980ti Vs. 2x970s in SLI?

[Hawkstream]

2 - 970s are about the same price as a single 980ti. Which would be more powerful?

 

[Cybrnook2002]

970's, same as 2 x 970's beat a Titan-X, or a 980...

Your question is vague, thus will start a lot of memory/resolution debates. (as I sure you were fishing for anyways)

 

[arbiter]

the SLI'ed 970's will be faster provided the game is coded to take advantage of it. ~3328 cuda cores vs ~2816 cores. But as i said SLI in game has to be able to use it so depends on game 980ti can be faster and others 2x970's. personally i would go with 980ti, as less space needed in case, 2slots vs 4 slots, less heat as well.

 

[GhostRyder]

2 - 970s are about the same price as a single 980ti. Which would be more powerful?

I would of the two get a GTX 980ti mostly because otherwise you have to rely on SLI profiles and the fact you get a lot more ram. Its going to be more future proof if that is your intention, also at that point anything 1440p and below is going to be at Ultra settings anyway so I would not worry.

 

[Hawkstream]

970's, same as 2 x 970's beat a Titan-X, or a 980...

Your question is vague, thus will start a lot of memory/resolution debates. (as I sure you were fishing for anyways)

I'm just looking for good discussion. I currently have a single 970. in a few months I may buy another and do SLI or I may sell it and get a 980ti.

 

[arbiter]

I'm just looking for good discussion. I currently have a single 970. in a few months I may buy another and do SLI or I may sell it and get a 980ti.

would just get a 2nd 970. more cost effective.

 

[Jetster]

Ill take ether one

 

[GhostRyder]

I'm just looking for good discussion. I currently have a single 970. in a few months I may buy another and do SLI or I may sell it and get a 980ti.

My advice based on the difference in performance would be to sell the 970 and get the 980ti at that time. My reasoning is simply the performance difference is only going to be there in great SLI scenarios which are not everywhere and to top it off you have much more VRAM for higher resolutions later on.

I do not think you will be disappointed either way, but in my book it saves you trouble in the long run and gives you another option down the road (2 GTX 980ti's).

 

[Jetster]

One card solution is always preferred

 

[Bill_Bright]

One card solution is always preferred

And typically takes a more conservative (read: less expensive) power supply too.

 

[erocker]

2 - 970s are about the same price as a single 980ti. Which would be more powerful?

If "powerful" is the most important thing to you, did you check reviews? It's pretty easy to see when you compare the nice graphs reviewers made side by side. They put all that work into answering your questions ahead of time, you should really check them out.

 

[purecain]

lol.... I wouldn't mind 2816 cuda cores for less than 600pounds.. its a right deal.. im tempted not to wait for amd...

 

[Valeriant]

If you can wait till DX12 is out, VRAM pooling might be possible hence two 970 would get 8GB. Unconfirmed, of course, but it's just a couple weeks more to confirm.

And... and if you can wait just a wee bit more, AMD's latest might entices you to jump ship. ;D

If you can't wait, as most already adviced you, I also recommend a 980Ti; it is the fastest card right now, you can then consider buying two of that later. I don't know about this but it might also supports newer DX12 feature level if any (I do know all 900-series cards already supporting feature level 12.1). And from reviews, the boost clock and overclock tests are awesome (but hotter), 980Ti can match Titan X with $350 less.

 

[yogurt_21]

If "powerful" is the most important thing to you, did you check reviews? It's pretty easy to see when you compare the nice graphs reviewers made side by side. They put all that work into answering your questions ahead of time, you should really check them out.

Yeah like this sites reviews, because W1z already addressed this issue in the 980 Ti review.

 

[Cybrnook2002]

Directly from W1zzard's 980 Ti review (last paragraph, taken out of context)

"there is the GTX 970 SLI at $640 or so. It should offer around 8% more performance"

 

[hapkiman]

Personally I would go with a single 980 Ti for several reasons. Less heat, less power needed, less headache worrying about drivers. The SLI'ed 970's would be powerful no question, but still would be limited to only 3.5/4GB of VRAM. The Ti would give you a bountiful 6GB! (the pooling of VRAM w/DX12 is a ways off and is still hugely questionable as to how well and when it will work).

As far as which would be faster? We don't have enough data yet or any AIB cards to test like the ASUS Strix 980 Ti or the MSI Gaming GTX 980 Ti. These specialty cards may actually best SLI'ed 970s. But it would be close.