2 Way 980 SLI vs 3 Way 780Ti

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kahless

Weaksauce
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Dec 30, 2013
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Wondering if 2 Way 980 SLI is an upgrade over 3 way 780Ti? My thought was that the current going price of the 780Ti used on ebay is around $400 to $450. So my 3 could easily be sold in order to buy two 980's. In a couple months the price might drop further on used 780Ti's.
 
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Tri SLI is faster in benchmarks, but games that actually scale well beyond 2 cards are few and far between. The only real reason to go tri SLI would be if you were driving multiple panels, but even then its sort of a crapshoot.

If it were my money I'd ditch the 780 Ti before the value completely tanks and SLI a pair of 970s. You may even come out on top depending on what 780 Ti you have. The 970 can be overclocked to stock 980 level, but yes there will always be a 10-15% gap between the 970 and 980 since the 980 can also be overclocked. 970 SLI is plenty even for 1440p, but you may want to consider 980 SLI if you're driving multiple panels beyond 1080p.

Also another reason I suggested 970 is because I'm personally waiting for GM200 aka Big Max to be released, so no point splurging on the 980 when 970 will do just fine as a placeholder at a much lower price point.
 
kahless said:
Even with the extra gig of Vram?
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Interested in nvidia's new DSR feature? (downsampling). Running higher than 1080P? If yes to either of these go with 2 970's. I'm finding it real hard to recommend 980's, I don't think they are worth the price difference over 970's.
 
Thanks, I have something to think about now. Either way Newegg is out of stock in 980's and have time to think about it. I'm pretty much only interested in the blower style cooler. That is what my 780Ti's are.
 
Oh and my current monitor is 1440p. Find myself running out of Vram and getting stuttering on Shadow of Mordor when trying to use the Ultra textures. Most of the game runs fine but there is more stutter then what I would like to have.
 
If your 780 ti's overclock they are very close to 980 oc so tri-sli is definitely faster. Personally I wouldn't downgrade to the 980's.

The 980 ti (780 ti successor) should hit within 6(?) months and it will offer more performance worthy of upgrading instead of sidegrading.
 
How is 980 a downgrade if out of the box it runs faster than 780 Ti, and has more OC headroom? It's a sidegrade I agree but definitely not a downgrade.

980 Ti is still a rumor at this point, and if history is any indication, the first GM200 will be a Titan, not the 980 Ti.
 
n=1 said:
980 Ti is still a rumor at this point, and if history is any indication, the first GM200 will be a Titan, not the 980 Ti.
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As a matter of fact, the original Titan was launched before the 780.
Titan: February 2013
780: May 2013
780 Ti: November 2013
Titan Black: February 2014
Titan Z: March 2014

You could to admit that NVDIA knows how to re-brand its offering and milk the market. It is why that I am quietly waiting for a video card that will provide a tangible increase in performance in the high end market.
I would be curious to know how many 980 owners will upgrade once the next Titan chip will be released..
 
Yep, and as I've said at least 3 times on this forum, this is my logic for GM200 being a Titan first regardless of past history:

The 980 is already overpriced as it is, and unless you have the money to spare or just absolutely must get the best single card solution, the 970 will probably outsell 980 10 to 1. So if the GM200 is released as the 980 Ti first, and it offers 50% more performance than 980, then 980 will be totally screwed unless 980 Ti has an exceedingly high price tag to match.

But we've never seen any non-Titan cards (or more broadly, compute neutered cards) go for above $700. 980 Ti could certainly be a first, but even at a $749 price point, if it does offer 50% more performance over 980 then it's still a no-brainer. Basically 970 for those who want bang for buck, and 980 Ti for those looking for the best single card solution. A 980 Ti 50% more powerful than 980 will just make the 980 instantly obsolete.

So the other option is to release the GM200 as Titan II, which will indeed offer 50% more performance than 980, but at a $1000 price point. Here now the price gap is significant enough that it'll make people think twice, because for the price of a single Titan II you could get 980 SLI, and in most games that support SLI 2x 980 should still edge out the Titan II.

The other option would be a 980 Ti first release, BUT the performance increase is gimped and small enough that it'll make deciding between the 980 Ti or 980 very hard. Eg 20% increase over 980 but at a $749 price point. Essentially the price/performance gap between 970 and 980.

Like you said, nVidia knows the market well and isn't dumb.
 
RadXge said:
As a matter of fact, the original Titan was launched before the 780.
Titan: February 2013
780: May 2013
780 Ti: November 2013
Titan Black: February 2014
Titan Z: March 2014

You could to admit that NVDIA knows how to re-brand its offering and milk the market. It is why that I am quietly waiting for a video card that will provide a tangible increase in performance in the high end market.
I would be curious to know how many 980 owners will upgrade once the next Titan chip will be released..
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I plan to hang onto my 980s until the next 680->980 leap comes.

Not seeing much value in upgrading GPUs frequently anymore. The only reason I swapped my R9 290s for the 980s was for HDMI 2.0.
 
What is better for 980 SLI the reference cooler to exhaust hot air or non-reference like an ACX EVGA cooler.
 
Blower if you have poor case cooling, open air if you have good case cooling.
 
Its a Coolermaster Haf-X case. With the 3 780Ti's with reference cooler overclocked they don't really get above 65C under load. Has a 140mm fan blowing on the back of the cards and a 200mm blowong in the side of the cars. If I had non-reference I could probably reverse the 200mm so its sucking out. I guess that is ok cooling?
 
I'd personally reverse the side fan and use it as exhaust to minimize hot air from getting sucked into the CPU fans.

