I am not impressed with my Nvidia GTX 970

[amenx]

Because different vendor performance can vary wildly.

But same vendor, its actually never the case that the 780Ti is faster than 980, not in any game I've seen.

Not really the point anyway. Point is we have 3 different FO4 benches posted above with 1.3 patch with wildly varying results. The GameGPU bench is the one that drastically veers off the other 2. So why are we to strictly stick to one and dismiss the other 2?

 

[Azix]

gameGPU used beta 1.3 patch. But they also used different test. They included weapon debris, which is that stupid effect only on nvidia cards that cuts fps but looks crap.

 

[Leyawiin]

A GTX 970 and R9 290 are pretty comparable performance wise. Always have been. Why many insist on splitting hairs over a few FPS in one game or the other as proof one is better is beyond me. Unless you're benchmarking you'll never notice the difference unless you're using an Nvidia specific feature. I've owned both cards. The only game I ever saw even a tiny bit of difference was in the Warlords of Draenor expansion in WoW. Even then it was quite small in the GTX 970's favor.

 

[tential]

Not really the point anyway. Point is we have 3 different FO4 benches posted above with 1.3 patch with wildly varying results. The GameGPU bench is the one that drastically veers off the other 2. So why are we to strictly stick to one and dismiss the other 2?

That's not my point. My point is, why should OP feel impressed with his GTX 970? The R9 290/390 is faster. The HD7970/R9280x actually starts to creep up on the GTX 970 in Fallout 4 at 1440p.

If you bought a GTX 970, it was new and FASTER than an R9 290. DEFINITIVELY.

This is the card I remember people being excited to buy

Now, it's a card that instead of being faster than a R9 290x, is slower than a 290...

I honestly had no idea it was this bad either so wow...... It really feels like a card that is getting slower and slower.

 

[Leyawiin]

That's not my point. My point is, why should OP feel impressed with his GTX 970? The R9 290/390 is faster. The HD7970/R9280x actually starts to creep up on the GTX 970 in Fallout 4 at 1440p.

If you bought a GTX 970, it was new and FASTER than an R9 290. DEFINITIVELY.

This is the card I remember people being excited to buy

Now, it's a card that instead of being faster than a R9 290x, is slower than a 290...

I honestly had no idea it was this bad either so wow...... It really feels like a card that is getting slower and slower.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_980_Ti_Matrix/23.html

Don't feel like pasting it, but look at the most recent TPU review of a card. The rankings for the GTX 970 and R9 290 @1080p are pretty much exactly as in what you posted from back in the day.

 

[Mastercommander]

1440p is exactly 50% larger than 1080p so I would say that you need a 50% faster card than the 970 to enjoy your resolution, just to be on the safe side.

It's actually about ~78% more pixels

 

[jantjeuh]

The 970 is basically a mid-range card, why are people surprised it performs poorly in resolutions above 1080p?

 

[amenx]

The 970 is basically a mid-range card, why are people surprised it performs poorly in resolutions above 1080p?

Regardless mid-range or not, it does not perform 'poorly' in vast majority of games @1440p. It is only with recent titles where users are unfamiliar with getting the best out of it at decent settings without going overboard.

 

[pooptastic]

Regardless mid-range or not, it does not perform 'poorly' in vast majority of games @1440p. It is only with recent titles where users are unfamiliar with getting the best out of it at decent settings without going overboard.

I turn stuff down, drop AA almost totally or totally at times depending on the game.

In the case of xcom, i also modified an .ini of the engine used (unreal?) and it did help a bit.

I'm just wondering if it's a hardware or software thing. I picture programmers going, "why re-write the entire spaghetti coded shading engine to optimize it, when we can just spaghetti more code onto it to hack this new thing to work! Oh performance, whatever, the new video cards have so many shaders who cares!"

 

[poofyhairguy]

Now, it's a card that instead of being faster than a R9 290x, is slower than a 290...

Yeah I sometimes kick myself for getting a $310 970 over a $250-ish clearance 290.

But then I look at Ebay and I see despite realworld performance Nvidia cards have better resale value. I could undo my mistake at any time easily and pocket the difference.

The only reason I don't is I REALLY like how my 970 puts off less heat than my 7970 Ghz did, and I imagine with a 290 I am right back into that ballgame. Plus my EVGA 970 with its backplate is so pretty.

I probably need to bite the bullet and jump before new GPUs this year screw up the value proposition.

