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

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FeFiDoh said:
So in trying to catch up with all of all this, we 970 owners buy a 4GB card, it isn't really 4GB. Nvidia back track on fixing it or at least helping the issues related to this and we can return them. This leaves our options of buying a 980 or going to AMD? I mean its great we can return them but then to fork out more money for another card seems a bit of a con which leaves me with swapping to AMD
Click to expand...

That's pretty much it.

You send back your GTX970 which you aren't happy with because it hasn't got the 4GB VRAM configured in the way you expected it to be.

You are then in the position you would have been if NVIDIA (or the card manufacturers) had clearly stated how the VRAM was configured. Assuming you aren't happy with this (you couldn't have been if you sent your GTX970 back for a refund), then you simply have to chose another graphics card, or not buy another one for the time being.
 
Gibbo said:
Hi there

I now have a final update on all brands:

YES BRANDS! (Supporting OcUK)

OcUK Brand: We support these ourselves as customer is king.
KFA2 (Formerly Galax): Supporting OcUK to keep our cost minimal.
Inno3D: Supporting OcUK to keep our cost minimal.
EVGA: Supporting OcUK to keep our cost minimal and offering step up for customers contacting them directly.
Asus: No decision but their support in past has being legendary so we are confident they will have our backs.
Zotac: Looking into it but want to support but need final decision to come form big boss, looking good though!
Palit: Now supporting OcUK with our returns! :)


NO BRANDS! (Refusing to support as still waiting for a decision)

- Gigabyte: Will not accept returns yet, but have not come to a final decision. As such OcUK shall still take them back and cover all the cost ourselves should Gigabyte decide not to support.
- MSI: Still waiting on a decision, hope to have one by next week. OcUK is fed up of waiting and as such will take back cards now and we shall cover the cost ourselves should MSI decide not to support.




I am really hopeful the NO brands decisions next week will be to support us and I am sure they will as MSI and Gigabyte are great companies.

In short OcUK will now accept returns on all brands should you be unhappy with your purchase, the window for returning a 970 is between now and end of February.

I must inform customers that 970 performance is absolutely mind blowing and is the best all round performance card sub £300, the only faster single GPU card is the 980, but cost a lot more and the extra performance does not justify the extra cost. This makes the 970 still the performance bargain at sub £300! The stuttering some customers are experiencing, some customers are not experiencing or are also experiencing on other GPU's, so this does mean that issues some are experiencing are simply down to drivers/system configuration, so do try different drivers and updates first. Then some games simply run poor on all GPU platforms. So please bear in mind as 970 is the card everyone was raving about only a week ago, nothing has changed, it is still the same awesome product it was previously and still is. But if you are truly unhappy then please contact OcUK returns in regards to your 970 purchase (all brands).

Here are some performance stats:
BUT guys before just saying here have your money back you should be talking the customer through the following to try and prevent the refund in the first place:
• There is no issue with the 970 product, this is by design from NVIDIA in the 970 GPU
• There is a $220 delta in the price of the 970 vs. the 980
• There is only a 3% performance delta of the 970 vs. the 980
• If Direct Customer has an irate customer that wants to return the board, let the customer return it.

In order to try and assist further we have included some performance data below so that you can see actual testing results between the GTX 970 and the GTX 980.

Shadows of Mordor: GTX 980 GTX970
<3.5GB settings: 2688x1512 Very High 72FPS 60FPS
>3.5GB settings: 3456x1944 Very High 55FPS (24%) 45FPS (-25%)
Relative performance difference: 1%

Battlefield 4:
<3.5GB settings: 3840x2160 2xMSAA 36FS 30FPS
>3.5GB settings: 3840x2160 135% res. 19FPS (-47%) 15FPS (-50%)
Relative performance difference: 3%

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare:
<3.5GB settings: 3840x2160 FSMAA T2x, SS off 82FPS 71FPS
>3.5GB settings: 3840x2160 FSMAA T2x, SS on 48FPS (-41%) 40FPS (-44%)

As you can see above the relative performance difference varies from 1% in Shadows of Mordor, to 3% in Battlefield 4 or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The performance differences between a 970 and 980 in the above examples remain a constant 15-19%, regardless of memory usage.

