970 sent back, what GPU to do?

snips86x · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:03

Neil79 said:
Slobbers over his EVGA 980 GTX

haha - I'd love to have one. Too much for me

Mal X · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:14

snips86x said:
Depends how you setup your games. My reference 290 is cool and quiet at 65c and 50% fan speed using v-sync Can game without the need for headphones

It's not just about the use of 3.5GB, false advertisement - I'd see returning these more as principle!

you only return your cards if they dont work and also if there's better cards out there, the 290X deffo isn't better, it's worst !............ and you shouldn't buy the 980 because that's another Nvidia.

you cant beat the GTX 970 at 1080p, it only fault is it's no good above 1080p.

Final8y · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:32

Mal X said:
you only return your cards if they dont work and also if there's better cards out there, the 290X deffo isn't better, it's worst !............ and you shouldn't buy the 980 because that's another Nvidia.

you cant beat the GTX 970 at 1080p, it only fault is it's no good above 1080p.

When its comes to principles then its up to the individual if they want to return the card based on it, you cant decide someone elses principles for them because of what you think is more important.

gradyhawks · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:34

RanxZy said:
Guys if you look at the ops post he was unhappy with his 970s cooling He wasn't unhappy, just not very impressed. He was perhaps going to go SLI and get them under water, but you can't get blocks for these as they are on a custom PCBso now everyone on this thread recommends Hawaii cards I would love to know what make of 970 it was because when I had my Gigabyte G1 970 it was the most cool and quiet card I've had. I can't remember the make, it was £250 odd in November and is shorter than usual 970's, but not ITX size.

If the friend was unhappy with a 970 at 1080p See below

Mal X said:
you only return your cards if they dont work and also if there's better cards out there, the 290X deffo isn't better, it's worst !............ and you shouldn't buy the 980 because that's another Nvidia.

you cant beat the GTX 970 at 1080p, it only fault is it's no good above 1080p.

You also return your card if it was mis-sold. His eventual goal is 1440p, so the 3.5gb Vram might cause some issues there.

Phunky · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:46

I've certainly seen problems with my 970 @ 1440p in the latest Grid game, it would never complete the benchmark on Ultra and would just lock up and force a hard boot.

Had also seen similar problems when running DSR x4 (10240x5760) on CSGO, really wish I bought from OcUK as they've been up front with CS on these, sadly didn't have the card in stock when I was buying... I should really know better by now.

Fingers crossed the other retailer I bought it from will accept a return, but i've no idea what to get as the price jump for 980 is too much for me to stomach.

snips86x · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:49

Phunky said:
I've certainly seen problems with my 970 @ 1440p in the latest Grid game, it would never complete the benchmark on Ultra and would just lock up and force a hard boot.

Had also seen similar problems when running DSR x4 (10240x5760) on CSGO, really wish I bought from OcUK as they've been up front with CS on these, sadly didn't have the card in stock when I was buying... I should really know better by now.

Fingers crossed the other retailer I bought it from will accept a return, but i've no idea what to get as the price jump for 980 is too much for me to stomach.

Do you have access to the MM? They're going cheaper there

varkanoid · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:52

Phunky said:
I've certainly seen problems with my 970 @ 1440p in the latest Grid game, it would never complete the benchmark on Ultra and would just lock up and force a hard boot.

Had also seen similar problems when running DSR x4 (10240x5760) on CSGO, really wish I bought from OcUK as they've been up front with CS on these, sadly didn't have the card in stock when I was buying... I should really know better by now.

Fingers crossed the other retailer I bought it from will accept a return, but i've no idea what to get as the price jump for 980 is too much for me to stomach.

This is not a symptom of the vram issue its either the overclock or a driver problem.

Ayahuasca · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:55

Lots of rumours about AMDs new cards recently, you would be better off if you can just sitting tight waiting for those than spending £200+ on a card of the same performance. That should allow you to save a little more if the 390 is above £300.

Phunky · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:59

varkanoid said:
This is not a symptom of the vram issue its either the overclock or a driver problem.

Even when it occurs on stock settings? I've never been able to get it to finish benchmark on the new grid when running on ultra. I've even underclocked the card and it did the same thing.

It would get to the very last corner each time and then die.

Scramz · 23 Feb 2015 at 13:13

I sent my 970 back for a full refund (£279.99) then purchased a second hand 290 with a EK waterblock and backplate for £160.

I will sell this on for nearer that price to have minimal loss and get a 390 when released.

You cant tell the difference in terms of real world performance between the 290 and 970.

Freddie1980 · 23 Feb 2015 at 13:39

gradyhawks said:
Wouldn't a 290/x be a waste on a 1080p?

No, it just means it will last him a long time.

A 290 non X for now if I were the OP with a view to looking at getting a new 390 once his 1080p monitor has been replaced.

sprite1275 · 23 Feb 2015 at 14:31

970s are sh@, 290x is where it's at

My msi lightning is great, I love it compared to the G1 970 I had. Games are way smoother which matters a lot more to me than a few fps more in a benchmark.

8 Pack · 23 Feb 2015 at 14:42

970 is the best bang for buck at 1080p and 1440p also. Return no need.......

RanxZy · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:00

sprite1275 said:
970s are sh@, 290x is where it's at

My msi lightning is great, I love it compared to the G1 970 I had. Games are way smoother which matters a lot more to me than a few fps more in a benchmark.

You really see a difference in game? Are you using 1080p?

Relentless81 · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:08

Scramz said:
I sent my 970 back for a full refund (£279.99) then purchased a second hand 290 with a EK waterblock and backplate for £160.

I will sell this on for nearer that price to have minimal loss and get a 390 when released.

You cant tell the difference in terms of real world performance between the 290 and 970.

I did exactly the same with a 290x as soon as the 3 series is out it'll be in the mm

Scramz · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:14

RanxZy said:
You really see a difference in game? Are you using 1080p?

I noticed the 290 was smoother running than the 970.

Relentless81 said:
I did exactly the same with a 290x as soon as the 3 series is out it'll be in the mm

Cheapest way.

sprite1275 · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:33

RanxZy said:
You really see a difference in game? Are you using 1080p?

Yes & yes . the 970 I was getting low usage at times and it felt like slight micro stutter in some games like it was going slow motion. Also Arma 3 played like crap. Had to turn settings right down to get it playable.

Relentless81 · 23 Feb 2015 at 17:54

I think BF4 runs better on my 290X too, seems smoother in Mantle, hard to explain but it just seems to run better

I do notice frame drops in Borderlands Pre-Sequel though. Most of the time its a solid 120fps but when it gets busy with lots of enemy's etc it seems to drop to around 60, might be my CPU causing that but not sure

Final8y · 23 Feb 2015 at 20:25

Relentless81 said:
I think BF4 runs better on my 290X too, seems smoother in Mantle, hard to explain but it just seems to run better

I do notice frame drops in Borderlands Pre-Sequel though. Most of the time its a solid 120fps but when it gets busy with lots of enemy's etc it seems to drop to around 60, might be my CPU causing that but not sure

That's because Physx is running on the CPU.

handsomejesus · 23 Feb 2015 at 20:28

Wait.