 

[moonbogg]

Its a mid range card that's getting slower. I told you guys they already fired the Maxwell driver team. Those dudes got their last paycheck weeks ago. No one listens.

 

[tential]

Yeah I sometimes kick myself for getting a $310 970 over a $250-ish clearance 290.

But then I look at Ebay and I see despite realworld performance Nvidia cards have better resale value. I could undo my mistake at any time easily and pocket the difference.

The only reason I don't is I REALLY like how my 970 puts off less heat than my 7970 Ghz did, and I imagine with a 290 I am right back into that ballgame. Plus my EVGA 970 with its backplate is so pretty.

I probably need to bite the bullet and jump before new GPUs this year screw up the value proposition.

Nah I don't think a 970 was a bad buy. I mean look how it launched. I think now a 970 is a bad buy. I think even a little earlier it was a pretty bad buy.

But as long as you use the resale market with gpus the ownership cost can be super low. So if you resell your 970 does it really matter if it was slightly faster or slower than the 290?

To me it's far more important you didn't get a weaker class card when you can sell your card and have owned a gtx 970 for $60.

I think the only reason to trade now is because I just don't think it's going to get better for maxwell, and it will get better for Hawaii. And you'll be getting paid to get an r9 290. If you can pick up an r9 390 for the resale of your gtx 970 I think that's definitely worth it.

I also just think the Radeon are easier to find right now at firesale prices so you can resell the 970 at a profit and the 390.

But ya I don't have faith in maxwell holding up.

 

[Leyawiin]

The GTX 970 is STILL about 10% faster than an R9 290 @ 1080p and dead even with it at 1440p. Its a little ahead of the R9 390 @ 1080p and a little behind it @ 1440p. Why are you guys going on about it like its a GTX 960 FFS? "Getting slower" SMH. New games get more demanding, new GPU generations are on the horizon. That's how it works. It wasn't the top card when new and its not some recycled/rebranded architecture from three or four years ago either. Its doing exactly what it was meant to do (very good performance at 1080p and acceptable performance @ 1440). I got mine for a little over $250 during the holidays and I couldn't be happier with a purchase.

 

[Arachnotronic]

The GTX 970 is STILL about 10% faster than an R9 290 @ 1080p and dead even with it at 1440p. Its a little ahead of the R9 390 @ 1080p and a little behind it @ 1440p. Why are you guys going on about it like its a GTX 960 FFS? "Getting slower" SMH. New games get more demanding, new GPU generations are on the horizon. That's how it works. It wasn't the top card when new and its not some recycled/rebranded architecture from three or four years ago either. Its doing exactly what it was meant to do (very good performance at 1080p and acceptable performance @ 1440). I got mine for a little over $250 during the holidays and I couldn't be happier with a purchase.

There are a lot of people on these forums who try to make folks who buy NVIDIA cards feel bad about their purchases because they want to push AMD product.

 

[moonbogg]

There are a lot of people on these forums who try to make folks who buy NVIDIA cards feel bad about their purchases because they want to push AMD product.

I buy Nvidia products and I feel cheap, used and dirty. I feel like I need a shower after watching that 970 tank like its been doing. I still love my cards of course, but as soon as they start to tank I'm cutting my loses and ditching those suckers.

 

[poofyhairguy]

New games get more demanding, new GPU generations are on the horizon. That's how it works.

Kinda. The 290 came out in 2013, and the 390 is basically that 2013 card with bells on. Relatively to that 2013 GPU, the 2014 970 is falling behind in newer games.

The problem isn't that new GPUs are beating the 970. We don't have newer GPUs than the 970. The issue is that the older 290 is starting to beat the 970 in newer games even at 1080p.

If you are a zero day gamer the 970 is obviously the better choice because Nvidia will have "Game Ready" drivers for you. But if you are a "I will buy it when it goes on sale" gamer (and I am one) often by the time you buy it the older AMD GPUs have caught up or are ahead. The Witcher 3 was like that, AMD GPUs started out way behind but then caught up. And that isn't even accounting for the fact that those 2013 GPUs might get an even further boost under Directx 12. Two years from now the 290 might be the clear winner between it and the 970 thanks to the new API.

