GTX 970/980 owners thread

[DrBoss]

I don't think you CPU will hold you back much. A 3.7ghz i7 is well in excess of what they built the engine around.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I don't think you CPU will hold you back much. A 3.7ghz i7 is well in excess of what they built the engine around.

Yeah i wasn't sure if TPU 4770@ 4.2ghz really had much of a advantage over my cpu. I figure maybe not.

A single 970 in that game would just be beast at 1080p,especially if you run without AA.I often don't run AA with my games unless i get a excessive framerate that allows it to be enabled without hurting performance.Maybe 2x AA wouldn't hurt.

I am buying the game right after i upgrade,finally maxing the games detail without it tanking like it did with the gtx280 i used to bench in the game is going to be tons of fun. Been a while since i benched lol.

 

[amenx]

I noticed TPU removed the game from their benches as of October,there was barely 7 fps difference at 900p between a 290 and a 980 lol.I guess benching the game on something like my i7 3770 non k@ 3.7ghz would maybe produce a lower fps?

I told myself i would buy the game when a single card would max it out at 1080p lol. 1080p and a single 970 with no aa would be bottlenecked by a stock 3770 wouldn't it?I have no idea if the demo really represents the final product or not. Most likely not.

A 3770 at stock is leagues ahead of any CPU that was around when Crysis came out (2007, first gen C2Ds I believe).

 

[skipsneeky2]

A 3770 at stock is leagues ahead of any CPU that was around when Crysis came out (2007, first gen C2Ds I believe).

True and considering a single 970 still is gpu bound with 4x AA @1080p then it wouldn't matter to me.If i went sli 970 then yeah perhaps switching over to a overclockable Skylake platform would be of interest to me for a possible higher fps rate.

I think WOT is the only game i play outside of GTA4 where i could really seriously use more cpu and the only option i may consider is Skylake.

 

[DefDC]

After watching my poor GTX 460 stuggle to keep up with FC4 and DA:I, I took the plunge and bought a Gigabyte GTX 970 G1. It looked to be the most solid card for the price at the moment. I also just recovered a from a hardware failure from my old AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black. (Certainly got my money's worth from this combo of this processor and the GTX 460!) Upgraded to a AMD FX8320.

Looking forward to gaming in full graphical (1080p) glory.

Card should be here on Saturday. It's like Christmas again!

 

[psolord]

Woah, from 460 to 970 G1!

We are talking 4X the performance here!

Awesome!

As for myself, I had some feedback from my Youtube viewers and they told me that they are getting som cpu limits with 2500k even with one 970, so my plans for going SLI are shot. I will get diminishing returns for the most part, so I will go single gpu from now on.

Gigabyte G1 970 seems to be my choice as well, so far, although I am considering getting an MSI, althout it's a little weaker in its power supply. I am using MSI Afterburner for years and I fill like I should buy something from these guys, although I spent a pretty penny for my MSI Big Bang Trinergy back then.

That being said, since I will not go SLI for now, I am thinking of getting a little upgrade for my Q9550. My 5850s are struggling now and I have a Youtube channel to keep alive.

So I am thinking to change my sig like this:

i5 2500k+970
Core i7 860 gets my dual 7950s

and one 960 for my Q9550.

I was also thinking maybe a 290 for my Q9550, but I think most of its power will go to waste, plus the 960 will have a lower cpu overhead thanks to Nvidia's better drivers in DX.

What do you guys think?

 

[Anubis]

im having random display driver crash and recovers with my 970. Its a MSI, running stock settings. didn't happen when I first installed it but it kinda just randomly started a week or so ago

also somewhat randomly 1 of my monitors will just go black for 5 secs and then come back, display driver does not crash when this happens.

Any ideas. running the latest drivers 347.09. Win 7, Dual Shimian QH270s

 

[Rhezuss]

im having random display driver crash and recovers with my 970. Its a MSI, running stock settings. didn't happen when I first installed it but it kinda just randomly started a week or so ago

also somewhat randomly 1 of my monitors will just go black for 5 secs and then come back, display driver does not crash when this happens.

Any ideas. running the latest drivers 347.09. Win 7, Dual Shimian QH270s

Most of the time these problems are caused by drivers, not hardware. I'd try to roll back to the latest crash-free drivers you used or try a complete/fresh reinstall of the 347.09 drivers.

I have the 347 installed and everything runs fine.

