Do I "need" to upgrade from GTX 780 to GTX 980

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

Hello,

I have a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 780 GHz Edition 3GB. I game at 1080p @60Mhz. Is it worth upgrading to the EVGA SC GTX 980 4GB? I play all types of games (Battlefield, Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, Total War, The Witcher series...just to name a few) and I just want a smooth, stutter free experience.

Rest of my rig:
i7 3770K
8GB RAM
Gigabyte UD4H mobo

Thank you in advance for all help!

Frick · Nov 21, 2014

FX-GMC · Nov 21, 2014

testudo said:
Hello,

I have a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 780 GHz Edition 3GB. I game at 1080p @60Mhz. Is it worth upgrading to the EVGA SC GTX 980 4GB? I play all types of games (Battlefield, Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, Total War, The Witcher series...just to name a few) and I just want a smooth, stutter free experience.

Rest of my rig:
i7 3770K
8GB RAM
Gigabyte UD4H mobo

Thank you in advance for all help!

Need - verb - require (something) because it is essential or very important.

Nobody needs a GTX 980.

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

FX-GMC said:
Need - verb - require (something) because it is essential or very important.

Nobody needs a GTX 980.

Yes, I thought that is why I would put need in quotation marks. Thanks, though.

64K · Nov 21, 2014

testudo said:
Hello,

I have a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 780 GHz Edition 3GB. I game at 1080p @60Mhz. Is it worth upgrading to the EVGA SC GTX 980 4GB? I play all types of games (Battlefield, Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, Total War, The Witcher series...just to name a few) and I just want a smooth, stutter free experience.

Rest of my rig:
i7 3770K
8GB RAM
Gigabyte UD4H mobo

Thank you in advance for all help!

If I were in your position and gaming at 1080p I would hold tight with what you have for now.

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

64K said:
If I were in your position and gaming at 1080p I would hold tight with what you have for now.

Yeah, I was just looking at a deal on NewEgg and I got a bit of the upgrade bug. How much longer do you think that my system would hold up for newer games? Is it realistic to expect a smooth, stutter free gaming experience out of my current setup?

adulaamin · Nov 21, 2014

I'd upgrade to a higher resolution monitor first before upgrading your video card.

GhostRyder · Nov 21, 2014

Your video card will handle 1080p for at least awhile longer probably another year or so. My advice is to wait until the new yet to be named GTX 1080 (or whatever it will be called) as that would be a much more significant upgrade.

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

adulaamin said:
I'd upgrade to a higher resolution monitor first before upgrading your video card.

I am not going to to that, right now. I am content with my monitor and my HDTV setup. I will not be upgrading that for a while. 1080p is fine for me. So, I take it that it will be good to go at that resolution and refresh rate for a while?

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

GhostRyder said:
Your video card will handle 1080p for at least awhile longer probably another year or so. My advice is to wait until the new yet to be named GTX 1080 (or whatever it will be called) as that would be a much more significant upgrade.

That is something I was thinking about, too.

I just want a smooth gaming experience, without any screen tearing, constantly messing with the settings to find the perfect combination and then like. I am not a frames per second junkie or anything. I just would like a smooth experience.

Law-II · Nov 21, 2014

Hi

testudo said:
Yeah, I was just looking at a deal on NewEgg and I got a bit of the upgrade bug. How much longer do you think that my system would hold up for newer games? Is it realistic to expect a smooth, stutter free gaming experience out of my current setup?

All the time the vga card can hold minimum 60fps with Frame Limiter or V-Sync on a 60Hz Monitor @ 1080p it will feel buttery smooth; however all the game titles mentioned in the OP are console ports if memory serves me well and may not be truly optimised for the PC platform.
The GTX 780 GHz is a strange beast falling some ware between a 780 and a Titan, it seems that it can handle most of the newer titles with ease and will do so for some time as most newer games are being developed for console and any other games that are not will have some optimisation.

