards the dell. Maybe I'll play for a little bit at 60hz instead of 120 and see if I can live with it before deciding that it's necessary. I think 120hz 1080p monitors at 27 inch range are still pretty expensive. Mine was 400$ 3 years ago.

Either way, I'll be selling whatever I have now to help fund the new purchase so it won't hurt me too bad. I just don't want to have that "ahh I wish j didn't cheap out on x." Moment.

I think I've pretty much decided on getting the Evga 970 SSC 3xxx-kr from Amazon for 339 or whatever it is, considering what I've read said that you can pretty much match the 980 performance through over clocking. And the monitor / possibility of upgrading to sky lake can all be an in time after thought. If I was going to step up from the 970 I wouldn't bother for anything less than the 980ti and I don't really want to spend 650$ on a gpu.

At that price point, i might just be better off SLI two 970's :p
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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And if you are curious about how well these 970s overclock, here's a review link to one that was overclocked. :D Good luck whatever you choose! And yeah, that's a killer deal at $335 on Amazon right now.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2015/05/08/evga-geforce-gtx-970-ssc-acx-2-0-review/9

^^Note how much faster just at factory overclock the EVGA card is to MSI's factory overclock variant, especially in minimum FPS. Oh and FYI, two of these in SLI are about 10% faster than a 980Ti.

 
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forerunner

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Thanks for that, something it would have definitely overlooked. But i think im good with my current PSU. AT the very least i know it has a second CPU connector which is 8 pin. (are those different?) But i just looked in my case and all of the PCI connectors are 6+2. Its a corsair TS750, ( and yeah i know. Enthusiast series booooo)
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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Yes, that 8-pin CPU connector is different. Most PSUs have a 6+2 pin PCIe connector instead of a solid 8-pin PCIe connector so you can leave the extra "orphan" 2 pins out for cards that only require 6 pins. It's just more versatile. I learned the hard way years ago on ensuring your PSU has all the power connector needs met of the card you buy, lol.


 
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forerunner

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Oh yeah, ran into this when i started getting to the generation of video cards that need pci connectors period. I think when i upgraded from a gts 250 to a 6850 or something like that.

Also im leaning towards just buying this Asus Monitor that im talking about here: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2973429/1080p-120hz-1440p-larger-1080p.html

But still on the fence, as i would really like the larger screen space. maybe... idk xD
 
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