GTX 970 and GTX 980 is officially launched

[Carfax83]

Two of these bad boys! :awe:

Gigabyte makes the best third party coolers imo. Hardware heaven reviewed the Gigabyte GTX 970 as well as the Zotoc version if anyone is interested in ordering either of them..

Now I need to get rid of my GTX 770 4GBs. If anyone is interested, send me a PM and make me an offer.. Stateside and continental U.S only though!

 

[wand3r3r]

While single cards are clear 980 > 290x, dual cards only ~catch up to the 290x crossfire.

290x crossfire is about equal to 980 sli

290x crossfire is only about even with dual GTX 980 SLI according to pcper results. It also appears that crossfire is probably smoother except in an NV sponsored title and skyrim. I'll await [h] and AT dual/tri card setups.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Just skimmed the AT benches. Looks like the 980 was a bit closer to the 7890TI and 290X than I was expecting. But man, those overclock results are fantastic! Once some of these get under water with voltage mods we could see some close to 2GHz OC's... that's making 28nm work!

The 970 should make R9 280X prices drop. Crossfire or new beast single GPU...? Or do I hold off till 20nm? Decisions to be made!

 

[ginfest]

While single cards are clear 980 > 290x, dual cards only ~catch up to the 290x crossfire.

290x crossfire is about equal to 980 sli

290x crossfire is only about even with dual GTX 980 SLI according to pcper results. It also appears that crossfire is probably smoother except in an NV sponsored title and skyrim. I'll await [h] and AT dual/tri card setups.

Why would anyone buy two loud, hot cards, compared to two quiet, low power and cooler cards given your statement about equal performance?

 

[sontin]

The question is, why would anybody go with GTX980 cards when two GTX970 will be enough and uses the same power like one 290X card in the uber mode?

 

[ginfest]

The question is, why would anybody go with GTX980 cards when two GTX970 will be enough and uses the same power than one 290X card in the uber mode?

Good point

 

[Arachnotronic]

Quite an incredible achievement on NVIDIA's part. Maxwell is an incredible power efficient architecture, and I think this solidly puts the company ahead of AMD.

Just ordered two.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Why would anyone buy two loud, hot cards, compared to two quiet, low power and cooler cards given your statement about equal performance?

If AMD drops the price of the 290X, I would consider one. They aren't loud, who's buying reference any longer? Temperature means very little, I don't care if my GPU is at 80C or 65C, if it is in spec and has room to overclock if I want, I don't care. Power consumption is nearly meaningless in practical terms when we're talking about these levels, unless you pay a lot for power and have the cards loaded for extended periods of time regularly.

With all that being said, the 290X needs a price drop to make sense. At or near the same price it is hard to justify the 290X unless you really, really want an AMD-specific feature like Mantle. But even then the 980 is a more well rounded card, at or near the same price. But if AMD prices the 290X at $375, that wouldn't be a terrible part to consider.

 

[Cookie Monster]

If AMD drops the price of the 290X, I would consider one. They aren't loud, who's buying reference any longer? Temperature means very little, I don't care if my GPU is at 80C or 65C, if it is in spec and has room to overclock if I want, I don't care. Power consumption is nearly meaningless in practical terms when we're talking about these levels, unless you pay a lot for power and have the cards loaded for extended periods of time regularly.

With all that being said, the 290X needs a price drop to make sense. At or near the same price it is hard to justify the 290X unless you really, really want an AMD-specific feature like Mantle. But even then the 980 is a more well rounded card, at or near the same price. But if AMD prices the 290X at $375, that wouldn't be a terrible part to consider.

I don't think many will consider the 290X nor the GTX980. GTX970 seems to be where its at given the insane overclocks and more importantly.. the price.

Power is a bonus because at the end of the day a) don't need a meaty cooling solution that costs more $$$ (too push your card more) and take up space in the case b) there is indeed a difference in room ambient using a card that has a TDP of 150W vs 250W (more once overclocked).

 

[SimianR]

I'd also like to point out that people can throw out the "$329" msrp of the 970 all day long, but we'll have to see how long they actually retail for that. Depending on the demand I can see them selling for closer to $400.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I don't think many will consider the 290X nor the GTX980. GTX970 seems to be where its at given the insane overclocks and more importantly.. the price.

