Titan X Dual SLI vs 980 TI Tri SLI

oOUnknownUserOo · Apr 7, 2016

Hello All,

I am new to the forums and have been looking around for an answer but nothing 100% has answered my questions;

I just purchased a new Alienware Area 51 system, it has the Nvidia 980 ti cards (x3). I also own a business that does 4k editing, but also do a lot of gaming, and I'm pondering the idea about switching to the dual Titan X instead of the Tri 980 ti. So here is my questions.

If I went dual Titan x, instead of Tri 980 sli - would I be losing performance or speed? (if so, how much)

Overclocking which would I benefit from more, the dual Titans or the Tri 980 ti? (which has the greater capability)

Heat - which cards have the lower temperatures for greater overclock capabilities. (in terms of Air.)

By having the 3rd card - how much performance am I really seeing (in terms of FPS.)

The Dual Titans would cost the same as the Tri 980 ti.

Regards,

oOUnknownUserOo

Forgotten031511 · Apr 7, 2016

This has already been discussed: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2669443/980-sli-titan-sli.html

Gamer1985 · Apr 7, 2016

980TI performs for the most part on par with the Titan, so really it would be silly to trade those in. The only added benefit would be the extra Vram. The downside to Tri-SLI 980TIs is that the scaling is very poor right now. Your not gaining too much from that 3rd card except in benchmarks. I have 2Way SLI 980TIs and Im happy wih my performance but even I run in to optimization and scaling problems here and there. The microstutter is probably my biggest gripe with SLI during gaming. There is benchmarks showing very little increase going from 2Way SLI to 3way.

I hope your running at minimum the 5820K for the 3 card setup you have.

oOUnknownUserOo · Apr 7, 2016

Gamer1985 :

Thank you for your reply.

I am running the I7 5960X CPU, over clocked at 4.2 ghz.

So if there is little extra performance with that 3rd card, would I not benefit from exchanging those and just picking up the dual Titans X's and in the future add another card when the price drops if needed?

I read somewhere that you can overclock the Titan X more than you can with the 980 ti.

So in terms of gaming, or 4k video editing, from what I gather is that if I drop the (3x) 980 ti and switch to the Titans X's I should not really see any decrease in performance?

RobCrezz · Apr 7, 2016

Very little performance difference between 980 ti and Titan X. Better off waiting for faster cards to be released.

oOUnknownUserOo · Apr 7, 2016

RobCrezz :

Well that is just it. I ordered the Area 51 system and have a few days to figure out what I should do. The new GPU's won't be out until late summer maybe early fall.

Forgotten031511 · Apr 7, 2016

Here's the REAL question: Does your system perform as required as is? If so, leave it alone...if not, upgrade.

There will ALWAYS be an upgrade coming out, in the tech world, the NEWEST items are outdated the moment you get them home. If you are going to wait for the next upgrade, why not wait for the upgrade after that, or even the next one? After all, something better is coming...

turkey3_scratch · Apr 7, 2016

Forgotten031511 :

Because there's a difference in getting tech that is 2 years old vs tech that just comes out still because it'll prolong your wait period until the "next best thing". Plus, GPU and CPU industry is getting so slow, plus once they hit the nanometer barrier I won't expect a new GPU except every 3 years or so.

oOUnknownUserOo · Apr 7, 2016

Forgotten031511 :

To me its not about how the system performance is at this moment. Since I have dropped the money into this system is there a better setup that I can upgrade to, while I still have the time and exchange period to do so.

If its smarter to go with Titan X x2 over the 980 ti x3, then I would do so. Down the road I don't want to kick myself for not taking action. $3000 is not the end of the world for the video cards, but putting that money towards something better would be smarter.

RobCrezz · Apr 7, 2016

Its smarter to just go for the 3x 980 ti, or better yet save some money and get 2x 980 ti (scaling beyond 2 cards isnt as good)

It would have been even smarter to not buy an Alienware computer and just get a proper system builder to make a custom system.

turkey3_scratch · Apr 7, 2016

The only reason at this point to purchase a Titan X is to say that you have a Titan X.

Forgotten031511 · Apr 7, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

Which was exactly my point, which you just argued against above.

If the system is working as required, leave it be...

RobCrezz · Apr 7, 2016

Forgotten031511 :

He is asking about a new system he is buying, not an existing system.

Forgotten031511 · Apr 7, 2016

oOUnknownUserOo :

Guess I am reading this differently than you, to me switching to Dual Titan X vs Tri 980Ti seems like just changing cards to me and not getting a whole new system.

Anyway, my point remains that something better will ALWAYS be available and/or coming out soon. So if the system is working to your standards, I suggest leaving it as is.

Also, a custom build PC will always be a better choice rather than buying an Alienware Pre-Made system.

Embra · Apr 7, 2016

Titan X is better at editing, but the difference in price??

980ti is better in gaming in general, especially at the price.

Skip x3 gpu setups. Too many issues and worth the performance bump for the price.

RobCrezz · Apr 7, 2016

Forgotten031511 :

oOUnknownUserOo :

Guess I am reading this differently than you, to me switching to Dual Titan X vs Tri 980Ti seems like just changing cards to me and not getting a whole new system.

Anyway, my point remains that something better will ALWAYS be available and/or coming out soon. So if the system is working to your standards, I suggest leaving it as is.

Also, a custom build PC will always be a better choice rather than buying an Alienware Pre-Made system.

Yeah, try reading the op and his replys again.

RobCrezz · Apr 7, 2016

Embra :

In what way is the Titan X better at editing? Performance difference would be almost identical to the 980 ti.

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