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Pull the plug on a GTX 970 or wait it out?
- Thread starter Nekrono
- Start date
I had a 290x that burned out(to be fair it wasn't the card that caused the problem but it paid the price) , and bought a 970 to replace it. About a month later the whole 3.5gb of RAM issue came up and I was fretting a bit but then I realized at 1080p it's still a great card.
Seriously it runs everything I throw at it at great frame rates. You can overclock it a bit and it'll run pretty close to the 980. The drivers are a bit more manageable than the AMD cards. Don't get me wrong the 290x was a great card too but the deals on a 970 are outstanding and it runs just as well or better in my machine than the 290x did.
Seriously it runs everything I throw at it at great frame rates. You can overclock it a bit and it'll run pretty close to the 980. The drivers are a bit more manageable than the AMD cards. Don't get me wrong the 290x was a great card too but the deals on a 970 are outstanding and it runs just as well or better in my machine than the 290x did.
Hey Dubz, I bought this card and it's pretty nice. I'd recommend it.
GavinUK86
Member
Judging from reviews is this, more or less, the best 970 to get?
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-MS
Would be interesting to hear what model 970 owners already have.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-MS
Would be interesting to hear what model 970 owners already have.
SirMossyBloke
Member
I've been reading a lot about over clocking 970s and most places deem the Gigabyte G1 edition to be the best 970 to get. Sadly I got the windforce edition before realizing G1 was a thing.
Jibbajabbawockky
Member
As with any PC upgrade, unless there is some alternative on the immediate horizon that you think you would actually buy, just buy whatever is best right now. That's especially true if you've got a couple games coming up real soon like The Witcher and Batman where you'd see huge benefits to a new card right away.
I guess you could wait for the new AMD cards to come out to see what they offer but a 970 is a solid card right now and probably will be solid for a good while.
The MSI is nice.
I bought the EVGA 970 FTW last fall. Its been working beautifully since then. One of the big complaints was coil whine with it and while I had that for maybe the first couple months, I gradually stopped noticing it to the point where any game I've played recently I don't notice any coil whine.
I've always had good luck with EVGA cards when I've gone with Nvidia and they always seem to have really good customer service if you do have issues. The other plus with the EVGA was the size of it. My Storm Scout case can only hold a 10.5" card and that's maybe being generous but the EVGA 970 FTW is one of the smaller ones at 9.5" long, so it fits perfectly.
I guess you could wait for the new AMD cards to come out to see what they offer but a 970 is a solid card right now and probably will be solid for a good while.
The MSI is nice.
I bought the EVGA 970 FTW last fall. Its been working beautifully since then. One of the big complaints was coil whine with it and while I had that for maybe the first couple months, I gradually stopped noticing it to the point where any game I've played recently I don't notice any coil whine.
I've always had good luck with EVGA cards when I've gone with Nvidia and they always seem to have really good customer service if you do have issues. The other plus with the EVGA was the size of it. My Storm Scout case can only hold a 10.5" card and that's maybe being generous but the EVGA 970 FTW is one of the smaller ones at 9.5" long, so it fits perfectly.
TylerDurden4321
Member
Sorry in advance for being "complicated"...
I have a fairly old Core i7-965 @3.6GHz with 2x SLI 260GTX running on PCIe 2.0. My cards are still powerful enough for my 1080p gaming, but some of the newest games are hard to get to constant 60fps even on lower settings, Wolfenstein and Battlefield 3 were pretty bad and I won't even try CoD:AW, but I'm not too desperate for those shooters.
Last month I bought DiRT Rally and didn't know it was Direct3D 11 -cards only. It would run really fine power-wise, but my cards aren't supported (my SLI cards are still 10.1).
So... either
- I give up on this-gen pc-gaming, go console only (except for indies of course) and buy a completely new PC when the higher specs for VR gaming are somewhat settled,
- or I buy a cheap GTX 750 Ti just to play Direct3D 11 games,
- or I buy a GTX 970 that will probably let me survive this gen (in style, I'd hope),
- or wait and look for price drops
- ooooor..... I wait and get a GTX 1080 and hope it will run VR games at the necessary higher, constant framerates (I don't need Ultra-settings that much) [I also fear that my PCIe 2.0 would bottle-neck a beast like that].