Power is a bonus because at the end of the day a) don't need a meaty cooling solution that costs more $$$ (too push your card more) and take up space in the case b) there is indeed a difference in room ambient using a card that has a TDP of 150W vs 250W (more once overclocked).

Like I said though, it depends on AMD's price drops (that I assume have to be coming if they want to move cards in light of their new competition). At current prices, the 290X is a very hard sell, it doesn't make sense to get one really. Of course the question is how much can AMD drop the price, their GPU is a bit larger than these new Maxwell GPU's, they'll probably have to eat their margins to keep selling parts.

 

[SlowSpyder]

The question is, why would anybody go with GTX980 cards when two GTX970 will be enough and uses the same power like one 290X card in the uber mode?

You could get two R9 280's for hundreds of dollars less than a 780Ti, probably only marginally more power use, same amount of vram. But people still bought the 780Ti. A lot of people just like single GPU's, they're still gun shy about going CF/SLI.

 

[showb1z]

What's the best GTX970 to get?

 

[wand3r3r]

Why would anyone buy two loud, hot cards, compared to two quiet, low power and cooler cards given your statement about equal performance?

If the 980 is $550, and the 290x $450 (might drop depending on price cuts) it would be a pretty compelling reason to go for quiet aftermarket 290x's. At the same price the 980 would be more compelling obviously. Either way, $900 will provide you the same experience as $1100.

I was just pointing out that the 980 while clearly superior in single card mode, isn't any better in SLI than 290x crossfire. XDMA crossfire has it's benefits. It's one of the few reasons to consider 290x (price and crossfire).

If I were buying today it would be SLI 970's all the way, without question. These are simply the facts on the table (if you want the best).

 

[railven]

So what do you guys think that lovely $330 price point for GTX 970 is going to do for the used GTX 780 market?

How is SLI on 900 series versus 600 series? I was rocking SLI GTX 660 Ti with good results until I basically lost my mind (microstuttering, lack of profiles for the games I play, etc).

My new monitor is 2880x1620, and playing Borderlands 2 max settings is dropping me down to 40FPS on my 780 Lightning

 

[wand3r3r]

So what do you guys think that lovely $330 price point for GTX 970 is going to do for the used GTX 780 market?

How is SLI on 900 series versus 600 series? I was rocking SLI GTX 660 Ti with good results until I basically lost my mind (microstuttering, lack of profiles for the games I play, etc).

My new monitor is 2880x1620, and playing Borderlands 2 max settings is dropping me down to 40FPS on my 780 Lightning

I think 780's will go for $200-250 or less, maybe it will depend on whether 970's sell out... Even though the 970 doesn't have a huge lead on the 780, it is "newer". Actually, a lightning may go for more?

I guess this will make the used 290's go for dirt cheap.

It doesn't look like there's any SLI magic? At pcper 980 sli == 290x crossfire and 290x is often smoother. We need more reviews anyway. I'm waiting for [h] and AT reviews on SLI to see the winner of the high end. Either way the 970 is the champ of this release! 28nm with performance and a decent price.

 

[Rvenger]

EVGA 970 ordered. Contemplating on two... I really don't need two. Ridiculously cheap 290 for sale.

GougeEgg decided to disable shoprunner on new items. Thanks.

 

[jpiniero]

It doesn't look like there's any SLI magic? At pcper 980 sli == 290x crossfire and 290x is often smoother.

I think nVidia would have said something if they had made any changes to SLI. So CF will continue to be better in that respect.

 

[loki23li]

EVGA 970 SC ordered from the egg.

Coming from a 670 I'm excited for a performance boost. Just need to wait and see what full blocks come out and when so I can add it to my loop.

 

[railven]

I think 780's will go for $200-250 or less, maybe it will depend on whether 970's sell out... Even though the 970 doesn't have a huge lead on the 780, it is "newer". Actually, a lightning may go for more?

