No single GPU can handle high res gaming, especially on newer titles. You should know that, what made you think a single 970 is capable of running high res via DSR? Or rather, 980 wouldn't be able to either.
The vram only matters in many games in SLI configs where there's enough GPU grunt to handle high res, shifting the bottleneck to the vram.
So far, in single card, at playable settings, only a very small number of games are detrimentally affected by the 970 segmented vram. There is a problem, but it doesn't affect the vast majority of gamers, on 1080p with a single GPU.
When the issue was first being pushed, all the evidence was in "high res gaming"
Even still, most of all the sites, forum post, and yôutube vids show the 970 stuttering in "high res gaming". That is almost always what it takes to use over 3500mb of ram.
Just about every case shown as proof is of a 970 with dsr or some really high resolution. This gives off the impression that it is the segmented ram that causes the issue. I got a 980 and realized that those high resolution settings are too much for it as well. Even without segmented memories.
The high resolutions bring stutter and uneven game play. So, if your frame rate is in the 40s, it is completely all over the place. The 980 struggles to though. I figured that since so many were insisting that the ram was causing the 970 to stutter, that a 980 wouldn't stutter. Its not the case though.
Just because u have low frame rates doesn't mean you will have inconsistent framer ones and hitching. But the 980 struggles too, and its not smooth either.
I cannot speak for SLI but I would to hear from someone who directly can compare the 980sli experience with the 970sli.
I have since seen a site that shows the 970 at high res with other cards to compare and reference. The 970 shows stutter, the 980 stutters but maybe slightly less-still a mess in frame times, but the most surprising is the 290x stutters worse. This was in 3 games.
High resolutions are too much for single cards though, now this I am sure. What is strange is how one tiny step further can cause such a massive difference. At high res, frame rates are not at all useful and we really need to look at frame times.
This ram debate has been presented with high res examples as proof. I am just saying that........
These resolutions cause the 980 to struggle to.
I think the misleading aspect is more the issue. Especially in a single card configuration. Being misled for whatever reason. Worse was how nvidia responded. I think those are things people should remember, I expect more out of nvidia.