You might say "well most people will have bought a new GPU by then," but I don't believe it. I bet a good chunk of people who just upgraded to a 970 since 2014 (making it the top GPU in Steam) are going to sit on it for at least three years. What we witnessed last generation is the sweet spot for GPU purchases moved from the $200 price point to the $300 price point (I think because the 960 sucked so much compared to a 970). With all those midrange gamers now paying 50% more for the GPU you can assume they will want to keep it longer than they kept the 660/670 they replaced. If the 970 really does require a lot of driver tricks to keep the 3.5GB thing from being a problem, then within the effective lifetime of the card for most 970 owners they might watch as their GPU suffers relatively due to a lack of focus from Nvidia. That isn't a good thing.

AMD was simply the better decision to make in the midrange last generation. Especially when those 290Xes were going for 970 prices. I really kick myself for missing that boat. An aftermarket 290X might end up where a 980 currently is in the pecking order in a few years.

 

[guskline]

moonbogg, just sent you a PM

 

[moonbogg]

I should clarify that I have no real information relating to the firing of the Maxwell driver team. That was sarcasm. However, the Kepler driver team...those guys are rotting in a hole in the desert somewhere and the Maxwell team knows they are next. They are scared.

 

[zlejedi]

So for gaming at 1440p, what video card would you recommend? I had hoped this $300 one would have had me covered for at least a year or two.

980 ti and even then those titles would need reduction of graphical settings

 

[Pinstripe]

I should clarify that I have no real information relating to the firing of the Maxwell driver team. That was sarcasm. However, the Kepler driver team...those guys are rotting in a hole in the desert somewhere and the Maxwell team knows they are next. They are scared.

What makes you think there are seperate driver teams? They're all the same team, working on all GPU archs. They're not hire & fire fodder, but highly skilled engineers.

 

[moonbogg]

What makes you think there are seperate driver teams? They're all the same team, working on all GPU archs. They're not hire & fire fodder, but highly skilled engineers.

I can't actually respond to this without being a whole, clean, well washed and fairly pristine ass. I will say that I was being sarcastic.
Fine, OK, you want the truth then? Here it is. They only fire the ones who advocate for fair practice. Some engineers have a conscience and want the gamer to have a long term value product. Those guys have to go. They get fired. The rest of them change offices. You might think they just work in the same office, but nope.
There are new offices with the word "PASCAL" painted in GOLD on the damn walls. Their old office looked similar, but had "MAXWELL" painted in silver. Volta's office is under development and will feature platinum. Kepler's office featured bronze. The progression in rare metals parallels the degree to which they push the envelope with regard to how bad they can rip off and straight up TRICK the customer.
There you have it.

 

[Pinstripe]

Yeah, I think you're a terrible troll.

 

[Innokentij]

I can't actually respond to this without being a whole, clean, well washed and fairly pristine ass. I will say that I was being sarcastic.
Fine, OK, you want the truth then? Here it is. They only fire the ones who advocate for fair practice. Some engineers have a conscience and want the gamer to have a long term value product. Those guys have to go. They get fired. The rest of them change offices. You might think they just work in the same office, but nope.
There are new offices with the word "PASCAL" painted in GOLD on the damn walls. Their old office looked similar, but had "MAXWELL" painted in silver. Volta's office is under development and will feature platinum. Kepler's office featured bronze. The progression in rare metals parallels the degree to which they push the envelope with regard to how bad they can rip off and straight up TRICK the customer.
There you have it.

U okey there mate?

 

[moonbogg]

Yeah, I think you're a terrible troll.

I am being too obviously sarcastic for anyone to take me seriously. That's not trolling but I find it hard to contain myself at times. I am venting frustration because I really do feel that Nvidia is lacking in the driver department compared to AMD. Never thought I'd say that. Its times like this though that make me feel that I have nothing to lose by going with AMD next round.

U okey there mate?

I'm good, but I'd be better if Nvidia took care of their customers like we deserve. We are some of the biggest spending consumers in this market and we expect our products to not deteriorate into low end garbage after only a couple years of use, especially when the competition costs less and is much stronger in the long run.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I am being too obviously sarcastic for anyone to take me seriously. That's not trolling but I find it hard to contain myself at times.

I feel you there moonbogg. I don't have the investment in Nvidia hardware that you do, but I have spent hundreds on their GPUs the last couple of years (around $450 the last year alone) and it makes me sad to know that my money is probably being used to make PC gaming a worse experience for all of us.

Hell part of me wishes I never came to the Video Cards and Graphics forum. Then I could continue to buy Nvidia GPUs (which often best fit my needs) without the associated guilt.