Upgrading to GTX 970 or 980

[RCoon]

That's just to make yourself feel better. Which can be worth money indeed.

But in w1z's review it's 40W less during gaming. That's just not worth it. As others have said, undervolt your stuff instead. Turn the freezer/fridge down a tiny bit. Don't use the oven as a space heater. Buy LED light bulbs and turn them off agressively. Read a book.

I don't use light bulbs in my rooms and I don't use anything to read besides old fashioned pen and paper! I also don't use the heating in my house because my climate is relatively even stevens and I'm rather warm bodied. I don't use a tumble drier, a dish washer, any of that crap. Frankly I'm a god damned domestic Saint in terms of household power use, but it doesn't matter, because rednecks halfway across the world are busy rolling coal. If I can make 40W difference to my electricity use, I do it.

Sure, I'm no treehugging, bush sleeping, kangaroo faeces eating hippy, but I like to do my best within reason.

 

[Vario]

I don't use light bulbs in my rooms and I don't use anything to read besides old fashioned pen and paper! I also don't use the heating in my house because my climate is relatively even stevens and I'm rather warm bodied. I don't use a tumble drier, a dish washer, any of that crap. Frankly I'm a god damned domestic Saint in terms of household power use, but it doesn't matter, because rednecks halfway across the world are busy rolling coal. If I can make 40W difference to my electricity use, I do it.

Sure, I'm no treehugging, bush sleeping, kangaroo faeces eating hippy, but I like to do my best within reason.

Yeah the coal rolling is annoying. They do it to anyone that either drives a prius or is on a bike, as if being on a bike somehow indicates a different political belief. I could see a prius driver being a leftist limpwristed hippy, but a bike? come on.

 

[michael]

Your meme bank is incomplete

I think this is the most rude reply I ever got in techpowerup.com. It's sad! I really did not understand what you meant there.

 

[RCoon]

I think this is the most rude reply I ever got in techpowerup.com. It's sad! I really did not understand what you meant there.

Sorry you feel that way brother mine

 

[eidairaman1]

Biggest power consumer in home, CENTRAL AC, Water heater, Ceiling fans, Oven, Wash machine/Drier/ (electrical appliances).

Since you have a 780 Already id wait another year before making a move.

 

[GhostRyder]

I have to say I do not think it would be that worthwhile to upgrade just for some light power savings. I guess I am a power hog in all honesty with my machine but I feel the bit of savings would not circumvent the probably loss of money from selling (Or keeping and just buying a new card) the GTX 780 for even a GTX 970 (Well maybe people will still pay a lot for a GTX 780). The performance difference as well is not going to be night and day and at the point of just "Saving Power" it might just be better to do as others have said and just try undervolting it if that is your concern.

There might also be some better methods to save electricity in your place than swapping that out that would cost less in the long run and be more beneficial. Idle power is not really all that great a difference between them so maybe just turning it off when not in use (If you leave it on) or finding other ways. I seriously doubt even with expensive electricity that you would be getting a significant change in price unless your computer is stressed most of the day.

 

[Scrizz]

nvr mind the resources used in creating the new card.......

Personally, I'd keep the 780. Unless you're using the GPU 24/7, most of the time the PC is either idle or off.
It won't make that much difference.

 

[erocker]

The 60 watts you're saving while running the card completely maxed out vs. your GTX 780 won't equate to anything noticeable on your energy bill. You'll just be losing money buy purchasing a 970 and gain, or lose a bit of performance if any.

 

[cwtech]

970 all the way its way cheap and fast for the cost. It will out run the 290 in several games. I'll show you. http://www.dayonepatch.com/index.php?/topic/112827-xfx-r9-290-core-edition-vs-evga-gtx-970-acx/
There is also a YouTube video comparing the 970, 290, and 290x and the 970 hold 60fps more consistently than the other two.

Oops my YouTube link didn't send as I wanted :/

 

[64K]

Yeah, I don't think 60 watts savings per hour will be a big enough difference to warrant buying a GTX 970 to replace a GTX 780. I pay 10 cents per kWh so electricity isn't a big deal to me but I did a quick check and saw that people in Denmark pay 40 cents per kWh. That's a lot but how much do you game? If it's an average of 20 hours a week then the difference you would pay to save 60 watts would be about $2 US a month or about 12 Danish Krone. That's not very much.

Your GTX 780 is good for almost all games at 1440p so the bump in performance going to GTX 970 isn't really that big. I would wait on the 20nm Maxwells next year and then you can probably get a more efficient and powerful GPU for around the same price as a 970 then.