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

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Is there a definitive answer to my Q.... Are the 970's good enough for 1440p gaming at 3.5gb speedy vram? or does it ideally need more, ie full 4gb at full speed from a 290x or a 980?

I was intending on picking up a new 1440p monitor next month, and then maybe SLI if necessary for TW3, FC4, SOM etc. I have no interest in 4k.

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If you lower your settings to not exceed 3.5gb,they will be fine.But who buys cards for SLi to lower settings lol

Even at 1080p FC4/SOM push towards 4gb nevermind 1440p

Look at 980's 290's 290x's
 
The VRAM issue may explain issues that some people have experienced during the months the card has existed (For those that have had them)

There's also the potential for the card not being as smooth as it should be due to this VRAM thing.

Basically, the way I see it, if it was a small issue, then I don't think we'd see Gibbo pushing for refunds.

exactly - many on this very forum , there has been numerous reports of `weirdness` with this card , put down to buggy games or early drivers (we have had 7 drivers since the GTX 970 was released)
 
Advanced Disclosure
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I own two SLI'd 980 which I use to run an Asus ROG Swift at 1440P

I also own a single 970 which sits in my HTPC/Steambox running of my TV at 1080p.

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I wonder how many people, hand on heart, who bought a 970(s) before this furore erupted would have said that they were unhappy with the gaming performance of the 970.......... I really do bet very few. ..............but a significant proportion of these people are now up in arms thinking that OcUK/NVIDIA should just pony up a free upgrade/ refund for the graphics card that the end users probably been using for months with no complaint!

970 owners you paid significantly less than people buying the 980!

980 starts at around £400, 970 from £250 that's circa 63% of the price for around 90% of the performance most of the time.

I know I have bought and use both!

Why cant you just accept that the 970 is still a cracking graphics card for the money. It has been regularly recommended, with good reason as being the best card at its price point.

I really struggle to imagine that most of the people now complaining would have changed their buying decision had they known from release about the way the 970 deals with accessing its memory compared to the 980.

I used to think hysterical internet whining was the preserve of AIBU on mumsnet (wife tells me the stories) ....im not so sure anymore

Ultimately if you bought SLI'd 970's thinking that you were buying an 'ultimate setup' for your 4k monitor than you were only ever deluding yourself. You were buying a very good setup offering excellent bang for buck/ value for money but there was some reason that the equivalent 980 setup would have cost somewhere north of £300 more
 
you could look at it another way, if nvidia are happy to offer a refund is there anything wrong with that? :)

That would be a good show from NVIDIA.

To be clear I do think that they should have made it clear from the start about this. Its clearly not a 'fault' but a conscious design decision.

I am also clear that there is no way that I will be returning my 970 (save for a real fault developing) because I cannot currently buy a better card that fits my requirements for a powerful, compact efficient card that runs everything I chuck at it at 1080p brilliantly. I'm sure I could have kinda got away with a single 970 for the ROG swift as well at 1440p... but decided to spend the extra to go to a 980 and then pay for another to SLI to ensure that I was getting the best current use out of my new monitor
 
so whats this about NVidia drivers coming out to basically block the `slow ram` portion and cap the ram limit to 3.5GB? that's an aweful messy way of doing it

Sounds like a great compromise for those who want to make that choice.

The 970 would still be an exceptional card even with 3.5GB at launch.

I imagine most people would have still bought the card if it was a 3.5GB card, not 4GB.
 
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Nope, the E chips are fine. It's only the mid range parts. Instead of using solder between the ihs and the die. They use a very poor quality thermal paste that cant shift the heat quick enough.

Ok thanks for that info, i'm currently researching as i'm looking to buy a complete new build, not sure which platform to go for, leaning towards X99 platform especially after what you've told me.
 
It does have 8GB of vram working as intended as how we all know how dual-GPU card would use it and at the rated bandwidth, while the same cannot be said for the 4GB of the 970.

Stop trying drag AMD into this Nvidia mess. No matter how much you try to sugar coat it as "jesting", it is very clear you are troll baiting- a lot lately.

Seriously Greg...go play some games instead. Honestly I don't remember you being this bad half a year or so ago...

The 970 has 4GB of VRAM that is working as intended. You know something different to this, then please share it.

I should have used the Titan Z really and that way you wouldn't have got upset but my point stands that people ask here many times "Will a dual GPU card be better for higher res gaming because of double the memory?" You know this as well as me and I am showing how advertising can be misleading.

I was kinda jesting but your obnoxious reply killed that and I am babysitting my Grandson, so can't play games till my Daughter comes home and I can go home.
 
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Ok thanks for that info, i'm currently researching as i'm looking to buy a complete new build, not sure which platform to go for, leaning towards X99 platform especially after what you've told me.

When properly overclocked they get just as hot. Due to better thermal dissipation they're a bit easier to cool, but they also have more silicon to be cooled.
 
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