Advice: GTX 970 SLI or 980TI or Fury X

[Viruzz]

Hi,
right now I have a Single Asus Strix GTX 970, based on past benchmarks a pre-overclocked 970SLI is equal or faster then R9 295X2 (im comparing to this one because unlike GTX970 SLI, the 295X2 appears in every benchmark across most web sites, so its easier to compare)

Looks like 295x2 is faster then 980ti and Fury X, means that if ill get another 970 it will be both faster and cheaper then selling my old one and getting 980Ti or furyX?

I have a 2560x1440 Sasmung monitor that I rarely game on, only when im too lazy to turn on the TV, but i prefer to game on big screen LED which is only FHD so thats my target resolution, FHD with x4 or x6 AA or 4K DSR.

And I will defiantly be getting either Valve HTC Vive or OculusVR, so I need to know if SLI is OK for VR, maybe VR is best on a single card? I have no idea.


Basically what should I do, if i want to skip upgrading in 2016, should I get another 970 or sell mine and get 980Ti or Fury X?

Thanks

 

[newtekie1]

The 970SLI would be the most powerful option. In their stock forms(stock clocks I mean) the 970SLI is about 5% faster than a TitanX, which is about 5% faster than a 980Ti. Factory overclocking is going to change that slightly, but not enough to be noticeable between them.

I say sell the 970 and go with the 980Ti. Then you have the option to add a second down the road after some price cuts. On the other hand, there is a slightly used 970 Strix that matches your card for sale in the FS/FT section here on the forums, that would be a might fine deal...

 

[GhostRyder]

Hi,
right now I have a Single Asus Strix GTX 970, based on past benchmarks a pre-overclocked 970SLI is equal or faster then R9 295X2 (im comparing to this one because unlike GTX970 SLI, the 295X2 appears in every benchmark across most web sites, so its easier to compare)

Looks like 295x2 is faster then 980ti and Fury X, means that if ill get another 970 it will be both faster and cheaper then selling my old one and getting 980Ti or furyX?

I have a 2560x1440 Sasmung monitor that I rarely game on, only when im too lazy to turn on the TV, but i prefer to game on big screen LED which is only FHD so thats my target resolution, FHD with x4 or x6 AA or 4K DSR.

And I will defiantly be getting either Valve HTC Vive or OculusVR, so I need to know if SLI is OK for VR, maybe VR is best on a single card? I have no idea.


Basically what should I do, if i want to skip upgrading in 2016, should I get another 970 or sell mine and get 980Ti or Fury X?

Thanks

Basically you seem to game at FHD which means both the Fury X and the GTX 980ti would probably be beyond overkill for you. Heck even just sticking with a single GTX 970 should be plenty for a long time. Its a hard decision but to me I would say probably say go for a single high end GPU to replace it if your just wanting your system to last for a long time while handling FHD and things like DSR.

Not to say CFX/SLI is a bad thing (Heck I run three cards), just that for standard FHD and using things like MSAA and DSR I would prefer to have a single very powerful GPU and not having to worry about waiting on a profile for the game I am wanting to play. So in short, I would either get a Fury X or a GTX 980ti and sell the GTX 970, between the two I would have a tough time choosing on a stock to stock basis.

 

[Viruzz]

Thanks for replay. Any idea how VR works with SLI?

 

[EarthDog]

For FHD, there is nearly zero reasons to run multiple GPUs... but you eventually plan to run VR. Since it is essentially 2x 1080p(FHD) screens, it takes a bit of horsepower to run. I would look at 2 970's.

No idea on the NVIDIA side, but VR works fine with CrossfireX (AMD cards).

 

[Viruzz]

For FHD, there is nearly zero reasons to run multiple GPUs... but you eventually plan to run VR. Since it is essentially 2x 1080p(FHD) screens, it takes a bit of horsepower to run. I would look at 2 970's.

No idea on the NVIDIA side, but VR works fine with CrossfireX (AMD cards).

Well I run FHD but I want to use DSR so its like 4K, also right now I play Witcher 3, i can run it 55-60FPS no problem with everything on Ultra with fur and physx, i just ticked 2 options to high, of course i would like to have everything on Ultra and runs a steady 60FPS and in best case DSR 4K, and i dont like it when GPU works at 99%, sometimes the game crashes, rarely but it does,

 

[EarthDog]

GPUs are supposed to work at 99%. If its not, there is likely something up or it isn't being used properly (low res, not a stressful game... etc).

 

[thesmokingman]

I would go 980ti or Fury, and then if occulus is your thing, definitely go Fury.

 

[Iceni]

I'd wait and keep an eye on prices.

The GTX970 had the memory debacle, That has still not been fully resolved and has had no logical conclusion from Nvidia. This doesn't mean you don't want one of these cards or even 2. What it means is you should wait a couple of weeks. See who tries offloading them and watch for saturation on ebay. Then when you think the price is low enough make a decision.

