• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

GTX970.. worth it?

V

Voxata

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
339
I'm considering a 970, worried about 3.5gb+ stutters... I'm a 1080p for now user, and am wondering if the card slows slightly or flat out stutters?
 
Yeah it's worth it. If you're at 1080p don't worry about the memory issue. It works well at 1600p for me. It was a great improvement over my GTX670.
 
Yeah? I've been using 7970/280x for years now. Though, I've considered saving dough and waiting for 390x
 
I get absolutely no stuttering on my 970 even when vram is at 3.9GB. At no time when it goes over the 3.5 limit does it stutter actually. My conclusion with these cards is that you need at least 16GB system ram to be able to go over that threshold comfortably. Most of the people seeing stutters had 8GB ram, some folks here upgraded to 16 and the stutters were gone. Currently playing the vanishing of ethan carter maxed out and modded and it's using 3.9GB vram and 10GB ram. Without the mods it would use between 2.5-2.9 vram and 4GB system ram, once vram goes High enough it starts eating up system ram and if you only have 8GB it will stutter. You'll be fine at 1080p but if you want to max that vram out you will need at least 16GB and It won't ever stutter

Edit: looks like you have enough system ram you'll be fine
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input! Leaning towards 970 as I can surely get $100+ out of my 280x
 
I just got one to replace my AMD 270 that was heavily overclocked. The 970 is leaps and bounds better. Also slightly better stock then my 290x reference cooled card I just sold. The 290x with the stock cooler would downclock all the time and was not fun to play with.

Still running personal tests to see how it stacks compared to my 290x water cooled. However, I love the fast it runs super cool compared to the 290x I sold to my roommate.

Out of the box the 970 was at 1190 core, 1753 memory. Now sitting at 1250 with no voltage or real time to play with it.
 
Gigabyte g1 970 was the best for me. 1550/8000. Tripple fan ran cool and quiet even maxed was quiet.
 
At this point, the AMD 390/x is so close to dropping... i'd honestly hold for a bit.

Otherwise, if you got the need for speed.....that 970 will do ya just fine. it's a decent upgrade over the 7970/280X for 2K stuff, but the 290 is really the far better bang for buck here. Your average aftermarket cooled 290 is not that much slower than a 970 (stock clocks for both, of course) while being a good $100+ cheaper. Plenty of nice cooling solutions from AIBs out there, so no throttling / overheating etc. In the end, if you want to buy a card right now and want max bang-for-the-buck...go with the 290. With your 280X figured in, you likely would pay ~$150 max for BNIB (290). If you went Fleabay, you would likely spend <$100.

Bear in mind that no current card is honestly comfortable @ 4K, and this is where the 390/X patience may come in to play...
 
Voxata said:
Very nice, though, most GTX 970's can reach 1500/8Ghz mem yeah?
Click to expand...

I'd say many but don't be disappointed if you get one that can't. My G1 970 with it's "GPU Gauntlet" gpu couldn't get to 1500 OR 8Ghz mem stable for the life of it. Left me kind of sad seeing all those on here with uber clocks.

Still a great Gpu for 1080p & over 60Hz. Even better if you're in the states where the price is sane.
 
OP getting a GTX 970 now is a bad idea. its too close to the R9 390X / R9 390 and R9 380X / R9 380 launches which are expected to launch at Computex on June 1st. You would be left to regret your purchase. R9 380X aka Fiji XT is most probably a 3072 sp, 64 ROP, 4 GB HBM card with the latest GCN 2.0. It should easily end up beating the GTX 980. My guess is it will land at USD 400. R9 380 could be the sweet spot GPU matching GTX 980 perf at USD 300 - 350. R9 390X aka Bermuda XT is a monster GPU with 4096 sp, 8GB HBM but priced at USD 700 - 800.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1530716/...-fiji-380x-and-bermuda-390x-benchmarks-leaked

http://videocardz.com/55146/amd-radeon-r9-390x-possible-specifications-and-performance-leaked

btw GTX 970 is already showing limitations in games like Rome Total War Atilla at 1080p due to the memory partition.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Total-War-Attila-PC-259548/Specials/Test-Benchmarks-1151602/
 
Voxata said:
Very nice, though, most GTX 970's can reach 1500/8Ghz mem yeah?
Click to expand...

