GTX 780 Ti or GTX 980?

[damstr]

I previously had 2 GTX 780's running with an Asus GSYNC monitor and it was awesome. I got out of gaming for awhile and sold both the cards right before the 980 came out for around $350.

I want to pick up a single card for the time being to hold me over till NVIDIA comes out with something that replaces the GTX 980.

Looking at benchmarks it seems the GTX 980 only offers a small performance increase over the 780 Ti. Also worth noting that I will be gaming @ 1080P and I don't plan on moving up to 1440P for some time. I plan on picking up the BenQ XL2420G GSYNC monitor since it offers inputs other than DP.

Seeing as the GTX 780 Ti average selling price is around $350 used and the GTX 980's are going for nearly $150 more, is it worth the pretty sizable price increase? I don't care about heat or performance or efficiency for that matter.

 

[Liger88]

The GTX 980 is probably the worst priced card in the 900 Series lineup at the moment. It would probably be worth it for anyone who had a GTX 770 or below hands down. Whoops a 780 Ti at stock and overclocked it'll stand out further. Plus the extra VRAM helps for those who want to run higher resolutions. The rumors have been kicking around about a possible "Maxwell Titan" or GTX 980 Ti coming in the next couple months so there is hope. There's plenty of die space left for them to drop a good 25-30% boost solution over the 980. Problem will be the price, which will most likely suck.

GTX 970 would be what you'd want if you bought now, but it would be basically buying your 780 back again at the same price you sold them for lol. You'd probably lose even more because you went from SLI to single.

Did you make a mistake selling early? Probably, but you most likely got the best value out of your 780's in the process.

 

[lavaheadache]

I firmly believe the 980 is only beating the 780ti cause nvidia wants it to.

 

[RadXge]

I firmly believe the 980 is only beating the 780ti cause nvidia wants it to.

This claim is unfalsifiable and is therefore useless.

The 970 is the best high-end card for the money right now. But if you have the dough, the 980 is great (and can be found used on Kijiji at a relatively good price).

 

[OmgitsSexyChase]

I firmly believe the 980 is only beating the 780ti cause nvidia wants it to.

I second that, Sir

If you look at alot of benchmarks the 780ti and the 290x were either neck in neck or the 780ti pulling out slightly ahead. Now in all the games coming out it is 980, 290x, 780ti

its not really wrong its just business

just seems suspect, and anyone who would put nvidia above this is just a blind fool.

 

[rabidz7]

How many FPS do you want? If you only have a 60Hz monitor and do not plan to upgrade, then just get the 780 Tis. If your monitor is above 80Hz, I'd go for the 980s.

 

[sk3tch]

If you're holding out for the 980 replacement, then it sounds like a 780 Ti is the right move for you at its current lower price point. However, bear this in mind - the Ti is not very "interesting" if you've already owned a 780. As an enthusiast, it's just the same thing cranked to 11. But yeah, if you just want a holdover...go for it. Honestly, a 750 Ti for cheap will hold you over fine. It performed surprisingly well for me for the money. More cash you can put in your piggy bank for the next NVIDIA release.

As others have said - the used/2nd hand market is worth shopping. I've bought some 980s for great prices that way.

BTW - that BenQ XL2420G is great! Love, love, love mine. I've had it for about two months. Former XL2420T owner (and own 1 XL2420TX) here.

 

[Yakk]

I firmly believe the 980 is only beating the 780ti cause nvidia wants it to.

Looking at comparative benchmarks over time it does appear nvidia does much less optimizations once a card series is no longer their latest-and-greatest. Unfortunate.

 

[damstr]

The GTX 980 is probably the worst priced card in the 900 Series lineup at the moment. It would probably be worth it for anyone who had a GTX 770 or below hands down. Whoops a 780 Ti at stock and overclocked it'll stand out further. Plus the extra VRAM helps for those who want to run higher resolutions. The rumors have been kicking around about a possible "Maxwell Titan" or GTX 980 Ti coming in the next couple months so there is hope. There's plenty of die space left for them to drop a good 25-30% boost solution over the 980. Problem will be the price, which will most likely suck.

GTX 970 would be what you'd want if you bought now, but it would be basically buying your 780 back again at the same price you sold them for lol. You'd probably lose even more because you went from SLI to single.

Did you make a mistake selling early? Probably, but you most likely got the best value out of your 780's in the process.

Exactly how is that a mistake? I sold them at their peak right before the 980 came out. Now that I've waited a couple months I can go ahead and if I wanted to purchase the 780's again for around $250ish. Even repurchasing them I still would've made around $200. I don't see how its a mistake.

How many FPS do you want? If you only have a 60Hz monitor and do not plan to upgrade, then just get the 780 Tis. If your monitor is above 80Hz, I'd go for the 980s.