Currently there is little to no retail stock of the Fury X out there, and people are just about to pull the trigger on the card they have picked from the 980, 980ti, and Fury X. Once those people have the upgrade then the second hand listings will appear.

With the 970 on ebay 1 or two things will happen, The people a generation or 2 behind will snap them up, or everyone will leave well alone. If people are snapping them up then upsell to a 980 ti, If people are leaving them alone then go SLI because you need to ride out the cards to get your value back.

 

[Viruzz]

I'd wait and keep an eye on prices.

The GTX970 had the memory debacle, That has still not been fully resolved and has had no logical conclusion from Nvidia. This doesn't mean you don't want one of these cards or even 2. What it means is you should wait a couple of weeks. See who tries offloading them and watch for saturation on ebay. Then when you think the price is low enough make a decision.

Currently there is little to no retail stock of the Fury X out there, and people are just about to pull the trigger on the card they have picked from the 980, 980ti, and Fury X. Once those people have the upgrade then the second hand listings will appear.

With the 970 on ebay 1 or two things will happen, The people a generation or 2 behind will snap them up, or everyone will leave well alone. If people are snapping them up then upsell to a 980 ti, If people are leaving them alone then go SLI because you need to ride out the cards to get your value back.

Too late I got the GTX970.
Actually they had Fury X, I could buy it on the spot, but decided to go with the SLI and Im getting scared of AMD, looking how most devs go with Nvidia middle-ware these days

 

[qubit]

Get the 980 ti. No-brainer.

Fury X is a lemon. Check out the dealbreaking annoying whine issue in the review for just one of the issues.

 

[hapkiman]

Yeppers. A 980 Ti is the way to go. MSI or Gigabyte, unless you want to wait on the EVGA Classified. Fury X is another unproven card, that AMD made out to be the great white [RED] hope. Kind of like they did w/Bulldozer CPUs. The performance claims are inflated and the 4GB VRAM is a limiting factor for UHD.
Of course this is only MHO.

Just get the 980 Ti and be happy.

 

[RejZoR]

Get the 980 ti. No-brainer.

Fury X is a lemon. Check out the dealbreaking annoying whine issue in the review for just one of the issues.

Though I've seen people who owned the actual retail versions of R9 Fury X and they say there is no whine or pump noise...

 

[btarunr]

Buy a GTX 980 Ti. Cheap out with the motherboard (it may lack SLI), buy a piñacolada with the savings.

 

[RejZoR]

Well, Fury X is still an interesting card that (if we are realistic) performs just as good as GTX 980Ti. If one is a techno freak who loves exotic tech, R9 Fury X is a treat for them. When things are this high end and people are willing to pay this kind of money for them, being rational isn't a necessity anymore. People who are rational are going to buy something from the R7/GTX 960 range and keep it for 5+ years, not a 800 € graphic card that will most likely be replaced next year or at most 2 years later... If R9 Fury X makes you feel butterflies in your belly, go for it.

I've gone for the vanilla GTX 980, because I'm somewhere in between. I'm rational, but then again I'm a techno freak and I want to treat myself here and there. GTX 980 is the most expensive card that I've ever purchased to date (before that it was the HD7950 at 330€ when it was new). For people like me, it's different. We want crazy exotic stuff, but budget limits us. That's why I haven't gone for the R9-390X even though it performs really well. But the fact it's an old rebranded tech is just bothering me so much I just couldn't pick it up. GTX 980 may suck compared to 390X in some places, but at the end of the day Maxwell 2 supports DX12.1 and few other goodies and that also counts for something.

 

[commando55555]

IF you like. Crashing to desktop, driver's don't work, graphical artefacts all over the place, no overclock!!... Buy a amd card.

 

[RejZoR]

IF you like. Crashing to desktop, driver's don't work, graphical artefacts all over the place, no overclock!!... Buy a amd card.

I've had 6 generations of newer AMD cards (x1900-HD7900) and I've only once experienced crashing to desktop (NFS: The Run) and nothing else. Stop talking nonsense fanboy.

 

[commando55555]

not a fan boy had cards from both always had more problems with amd cards. Just my experience. If fury wasn't a lemon probably would have brought 2. Lets face it there is not 1 good reason to buy fury over the 980ti.

 

[the54thvoid]

IF you like. Crashing to desktop, driver's don't work, graphical artefacts all over the place, no overclock!!... Buy a amd card.

No overclock? On Maxwell? I think you're confusing Fury X with the 980(ti) and I'm not trolling.

On phone so hard to link but have a look at Guru 3D's 980ti Gaming review. Or Hardware Canucks SC 980ti review. Both giving 20-30% above stock performance. The MSI Gaming card is also very quiet for an air blower.

lol Edit: just realised you were being sarcastic- my epic fail!

 

[commando55555]

No overclock on fury not maxwell. Fury is junk.