What would you do?
I have a fairly old Core i7-965 @3.6GHz with 2x SLI 260GTX running on PCIe 2.0. My cards are still powerful enough for my 1080p gaming, but some of the newest games are hard to get to constant 60fps even on lower settings, Wolfenstein and Battlefield 3 were pretty bad and I won't even try CoD:AW, but I'm not too desperate for those shooters.
Last month I bought DiRT Rally and didn't know it was Direct3D 11 -cards only. It would run really fine power-wise, but my cards aren't supported (my SLI cards are still 10.1).
So... either
- I give up on this-gen pc-gaming, go console only (except for indies of course) and buy a completely new PC when the higher specs for VR gaming are somewhat settled,
- or I buy a cheap GTX 750 Ti just to play Direct3D 11 games,
- or I buy a GTX 970 that will probably let me survive this gen (in style, I'd hope),
- or wait and look for price drops
- ooooor..... I wait and get a GTX 1080 and hope it will run VR games at the necessary higher, constant framerates (I don't need Ultra-settings that much) [I also fear that my PCIe 2.0 would bottle-neck a beast like that].
What would you do?
Wait for the rumored GTX 980Ti which apparently has the same specs as a Titan X but half the VRAM (6GB instead of 12).
That's what I'm doing anyway.
That's what I'm doing anyway.
Get a new motherboard with PCI 3.0 and a cheap GTX 750ti and a new CPU. It's time.
TylerDurden4321
Member
Why would I need a new CPU if I'm not into ultra-spec gaming at resolutions higher than 1080p and am totally fine with console graphics??
and now I even looked that up myself:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_980_PCI-Express_Scaling/
I got x16 PCIe 2.0... it's not a bottle-neck. Definitely not on the 970 I was looking at, and probably not much on a 980 Ti either.
prag16
Banned
If Batman and the Witcher are enticing to you, then hell yeah, do it.
I'm limping along with a 6950 which is enough to get by, barely. Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Mass Effect 4 are my two HUGELY anticipated games. A deal like with THOSE two games would have me in on a 970 immediately at current prices. But I'll wait and see what the market looks like late in the year...
I'm limping along with a 6950 which is enough to get by, barely. Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Mass Effect 4 are my two HUGELY anticipated games. A deal like with THOSE two games would have me in on a 970 immediately at current prices. But I'll wait and see what the market looks like late in the year...
i love my 970. it really is a beast of a card for its price.
nvidia could announce their new series of cards today and i wouldn't care... the 970 with my i7 4790 will be enough to run me to the end of this generation. there's always going to be better tech around the corner... unless you're broke there's no use wringing your hands over buying what's best for now
nvidia could announce their new series of cards today and i wouldn't care... the 970 with my i7 4790 will be enough to run me to the end of this generation. there's always going to be better tech around the corner... unless you're broke there's no use wringing your hands over buying what's best for now
Solid Samus
Banned
I got mine in January and couldn't be happier. Paired with an i74790k this fucker can do literally everything short of down sampling the newest games, and at 60fps 1440p. 90% of games are nearly maxed on this setup, and everything else just needs dialed down a bit. If you're cool with a locked 30fps the sky is the limit and damn near anything can be 4k.
You really ought to wait tho. Get something with a bit more VRAM. This card could do so much more if it had more VRAM alone.
You really ought to wait tho. Get something with a bit more VRAM. This card could do so much more if it had more VRAM alone.
If you want both games in the offer then it's a great deal. £280 for the MSI 970, a zotac 970 was going for £230 on ebuyer last week...
-£30-40 for TW4
-£20-40 for B:Ak (third party sellers listing it for £20).
So that's potentially £150-200 for a 970, without considering what you'd get for selling on your current gpu.
