970 SLI for $380 or GTX 980 TI for $500

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DanLillibridge

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Hello all,

I've been doing some research on the above and have drawn my conclusions on performance....but....I am in a position where I have 2xEVGA GTX 950's eligible for the "Step-Up" program.

Now I can utilize one card in the step-up and land myself a GTX 980 TI for $500 + tax and shipping.

Or I can use both cards and get myself a 970 GTX SLI setup for $380 + tax and shipping.

Wanted your guys' thoughts. Normally I would be going for the 980 TI, but my current setup is making the best use out of my 1080p 144hz monitor. All gaming will be limited to 1080p.

I realistically wont be upgrading this monitor anytime soon (2 years maybe) and when I eventually do I will probably be looking to get a new generation graphics card also (Volta perhaps?) So I guess it boils down to the setup that will put me in a solid position for 2 years at 1080p.

Another (less important) factor is that I am going to be building my girl a PC here pretty soon also with some hand-me downs. The only thing that build is lacking is a motherboard and a graphics card. So it boils down to trading both my cards up for SLI and then buying her a low end card....or, grabbing myself the 980 TI and handing her one of the gtx 950's.

What would you guys do?
 
Grab the 980 Ti, save one GTX 950 for the girl. I had used 2 x 980s in SLi and I'm glad I got rid of both. SLi is a headache: drivers wouldn't recognize cards from times to times, had to disable one and then restart and then enable again to be able to use SLi. Framerate were high but also wildly fluctuating. Noise and heat is also a problem unless you plan to slap waterblocks on them or get the models with blower fan.
 
Well you guys basically clarified what my heart already wanted secretly! Glad its unanimous. Looks like the TI will be making its way here as soon as the IRS ponies up my tax return!

Thanks for the input!
 
DanLillibridge said:
Well you guys basically clarified what my heart already wanted secretly! Glad its unanimous. Looks like the TI will be making its way here as soon as the IRS ponies up my tax return!

Thanks for the input!
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Yeah, you won't regret it. I went from 980 SLI to a single TI and have never looked back.
 
I went with the 970 SLI for cost only. I was able to get new MSI 970's for $315 CAD each, it was $950 CAD for a 980 Ti at the time. Which resulted in me saving $470 CAD. If it was only $120 difference I would have got the 980 Ti for sure, it's what I was saving to buy.

I havne't had any major issues with the SLI but it doesn't work for some games. Always go for single card if the price is this close.
 
Glad you decided on the Ti...the extra single-card horsepower and VRAM will be far more beneficial than a 970 SLI setup for current demanding games and future releases. Plus, the resale value should be better as PI and Pascal releases get close, should you decide to upgrade again once they hit the market.
 
N1GHTRA1N said:
I went with the 970 SLI for cost only. I was able to get new MSI 970's for $315 CAD each, it was $950 CAD for a 980 Ti at the time. Which resulted in me saving $470 CAD. If it was only $120 difference I would have got the 980 Ti for sure, it's what I was saving to buy.

I havne't had any major issues with the SLI but it doesn't work for some games. Always go for single card if the price is this close.
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2x $315 = $730

$950 - $730 = $220

Where does the $470 come from? :confused:
 
n=1 said:
2x $315 = $730

$950 - $730 = $220

Where does the $470 come from? :confused:
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2x 315 is 630 btw...

The rest is taxes and shipping ... 13% where I live.

630 plus 13% is 711.90

950 plus 13% is 1073.50

1073.50 - 711.90 = 361.60. There were $20 mail in rebates and free shipping on the 970's. Total savings was probably like $400, not 470 after rebates and shipping.
 
I think 970 SLI will be your best bet especially since you have a 144Hz monitor. You need all the power you can get to take advantage of that 144Hz monitor.
 
damstr said:
I think 970 SLI will be your best bet especially since you have a 144Hz monitor. You need all the power you can get to take advantage of that 144Hz monitor.
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Nobody else caught on to this, and this guy's right.

I've had two 980's in SLI for a while now, and I'm also enjoying my very own 144hz monitor, I haven't had any of these SLI issues everyone else seems to be mentioning.

Two 970's in SLI is my vote.
 
theplaidfad said:
Nobody else caught on to this, and this guy's right.

I've had two 980's in SLI for a while now, and I'm also enjoying my very own 144hz monitor, I haven't had any of these SLI issues everyone else seems to be mentioning.

Two 970's in SLI is my vote.
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SLi if you only play a few games and know those games work with SLi. I had bought a Titan X before the 980 Ti was released, replace it with 2 x GTX 980 hoping for higher fps. Indeed, I was happy at first since fps in GTA V was higher than 1 Titan X for roughly the same cost. Not long after that, the whole Arkham Knight fiasco, and now The Witcher 3 (SLi works but framerate is all over the place, jumping from 20 to 60 @ 4k), I would just say I'm happy to be back with single card (980 Ti @ 1450 core / 7600 mem), fps is lower but way more consistent (30-ish to 40-ish in Witcher 3).

