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Pull the plug on a GTX 970 or wait it out?

K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
It's either 970 now, 980 Ti in a few, or Pascal in 2016. That's it, unless you are willing to give AMD a shot with the R9 300 cards.
 
M

Memorabilia

Member
I think you must mean "pull the trigger"...?

"Pull the plug" means to stop, turn off, or kill. ;)

I just purchased a GTX 960 and am extremely happy with it. If money is no object, go for it. If you're like me and always looking for the best deals and even a difference of $10 or $20 is going to make a difference to you, then waiting it out another month might not be a bad idea. When AMD's Fiji islands cards drop nVidia will probably have to adjust pricing at all their tiers. That said, the GTX 970 is a beast and despite the 3.5 GB issue is well worth the cost. Ask yourself, "Self...do I want one now for around $330? Or would I feel better getting one in a month or two for $275 - $300 after nVidia drops prices a little?" If that potential savings of $25-$50 doesn't mean much to you, then get the card now and enjoy it. For me, I needed a mid-range card for an HTPC now and the 960 fits the bill. But I'm definitely waiting to get a higher end card for my primary gaming rig until after AMD's new stuff drops so I can get the best deal on newer silicon...or a better deal on a 970....
 
lem0n

lem0n

Member
970 should be good for a few years yet, as long as you don't want to go higher than 1080p. I can do almost anything completely maxed @1080 with my Strix 970.
 
H

HowZatOZ

Banned
Considering the broken lanes I'd say a 970 would be a great upgrade, but the tech nerd inside me says just wait a few months for whatever Nvidia and AMD have to offer. Hell I'll be sticking with my 770 4GB model for now just because it makes sense to wait it out.
 
D

dcassell

Banned
My 970 and i5 4690k haven't let me down on anything yet. Witcher 3 will really test that I guess, but I've only had to then settings down from max on maybe 3 games since I bought it on release. It's a great card. Shame about the whole 3.5 GB VRAM problem though.

Go for it. Nvidia products usually sell higher than AMD used as well.
 
Raven77

Raven77

Member
Look at it this way BRUH, do you want to drop 3-400 dollars on a card that can't even run Witcher 4 maxed out? I mean, where will you be in a year or two? It will be even farther behind bruh.

Seriously though, that is kind of my thinking. I've read that you need a 980 to max it out at 1080p so why would I drop nearly half a grand on a card that can't even run a recently released game maxed out? Don't tempt me to get a 970, I just got a 250 dollar amazon giftcard from work...
 
BigTnaples

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Raven77 said:
Look at it this way BRUH, do you want to drop 3-400 dollars on a card that can't even run Witcher 4 maxed out? I mean, where will you be in a year or two? It will be even farther behind bruh.

Seriously though, that is kind of my thinking. I've read that you need a 980 to max it out at 1080p so why would I drop nearly half a grand on a card that can't even run a recently released game maxed out? Don't tempt me to get a 970, I just got a 250 dollar amazon giftcard from work...
Click to expand...


But a stock 970 can play Wild Hunt On Uber Settings @1080p at 40-60+ frames per second. With maybe a tiny overclock, it could easily manage a solid 30 with game works/hair works enabled.

Plus you can pick one up for 300 bucks and it comes with Batman and Wild Hunt. Assuming those are games you were going to get, it's like getting an amazing graphics card for $175.00.

Liked mine so much I went and impulse bought a second one for the wild hunt. But only because I play at 4K. If I was still gaming at 1080p, I would be more than satisfied with a single 970.
 
Raven77

Raven77

Member
BigTnaples said:
But a stock 970 can play Wild Hunt On Uber Settings @1080p at 40-60+ frames per second. With maybe a tiny overclock, it could easily manage a solid 30 with game works/hair works enabled.

Plus you can pick one up for 300 bucks and it comes with Batman and Wild Hunt. Assuming those are games you were going to get, it's like getting an amazing graphics card for $175.00.

Liked mine so much I went and impulse bought a second one for the wild hunt. But only because I play at 4K. If I was still gaming at 1080p, I would be more than satisfied with a single 970.
Click to expand...

I thought they released earlier that a single 970 couldn't achieve 45-60fps with Uber settings? If they did confirm that, well...[runs off to find amazon gift card]
 
G

Glass Shark

Banned
I don't really know much about what's coming down the pike with video cards, but I will say I love my 970 G1. I'm planning on picking up another one for SLI a bit down the road.
 
K

Kieli

Member
No point waiting.

You're always going to be playing a waiting game.

Wait next year for Pascal, and then you'll end up asking yourself, should I wait for Volta in 2017?
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
shark sandwich said:
970 is the sweet spot for price/performance/power consumption. It's the best 1080p card you can get IMO. I don't expect anything to beat it until 14nm GPUs arrive in 2016.
Click to expand...

I guess, but why would anyone run games at 1080p when there's downsampling?
 
Soodanim

Soodanim

Member
My 4690k and 970 are at stock speeds and I can get my framerates to be a minimum of 60fps 95% of the time (1080p) in GTAV. Settings are pretty high, too. It is a fairly rare example of a game that will tell you how much VRAM will be used for your settings, but even in other games I'm not bothered by the 3.5GB thing at this moment in time. Of course that may change in future, but if you're more into framerates than resolution/settings, you're going to be fine for a long time.
 
jfoul

jfoul

Member
cackhyena said:
So when is that?
Click to expand...

