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SLI 670 v SLI 970 v 970 v 980

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

Soldato
Joined
6 Jan 2013
Posts
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Rollergirl
Just recently, I've begun to realise the dilemma my 7 year old faces when I ask him if he wants Frosties, Rice Krispies, Weetabix or Corn Flakes for breakfast.

So, my GTX670 SLI setup is very capable for 1080p but the upgrade itch, the 2gb vram and £500 burning a hole in my pocket has got me pondering. I've recently had to accept that Shadow of Mordor will not run with ultra textures with this vram. It was also disappointing to be forced to run Wolfenstein with one card.

Do I upgrade to a single card to get the SLI compatibility problem resolved?

If single card, is the 980 worth it over the 970?

Should I just accept that no matter what single card I buy, sooner or later I'll justify adding another anyway? And, for that reason upgrade to 970 SLI?

I believe 970 SLI will wipe the floor with a 980?

Do I broach the unthinkable and keep my cash for the perpetual "next gen" card?

Have any of you made a similar choice recently? Was it worth it, or do you wish you'd waited?

Help me out with this Geeky Pepsi Challenge type thingymebob!
 
SLI 970s


Don't hotlink images - Rilot
 
String said:
Just recently, I've begun to realise the dilemma my 7 year old faces when I ask him if he wants Frosties, Rice Krispies, Weetabix or Corn Flakes for breakfast.
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I would just mix them together, in fact I actually buy both all-bran and crunchy nut corn flakes specifically to mix lol :P
 
String said:
How would a single 970 compare to the 670 SLI? Would the 4gb vram make a big difference?
Click to expand...
Yes 100%.

This is the exact upgrade I just made. It's not that 4Gb of Vram affects speed per se, it's more you are able to select higher textures as you have more memory buffer. So in turn your games look better for it. Of course you need the GPU grunt to drive it, which the 970 has. (Depending on resolution of course)

Do it. I believe that SLI is VERY over rated. When it works fine (at a cost of noise and heat) but when it doesn’t, you get SLI stutter, SLI not working at all etc etc etc.....

SLI is a falls economy in my opinion. Unless you get it from the get go as you need the performance and no single card can deliver.

However if you think SLI is an upgrade later on down the line, this is wrong. It only deliver more fps at your current IQ. A true upgrade is to a single more powerful GPU.
 
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I've just recently upgraded from precisely the same set up. GTX 670's in SLI and bought 2 MSI GTX 970's and though it took some getting used to I'm definitely happy with the upgrade.

I'm not getting the most of the SLI at 1080p to be honest and am soon buying a 1440p G-Sync monitor to really give them a chance to do some work. In the Unigine Heaven benchmark though I see something like 90% scaling in SLI.

I'm currently using one card at 1080p and that single card is so much better than the 2 670's were. I'm getting extra frames and smoother performance in pretty much every game and am very grateful for the extra 2GB VRAM.

I can honestly say if you're gaming at 1080p one will probably be fine for now but nothing wrong with getting two and cranking up DSR in some games. Very worthwhile upgrade in my opinion.
 
Thanks guys. I think I'll go for one 970 while I'm still gaming at 1080p. When I get round to buying a 4k TV I'll look again at whether to go back SLI.

Cheers.
 
I tried 7950 crossfire and 670 SLI before moving to a single 970 (gaming at 1920x1080) and am really pleased I did. Both dual card setups gave various minor issues/glitches and we all know it's the little things that are the most annoying! Moved to an MSI 970 last week and it's awesome, overclocks nicely and is soooo quiet compared with dual cards, as well as using less power and keeping super low temps. No brainer for me, get a 970 and save some cash over a 980 towards a 1440p or 4k monitor in the future.
 
Mr Goat said:
I tried 7950 crossfire and 670 SLI before moving to a single 970 (gaming at 1920x1080) and am really pleased I did. Both dual card setups gave various minor issues/glitches and we all know it's the little things that are the most annoying! Moved to an MSI 970 last week and it's awesome, overclocks nicely and is soooo quiet compared with dual cards, as well as using less power and keeping super low temps. No brainer for me, get a 970 and save some cash over a 980 towards a 1440p or 4k monitor in the future.
Click to expand...

Order is placed, and I'm getting a copy of far cry 4 into the bargain!

2 670's hitting the MM at a bargain price very soon!
 
Upgrade complete and first impressions are it was worth it. Bonus unexpected upside is that Steam in-home streaming works now!

Would like to ask: if I'm gaming at 1080p 60hz, I assume there's no point in having more than 60fps and that vsync should always be on?
 
Ive got SLI GTX680s and SLI GTX970s.

For 1080p a single GTX970 would be enough for any game (other than a really bad port).

String said:
Upgrade complete and first impressions are it was worth it. Bonus unexpected upside is that Steam in-home streaming works now!

Would like to ask: if I'm gaming at 1080p 60hz, I assume there's no point in having more than 60fps and that vsync should always be on?
Click to expand...

Yes use vsync so you don't getting any tearing
 
String said:
Would like to ask: if I'm gaming at 1080p 60hz, I assume there's no point in having more than 60fps and that vsync should always be on?
Click to expand...
Correct. Now it's time to ask Father Christmas for a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor, I got one about a year ago and haven't looked back. BF4 at Ultra @ 1080p rarely drops below 100fps with my 970 overclocked :D
 
Vsync can give input lag if you're sensitive to that sort of thing.

To be honest, I've only experienced large amounts of screen tearing requiring me to force vsync @ 60Hz on AMD cards.
 
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