I hope that the above information helps clarify the performance from the GTX 970. Please let us know if you do want to continue with a step-up on your product for the higher performing GTX 980 card, and we'll get that option opened up for you.


OcUK & Caseking believes customer is King!

OcUK believes the customer is king and this is why we are offering this to ONLY our customers on all brands even though some of the brands have not yet made decisions.

I hope this will go a long way in securing in peoples minds that OcUK has changed since several years ago when it comes to customer service and now we truly are the best in the industry and without a doubt the Kings of graphics card. We offer the largest range, we have the most exclusives and our prices are competitive if not the best. You then get so much more with OcUK also, these forums with staff around the clock monitoring and helping out and our legendary customer service.

We are not a faceless company and the customer truly is King in our opinion!

Have a great weekend and those who are 100% returning cards please don't all ring or email at once and give it some real thought if an RMA is what you really wish to do because as I say this issue is blown hugely out of proportion, the 970 is still simply epic and will remain the great card it is.

Over and out!

H'onwards
H'upwards


Gibbo


P.S. To make it clear OcUK & Caseking will accept all brands back if you truly are unhappy, our companies are the best in customer service throughout UK/Europe, we are no.1 !!!! :)

P.S.2 To return a card you must contact RMA department first and then post the card back to us or bring it in person, but you must obtain an RMA first!
Click to expand...

Thanks mate
 
Dervious said:
That's pretty much it.

You send back your GTX970 which you aren't happy with because it hasn't got the 4GB VRAM configured in the way you expected it to be.

You are then in the position you would have been if NVIDIA (or the card manufacturers) had clearly stated how the VRAM was configured. Assuming you aren't happy with this (you couldn't have been if you sent your GTX970 back for a refund), then you simply have to chose another graphics card, or not buy another one for the time being.
Click to expand...

It's interesting. From the benchmarks I've done under 3.5GB VRAM, it's an incredible card, especially in SLI setup. However, recent games that exceed the 3.5GB limit, just stutter, hitch the framerate drops in a ridiculous manner.
 
Hi there

Gigabyte UK office have said getting response from HQ for OcUK is at the top of their agenda and the Far East are looking at it and they hope to have a reponse for us Monday. In the meantime OcUK are accepting returns on Gigabyte irrelevant of their final decision. :)

But they are working hard on a good outcome for our customers.
 
Gibbo said:
Hi there

Gigabyte UK office have said getting response from HQ for OcUK is at the top of their agenda and the Far East are looking at it and they hope to have a reponse for us Monday. In the meantime OcUK are accepting returns on Gigabyte irrelevant of their final decision. :)

But they are working hard on a good outcome for our customers.
Click to expand...

that is good to hear
 
Gibbo said:
Hi there

Gigabyte UK office have said getting response from HQ for OcUK is at the top of their agenda and the Far East are looking at it and they hope to have a reponse for us Monday. In the meantime OcUK are accepting returns on Gigabyte irrelevant of their final decision. :)

But they are working hard on a good outcome for our customers.
Click to expand...

Maybe let them know about all the others that are onboard with you guys. Saying no after that would look pretty bad :p
 
Thanks for the update gibbo, just sent a webnote to send my gigabyte 970 back. I think OCUK must be praised for being so good about the situstion and offering to support customers. Main reason I shop here in all honesty.
 
jwilliamson47 said:
It's interesting. From the benchmarks I've done under 3.5GB VRAM, it's an incredible card, especially in SLI setup. However, recent games that exceed the 3.5GB limit, just stutter, hitch the framerate drops in a ridiculous manner.
Click to expand...


From what I`ve read, there is no doubt that it's a great card, and as Gibbo claims, it's probably the best card for the money.