 

[DrBoss]

As for myself, I had some feedback from my Youtube viewers and they told me that they are getting som cpu limits with 2500k even with one 970, so my plans for going SLI are shot. I will get diminishing returns for the most part, so I will go single gpu from now on.

CPU bottleneck in what games? The only CPU limited game i've played is Crysis 1. I suppose some strategy games (Supreme Commander, etc) might be CPU bound... but I don't think that's the case for most games.

It is also a function of resolution, and once you start tinkering the Nvidia DSR (downsampling) SLI becomes very valuable.

Link to article on Nvidia DSR
Link to article on DSR in Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes (scroll down to DSR section at bottom of article.

 

[5150Joker]

Just joined the 980 ranks or will later today when they arrive. Grabbed a pair of EVGA GTX SC 980s, the ACX 2.0 versions. Looking forward to see how they do, especially compared to my Titans (one of which is left for sale if anyone wants one for cheap).

 

[psolord]

CPU bottleneck in what games? The only CPU limited game i've played is Crysis 1. I suppose some strategy games (Supreme Commander, etc) might be CPU bound... but I don't think that's the case for most games.

It is also a function of resolution, and once you start tinkering the Nvidia DSR (downsampling) SLI becomes very valuable.

Link to article on Nvidia DSR
Link to article on DSR in Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes (scroll down to DSR section at bottom of article.

The discussion was made for Assassin's Creed Unity but I see quite a lot of cpu usage when using single 7950 on my primary rig.

Well I'll get one and if I see that the cpu can drive it adequately, I'll see what I'll do.

I want to avoid spending big right now, since the 980 Ti could come out in a few months. I would like to have the option to use the 970 on my 960, singe 7950 on my Q9550, 980 Ti on the 2500k and sell everything else.

 

[cmdrdredd]

im having random display driver crash and recovers with my 970. Its a MSI, running stock settings. didn't happen when I first installed it but it kinda just randomly started a week or so ago

also somewhat randomly 1 of my monitors will just go black for 5 secs and then come back, display driver does not crash when this happens.

Any ideas. running the latest drivers 347.09. Win 7, Dual Shimian QH270s

Did anything change between when you installed it and when this started happening? Sometimes it is something unrelated you installed or updated. Is your gpu usage changing when this happens? Maybe try turning off aero as well. You could also try a clean install of the drivers or roll back to the previous version. If nothing helps perhaps you simply have a card going bad. It does happen, I had to replace my first gtx 670 when it launched because there was a bad batch.

 

[skipsneeky2]

http://gamegpu.ru/zheleznye-novosti/zotac-rabotaet-nad-miniatyurnoj-videokartoj-geforce-gtx-970.html

During the CES 2015, the company demonstrated a prototype Zotac mini-the GeForce GTX 970 a length of 17 cm.

ZOTAC-970-mini


The cooling system consists of two new items copper heat trubkok penetrating the radiator, for the 80-mm fan. Card occupies the space of two expansion slots used to power one 6-pin quick-disconnect couplings PCI-E Power. TDP graphics card is about 130-140 watts.


One of a kind single 6 pinned 970?

 

[Dankk]

Received my MSI 980 the other day. Fantastic card so far; the best I've ever owned. Not just for speed, but it's also probably the quietest card I've ever owned too. Very impressed.

No backplate? No problem. The tried and true Dankk™-certified ziptie anti-sag solution works well here.

 

[Anubis]

Did anything change between when you installed it and when this started happening? Sometimes it is something unrelated you installed or updated. Is your gpu usage changing when this happens? Maybe try turning off aero as well. You could also try a clean install of the drivers or roll back to the previous version. If nothing helps perhaps you simply have a card going bad. It does happen, I had to replace my first gtx 670 when it launched because there was a bad batch.

i dont recall installing anything major, just normal program/windows updates and such. Maybe a new steam game but im not sure. have not watch GPU usage when it happens

 

[CP5670]

Yeah, Crysis 1 is very much CPU limited at this point.

No matter how low I drop the resolution, I can't get my 970's past an average framerate of 85... the bottleneck is my 4.4 ghz i7-2600K. Though, even the most recent CPU isn't going to push the game much higher, the engine is simply not optimized to utilize 8 core uber CPU's./I]

It might not necessarily even benefit from a better CPU. The game generally runs great on modern hardware, but some specific parts seem to have framerate drops on any hardware. I replayed it with a 980 at 1920x1080 a few months ago and the VTOL level often drops to 40fps or so on both my old 4ghz 920 and my current 4790K. Most of the time it runs at 80+fps though.