AMD will be releasing the 300 series before June 28th. We will probably see media blowouts at Computex and E3, or both.

I'm waiting for this release and the response from Nvidia to make a purchase, it's just too close right now.
 
T

The1Ski

Member
mkenyon said:
mkenyon's guide to buying video cards in the modern and stagnant age:

Step 1: Just fucking buy it already.

Step 2: Wait for the next thing that you need to upgrade to.

Step 3: Sell your card for a good chunk of cash.

Step 4: Purchase new card.

Then you're on top of the game and only out a few hundos each time, rather than needing to plop down $300-500+.

mkenyon's alternative guide to buying video cards in the modern and stagnant age:

Step 1: Wait for people who do the above to sell their cards on GAF B/S/T.



For real though, warranties are based on serial # and last three years if you buy from one of the big AIBs - ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, EVGA, Sapphire.
Click to expand...

Not sure a gtx 560 ti would net me too much cash
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
What type of performance do you want to get OP? For 1080p/60fps at high or ultra, 970 is a great card for another 2 or 3 years.

1440p it's great at mostly high/some ultra.

If you want both witcher 3 and batman, you should definitely get a 970. You can pick up a 970 for around $320 so the card is effectively around $220-$250 depending on how you value those bundled games.

If you are considering a gsync monitor, then a 970 is fantastic. The games still look smooth even if you are not producing enough frames for 144hz or 60hz of your monitor.
 
A

Applecot

Member
Considering graphics card prices will almost invariably come down I'd suggest waiting unless you are planning on fixing the problem you're having very, very soon.
 
Soodanim

Soodanim

Member
Wait for the 980ti and spend twice as much on it.

Ive got two 970's and love them, but 3.5 GBs of Vram is not going to be enough moving forward.
Click to expand...
There are still a lot of 2GB cards out there, and they won't be left behind so quickly. The 960 has a 2GB form, and while it's not a high end card it's still a current gen gaming card. 3.5GB is going to be fine for a while.
 
C

Corpekata

Banned
RobbieNick said:
I'm a PC Gaming newb. What's the difference between GT and GTX when it comes to Geforce cards?
Click to expand...

Target audience. Gaming cards tend to be mostly GTX these days. But there won't be like, a GT and GTX 970, there will just be one. GT tends to be mid level cards.
 
V

Vuze

Member
Go for it, if you haven't already! I upgraded from a 7870 to a 970 when it came out and having a blast ever since.

The recent offers are amazing too. Some shops even offered like 30-50€ cash back + Witcher 3 + Batman if you buy a 9xx card here in Germany. I was thinking of grabbing one for SLI and sell the codes since I already own the games but I noticed my shitty MB doesn't support SLI... Oh well, single cards should hold me through till the next CPU upgrade :p
 
S

superseohyun

Member
SixFourMike said:
There are still a lot of 2GB cards out there, and they won't be left behind so quickly. The 960 has a 2GB form, and while it's not a high end card it's still a current gen gaming card. 3.5GB is going to be fine for a while.
Click to expand...
fine is probably not enough consider 700 euro spent.
 
M

MCN

Banned
You're going to be getting 1080p60 for a long time yet with that card. And so you should, for the price.
 
A

adamantypants

Member
I didn't see anyone ask... how much are you willing to spend OP? The new cards are all flagships. Only wait if you're wondering where your $700 should go

mkenyon said:
mkenyon's guide to buying video cards in the modern and stagnant age:

Step 1: Just fucking buy it already.

Step 2: Wait for the next thing that you need to upgrade to.

Step 3: Sell your card for a good chunk of cash.

Step 4: Purchase new card.

Then you're on top of the game and only out a few hundos each time, rather than needing to plop down $300-500+.

mkenyon's alternative guide to buying video cards in the modern and stagnant age:

Step 1: Wait for people who do the above to sell their cards on GAF B/S/T.



For real though, warranties are based on serial # and last three years if you buy from one of the big AIBs - ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, EVGA, Sapphire.
Click to expand...
This man knows what he's talking about. BTW, selling my 780ti on B/S/T :D. Titan X is lookin real tasty to me.

The1Ski said:
Not sure a gtx 560 ti would net me too much cash
Click to expand...
His logic still works. Presumably, you'd sell a card to purchase it's replacement. The 560ti would upgrade to probably a 750 ti. It could still pay potentially half of the price.
 
D

DBT85

Member
Been weighing up both the 970 and the 290x myself, to replace my ageing 6950.

I game at 2560x1600 but am playing things like Cities Skylines, Starcraft and so on rather than The Witcher or Crysis and stuff.

Since the AMD 380 series is going to be out in 6 weeks I've decided to wait just to see how it compares on price and performance to the 290x.
 
R

REDSLATE

Member
"Pull the Plug" is the wrong phrase in this situation... "Pull the Plug" means to let something die. I believe you mean "Pull the Trigger," as in to execute an important action (in this case, the purchase of a new video card).
 
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