Putting everything to one side (point scoring, brand bias etc), the facts are that NVIDIA and the card manufacturers have not made it clear how the VRAM is managed. Some may argue that these cards still have 4GB VRAM, which is correct. However, the real issue is that due to the way the VRAM is being used on these cards, there will be a few instances where this has a negative effect on performance. And the important question to ask is would it be reasonble for a prospective purchaser of a GTX970 to expect the 4GB VRAM to behave like 4GB VRAM would on any other graphics card ? I think it would be reasonable for any purchaser to expect the 4GB of VRAM to work in the same way as 4GB of VRAM would work on other cards. It was not made clear that NVIDIA had partitioned the VRAM, and that it could have a negative impact when playing games that use more than 3.5GB VRAM.

Yes, it may not affect most end users, but what I have just typed is reasonable, I think.

The immediate thing that should be done is that NVIDIA make an official statement on how the VRAM is operating, and for retailers and manufacturers to make sure that prospective purchasers of GTX970s are now aware of how the VRAM is being utilised. Anyone purchasing a GTX970 will be properly informed, and won't feel "cheated" or be suprised to find that one or two games might not perform quite as they expected.
 
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Dervious said:
From what I`ve read, there is no doubt that it's a great card, and as Gibbo claims, it's probably the best card for the money.

Putting everything to one side (point scoring, brand bias etc), the facts are that NVIDIA and the card manufacturers have not made it clear how the VRAM is managed. Some may argue that these cards still have 4GB VRAM, which is correct. However, the real issue is that due to the way the VRAM is being used on these cards, there will be a few instances where this has a negative effect on performance. And the important issue is that would it be reasonble for a prospective purchaser of a GTX970 to expect the 4GB VRAM to behave like 4GB VRAM would on any other graphics card ? I think it would be reasonable for any purchaser to expect the 4GB of VRAM to work in the same way as 4GB of VRAM would work on other cards. It was not made clear that NVIDIA had partitioned the VRAM, and that it could have a negative impact when playing games that use more than 3.5GB VRAM.

Yes, it may not affect most end users, but what I have just typed is reasonable, I think.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think it's unreasonable to expect consumers to know the ins and outs of GPU architecture. To the average customer 4GB = 4GB, and should perform at the speed you expect compared to the competition.
 
Got to say a massive thanks to Gibbo and all he's done for the customers this week. I've been OcUK loyal for years but this just reinforces why.

As much as I hate to admit, I'm going to switch up to a 980. I hate to give money to Nvidia after how they have gone about the whole situation but the only other option is a downgrade.

Going to wait until I get the 980 on Monday hopefully and then RMA my 970 Strix.

Again, top work guys, WERE #1!, WERE #1!
 
jwilliamson47 said:
Agreed. I think it's unreasonable to expect consumers to know the ins and outs of GPU architecture. To the average customer 4GB = 4GB, and should perform at the speed you expect compared to the competition.
Click to expand...

And therefore NVIDIA should be sorting this out with manufacturers. OCUK do not deserve the hassle they are having, and are taking things into their own hands at the moment, so fair play to them.

Let's hope this situation sends out a clear message to all manufacturers that they need to be open and honest about the products they are selling. If NVIDIA just walk away from this, then it isn't going to do their reputation much good. AMD will be watching, and hoping to take advantage of the situation. However, they'll know that they can't treat their customers in the same way.
 
I think we need to give MSI and Gigabyte the chance to give a definitive answer.

The important thing they need to know is, their answer just doesn't colour peoples future view of graphics cards from them, but purchases of ANYTHING made by them.
 
tangey said:
I think we need to give MSI and Gigabyte the chance to give a definitive answer.

The important thing they need to know is, their answer just doesn't colour peoples future view of graphics cards from them, but purchases of ANYTHING made by them.
Click to expand...



We also shouldn't chastise them too much either if they do decide not to support OCUK, while it would be very disappointing and could affect some people’s choices in future it is at the end of the day not their fault.

The only products people should be reconsidering buying from are NVidia. All this should do is show people like EVGA/Galax/Palit etc in a better light, not Gigabyte/MSI in a worse one.*


*if they decide not to support anyone.
 
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