 

[cmdrdredd]

i dont recall installing anything major, just normal program/windows updates and such. Maybe a new steam game but im not sure. have not watch GPU usage when it happens

If something is spiking usage it can cause a lockup situation that forced the driver to reset.

 

[ocre]

i dont recall installing anything major, just normal program/windows updates and such. Maybe a new steam game but im not sure. have not watch GPU usage when it happens

you should try running memtest and make 100% sure it is not your ram. If you google, you will find plenty of info on how and what to do.

Also, what is your PSU like? Is it old? a good brand?
What was your old GPU?

 

[aigomorla]

Received my MSI 980 the other day. Fantastic card so far; the best I've ever owned. Not just for speed, but it's also probably the quietest card I've ever owned too. Very impressed.

No backplate? No problem. The tried and true Dankk™-certified ziptie anti-sag solution works well here.

no backplate for a 980 GTX?

are you serious?

MSI is skimping on the backplate to their high end card?
That to me does not sound right... its the flagship card.
A backplate saves them a few dollars, but was the card cheaper then the others?

There are many things wrong with a 980 GTX not coming with a backplate.
Its mounting pressure on things like VRMS.
The 980 GTX is a longer PCB vs a 970, it has more VRMS which need active cooling, and hence should ALWAYS have a backplate so the heat sink can get a firm mounting pressure contact with these delicate things.

Is the card reference design?
If it is, and it has no backplate, that would seriously peeve me, especially on a 980 GTX.



@cmdrdredd
You were so right about the new drivers... i sort of like it....
So far no issues, fixed a lot of things the old one did.
I still crash silly in DA:I once ram gets over 2.4gb.... i guess its exactly as you said, a memory leak error with the game itself.

 

[Dankk]

no backplate for a 980 GTX?

are you serious?

MSI is skimping on the backplate to their high end card?
That to me does not sound right... its the flagship card.
A backplate saves them a few dollars, but was the card cheaper then the others?

There are many things wrong with a 980 GTX not coming with a backplate.
Its mounting pressure on things like VRMS.
The 980 GTX is a longer PCB vs a 970, it has more VRMS which need active cooling, and hence should ALWAYS have a backplate so the heat sink can get a firm mounting pressure contact with these delicate things.

Is the card reference design?
If it is, and it has no backplate, that would seriously peeve me, especially on a 980 GTX.

The card is definitely not a reference design, and despite the lack of a backplate, the card is surprisingly lightweight and rigid (if you could hold one, you would probably understand). But I propped it up a little anyway since I'm OCD.

 

[Anubis]

you should try running memtest and make 100% sure it is not your ram. If you google, you will find plenty of info on how and what to do.

Also, what is your PSU like? Is it old? a good brand?
What was your old GPU?

im well aware with how to run memtest,

old GPUs were dual 7950s

PS is a corsair HX850w

 

[tarasis]

Woah, from 460 to 970 G1!

We are talking 4X the performance here!

Awesome!

I just went from an Nvidia 9400m 256MB (in a 2009 13" MacBook Pro) to a Gigabyte Gaming G1 GTX 970 in a newly built PC. The last PC I built in 2004-5 had an Nvidia GT 6600.

Using this is rather amazing to be sure

 

[cmdrdredd]

@cmdrdredd
You were so right about the new drivers... i sort of like it....
So far no issues, fixed a lot of things the old one did.
I still crash silly in DA:I once ram gets over 2.4gb.... i guess its exactly as you said, a memory leak error with the game itself.

My one complaint about how DAI performs.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I just went from an Nvidia 9400m 256MB (in a 2009 13" MacBook Pro) to a Gigabyte Gaming G1 GTX 970 in a newly built PC. The last PC I built in 2004-5 had an Nvidia GT 6600.

Using this is rather amazing to be sure

Anything from the last 2 years would have been amazing in your case,even something as low as a 650/7750 lol.How did you manage to punish yourself that long?

 

[tarasis]

Anything from the last 2 years would have been amazing in your case,even something as low as a 650/7750 lol.How did you manage to punish yourself that long?

Heh, sometimes it was. I had abandoned a few games as unplayable, though some I stuck through despite the low framerare. Like 50 hours of Divinity Original Sin at lowest detail at 1280x800 @ 7-12fps.

I had planned to upgrade my MBP a couple of times in the last couple of years but it got scuppered for one reason or another. So with games like Star Citizen, Shadow of Mordor and such I decided to build a desktop PC.