970's having performance issues using 4GB Vram - Nvidia investigating

Marine-RX179 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:02

james.miller said:
*AHEM*

Actually able to access them at the same time could do more harm than good. Performance might actually be better, but the 512MB part of the memory get sealed off and not used at all.

The 512MB memory could well be dragging down the speed and performance of the main 3.5GB memory.

Spacedeck · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:02

This might be a stupid question but, if you don't ask, you will never know.

Ok so say NVidia could fix this and enable the last 0.5. Would this then put the card on level terms with the 980? I'm not very technical so forgive me

Locky · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:03

Stanners said:
Is it making you angry they may be able to fix it? which games are causing you the most trouble or would you prefer a refund(which I can understand if they don't fix it)

I'm not angry lol at all and hope they can fix it, but I can't see it.

Kipz · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:03

ubersonic said:
If you guys are angry about this, did you know that the Mega Drive wasn't actually 16bit although it said so on the console in big letters?

The mega drive didn't **** the bed when it was running at full capacity.

james.miller · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:03

Kipz said:
At what speeds? Simultaneous read and/or write between the two modules? I doubt it. Gimped card is still a physically gimped card.

Well, if the 7th L2 has to access 2 chips, then that's half the bandwidth of 1x L2 = 16bit so 192bit + 16bit = 208bit?

What fillrate would that work out as?>

edit: no, stupid. it would be 256bit - 16bit = 240bit.

maybe.

Ok i dont know

ED209 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:03

Terrier_Jimlad said:
Has anyone sent their 970 back to the retailer and managed to obtain a full refund?

with OCUK, No, as they are not excepting returns until Nvidia have given them a official response

Jinjur_v2 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:04

Spacedeck said:
This might be a stupid question but, if you don't ask, you will never know.

Ok so say NVidia could fix this and enable the last 0.5. Would this then put the card on level terms with the 980? I'm not very technical so forgive me

I dont know bud.....but i guess its down to how they would fix it

I think that some ways of fixing it basically would.

james.miller · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:05

Nvidia have already said that with the 8th L2 enabled the performance increase would be in the region of 4-6%. so not a 980 no. Pinch of salt required of course.

Jinjur_v2 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:06

james.miller said:
Nvidia have already said that with the 8th L2 enabled the performance increase would be in the region of 4-6%. so not a 980 no. Pinch of salt required of course.

this is why you dont ask me things

Shiari · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:07

Spacedeck said:
This might be a stupid question but, if you don't ask, you will never know.

Ok so say NVidia could fix this and enable the last 0.5. Would this then put the card on level terms with the 980? I'm not very technical so forgive me

No, it wouldn't put it on the same level as the 980. After all, why would anyone buy a more expensive 980 if they had the same performance?

They can perhaps improve the situation through drivers so that the stuttering some people are reporting is less of or no longer an issue, but that's about it. It'll never perform as well as a 980 because it isn't a 980.

LoadsaMoney · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:09

The drivers not going to add the extra 8x ROPS either

MrH · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:10

Well this is a kick in the nuts, I bought the 970 because I wanted a 4GB card, not a 3.5GB card. After watching all the videos showing performance drop after 3.GB I'm sitting here wondering what to do. I just read on the Nvidia forums to return the card if you're not happy, but they also said there will be a driver update to help the situation but I doubt it can be properly fixed with a driver update.

Awahwah · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:11

MrH said:
Well this is a kick in the nuts, I bought the 970 because I wanted a 4GB card, not a 3.5GB card. After watching all the videos showing performance drop after 3.GB I'm sitting here wondering what to do. I just read on the Nvidia forums to return the card if you're not happy, but they also said there will be a driver update to help the situation but I doubt it can be properly fixed with a driver update.

Link to the nVidia Forum post please?

Jono8 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:12

Spacedeck said:
This might be a stupid question but, if you don't ask, you will never know.

Ok so say NVidia could fix this and enable the last 0.5. Would this then put the card on level terms with the 980? I'm not very technical so forgive me

Nvidia are not going to make it perform the same as a 980 because that will just bring with it a whole heap of new problems for them (ie no one buying 980's and all current 980 owners wanting a refund)

Bailey · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:14

ubersonic said:
If you guys are angry about this, did you know that the Mega Drive wasn't actually 16bit although it said so on the console in big letters?

It had a 16bit CPU like the Super Nintendo but it's GPU was only 9bit (64 on screen colours) as opposed to the Super Nintendo's 15bit GPU (256 onscreen colours).

I think SEGA owe us all refunds! XD

LOL - That is ALL :cool:

MrH · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:14

Awahwah said:
Link to the nVidia Forum post please?

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...tx-970-3-5gb-vram-issue/post/4438090/#4438090

K1LaW8tt5 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:14

the only thing they can probably do is improve the memory management and make sure that the the last 512mb does not need to be constantly accessed during gaming. which will essentially make it a 3.5gb card with 512mb reserved for OS. not ideal but not the end of the world.

Jinjur_v2 · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:15

weldon855 said:
the only thing they can probably do is improve the memory management and make sure that the the last 512mb does not need to be constantly accessed during gaming. which will essentially make it a 3.5gb card with 512mb reserved for OS. not ideal but not the end of the world.

But

...

not as advertised.

and that will be the end of that

BuToNz · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:15

I've been trying to wrap my head around this whole thing since Saturday. I'm genuinely not bothered about the difference in specs - I purchased my card based on benchmarks and reviews.

I am however not happy about the stuttering over 3.5GB - performance drop sure but the stutters I've experienced really makes it unplayable. I can only see games getting better with textures so this will likely affect more and more games @ 1080p.

Doubt very much drivers will fix this unless they just decide to disable the final 0.5GB, however can they do anything with a BIOS update or is this really down to physical design?

eddyr · 28 Jan 2015 at 13:16

Marine-RX179 said:
Actually able to access them at the same time could do more harm than good. Performance might actually be better, but the 512MB part of the memory get sealed off and not used at all.

The 512MB memory could well be dragging down the speed and performance of the main 3.5GB memory.

Or just the other 7th L2/ROP MC associated 512MB.