 

[GhostRyder]

IF you like. Crashing to desktop, driver's don't work, graphical artefacts all over the place, no overclock!!... Buy a amd card.

That is the biggest load I have read, if that happened people would not buy anything AMD period so you can stop making things up. Drivers have been fine for years on end with a small thing here and there kinda like NVidias recent problem with chrome...

No overclock on fury not maxwell. Fury is junk.

So you own one, please give us an extensive review and show us exactly why its "Junk".

Get the 980 ti. No-brainer.

Fury X is a lemon. Check out the dealbreaking annoying whine issue in the review for just one of the issues.

Its still got lower noise overall than most cards on the market... 30gb is pretty low at idle with most cards hovering in the range of 27-31.

Too late I got the GTX970.
Actually they had Fury X, I could buy it on the spot, but decided to go with the SLI and Im getting scared of AMD, looking how most devs go with Nvidia middle-ware these days

Well I think you should have gone for the GTX 980ti personally instead of dual 970's, but I am glad you made a decision and hope you are happy with your cards for a very long time!

 

[FreedomEclipse]

definitely 980Ti

Im waiting to see if the price drops on them so i can swap my SLi out.

 

[Viruzz]

Well, Fury X is still an interesting card that (if we are realistic) performs just as good as GTX 980Ti. If one is a techno freak who loves exotic tech, R9 Fury X is a treat for them. When things are this high end and people are willing to pay this kind of money for them, being rational isn't a necessity anymore. People who are rational are going to buy something from the R7/GTX 960 range and keep it for 5+ years, not a 800 € graphic card that will most likely be replaced next year or at most 2 years later... If R9 Fury X makes you feel butterflies in your belly, go for it.

I've gone for the vanilla GTX 980, because I'm somewhere in between. I'm rational, but then again I'm a techno freak and I want to treat myself here and there. GTX 980 is the most expensive card that I've ever purchased to date (before that it was the HD7950 at 330€ when it was new). For people like me, it's different. We want crazy exotic stuff, but budget limits us. That's why I haven't gone for the R9-390X even though it performs really well. But the fact it's an old rebranded tech is just bothering me so much I just couldn't pick it up. GTX 980 may suck compared to 390X in some places, but at the end of the day Maxwell 2 supports DX12.1 and few other goodies and that also counts for something.

eventually I went for another GTX970 because Im also a techno freak I wanted to get as much power as I can for as little money as possible, GTX970SLI is faster then Titan X and it only cost me 530USD for additional GTX970 and I dont need to look for a buyer for my old GTX970. Easiest solution....
Well, me being the most unlucky person on the planet after I returned home with the GTX970 i remembered to check what sort of motherboard I have and I have H97 mobo with CF only.

But, since August near, ill be doing a full Skylakeupgrade, getting a new motherboard Gigabyte is going to release a z170 mobo with Creative ZxR chip on board, 10SATA, x3 SATA express, some new overclock chip, USB3.1 and excellent layout

 

[qubit]

Its still got lower noise overall than most cards on the market... 30gb is pretty low at idle with most cards hovering in the range of 27-31.

With that unacceptable, dealbreaking whine the decibel reading becomes irrelevant. If I'd bought one of those then I'd return it for a full refund straight away as not fit for purpose.

However, since the review and my post about my first impressions of it in the review thread, below, I read a news report that said AMD have fessed up to the problem where they said that it only affected early production cards. However, AMD haven't said anything about a recall and that's wrong. Clearly the first cards have defective or lower quality parts to make that noise so should be replaced as a matter of course.

Yet another disappointing top model from AMD. Guess I was expecting too much from them.

So we have a card that costs the same as a 980 ti, yet performs generally worse, has watercooling by default with no other option while NVIDIA beats them on air and with slower memory technology.

On top of that, all that quietness is ruined by coil noise and a pump that emits a seriously annoying high-pitched whine. The noise alone is a dealbreaker for me and many others.

WTF?!

For the watercooling and noises in particular, doesn't anyone over there see these things and say "Hey wait a minute, we can't release a product in this state"? Guess not. Fail.

 

[GhostRyder]

With that unacceptable, dealbreaking whine the decibel reading becomes irrelevant. If I'd bought one of those then I'd return it for a full refund straight away as not fit for purpose.

However, since the review and my post about my first impressions of it in the review thread, below, I read a news report that said AMD have fessed up to the problem where they said that it only affected early production cards. However, AMD haven't said anything about a recall and that's wrong. Clearly the first cards have defective or lower quality parts to make that noise so should be replaced as a matter of course.

How many NVidia cards out there have terrible coil whine yet that is shaken off as no big deal?

If we are speaking strictly about the pump, well ok the noise is still not bad if I heard one correctly. My neighbor just got a pair in for his rig today and I listened to them to which the noise was not bad at all. In his Corsair 750D, I really did not notice it except when pretty close. If there is a defective problem on models then yes they should offer at least an exchange.