Is GTX980 Ti really that better than GTX980?

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sblantipodi

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As title.
I have just upgraded from a GTX980 SLI to a GTX980 Ti SLI.

Sincerely I don't see any particular improvements, neither using 4K DSR.
There is a little more performance with a huge increase of heat and current needed.

My previous system with the GTX980 SLI consumed up to 640W (including monitor), now it consume up to 820W (including monitor).

180W more for few performance more, this means bigger bill, less eco and a huge quantity of heat to dissipate.

I don't see GTX980 Ti as a winner when compared to GTX980 differently from many people here on the forum.
 
Were you overclocking your 980's? The gap is far smaller when you take overclocking into consideration, even if the 980 Ti's are overclocked as well.
 
There are two perspectives here.

From a purely objective performance stand point the 980ti varies between 37.5% to 50% more hardware units than the GTX 980. So at MSRP face values then 980ti is 30% more expensive but gives you more than that in hardware so to speak.

However from the subjective side, which is really how most people actually experience these products, it is going to be highly dependent upon usage and the individual's own preferences (in terms of value).

Also in terms of your last point the issue with the GTX 980 is where it sits in Nvidia's lineup post 980ti. The 980ti supplanted its place for those who want performance and are willing to pay high costs, while the GTX 970 has always been the better choice for those who place a high emphasis on value.

If you don't feel the 980ti is a huge difference from the GTX 980 then the gap between the 970/980 is even smaller.
 
Of course there is a difference. You can run apples to apples settings and tests and will see anywhere from 25-40% improvement.
 
SLi can sometimes not scale properly and even give less performance than a single card. Maybe you're just not playing the games where the new Nvidia drivers allow SLi to shine?
 
980 SLI is a lot of horsepower for 1920x1200. Maybe you didn't need the faster cards for low resolution.
 
It's going to depend a lot on the games you are playing and the monitor you are using.

If you are using a basic 1080p 60hz monitor playing games that 980 SLI could run at >60fps, you won't see much of a difference. On new games that push hardware at 4K you should definitely feel an improvement.

What games are you playing?
 
If GPU limited then it will give the same increase as benchmarks show.
If not GPU limited then it wont make a difference.

You wont get a higher % difference than that of moving from a 980 to a 980ti.
If you were overclocking the 980 higher than the 980ti then that difference will reduce.

Monitor your system with Afterburner and compare results.
Then you will know exactly what happens and when.
 
Exactly, we need data not "what you sincerely feel". Run Afterburner and monitor your GPU usage before and after the upgrade. Were you at or near capacity before? What about after? Any larger frametime variances or spikes? What games are you playing?

Also, did you seriously buy $1300 in cards while keeping a 1920x1200 monitor?! At least get a 27" 2560x1440 monitor and DSR to 5k with those 980 Tis :D
 
It's known that 980 sits at the apex of Perf/Watt curve for maxwell. That doesn't mean the additional power consumption on Ti is not worth it.

IMO get a 4k g-sync monitor if that's your target resolution. (and stop making these threads)

"Good enough" perf. is subjective. If a person isn't happy with 980/980Ti SLI performance in its era, then they'll never be happy, and just have to accept that they need to continually flip for the latest stuff.
 
Most of the time 980 Ti SLI is not much faster than 980 SLI. It's mainly in cases where SLI scales poorly (like Witcher 3) where the faster cards really shine.
 
dragonageinquisition said:
Most of the time 980 Ti SLI is not much faster than 980 SLI. It's mainly in cases where SLI scales poorly (like Witcher 3) where the faster cards really shine.
Click to expand...

That doesn't make any sense. IF SLI scales well, then it will scale well for 980TI as well, not just 980. Not seeing a difference is an entirely different matter, then you just don't need the extra performance, but it doesn't mean it's not there.
 
M76 said:
That doesn't make any sense. IF SLI scales well, then it will scale well for 980TI as well, not just 980. Not seeing a difference is an entirely different matter, then you just don't need the extra performance, but it doesn't mean it's not there.
Click to expand...
Sorry but SLI does not always scale the same on faster cards. The faster the gpu setup then the more likely for scaling to be reduced from overhead. 970 SLI may scale great at 1080 but 980 Ti could easily scale MUCH worse at that res. With a 980 Ti SLI setup, it is best to be at 4k to get full use and best scaling possible in some games.