Note: there maybe some small concessions with game settings when raising the resolution to hold 60fps; again this depends on game engine code and optimisation

In short; upgrading to a GTX 980 is not worth it, hold off for next generation architecture or a die shrink and higher memory bandwidth

atb

Law-II

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

Law-II said:
Hi

All the time the vga card can hold minimum 60fps with Frame Limiter or V-Sync on a 60Hz Monitor @ 1080p it will feel buttery smooth; however all the game titles mentioned in the OP are console ports if memory serves me well and may not be truly optimised for the PC platform.
The GTX 780 GHz is a strange beast falling some ware between a 780 and a Titan, it seems that it can handle most of the newer titles with ease and will do so for some time as the most newer game are being developed for console and any others game that are not will have some optimisation.

Note: there maybe some small concessions with game settings when raising the resolution to hold 60fps; again this depends on game engine code and optimisation

In shot; upgrading to a GTX 980 is not worth it, hold off for next generation architecture or a die shrink and higher memory bandwidth

atb

Law-II

Thank you for the sound advice! I think that I will just have to tweak up some settings and see if I can get decent graphics at a decent FPS...without screen tearing lol.

Yeah, here are the clocks for the GHz Edition:

Core Clock: 1019 MHz (Base) 1071 MHz (Boost) - Memory Clock: 6008 MHz

OneMoar · Nov 21, 2014

I would wait
the 980 isn't really all that faster then the 780

GhostRyder · Nov 21, 2014

testudo said:
That is something I was thinking about, too.

I just want a smooth gaming experience, without any screen tearing, constantly messing with the settings to find the perfect combination and then like. I am not a frames per second junkie or anything. I just would like a smooth experience.

Your not going to get much better then getting the next generation card mostly because the jump in performance even when overclocking the GTX 980 is not night and day. You will probably be better off with a bit of overclocking on the card to get some performance bumps than replacing it and as I said before waiting for the next full core from Nvidia will make a better value upgrade for you in the end even though I would think that at 1080p the GTX 780 would still be enough. That is my philosophy most of the time is that skipping a generation each time results in better value for upgrading even if your a crazy upgrader (Like myself) because otherwise you end up with disappointment.

Easy Rhino · Nov 21, 2014

GhostRyder said:
Your video card will handle 1080p for at least awhile longer probably another year or so. My advice is to wait until the new yet to be named GTX 1080 (or whatever it will be called) as that would be a much more significant upgrade.

Another year or so? At this rate the 980 will play games at 1080p for the rest of eternity.

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

GhostRyder said:
Your not going to get much better then getting the next generation card mostly because the jump in performance even when overclocking the GTX 980 is not night and day. You will probably be better off with a bit of overclocking on the card to get some performance bumps than replacing it and as I said before waiting for the next full core from Nvidia will make a better value upgrade for you in the end even though I would think that at 1080p the GTX 780 would still be enough. That is my philosophy most of the time is that skipping a generation each time results in better value for upgrading even if your a crazy upgrader (Like myself) because otherwise you end up with disappointment.

I almost gave up PC gaming and went strictly to console gaming when the PS4 and Xbone came out last year because I have a borderline obsession with upgrading and trying to get the best graphics and frame rates on my games lol. I got to the point where I would be so busy tweaking the settings that I would not really even play the game. It got bad

. I have calmed down a bit, but I could give up PC gaming, but I did take a break and finished up AC Black Flag, Second Son and Madden (still playing) on my PS4.

Edit:
I have no idea how to overclock my card. Anyone have any advice, tutorials or links for overclocking?

peche · Nov 21, 2014

GhostRyder said:
Your video card will handle 1080p for at least awhile longer probably another year or so. My advice is to wait until the new yet to be named GTX 1080 (or whatever it will be called) as that would be a much more significant upgrade.

My current card its a gigabyte GTX 760 Windforce 2GB OC Rev 2.0, hadn't decide yet moving on to 980 or getting another GTX 760 for a SLI....

64K · Nov 21, 2014

testudo said:
I almost gave up PC gaming and went strictly to console gaming when the PS4 and Xbone came out last year because I have a borderline obsession with upgrading and trying to get the best graphics and frame rates on my games lol. I got to the point where I would be so busy tweaking the settings that I would not really even play the game. It got bad . I have calmed down a bit, but I could give up PC gaming, but I did take a break and finished up AC Black Flag, Second Son and Madden (still playing) on my PS4.