I do only have a 60Hz monitor right now but I plan on purchasing a 144Hz GSYNC monitor in the future. I only want 1 card for now.

If you're holding out for the 980 replacement, then it sounds like a 780 Ti is the right move for you at its current lower price point. However, bear this in mind - the Ti is not very "interesting" if you've already owned a 780. As an enthusiast, it's just the same thing cranked to 11. But yeah, if you just want a holdover...go for it. Honestly, a 750 Ti for cheap will hold you over fine. It performed surprisingly well for me for the money. More cash you can put in your piggy bank for the next NVIDIA release.

As others have said - the used/2nd hand market is worth shopping. I've bought some 980s for great prices that way.

BTW - that BenQ XL2420G is great! Love, love, love mine. I've had it for about two months. Former XL2420T owner (and own 1 XL2420TX) here.

That's good to hear. I've heard nothing but good things about that monitor. I currently have a Dell S2340M IPS monitor and the color levels are amazing. It would be hard to move back to a TN panel but from what I've seen and read the XL2420G is an amazing TN panel.

 

[mope54]

Looking at comparative benchmarks over time it does appear nvidia does much less optimizations once a card series is no longer their latest-and-greatest. Unfortunate.

I think the argument isn't that they are no longer actively optimizing for the 780, but rather they are actively lowering it's performance in newer drivers.

I read some of the evidence but I haven't had a chance to really dig in.
Does anyone who has done the digging have a particular driver version that 780 users should be sticking with at this point?

 

[EvilViking]

I think the argument isn't that they are no longer actively optimizing for the 780, but rather they are actively lowering it's performance in newer drivers.

I read some of the evidence but I haven't had a chance to really dig in.
Does anyone who has done the digging have a particular driver version that 780 users should be sticking with at this point?

Actively lowering its performance? Where did you read that?

 

[mope54]

read it somewhere, didn't care, moved on with my life

 

[xXaNaXx]

This claim is unfalsifiable and is therefore useless.

The 970 is the best high-end card for the money right now. But if you have the dough, the 980 is great (and can be found used on Kijiji at a relatively good price).

saying that the 970 is the best high-end card for the money is like an incomplete sentence.

at what resolution?
at what refresh rate?

if someone is at 1080p@120Hz+ or 1440p@60Hz, then sure....that statement would be valid.

if someone is gaming at 1280x1024 or something lower (regardless of refresh rate), then even a 960 (or lower) would be the best card for the money.

but if you're 1440p@120Hz+ or even higher resolution, your games are going to suffer for only buying a 970. in those cases, either a single or SLI 980's or SLI 970's is going to be the better option, depending upon the resolution and refresh rate you're trying to achieve.

OP: if you want to keep the 1440p monitor @ 144Hz, i'd highly recommend that you either buy the 980 in order to achieve that with a single card, or get a single 970 now to make due until you upgrade the monitor, then get another 970 to put in SLI to keep it at the higher refresh rate & resolution.

one other thing to consider is that the 970 will only have the 3.5GB of full-speed VRAM, vs the 980, which can use the full 4GB at full speed.

 

[sk3tch]

This "NVIDIA downgraded the 780/Ti" crap should stop until there's at least some small element of proof. If you guys recall - the 580 to 680 situation was similar. 680 was a cut down part that offered more performance than the big bad 580. The 580 was still a badass card - just different. Why would they need to hinder the 780/Ti when they can put whatever they want into the 980 part to make it faster/more efficient/cheaper/etc.?

I get it, business...but it just doesn't seem to make any sense that they'd go the route of subterfuge and gimping versus just putting $5 more worth of silicon into the 980 to make it better.

 

[Yakk]

Proving nvidia is intentionally lowering previous generation performance would be very difficult to argue. Not optimizing it as much as they could is something else, much more devious.

However, we COULD verify the differences between the 780 and the 280x, 290, 980 and 680 over time. If lower performing cards like the 280x start catching up to the 780 like it seems to do in Evolve, that's when things start to get interesting and could warrant further comparisons to see if there is a pattern emerging.

 

[sk3tch]

Proving nvidia is intentionally lowering previous generation performance would be very difficult to argue. Not optimizing it as much as they could is something else, much more devious.

However, we COULD verify the differences between the 780 and the 280x, 290, 980 and 680 over time. If lower performing cards like the 280x start catching up to the 780 like it seems to do in Evolve, that's when things start to get interesting and could warrant further comparisons to see if there is a pattern emerging.

Certainly it is interesting. There are also other explanations. A lot of people make the mistake of comparing old results to new results. It's just not apples to apples - driver changes, optimizations, etc. skew things a significant amount.