In addition to that, 361.43 and 359.06 drivers still give me that SLi bug when you start your PC from a cold-boot/restart, SLi would be disabled and the SLi option in the drivers is nowhere to be found. Had to disable one card in device manager, restart, enable the card to be able to see SLi again. Of course this is purely anecdotal but you will encounter some other weird bugs along the line with SLi. May be I'm getting old but after a while, I'd give up SLi for a little less performance for less headache.

980 SLi configuration was on Z87 & 4770k @ 4.2 Ghz.

980 Ti is now on X99 & 5820k @ 4.2 Ghz.
 
theplaidfad said:
Nobody else caught on to this, and this guy's right.

I've had two 980's in SLI for a while now, and I'm also enjoying my very own 144hz monitor, I haven't had any of these SLI issues everyone else seems to be mentioning.

Two 970's in SLI is my vote.
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Genuinely curious, why does this change things? Doesn't on average the 980 Ti provide better overall performance than SLI 970s?
 
N1GHTRA1N said:
2x 315 is 630 btw...

The rest is taxes and shipping ... 13% where I live.

630 plus 13% is 711.90

950 plus 13% is 1073.50

1073.50 - 711.90 = 361.60. There were $20 mail in rebates and free shipping on the 970's. Total savings was probably like $400, not 470 after rebates and shipping.
Click to expand...

Wow yeah ok in my defense I didn't have my morning coffee yet. :p

A 980 Ti overclocked to 1500/8000 would provide roughly the same performance as two factory overclocked 970s in SLI, but with none of the SLI headaches to deal with. Now obviously since cost is an issue and 970 SLI does provide substantial cost savings, it makes sense to go SLI in this case, provided you're fully aware of the issues and are prepared to deal with them.
 
Well I haven't pulled the trigger just yet. Still waiting on the dang tax return (which turbo tax says could arrive anytime this week)!

I will definitely plan on overclocking, I have heard that the standard clock speed EVGA 980 Ti (the only one eligible for a step up program) is capable of overclocking well above what even their factory OC models are shipped with. Anyone have experience with that?


Also, fair to note on my end... It's not like I am getting a killer deal on either one of these, in reality..when you factor in the amount already spent on the 2 GTX 950s, the step up program just offers an incentive to spend less NOW, but the original money has definitely already been spent. When it is all said and done, I will be paying the full pop EVGA $649 website price of their standard clock model 980 Ti GTX with no back plate + shipping costs.

If I had the means/motivation to try and sell both my cards and pick up a good deal on a 980ti, I would probably make out better in the big picture. Albeit, probably not enough to deal with the hassle.

Newegg reviews of the EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti GAMING ACX 2.0+ have reports of 1450+ mhz on this model which puts it over their factory OC ones, So i'm not overly worried about getting a non performer.
 
I have a single 980Ti driving a 144Hz 1080p monitor with adaptive VSync on...no issues.
 
980ti.

I bought one. I cannot say how cool it is to just be able to run a game without any issues at max settings.

:cool:

No fiddling with SLI.
 
n=1 said:
Wow yeah ok in my defense I didn't have my morning coffee yet. :p

A 980 Ti overclocked to 1500/8000 would provide roughly the same performance as two factory overclocked 970s in SLI, but with none of the SLI headaches to deal with. Now obviously since cost is an issue and 970 SLI does provide substantial cost savings, it makes sense to go SLI in this case, provided you're fully aware of the issues and are prepared to deal with them.
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Yes, I was aware of issues. I was moving from CF 6970's. I've had two cards for almost forever, going back to SLI Voodoo 2's.

Right now I'm running my cards overclocked to 1515(boost)/7600 and I get pretty good performance I think, even on my 7 year old CPU.
 
There are very few games that do not use SLI. I have personally had little to no issues with SLI for many years now.
 
980 Ti personally, but I tend to avoid multi-GPU setups whenever possible.
 
DanLillibridge said:
Well I haven't pulled the trigger just yet. Still waiting on the dang tax return (which turbo tax says could arrive anytime this week)!

I will definitely plan on overclocking, I have heard that the standard clock speed EVGA 980 Ti (the only one eligible for a step up program) is capable of overclocking well above what even their factory OC models are shipped with. Anyone have experience with that?


Also, fair to note on my end... It's not like I am getting a killer deal on either one of these, in reality..when you factor in the amount already spent on the 2 GTX 950s, the step up program just offers an incentive to spend less NOW, but the original money has definitely already been spent. When it is all said and done, I will be paying the full pop EVGA $649 website price of their standard clock model 980 Ti GTX with no back plate + shipping costs.

If I had the means/motivation to try and sell both my cards and pick up a good deal on a 980ti, I would probably make out better in the big picture. Albeit, probably not enough to deal with the hassle.

Newegg reviews of the EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti GAMING ACX 2.0+ have reports of 1450+ mhz on this model which puts it over their factory OC ones, So i'm not overly worried about getting a non performer.
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Not sure which one exactly you are getting, but if it has a stock blower I wouldn't do it. They run into thermal throttling unless you increase the thermal limit and/or fan speed. So you have a choice of throttling or loud and hot. I'd go with a custom cooler or not at all.