I got only to about 7600 for memory on both of my Gigabyte 970 Windforce 3X OC cards. No matter since it doesn't really have much of an effect on performance. Core goes to 1514 on boost, probably higher but haven't bothered trying.

No stuttering issues in anything except Shadow of Mordor with ultra textures at 1440p.
 
Well, I was able to sell my 280X on craigslist (also some other old stuff) for a lot more than I had expected it would so I went ahead and ordered a 970. We'll see how it goes, and if I get the itch again it'll just bump down the chain of rigs. Thanks all!
 
I'll have to pull the backplate to see if its Hynix or Samsung ram on this limited edition card.. high hopes. Thanks all!
 
The word is the AMD offerings of the 3XX series, though that won't happen for months... and surely will be pricey.
 
Voxata said:
I'll have to pull the backplate to see if its Hynix or Samsung ram on this limited edition card.. high hopes. Thanks all!
Click to expand...

You can check the memory manufacturer using GPU-Z, look for the "memory type" field. If it is not showing hover over the box showing the memory type with your mouse pointer for a little bit.

To get the actual specific memory model you would need to view the chip (maybe a bios dump could have that information?) but that should be consistent and not important to know per individual card.
 
mw8t said:
when is the 970 successor out?
Click to expand...

Not before the 980 successor is released, which won't happen until at least November 2015. The x70 of each generation is usually released on the same day or week as the x80, but the 670 was released nearly two months later than the 680.

Edit: I should clarify that by "980 successor", I'm talking about the next generation GTX 1080 (if Nvidia chooses to call it that), not the GTX 980 Ti, and I'm assuming you're talking about the GTX 1070 (if Nvidia chooses to call it that).
 
Last edited:
I've been waiting and waiting for news on the upcoming AMD cards, but I finally just went ahead and ordered a 970 to hold me over for now. I'm coming from SLI 680s so overall performance will be lower, but SLI compatibility issues were driving me insane.
 
I recently went from a Galaxy GTX 780 HOF to a Galax 970 EXOC Black Edition and while I typically wouldn't advocate making a jump from one generation to another, I can easily see an improvement in the 970 over the 780. I'm surprised at how much of an improvement there is.
 
atp1916 said:
At this point, the AMD 390/x is so close to dropping... i'd honestly hold for a bit.

Otherwise, if you got the need for speed.....that 970 will do ya just fine. it's a decent upgrade over the 7970/280X for 2K stuff, but the 290 is really the far better bang for buck here. Your average aftermarket cooled 290 is not that much slower than a 970 (stock clocks for both, of course) while being a good $100+ cheaper. Plenty of nice cooling solutions from AIBs out there, so no throttling / overheating etc. In the end, if you want to buy a card right now and want max bang-for-the-buck...go with the 290. With your 280X figured in, you likely would pay ~$150 max for BNIB (290). If you went Fleabay, you would likely spend <$100.

Bear in mind that no current card is honestly comfortable @ 4K, and this is where the 390/X patience may come in to play...
Click to expand...

Problem is I read that the 390 are going to be $700 and the 390x $700+, which in the UK would probably be £500+... Whereas you can get a GTX970 for £250-£300, the 390/x being good or not depends how much it costs.. If it was £400 and as fast as advertised then great.. But if it is £500+ that is double the price of the cheapest 970.. Also the 970 is quiet and uses hardly any power, so its a good card... But it all depends how much the 390 costs whether it is worth an upgrade.
 
Last edited:
Since the OP already made his purchase, the points are moot.

However...

The GTX970 is a very good card, as is the R9 290.

Any price guesses on the 390 series are just guesses. We won't know anything until they're released.
 