 

[damstr]

I don't think NVIDIA is purposely holding back performance on the 780Ti. I think they are just focusing on it less and more on the new cards. If performance is dropping with each driver update then we will have a problem. Unless that's already been happening?

 

[rabidz7]

I do only have a 60Hz monitor right now but I plan on purchasing a 144Hz GSYNC monitor in the future. I only want 1 card for now.

I not recommend a 144Hz G-Sync monitor. If you have the space, you would be much better off getting a CRT. If you do not have the space, I would get a VG248QE and use LightBoost strobing. Eliminating motion blur through strobing is much more important than eliminating tearing through G-Sync.

 

[cp_kirkley]

Guess Im in the minority in that I love my 980 ACX. I owned a 780ti previously, and got the 980 via the Step-Up program for no cost. The performance difference is pretty much indistinguisable, but 980 is by FAR a cooler running card and has decreased the temperature of my room considerably, FWIW. Also the decreased power and the fact that the fans dont even spool up on everyday use means its much quieter (overall) than the reference 780ti SC it replaced.

My monitor right now is a Benq XL2720 and above 60FPS I am not disappointed. Only 1080p, but supersampling works very nicely and gives a solid IQ boost.

If youre not planning on 120hz and beyond, or 1440p and beyond, 970 is a better value, but if you have any inkling at all that you might do it in the future, just get the 980. Sure the Ti will come out eventually, just like the AMD release is around the corner, and something else is around that corner...

Im rolling with my 980 until the new card comes out and dents the value of the 980 enough that Im okay picking up a second. Then I can go back to ignoring cards for another 2 year cycle. Best part about it is that I can SLI 980s with a PSU under 800W. Win.

 

[sk3tch]

I not recommend a 144Hz G-Sync monitor. If you have the space, you would be much better off getting a CRT. If you do not have the space, I would get a VG248QE and use LightBoost strobing. Eliminating motion blur through strobing is much more important than eliminating tearing through G-Sync.

I do recommend a 144Hz G-SYNC monitor and in that vein - get the BenQ XL2420G like you were planning. ULMB is like Lightboost - and available in the non-G-SYNC mode (as you're aware). Best of both worlds.

 

[damstr]

I not recommend a 144Hz G-Sync monitor. If you have the space, you would be much better off getting a CRT. If you do not have the space, I would get a VG248QE and use LightBoost strobing. Eliminating motion blur through strobing is much more important than eliminating tearing through G-Sync.

I had that exact monitor before and the PWM flicker fucked my eyes up. After installing the DIY GSYNC module from NVIDIA the PWM flicker was gone. Further more I saw ZERO difference between using LightBoost at the lowest setting (highest motion blur elimination setting) and GSYNC @ 144Hz clarity wise. I could only tell when I went to the BlurBusters website and tried reading the scrolling text across the screen. When it comes to gaming GSYNC shits all over LightBoost. GSYNC doesn't just eliminate screen tearing. The ability to force the screen's refresh rate to match the games FPS is amazing and truly game changing. You could go from 120FPS to 50FPS and with GSYNC on it's way less noticeable than with it off.

Also I would ONLY buy a 144Hz GSYNC monitor. You are wasting your money on a 60Hz GSYNC monitor. I know there are 4K GSYNC monitors but that's because DP can't handle 4K @ 144Hz yet.

CRT? Are you serious? This isn't the 90's.

 

[sk3tch]

CRT? Are you serious? This isn't the 90's.

It's the extreme side of "competitive gaming" that believes CRTs are the best for FPS games. It may be true - but there are so many trade-offs. I've been doing 120Hz for years (even running 5760x1080 NVSurround 120Hz) and granted - G-SYNC did not blow me away like I thought it would (I always push for 90-100 FPS or better or BUST so I'm not the best G-SYNC use case) - it's still a game changer. So worth it. I hope AMD's stuff pays off and I hope G-SYNC continues to trend downwards in price. Everyone should use it that games. Not just competitive FPS/etc.

 

[damstr]

It's the extreme side of "competitive gaming" that believes CRTs are the best for FPS games. It may be true - but there are so many trade-offs. I've been doing 120Hz for years (even running 5760x1080 NVSurround 120Hz) and granted - G-SYNC did not blow me away like I thought it would (I always push for 90-100 FPS or better or BUST so I'm not the best G-SYNC use case) - it's still a game changer. So worth it. I hope AMD's stuff pays off and I hope G-SYNC continues to trend downwards in price. Everyone should use it that games. Not just competitive FPS/etc.

Take 2 of your cards out and tell me the difference. I really didn't notice the difference either running SLI 780's then I took one of the cards out and was blow away by how good the games still played. You are right though if you are constantly above 100fps the only real benefit you are getting is no screen tearing. Still no stuttering is awesome.