EDIT: Never mind. I see the one you want has the ACX2 cooler. I didn't read far enough.
 
980 Ti. I have had both a 970 SLI and now have a 980 Ti. While there isn't much difference in framerates, the 980 Ti works in all games and runs a bit smoother. Just less hassle overall.
 
980ti gets my vote as well, if you can get your hands on the Hybrid cooler on Amazon for 75 dollars, you will likely see 1500mhz core speeds, and can tear through pretty much any game at great FPS.
 
Not that this a big deal yet, but SLI support for VR isn't there yet. It was a factor for me, because I've been gaming with VR already, and am in the first batch of Oculus shipments.
 
p_monks33 said:
980ti gets my vote as well, if you can get your hands on the Hybrid cooler on Amazon for , you will likely see 1500mhz core speeds, and can tear through pretty much any game at great FPS.
Click to expand...

I also highly recommend this. Just runs faster, cooler and quieter.
 
EquaLiZr said:
There are very few games that do not use SLI. I have personally had little to no issues with SLI for many years now.
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FO4, Anno 2205, Diablo 3. I could keep going.
Only game I've played the last year that does support multigpu is BF4.
 
I would definitely opt for the 980 Ti instead. No point in leaving the extra power unused in SLi situations when not it's not taken advantage of. I ran with 2 980s in SLi but just recently sold 1 of the cards, and looking to sell the 2nd to fund a 980 Ti just to get out of a multi GPU setup.
 
alxlwson said:
FO4, Anno 2205, Diablo 3. I could keep going.
Only game I've played the last year that does support multigpu is BF4.
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This. It amazes me how many AAA titles are released that lack the ability to utilize (efficiently, if at all) multi-GPU...tech that has been around in one form or another for the better part of two decades. Inexcusable for developers releasing games in the past couple/few years.
 
DejaWiz said:
This. It amazes me how many AAA titles are released that lack the ability to utilize (efficiently, if at all) multi-GPU...tech that has been around in one form or another for the better part of two decades. Inexcusable for developers releasing games in the past couple/few years.
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Also keep in mind that anything using id Tech 5 and UE4 will not support SLI. I used to support SLI but given the state of the gaming industry, never again.
 
Gotta agree. I sold my 970s for a 980ti and am quite happy even though fps is about 10% less. There are just too many problem child games coming out lately that don't support SLI. I ran SLI for years without issue but in the past year had about 3 major issues with it so decided to sell them and move to the big boy instead. With VR coming down the pike for me in a few months and all the current problems with SLI with VR there is just no way I am going to fuss any more with SLI. I am also seeing a lot of devs no longer supporting 3D or surround out of the box either. It's a troubling development of lazy coders lately. It seems lately that devs are moving away from supporting anything beyond a vanilla hardware experience.
 
n=1 said:
Also keep in mind that anything using id Tech 5 and UE4 will not support SLI. I used to support SLI but given the state of the gaming industry, never again.
Click to expand...

Same here. My post history is riddled with SLI recommendations to other [H] members. Lately, not so much...thanks to lack of what should be standard support in all games by now.
 
EquaLiZr said:
There are very few games that do not use SLI. I have personally had little to no issues with SLI for many years now.
Click to expand...

I would agree

my 980 ti's in SLI MSI 6G run great , however they are hot as hell. Pascal should fix this and cant wait to dump these cards
 
980TI gets my vote. AND if you really LOVE your girl give her your rig with the new GTX980TI and you keep the hand me down!:D;)
 
DejaWiz said:
Same here. My post history is riddled with SLI recommendations to other [H] members. Lately, not so much...thanks to lack of what should be standard support in all games by now.
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Mine too until about 6 months ago when apparently devs gave up on SLI support. FO4, DCS World 1.5, JC3 just to name a few...
 
I appreciate all the replies and it seems clear that the GTX 980 Ti gets the vote.

Now...i'm torn between ponying up the extra money for a EVGA 980Ti Classified, or sticking with the original game plan of stepping up to a reference, non backplate, 980Ti.

I certainly plan on overclocking, I am a fan of aesthetically pleasing looking cards, which the Classified easily takes the cake on...It is a much larger variant of the card which i feel makes the whole system just look beefier and meaner.

4ac7d95a_673f_41db_8d9c_c07765066978.jpg


I can see myself adding a 2nd 980Ti to SLI the big boys down the road.

So is a standard reference model ($500 + my GTX 950) through step up worth the offset in price?
Newegg has the Classified on sale for $639 and another $20 mail-in-rebate on top of that for a final price of $619.

I'm almost feeling tempted to go with the classified and selling off the GTX 950 on my own. Thoughts?
 
Can you get a Classified through Step-up? If so, what's the cost?
 
Most 980 Tis are kinda loud and hot so definitely go for something other than reference cooler. Personally I can't stand noise from my computer so my MSI 980 Ti Gaming is watercooled with a Corsair H55 AIO cooler + G10 bracket now.
 
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