4gb GTX980 vs 2 x HD7970 3GB @4k

[Iain_Gray_]

Hello!
First of all, I'm not wanting to start an endless discussion about monitors and peoples preferred resolutions and refresh rates and panel types etc.,
My question is, for 4k gaming, what would handle better? A single 4GB GTX980, or my current 2 way Xfire setup with HD7970s with 3GBs of Vram? I understand the crossfire setup will have a bit more overall power, but 4K really uses up Vram, so will I see more benefit with the 4GB GTX980? I guess a 2 way SLI 4GB GTX970 MIGHT be viable if the prices are low enough, but I'd rather a single card setup just for now, SLI is an option in the future for the GTX980.

Currently, with BF4 maxed out (Deffered and Post AA turned right down) on a 4K monitor I'm pulling around 30-35 FPS in good areas, but it's so inconsistent and it drops more frequently then it stays up.

 

[photonboy]

1) First of all, 4K gaming makes little sense when 2560x1440 looks basically IDENTICAL but gets you double the frame rate.

2) As you say, smoothness of Crossfire can be problematic.

3) Your Crossfire setup will get higher frame rates in games that support Crossfire fairly well. The GTX970 will be faster for when Crossfire isn't supported (or feel faster for games that stutter even if the frame rate is higher).

As you know, Crossfire scaling varies per game from say 60% to 90%. For reference a GTX970 is about 50% faster than a single HD7970 depending on how the cards are clocked. You'll also get some benefit from MFAA if that works well for the GTX970.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/25.html

Really not sure what to say, but maybe consider seeing what you can SELL your current cards for and go from there.

 

[photonboy]

Update:
I didn't mention the GTX980 because I don't think it's a good deal for most people. If you need more than a GTX970 I'd go with SLI for 2xGTX970. There's an average of about 15% difference between a 970 and a 980 but a huge price difference.

Of the cards I'd choose, it's about $600 for a GTX980, and $350 for a single GTX970 thus it's $700 for two of them.

*If you work out the MATH, then that means a lot of games will get about 50% higher frame rates on 2xGTX970 versus 1xGTX980 assuming good SLI scaling and no CPU bottlenecks. That's based on a 15% difference between single cards and 75% scaling thus:

1.75/1.15 = 1.52 (or 52% faster)

I'd get the MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G hands down. It overclocks well, runs very quiet, and even turns off the fans below 60degC.

 

[Iain_Gray_]

1) First of all, 4K gaming makes little sense when 2560x1440 looks basically IDENTICAL but gets you double the frame rate.

2) As you say, smoothness of Crossfire can be problematic.

3) Your Crossfire setup will get higher frame rates in games that support Crossfire fairly well. The GTX970 will be faster for when Crossfire isn't supported (or feel faster for games that stutter even if the frame rate is higher).

As you know, Crossfire scaling varies per game from say 60% to 90%. For reference a GTX970 is about 50% faster than a single HD7970 depending on how the cards are clocked. You'll also get some benefit from MFAA if that works well for the GTX970.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/25.html

Really not sure what to say, but maybe consider seeing what you can SELL your current cards for and go from there.

Perhaps I'd be better keeping my current hardware, but upgrading to perhaps the Asus ROG swift? I've heard many mixed reviews however.

 

[Hockeymatt]

I'm trying to get my hands on a asus rog swift pg278q. I played on it at a friends house, and it was the best monitor I've ever used. If you're going to get that I'd highly recommend getting an nVidia gpu so you can take advantage of g-sync.