It's up to each person whether they like console or PC but for me I only game on the PC. I like being able to tweak a game the way I want to and being able to comfortably run the resolution that I want and being able to mod the games that support modding. Consoles seem to restrictive to me but that's just my opinion.

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

64K said:
It's up to each person whether they like console or PC but for me I only game on the PC. I like being able to tweak a game the way I want to and being able to comfortably run the resolution that I want and being able to mod the games that support modding. Consoles seem to restrictive to me but that's just my opinion.

Oh, I agree, but like I stated, I was driving myself (and my wife lol) crazy there for a while. The only thing that is nice about consoles is that all you have to do is pop and play. Don't get me wrong. I stated that I did not give up, I just had to separate myself for a minute. I don't mind getting the settings just right, I just have to stop when I do find them :^p.

Law-II · Nov 21, 2014

Hi

testudo said:
Thank you for the sound advice! I think that I will just have to tweak up some settings and see if I can get decent graphics at a decent FPS...without screen tearing lol. Yeah, here are the clocks for the GHz Edition: Core Clock: 1019 MHz (Base) 1071 MHz (Boost) - Memory Clock: 6008 MHz

testudo said:
I have no idea how to overclock my card. Anyone have any advice, tutorials or links for overclocking?

Just be aware that the GHz edition is very near to its absolute TDP even with the 450W Triple Cooler, pushing a further oc on the card has very little impact in real world games in what is already a beast. (not saying it cannot be overclocked, just not worth the returns at 1080p)

Note: Best drivers {in my opinion} that are available are 340.52Whql or the Icafe Drivers 344.47Whql [Note: Icafe driver is stripped down to the bare bones and only includes Driver, HD Sound and PhysX]

If get a chance fill in full system specs here hardware make and models including OS

atb

Law-II

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

Law-II said:
Hi

Just be aware that the GHz edition is very near to its absolute TDP even with the 450W Triple Cooler, pushing a further oc on the card has very little impact in real world games in what is already a beast. (not saying it cannot be overclocked, just not worth the returns at 1080p)

Note: Best drivers {in my opinion} that are available are 340.52Whql or the Icafe Drivers 344.47Whql [Note: Icafe driver is stripped down to the bare bones and only includes Driver, HD Sound and PhysX]

If get a chance fill in full system specs here hardware make and models including OS

atb

Law-II

I filled it all out. What do you think? That should be a good system for a while, right?

eidairaman1 · Nov 21, 2014

NO YOU DONT NEED TO upgrade to a 980. The 780 is fine, dont waste money.

Law-II · Nov 21, 2014

Hi

testudo said:
I filled it all out. What do you think? That should be a good system for a while, right?

Nice system; that has plenty of overhead for now and the future :toast:

atb

Law-II

testudo · Nov 21, 2014

Law-II said:
Hi

Nice system; that has plenty of overhead for now and the future

atb

Law-II

Great! Thank you for your input, everyone!

15th Warlock · Nov 21, 2014

testudo said:
That is something I was thinking about, too.

I just want a smooth gaming experience, without any screen tearing, constantly messing with the settings to find the perfect combination and then like. I am not a frames per second junkie or anything. I just would like a smooth experience.

Your card should be plenty enough to provide you that, it sounds to me like what you really need is a monitor that supports G-Sync, or one of the upcoming Freesync monitors to be released next year, dunno if your 780 will be compatible with those though, as they'll require a DP 1.2a connector.

System Name	My rig
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Processor	i7 3770k 3.5
Motherboard	Gigabyte UD4H
Cooling	Cooler Master Seidon 120M Push/Pull
Memory	8GB G.SKILL Ares Series (2 x 4GB) 1866 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX780 GDDR5-3GB 2xDVI/HDMI/DP OC Graphics Card - GV-N780GHZ-3GD
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Do I "need" to upgrade from GTX 780 to GTX 980

testudo

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

FX-GMC

testudo

64K

testudo

adulaamin

GhostRyder

testudo

testudo

Law-II

testudo

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

GhostRyder

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

testudo

peche

Thermaltake fanboy

64K

testudo

Law-II

testudo

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

Law-II

testudo

15th Warlock

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