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780Ti or gtx 970

ALXAndy said:
At 1440p the 970 gets out performed by a Radeon 290. Quite simply - memory bandwidth.

So the 780ti will be better for that res.

My point still stands. Running SLI 970 for 1440p for example is not great because the 970 has terrible memory bandwidth. So you would be better off with TIs, even though they have less VRAM IMO.

I would rather have 500mb less and full speed bandwidth than 3.5gb running on a crap bus.

Going back to my point btw. 970 SLI for 1080p is daft and anything above falls foul of the memory bandwidth so running 970 SLI is an oxy moron, as I pointed out.
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You might be right. However I'm not sure discussion of bus speeds are applicable when two cards use different architectures.

Only benchmarks will give you the answer. At 1080-1200p 970. At 1440p 980 or more.

If the op is on a budget 970/780ti both will have drawbacks at 1440p. I would still go 970. Newer, DX12, less heat and noise and longer driver optimisations.

And yes before anyone says "780ti will have DX12 also" yes it will. However we don't know what and the rumour at the moment anyway is that the 900 series and beyond will have full support. 700 series? Up in the air.

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The 290x with 8gb is actually a good alternative in this scenario. The 8gb of Vram will come in usefull at 1440p.
 
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opethdisciple said:
You might be right. However I'm not sure discussion of bus speeds are applicable when two cards use different architectures.

Only benchmarks will give you the answer. At 1080-1200p 970. At 1440p 980 or more.

If the op is on a budget 970/780ti both will have drawbacks at 1440p. I would still go 970. Newer, DX12, less heat and noise and longer driver optimisations.

And yes before anyone says "780ti will have DX12 also" yes it will. However we don't know what and the rumour at the moment anyway is that the 900 series and beyond will have full support. 700 series? Up in the air.

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The 290x with 8gb is actually a good alternative in this scenario. The 8gb of Vram will come in usefull at 1440p.
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I've seen the benchmarks and the 970 lost to the boggy standard 290. As soon as you lean on that memory bus it falls apart.

But then that's to be expected from mid range silicon I guess. It was never going to set the world alight.
 
Why are you arguing about the SLI 970s for more than 1080 when he clearly said he's gonna game at that resolution for a few years? If anything the option to SLI 970 seems like the best and most cost-efficient one (if he buys one now and a used one later) to keep him at 60fps and very high/ultra until he does change screens.
 
Wow! Very divided opinion here chaps! Its a difficult one for sure! I understand the 780ti not being crippled side but I also understand the people saying 1080p and sli will be ok!

I don't intend to change my screen for some time as my Mrs only just got it for an xmas present. It's an IPS dell and I'm currently stoked with it! The problem remains though - I'm currently borrowing a gtx 680 and need to get my own gpu for gta 5!

Any further opinion appreciated.
 
As has been said, since you're running 1080p, I don't think there is a wrong choice here. Go with whatever you fancy making a priority, e.g. noise / temps / power consumption / performance / aesthetics.
 
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If you're looking for a good deal on a pair of immaculate 780Ti's (reference design) there might be something of interest on the MM forum I just added...
 
Neither imo.

290/290X would be a better bet with 4GB memory, vs 3.5GB on the 970 and 3GB on the 780.

Or, wait for AMD's 390 range/980ti, get one of those, or buy a 980/290x when they come down in price.
 
Dave2150 said:
Neither imo.

290/290X would be a better bet with 4GB memory, vs 3.5GB on the 970 and 3GB on the 780.

Or, wait for AMD's 390 range/980ti, get one of those, or buy a 980/290x when they come down in price.
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Just concerned the 680 won't cut the mustard with GTA and then force me to buy a gpu!
 
I have recently down/side/whatever graded from SLI 970's to a single GTX980, but I never had any problem with the 970's at 1080p 21:9. Between the 780ti/970 I would go with the 970 unless you absolutely want an Nvidia reference cooler in which case the £50 saving between the two makes the 780ti worth it.

At the end of the day the 780ti is a tad faster than a reference clocked 970, but but its is not noticeably faster than an aftermarket 970, especially at 1080p and it only has 75% of the RAM which if you plan to use it for a couple of years will almost certainly become an issue for that card (ofc theres no telling the 4GB on the 970 won't too).

Don't forget, a lot of people get hung up on the "zomg teh 970 only haz 3.5GB+512MB!!!" stuff, at the end of the day it has 3.5GB for games and 512MB for other crap (Windows, Chrome, Firefox, Battle.net, Steam, whatever else a person may run in the background that uses VRAM). The 780ti only has 3GB for games PLUS all of that.

*EDIT*

When you say the KFA do you mean the dual fan black super sexy one or the blower that's based on the GTX670 cooler? if it's the blower then get the 780ti, your eardrums will thank you.
 
I'm in the same boat as the OP. My 280X is fubared (keeps crashing) and I need a replacement sooner rather than later.

I was tempted to wait for a 980Ti, but i'm only running a 2500k (4.6Ghz) and I think it'll throttle. I don;t think I'll have enough to buy a new card, mobo, cpu and Ram. I think a stop gap now and then a rebuild next year would be the better option.

At 1080p (and the knowledge that i'll be getting a 980ti in approx 18 months), would the extra grunt in the 780ti outweigh the new factor of the 970 (I'd be getting the ref cooler model from OCUK)?
 
montymint said:
I'm in the same boat as the OP. My 280X is fubared (keeps crashing) and I need a replacement sooner rather than later.

I was tempted to wait for a 980Ti, but i'm only running a 2500k (4.6Ghz) and I think it'll throttle. I don;t think I'll have enough to buy a new card, mobo, cpu and Ram. I think a stop gap now and then a rebuild next year would be the better option.

At 1080p (and the knowledge that i'll be getting a 980ti in approx 18 months), would the extra grunt in the 780ti outweigh the new factor of the 970 (I'd be getting the ref cooler model from OCUK)?
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1080p I would take the 780ti all day long. Far less VRAM worry, stronger faster card and cheaper.
 
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