I'm selling my batman code to a friend for £30 (his offer) and my GPU (670) for £100. I was buying TW3 for £35 anyway.
Ordered the MSI 970 from ebuyer for £280, got it effectively for £115. This deal makes worth biting, imo.
MrRoflWaffles
Member
I have the G1 and it's a brilliant card. Place that order. 
Cause it's ancient.
TylerDurden4321
Member
Hip Hop
Member
I really have no clue why you are asking then if you are gonna reply with something like this.
Thank you guys, strong points both on getting it and waiting but I've already decided and I'm buying the G1 a couple days after The Witcher releases, I really hope it doesn't struggle too much at 1080p with everything maxed out including HairWorks because that would make me consider it again.
baphomet
Member
Don't want advice, don't ask for it.
It seems that you already made up your mind, I also don't know what answer you're expecting.
If you're into VR I'd invest that console money in motherboard / CPU, 750ti and sell the GPU and change it for the best one available by the time Vive / Oculus is out.
If not, just get a PS4 and Morpheus later
My EVGA 970 has coil whine now and then (mostly on menus) but fortunately I use headphones so it's not an issue.
Zvonimir Boban
Banned
If I'm not going to fanny about with overclocking stuff myself does it make much difference which version of the 970 I buy?
lunchtoast
Member
Just installed mine today upgrading from a 660ti, which I should throw up on the b/s/t thread. I saw no reason to wait since I've used my 660 since late 2012 and it still gets the job done. I probably won't need to upgrade for another 2-3 years. Plus the 2 games you get.
Get a 290x on sale or wait for 390x.
Yeah thread title makes it sound like you have a 970 but want to get rid of it.
The 390x, and even 290x, would be much better at it.
PHOENIXZERO
Member
Hey guys I don't think we have enough posts correcting the OP's mixing of idioms.
Two 660s is just a bit weaker than a single 970, the biggest difference would be in power consumption, I think you'll be okay for another year, even if you can't max everything out due to the 2GB of memory which is probably the only roadblock.
I bought the updated version of the SSC a couple weeks ago, no coil whine outside of when I was on The Witcher's main menu (had FRAPS enabled, it was rendering around 3,000FPS), forcing VSync took care of it. Oh and I have the same case. Do wish I chose something roomier but something roomier probably wouldn't have fit under my desk, it with the PSU I bought did make me decide that the next time I build a PC I'm going with a modular power supply. It's a good thing the power connectors are on the side of the card because it really is a close fit.
If you can wait another year, year and a half go for it though at that point you might as well build a new PC. A single 970 is probably somewhere around three times faster than your SLI'd 260s before taking in all the other improvements in its capabilities, on top of being DX 11.2 and DX12 ready. You'll also have a card that's consuming less than half the power of your current set up so there's that. Also the difference for it when it comes to PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0 is extremely small to the point of insignificant and yeah, you'll probably be able to hold off building a new PC until like 2018 just in time (or maybe a year before) for the next console generation to start getting under way.
Plus you get Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight with a 970 so that can be a plus whether you want them or decide to sell them and make back like $50-$60+. But if you want to build a new PC next year a 750Ti (or 960) would make a good stop gap for the next year or so.
Meh, the 300 series doesn't seem like it'll live up to the hype and yeah it might just be better to wait for next year with HBM2.0. But 260s are extremely long in the tooth at this point and with older PCs I think a 970 is a better upgrade and it'll still be a massive one. I know I was feeling it with my GTX 460s and this was the year many major releases wouldn't run on them well if at all. I can't imagine where 260s would be with less, slower GDDR3 VRAM and no DX11 support. It looks to me that if one has a relatively old PC that the next generation of video cards (and DDR4 becoming more mainstream) might be a starting point for building a new one.
Enable VSync, it's likely doing it because the card is rendering an absurd number of frames.
Two 660s is just a bit weaker than a single 970, the biggest difference would be in power consumption, I think you'll be okay for another year, even if you can't max everything out due to the 2GB of memory which is probably the only roadblock.