Actually that'd be perfect -- rear intake + side exhaust, guarantees fresh cold air to the CPU, while sucking out all the hot air from the GPUs.
 
I have an H100i Corsair that is mounted at the top of my case that sucks in cooler outside air. I think its fine. Just have to get the GPU configuration right if I went with non-reference coolers.
 
From what it sounds like you have top + rear + side intake now, so unless you have bottom or front fans set to exhaust, all that hot air from the GPU AND CPU is just going to keep recirculating in your case.

You could try making the rear exhaust instead of intake, and keep side fan as intake. This way both GPUs are guaranteed fresh air, while the rear fan will suck out hot exhaust from both GPUs and the CPU. Though you may want to invest in a good 140mm fan in this case if that's the only exhaust you'll be keeping.

In any case, I'd experiment with rear exhaust + side in take or rear intake + side exhaust and see which one works better for the GPUs. Though I suspect that rear exhaust + side intake may work better because side exhaust means it'll also be pulling some hot air from the CPU over the GPUs.
 
n=1 said:
How is 980 a downgrade if out of the box it runs faster than 780 Ti, and has more OC headroom? It's a sidegrade I agree but definitely not a downgrade.

980 Ti is still a rumor at this point, and if history is any indication, the first GM200 will be a Titan, not the 980 Ti.
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Tri 780 ti is faster than dual 980.Therefore going to the 980's is a downgrade, unless SLI is broken.
 
Oh you were comparing 3x 780 Ti to 2x 980.

EDIT: Are you driving multiple panels or gaming beyond 1440p? This is a very critical question! If you're gaming at 1440p or god forbid 1080p on a single panel, then see below. Otherwise stick with tri 780 Ti.

Honestly if it were my money I'd sell the 780 Ti's while they still have value, then SLI a pair of 970s while waiting for GM200 to come out. Let's say you sell the 780 Ti for $400 a piece and grab a pair of Gigabyte 970s. You still come out on top with about $400 to spare.

Yes on paper it'll be a downgrade, but games that scale well beyond 2 cards are few and far between, so you're barely losing anything. I chose the Gigabyte 970 because it's the card that appears to be consistently able to overclock to stock 980 levels. So you're essentially getting 2x 980 for the price of 2x 970.

The 970 will retain its value regardless of what GM200 brings to the table, but 980 is kind of iffy since it's already priced too high, and GM200 could deal a further blow to its value depending on circumstances.

tl;dr Sell 3x 780 Ti, grab 2x Gigabyte 970 and OC to stock 980 level.
 
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n=1 said:
Oh you were comparing 3x 780 Ti to 2x 980.

Honestly if it were my money I'd sell the 780 Ti's while they still have value, then SLI a pair of 970s while waiting for GM200 to come out. Let's say you sell the 780 Ti for $400 a piece and grab a pair of Gigabyte 970s. You still come out on top with about $400 to spare.

Yes on paper it'll be a downgrade, but games that scale well beyond 2 cards are few and far between, so you're barely losing anything. I chose the Gigabyte 970 because it's the card that appears to be consistently able to overclock to stock 980 levels. So you're essentially getting 2x 980 for the price of 2x 970.

The 970 will retain its value regardless of what GM200 brings to the table, but 980 is kind of iffy since it's already priced too high, and GM200 could deal a further blow to its value depending on circumstances.

tl;dr Sell 3x 780 Ti, grab 2x Gigabyte 970 and OC to stock 980 level.
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Ahh, that is true! The 970 is actually competitively priced and therefore won't drop like a rock when the true 980 ti is released. I agree with that, I would sell now while you can get a lot more for the 780 ti and get a single or dual 970. You are 100% right on that aspect which I didn't consider, due to the 970's value. Sidegrading to the 980's would be pretty pointless since it is overpriced (and basically the same performance, a bit more) and it's going to drop when the 980 ti comes (unless the 980 ti is very expensive).
 
Ok, so lets say I get a pair of 970's or 980's. Reference cooler, aftermarket cooler, and brand? I'm leaning towards EVGA Superclocked reference.

From what it sounds like you have top + rear + side intake now, so unless you have bottom or front fans set to exhaust, all that hot air from the GPU AND CPU is just going to keep recirculating in your case.
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I have 220mm intake in front, 80mm intake in front, h100i quad fan push pull at the top of the case on intake, 140mm internal blowing on back of the 3 cards, 200mm on the side blowing on the 3 cards, and 180mm rear exhaust. Everything with current config and hardware runs very cool.
 
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If I decide to go maxwell it would probably be 980 SLI with EVGA superclocked reference cooler. That is if and when they ever come back into stock on newegg.
 
You still haven't told us what monitor(s) you're running.
 
Sorry, I thought I had earlier. I added it into my signature but it won't show up for some reason

Its a 2560X1440 Dell IPS monitor at 85hz.
 
Ok so a single 1440p panel then?

If yes, 980 SLI is just going to be an utter waste of money, especially if you're thinking about upgrading to GM200 aka big Max when it gets released.

Again for my money I'd SLI a pair of Gigabyte 970s and overclock them to stock 980 levels. Every review sample and everyone on [H] who was aiming for that was able to do so. So you basically get 980 performance for 970 money. Then use whatever is left and put that towards GM200.

Or stop listening to my bad advice and just buy whatever makes you happy lol
 
Or stop listening to my bad advice and just buy whatever makes you happy lol
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Ultimately that's probably what will happen lol Your advice is probably more reasonable and better then what could/will happen lol
 
Pcper.com did a benchmark review of the 980 vs the 290X on Shadow of Mordor. Seems the 290X is faster in that particular game. Some think its because of the wider bus on the 290X.
 
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