Heck that even applies to single card usage too as at 1080 there are some games that are less than 20% faster on a 980 Ti than a regular 980 even with my oced 4770k. In the Metro LL benchmark at 1080, I got 102 fps on my 980 and only 119 fps on the same settings with a 980 Ti. Now bump that to 1440 and the gap grows of course.
 
Rizen said:
It's going to depend a lot on the games you are playing and the monitor you are using.

If you are using a basic 1080p 60hz monitor playing games that 980 SLI could run at >60fps, you won't see much of a difference. On new games that push hardware at 4K you should definitely feel an improvement.

What games are you playing?
Click to expand...

This.

If anything having a much faster setup means that even your minimums aren't likely to go below 60, so you're pretty much 100% in screen tear land if you're at 1080p/60Hz.
 
If you're having buyer's remorse, why not just return the card(s) instead of making new threads about them

l o l
 
980 SLI to 980 Ti is not an upgrade, it's a sidegrade. Why did you even do it? Only reason I can think of is to get rid of dependency on SLI which is a pretty good reason if you have the cash to spare.
 
doubletake said:
If you're having buyer's remorse, why not just return the card(s) instead of making new threads about them

l o l
Click to expand...

no remorse, just trying to understand why people says that the Ti version is the only card that it has sense to buy.
 
sblantipodi said:
what's the difference between one or two?
I don't see people suggesting GTX980 for SLI and GTX980 Ti for single card.
Click to expand...

It's happened a lot, because it depends on a plethora of criteria. Many folks have suggested a 980 SLI setup to others for killer 1080p and 1440p or decent 4K performance when there's an NVidia only preference and bit of a budget constraint that $1300+ for 980 Ti SLI is not do-able.

...Of course, I usually always suggest that the person wait (if they can) and save up the extra $300-400 for the 980 Ti route (or shop used), or to really consider a closer look at the 290X/390X. A lot of folks prefer not to buy used, not wait, or not go over a predetermined budget. * shrug * It's their money, and there are times when the cheaper 980 makes perfect sense for their use.
 
sblantipodi said:
what's the difference between one or two?
I don't see people suggesting GTX980 for SLI and GTX980 Ti for single card.
Click to expand...

Seriously, you need to start reading and understanding.
And do it before you make an expensive purchase instead of ball aching everyone afterwards because you dont understand!
You cant just read a factoid and blindly apply it to all situations.

Context is everything, something you appear to ignore.
Screen resolution is a large determining factor on how much GPU power you need.
At 4K, at least 2x the fastest cards you can get your mits on is needed if you want to maintain high quality settings.
A1080p/1200p its not even close to the same thing.
 
sblantipodi said:
when performance exceeds I use DSR 4K.
Click to expand...

Even still. Given the fact that SLI doesn't scale reliably in everything and that 980 SLI was overkill for your particular uses... I don't think upgrading to 980Ti's was particularly worth it.

In single card performance... yes, the 980Ti is wholeheartedly better than the 980.
 
Look at the bright side, perfect excuse to upgrade to a 4K screen now! Though I'd take a high-Hz 2560 personally ...
 
TheGamerZ said:
Even still. Given the fact that SLI doesn't scale reliably in everything and that 980 SLI was overkill for your particular uses... I don't think upgrading to 980Ti's was particularly worth it.

In single card performance... yes, the 980Ti is wholeheartedly better than the 980.
Click to expand...

GTX980 SLI is not able to max out even Assassin's Creed Unity at 1080P (with high antialias),
for me anything under 60FPS is not ideal, so don't know how it can be overkill.

xorbe said:
Look at the bright side, perfect excuse to upgrade to a 4K screen now! Though I'd take a high-Hz 2560 personally ...
Click to expand...

you get it :)
I'm amazed by the high pixel densiy that a 4K can achieve on a 24 inch.
absolutely non aliased images without any antialias filter.
 
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