It doesn't look like there's any SLI magic? At pcper 980 sli == 290x crossfire and 290x is often smoother. We need more reviews anyway. I'm waiting for [h] and AT reviews on SLI to see the winner of the high end. Either way the 970 is the champ of this release! 28nm with performance and a decent price.

If the GTX 780 drop that much, I just might get SLI 780's instead of looking at a 980. At least that can hold me off until GM100 and Radeon's response.

Or just wait all together since clearly I couldn't wait from July to September and loss 30% performance at the same price point Haha and then my card loses essentially half its value

 

[wand3r3r]

If the GTX 780 drop that much, I just might get SLI 780's instead of looking at a 980. At least that can hold me off until GM100 and Radeon's response.

Or just wait all together since clearly I couldn't wait from July to September and loss 30% performance at the same price point Haha and then my card loses essentially half its value

I was going to revise my $200-250 price estimate, however looking at the performance of the 980 and guesstimating minus 10-15% it's still beating the 780.
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1351?vs=1036

TPU has 780= 83% and 970 = 95% (of an OC model about equal to the 780 ti). It's a fairly decent lead (not enough to upgrade to from the 780, more of a sidegrade).
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/25.html

If the 780's hit $200 it's a no brainer for you to go SLI instead of "side-up-grading".

 

[96Firebird]

EVGA 970 ordered. Contemplating on two... I really don't need two. Ridiculously cheap 290 for sale.

GougeEgg decided to disable shoprunner on new items. Thanks.

EVGA 970 ordered from the egg.

Also got the EVGA SC 970 ACX. With the $10 rebate, it stopped me from splurging on the Gigabyte G1. Shoprunner worked for me Rvenger, my order was $339 with free shipping + $10 rebate.

 

[Azix]

amazingly these aren't completely sold out. I wonder if stock is adequate. All the retailers who marked them up from the outset can find the nearest cliff (NCIX....)

 

[RussianSensation]

Your AMD bias does not rewrite history.

And power?

44W between 560 Ti and 7850 is not the 93W between 980 and non-throttled 290X.

There is no bias. You clearly aren't reading the reviews/charts. 7850 was nearly as fast as 570 and 7870 as 580. Your comparison of 7850 to a 560Ti is seriously flawed since even a 6950 competes with 560Ti and 7850 is faster than the 560Ti or 6950 yet you keep comparing 7850 to 560Ti.

If you look at PCS+ 7850, it was only 3% slower than a 570 which used 100W more power. The data is all there but you choose to ignore it since it's simply easier for you to keep saying I have AMD bias and other such nonsense. Again if you want to ignore that 7850 undercut a 570, used 90-100W less power for the same performance, go ahead. That doesn't change reality.

You also ignored all other areas where Fermi got blown away by GCN. I guess 7970 overclocked didn't beat a 580 overclocked by 40-80% at launch either, right? I don't remember you claiming doom and gloom for NV though.

I guess NV should have closed its desktop division too when a 225W $280 7950 @ 1.2ghz matched a 225W 1.3 ghz 680 $450 I don't remember you making a single comment on this last generation. I also don't remember you making any fuss at all when 290s trounced 780Ti by 50-60% for only $100 more for 6 months.

Let me know when NV releases a $550 card that overclocked can beat a $450 R9 290X OC by 40-80% like 7970 OC destroyed a 580 OC. NV impressed on price/perf with 970 and perf/watt but 7970 OC offered a completely different level of performance to a 580 OC. 980 does nothing of the sort barely outperforming R9 290X by 20% and 780Ti by only 10%, if that. For the price 980 is weak 1 year after 780Ti. 970 and 970 SLI is the only thing worth talking about with this launch on the desktop.

 

[exar333]

Also got the EVGA SC 970 ACX. With the $10 rebate, it stopped me from splurging on the Gigabyte G1. Shoprunner worked for me Rvenger, my order was $339 with free shipping + $10 rebate.

I grabbed the blower 970 SC myself. Either runs so cool, I figured I would exhaust the air from the case. Can't really go wrong with how cool/lower power these go.

Feels like May/June 2012 all over again. Still a little disappointed 'Big Maxwell' isn't available, but at this price it is hard to turn down for any 6xx users or older.