EVGA 960 SLI vs EVGA 980, what's better?

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Ricardo_8

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I'm looking to upgrade, currently I'm usin the EVGA 960 4GB SSC GPU with an Asus Z97-A and the i7 4790k.
I'm looking to gain more visual performance for my games so I'm thinking to either
Buy another 960 and SLI or get the 980 4GB.
What would y'all do in my shoes.
I can't complain about money so money isn't a factor.
 
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Well, taking a look at some Firestrike and Firestrike Extreme scores, the GTX 960s actually scale pretty well and come very close to the GTX 980. In the regular Firestrike, you get a score of:

GTX 980: 11,900
GTX 960(SLI): 10,800

for a difference of about 10% in favor of the GTX 980.

Meanwhile in the Firestrike Extreme:

GTX 980: 6200
GTX 960(SLI): 6100

for a difference of 1% or so. Basically a rounding error.

However, the big difference will be in the 4k scores, where the 4GB GTX 980 walks all over the twin 2GB 960s, because adding two 960s together still leaves you with an overall average of 2GB per GPU, vs 4GB for the 980 which allows it to handle higher resolution textures better.

That being said, in real world gaming...
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Rookie_MIB

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Well, taking a look at some Firestrike and Firestrike Extreme scores, the GTX 960s actually scale pretty well and come very close to the GTX 980. In the regular Firestrike, you get a score of:

GTX 980: 11,900
GTX 960(SLI): 10,800

for a difference of about 10% in favor of the GTX 980.

Meanwhile in the Firestrike Extreme:

GTX 980: 6200
GTX 960(SLI): 6100

for a difference of 1% or so. Basically a rounding error.

However, the big difference will be in the 4k scores, where the 4GB GTX 980 walks all over the twin 2GB 960s, because adding two 960s together still leaves you with an overall average of 2GB per GPU, vs 4GB for the 980 which allows it to handle higher resolution textures better.

That being said, in real world gaming benchmarks the twin 960's actually do quite well at 1080p and 1440p, and to a lesser extent 4k depending on the game, and they'll deliver about 80-90% of the frame rates of the 980, but if you are gaming at 4k, then its REALLY game dependent. Some are good at 4k on the twin 960s, some really hammer the 960s at the same resolution.

So - if money were not a factor, and you're definitely gaming at 4k, I would go for the 980 4GB, then sell off the 960 to recoup the money. If you're NOT gaming at 4k though, I would just jump to a SLI'd 960 setup which you can get for an extra $200 or so (plus a SLI bridge).

(disclaimer - I'm running twin Gigabyte GTX 960's right now...)
 
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Ricardo_8

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WHAT a beautiful answer! Thank you so much, I don't think ill be doing 4k gaming anytime soon but the dual 960 should help. Thank you a million.
 
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azzazel_99

azzazel_99

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The original poster isn't running a 2gb 960 he has 4gb version so your post with those tests aren't really relevant to this post. At least not he ones about 4 k because he would have 8gb vram not 4 like the 980 will have or the 2 2gb 960's. Also DirectX 12 not combines gpu vram so 2 2gb 960's would be combined as 4gb worth of useable vram and not 2gb. His 4gb 960 combined with another 4gb 960 in sli would give him 8gb useable vram.
 
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Ricardo_8

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thats true, will the 8gb combined give better performance when in SLI?
 
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Gamer1985

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Where did you read that VRAM is stackable? As far as I have seen it hasnt been confirmed, it is purely speculation unless you could link me a source that proves otherwise. Besides DX12 will not be supported in games still for quite a while, so its a moot point. It would be great news if it is confirmed.

I agree with the other member as well, although single card solutions are always the way to go, buying a 2nd 960 will be cheaper and nearly equal to the 980. Plus since you have the 4GB card it will be even better.
 
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AreFlame

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The GTX 960 might get a lower score in higher resolutions due to the low 128bit memory. This meens it isnt able to use its full 4gb vram anyway. Also i've heard that the memory might be stackable in directx 12, i dont know if this is for both nvidia and amd or one of them but we will see in time i guess.
 
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Gamer1985

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Not trying to disgrant the link as it sounds promising but as the article ended even pointed out the possible marketing ploy and the fact that game developers are the ones to implement the stacking which means this may not be included in some AAA titles. I still have yet to see a confirmed source coming from an actual insider but again this is the closest ive seen to confirmation.
 
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azzazel_99

azzazel_99

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Just google it! The original interview done with nvidia about the release of direct X12 with windows 10 said it would split the load between the the cards getting rid of the 4+4=4 path they've been on and instead 4+4=8 method they should have been using all along. Hell in windows even bow recognizes my cards as 780ti classified 6gb and no longer 3gb. You just have to look around for yourself on windows 10(direct x 12). Its been stated by the very people developing it.
 
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azzazel_99

azzazel_99

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He's pretty much right ^ but waiting could and usually is a dangerous game if you want a new card now. IF you can wait then wait but who knows how long you'll be waiting. If the maxwell announcement taught us anything its that you could be waiting a long time.
 
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Epicness937

Epicness937

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thats true i only got a 970 (and a second for 110$) because my r7 250 died if it was slowly dieing i would have tried to wait
 
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Rookie_MIB

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Well, my original post still stands. Having misread his vram, the data I pulled together was for twin 2Gb cards in SLI. That means his twin 4Gb cards will still do at least as well. Perhaps the limitation lies in the narrower memory bus (128 bit), but it should still at least be within spitting distance of a 980.

As for stackable RAM in dx12, IF the game is coded to utilize it, then it can be done, but if not, then the 4Gb cards should still be sufficient. The Fury cards have 4Gb and they actually do BETTER at higher resolution (although the insane 4kbit memory bus might play a role in that...), so 4Gb isnt a limitation yet and you still at least would have that much vram.
 
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leifus

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From what i have experianced with my 780 SLI build i would not go for SLI, the lack of support for it in some games are awfull and it only makes problems that you don't need to have. So some games will work great with SLI and some will work like jack shit.

Just warning you from expeiance.
 
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azzazel_99

azzazel_99

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first off i have yet to come across a game that didnt support sli and if i did it would be a game so old a single card from a 600 series would have no problem pushing it. I've been sli for 2 years now. a second 960 honestly in a few games will be better than a 980 see here

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_960_SLI/14.html and i believe these are the 2gb card versions if im not mistaken so you could expect a few extra frames at high resolutions. It would be a better option cost wise than a single 980 imo or sell your 960 and do 2 970's which are on par with a 980ti or at that price point just do a 980ti. Hope this helps.
 
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azzazel_99

azzazel_99

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also keep in mind once you hit 1440 and 4k those tests still had AA turned to max on 1440p and on for some odd reason at 4k. At higher resolutions you do not need those because the higher pixel count. 1440p it should be turned down and 4k it shouldnt be on at all because its pointless so you are just taking a huge performance hit and not gaining anything. So add probably another 5-10 on the 1440p and maybe more on the 4k. 10-15fps...........
 
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Rookie_MIB

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Good point on the higher resolution. Eventually with the 4k resolution you don't really see any jagginess because of the smaller pixel size. Of course, if you were staring at a 55" 4k TV from 2 feet away, you MIGHT notice it, but anyone gaming at that resolution from a proper viewing distance won't notice any AA problems.

 
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