So after 5 years, my 980TI is dying. What should I do to avoid a 1K card purchase?

jordan12

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So I probably paid $500 for this card 5 years ago. I do not want to pay 1K for a new card.

Any options that can avoid that? Buy another 980? Just get a cheap card and not game anymore?

Absolutely the worst time for this to happen
 
Since you live by a Microcenter you do have some decent choices. They have AMD 6600 in stock for under $500. Would be a decent upgrade over a 980. If it is too much still then get a 1050ti/1650/rx550 for under $300 to hold you over. Prices are not going to come down in price any time soon.
 
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Sounds like I am screwed. And just need to bite the bullet. Sigh
Check your local CL and FB marketplace. Someone could be off loading a older card for cheap. eBay has 980ti for under 300 if you just want to replace it.
 
Absolutely shitty time to have your primary GPU die on you... especially if you are in that timeline of hanging on to a GPU purchased 2-5 years ago...
As above post mentioned CL and FB.. add https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap/new/ to your search.
It moves fast in there but if you keep creeping in there you can eventually land a replacement 980ti (or maybe get lucky .. a 1070ti? Not sure how that compares to a 980ti.. or an RX 580, in the 300-350 range unfortunately)
 
So I probably paid $500 for this card 5 years ago. I do not want to pay 1K for a new card.

Any options that can avoid that? Buy another 980? Just get a cheap card and not game anymore?

Absolutely the worst time for this to happen
Get some pals to enter Newegg shuffle for you.
Ask around here
Post your max price in a Wanted To Buy thread here, and see what people offer
I haven't had much luck but....you could try to offer less to some local listings. Some of them have probably been sitting for awhile and they might be willing to settle for less, to regain that money.
 
These days set a budget and then find out what you can get for that price. It'll be lower end than what the same $$$ would have got you pre-pandemic. Used is 100% the way to go unless you can be patient with BBY/Microcenter/EVGA/etc drops.
 
What killed your card?

It might be a factor in what new card you would want to get.
 
So I probably paid $500 for this card 5 years ago. I do not want to pay 1K for a new card.

Any options that can avoid that? Buy another 980? Just get a cheap card and not game anymore?

Absolutely the worst time for this to happen
What's wrong with the old card?
 
yep, it sucks and I don't this letting up for, well, ever. I'm thinking $2000 is going to become the new prices for GPUs.
 
What's wrong with the old card?
When I install drivers for it, the install ultimately fails. Comes up saying failed. Happens even with a fresh install of windows. I tried a much cheaper card and the drivers install fine. Moved the 980ti to another PC and the same result happens.

Will not take any version of the driver
 
When I install drivers for it, the install ultimately fails. Comes up saying failed. Happens even with a fresh install of windows. I tried a much cheaper card and the drivers install fine. Moved the 980ti to another PC and the same result happens.

Will not take any version of the driver

Which drivers are you installing? I don't think the 980's are supported anymore with the newer drivers.
 
I don't think the 980's are supported anymore with the newer drivers.

Only Kepler-based cards (600 series and lower-end 700 series) were bumped from the current driver, and that only happened a few months ago. The 980ti is still using the current driver.
 
I've got a 1060 6gb on the shelf, but I can't see myself selling it for if my 3070 even takes a poop.
 
Shot in the dark but it could be a corrupted vbios. Re-flashing the bios fixed a similar issue on my gtx 770 sc.

Download the bios for the card from techpowerup and flash it with nvflash, then try installing a driver again. Worst case you screw up and brick the card, best case it comes right back to life.
 
Only Kepler-based cards (600 series and lower-end 700 series) were bumped from the current driver, and that only happened a few months ago. The 980ti is still using the current driver.
I was not sure where the cut off was. I don't have a 900 series card.
 
So I probably paid $500 for this card 5 years ago. I do not want to pay 1K for a new card.

Any options that can avoid that? Buy another 980? Just get a cheap card and not game anymore?

Absolutely the worst time for this to happen
You bought evga and got the 10 year warranty, right? Right?
 
Try to find a used 3060 for a ~$625.00. It's pretty close to a 1080Ti in performance, and would be a nice upgrade over your 980Ti.
 
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