I bought the updated version of the SSC a couple weeks ago, no coil whine outside of when I was on The Witcher's main menu (had FRAPS enabled, it was rendering around 3,000FPS), forcing VSync took care of it. Oh and I have the same case.
Do wish I chose something roomier but something roomier probably wouldn't have fit under my desk, it with the PSU I bought did make me decide that the next time I build a PC I'm going with a modular power supply. It's a good thing the power connectors are on the side of the card because it really is a close fit.If you can wait another year, year and a half go for it though at that point you might as well build a new PC. A single 970 is probably somewhere around three times faster than your SLI'd 260s before taking in all the other improvements in its capabilities, on top of being DX 11.2 and DX12 ready. You'll also have a card that's consuming less than half the power of your current set up so there's that. Also the difference for it when it comes to PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0 is extremely small to the point of insignificant and yeah, you'll probably be able to hold off building a new PC until like 2018 just in time (or maybe a year before) for the next console generation to start getting under way.
Plus you get Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight with a 970 so that can be a plus whether you want them or decide to sell them and make back like $50-$60+. But if you want to build a new PC next year a 750Ti (or 960) would make a good stop gap for the next year or so.
Meh, the 300 series doesn't seem like it'll live up to the hype and yeah it might just be better to wait for next year with HBM2.0. But 260s are extremely long in the tooth at this point and with older PCs I think a 970 is a better upgrade and it'll still be a massive one. I know I was feeling it with my GTX 460s and this was the year many major releases wouldn't run on them well if at all. I can't imagine where 260s would be with less, slower GDDR3 VRAM and no DX11 support. It looks to me that if one has a relatively old PC that the next generation of video cards (and DDR4 becoming more mainstream) might be a starting point for building a new one.
Enable VSync, it's likely doing it because the card is rendering an absurd number of frames.
Hey guys I don't think we have enough posts correcting the OP's mixing of idioms.
Two 660s is just a bit weaker than a single 970, the biggest difference would be in power consumption, I think you'll be okay for another year, even if you can't max everything out due to the 2GB of memory which is probably the only roadblock.
I bought the updated version of the SSC a couple weeks ago, no coil whine outside of when I was on The Witcher's main menu (had FRAPS enabled, it was rendering around 3,000FPS), forcing VSync took care of it. Oh and I have the same case.
If you can wait another year, year and a half go for it though at that point you might as well build a new PC. A single 970 is probably somewhere around three times faster than your SLI'd 260s before taking in all the other improvements in its capabilities, on top of being DX 11.2 and DX12 ready. You'll also have a card that's consuming less than half the power of your current set up so there's that. Also the difference for it when it comes to PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0 is extremely small to the point of insignificant and yeah, you'll probably be able to hold off building a new PC until like 2018 just in time (or maybe a year before) for the next console generation to start getting under way.
Plus you get Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight with a 970 so that can be a plus whether you want them or decide to sell them and make back like $50-$60+. But if you want to build a new PC next year a 750Ti (or 960) would make a good stop gap for the next year or so.
Meh, the 300 series doesn't seem like it'll live up to the hype and yeah it might just be better to wait for next year with HBM2.0. But 260s are extremely long in the tooth at this point and with older PCs I think a 970 is a better upgrade and it'll still be a massive one. I know I was feeling it with my GTX 460s and this was the year many major releases wouldn't run on them well if at all. I can't imagine where 260s would be with less, slower GDDR3 VRAM and no DX11 support. It looks to me that if one has a relatively old PC that the next generation of video cards (and DDR4 becoming more mainstream) might be a starting point for building a new one.
Enable VSync, it's likely doing it because the card is rendering an absurd number of frames.
If OP is willing to spend the dough to get an hbm amd chip, it will definitely be worth the hype. The 390x will be faster than a titan for probably close to half the cost. Even a rebranded 290x with higher clocks and better efficiency will be a better buy than a 970 or 980.