GTX 970 had high praise when it was released..similar to the 8800 GT..

Now would be a good time to pick up another for SLI. Worth it? yes.
 
walkingdog said:
It seems the driver forces 970 to use 3.5gb instead of 4gb, see the link below.
970 is not an honest product, but while referring to high P/C, it's still a good choice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgObJcJhKoc
Click to expand...

I'm not happy to be jipped out of .5GB, but I am happy that it is being disabled. The card is still an immense value, but I think I should get more.. I did get The Witcher 3 though.. Also the ATI cards run so hot and suck down a lot of power.
 
So would a 970 be a big upgrade from a 670 2gb? 1080p for now. Thinking about making the jump. Got the 16gb ram if it helps iron out any stutters.
 
I have the 970 in sli and I reach 3.9 Vram in shadow of mordor. I never get the stuttering that some users are reporting. I think people getting the stuttering were having other issues and most people that were complaining didn't have issues in the first place but just complained because of the opportunity.

970s are worth it.
 
Darknyt said:
So would a 970 be a big upgrade from a 670 2gb? 1080p for now. Thinking about making the jump. Got the 16gb ram if it helps iron out any stutters.
Click to expand...

Yep, 670 -> 970 is a good upgrade but perhaps just a tad bit overkill if you're still @ 1080P. From those benches, i imagine the 670 still does well enough provided it isn't running out of ram.

I mean, you need a new 2K monitor for that shiny 970 too, right? :D
 
Well, I am upgrading from 280X to 970.. I'd consider it a strong upgrade, considering what I got out of my 280X anyways. Also am on 1080p... However, they tend to fail eventually. All the 280X's I had clocked like crap too. My original 7970's were 1300Mhz no problem in xfire... though it took a lot of watts. Anyways, I'm glad I made this decision, I'm sure I'll be happier in the long run.
 
atp1916 said:
Yep, 670 -> 970 is a good upgrade but perhaps just a tad bit overkill if you're still @ 1080P. From those benches, i imagine the 670 still does well enough provided it isn't running out of ram.

I mean, you need a new 2K monitor for that shiny 970 too, right? :D
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea. Been tempted by several of those 27" IPS 1440p monitor deals that keep popping up.

But I guess my thought is with new games coming out like GTA V, I just wanna be able to keep gfx detail up and frame rate enjoyable.

I'm kinda an eye-candy whore ...
 
Darknyt said:
Not a bad idea. Been tempted by several of those 27" IPS 1440p monitor deals that keep popping up.

But I guess my thought is with new games coming out like GTA V, I just wanna be able to keep gfx detail up and frame rate enjoyable.

I'm kinda an eye-candy whore ...
Click to expand...

I've been very tempted to replace my quad set of crappy AoC 22"s for some of those off-grade Korean refurb 27" 1440Ps you see hovering around $200. I don't want dead pixels though..
 
Now that I'm remembering, it was Evolve that got me thinking about a card upgrade.

It's not set that high, but I get stutters pretty often on it enough to impact gameplay.
 
See that is depressing to have to do that. Which would be why I'd want to upgrade.

Although with how dark that damn game is, I'd probably never notice with everything moving so fast.
 
I am looking to purchase a 290, but then I noticed that the 290 works with DX 11.2, whereas the 970 works with DX 12.

Any comments ?
 
adobian said:
I am looking to purchase a 290, but then I noticed that the 290 works with DX 11.2, whereas the 970 works with DX 12.

Any comments ?
Click to expand...

The 970 has full support for all the new hardware shader features introduced in DX12. These are not so important.

Both the 970 and the 290 DRIVERS support the new DX12 high efficiency threading model. This is the part that's important. Upcoming DX12 games will be able to use the DX12 high efficiency threading model, but still target DX11.2 effects levels (much in the same way DX11 games can still work on DX10 hardware).

I expect the user base of real DX12 cards will be too small to justify targeting for some time. Also, since the higher efficiency interface has been stealing the spotlight, there's been little talk about the other new features added :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top