just bought a gtx 980ti for my needs was it the right decision

melmac · 16 May 2016 at 13:34

crinkleshoes said:
Wait til it comes out and you will see

And that's NOT why Nvidia gimped the memory controller. They did it so they could sell the 970 as a 4GB card when it should have been released as a 3.5GB card.

They did it to make more money from it, not to save money... if they wanted to save money, they would have sold it with 3.5GB... there's a difference there

LOL, Sorry, but, your line of reasoning is really way off.

The 970 has 4GB of ram. It's has a 256 bit bus. It would have cost them more to change the configuration to address 3.5GB of memory than it would have to put 3.5GB fast + 512MB slow ram on the card.

It's why the 980Ti and Titan have 6GB and 12GB of ram because they have a 384 bit bus.

TheRealDeal · 16 May 2016 at 13:36

There is a guy over at Anand who claims he has had a shot of the 1080 and is sticking with his gtx980ti's. He could be talking BS though. Around launch time there's far to much salt needed. Reviews are coming soon and specs so far are lower than gtx980ti but far higher clocks. It's being branded around that this is more like a Maxwell refresh so if true the clocks suggest higher performance but a lower spec overall. I doubt this card will spank overclocked gtx980ti's so if money is an issue hold fire for the bigger part to arrive.

JediFragger · 16 May 2016 at 13:42

You're asking a bit much that it beats 980Ti's in SLi imo. If it's anywhere near when both overclocked to max then I'll be impressed

crinkleshoes · 16 May 2016 at 13:43

melmac said:
LOL, Sorry, but, your line of reasoning is really way off.

The 970 has 4GB of ram. It's has a 256 bit bus. It would have cost them more to change the configuration to address 3.5GB of memory than it would have to put 3.5GB fast + 512MB slow ram on the card.

It's why the 980Ti and Titan have 6GB and 12GB of ram because they have a 384 bit bus.

Ummmm... your knowledge on the GTX970 seems to be quite lacking.

There are many articles, including an official statement from the CEO of Nvidia which will give you a better understanding of the issue at hand.

This was covered in a lot of detail even on this forum a year ago... I suggest you read those articles/threads to improve your knowledge on the subject - I'm not going to copy and paste a bunch of info for you.

melmac · 16 May 2016 at 14:08

crinkleshoes said:
Ummmm... your knowledge on the GTX970 seems to be quite lacking.

There are many articles, including an official statement from the CEO of Nvidia which will give you a better understanding of the issue at hand.

This was covered in a lot of detail even on this forum a year ago... I suggest you read those articles/threads to improve your knowledge on the subject - I'm not going to copy and paste a bunch of info for you.

They designed the 970 and 980 to use 4GB of ram because they have a 256bit bus. If they had made the card a 3.5GB card they would have had to make more changes to accommodate this, and they already had reduced ROPS and SMMS. It's performance would have been worse and the Nvidia would have had more costs to implement this.

It should have been marketed as 3.5GB card with a buffer.

The card you were thinking about was the 660Ti and it wasn't quite the same.

DiscoDave · 16 May 2016 at 14:10

What's the point of this thread exactly? OP bought a second hand GPU and...

..what?

Caracus2k · 16 May 2016 at 14:16

Dicehunter said:
Personally would have waited the 3 tiny weeks for the 1070's considering they are meant to be faster than a Titan X and around the same price as a 970.

1070 will be more expensive then 970 on launch.....

Caracus2k said:
No chance the 1070 will cost sub £250 or even close on launch. It's going to launch at $379. Convert that to pounds = £263 + 20% vat = £315 before you add any launch price gauging....

If the op I looking to buy new they will have to wait for the cheaper 1060 and 1050 to materialise for that money any time soon....

Second hand 970 or 980 probably best options for that money

970 was $329 on launch when the €/£ rate was better

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8526/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-review/7

Exchange rate has gone from 0.61 $/£ to 0.69 so that circa 13% more expensive from currency exchange rates alone...

https://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/

crinkleshoes · 16 May 2016 at 14:25

melmac said:
They designed the 970 and 980 to use 4GB of ram because they have a 256bit bus. If they had made the card a 3.5GB card they would have had to make more changes to accommodate this, and they already had reduced ROPS and SMMS. It's performance would have been worse and the Nvidia would have had more costs to implement this.

It should have been marketed as 3.5GB card with a buffer.

The card you were thinking about was the 660Ti and it wasn't quite the same.

It doesn't have a 256bit bus though - that's the whole point... it has a 224 bit bus AND a 32 bit bus

They are two unique buses as far as the GPU is concerned, hence the performance degradation on accessing the 0.5GB section.

melmac · 16 May 2016 at 16:08

crinkleshoes said:
It doesn't have a 256bit bus though - that's the whole point... it has a 224 bit bus AND a 32 bit bus

They are two unique buses as far as the GPU is concerned, hence the performance degradation on accessing the 0.5GB section.

Tomato, tomato

The performance degradation is because the 512MB memory is slower. It only runs at 28GB/s, but it's still faster than leaving it out and going to system ram.

crinkleshoes · 16 May 2016 at 16:59

It's not the same thing... the disparity between the two sections of ram cause frame rate hitching and textures popping into existence much later than they should leaving to an unpleasant experience while gaming.

Jono8 · 16 May 2016 at 17:11

DiscoDave said:
What's the point of this thread exactly? OP bought a second hand GPU and...

..he knows he has dropped a clanger and bought at a silly time but wants some people to say it was the right thing to do and that all is going to be ok.

BluesFanUK · 16 May 2016 at 18:16

Jono8 said:
..he knows he has dropped a clanger and bought at a silly time but wants some people to say it was the right thing to do and that all is going to be ok.

How so?

The 980Ti is still a supreme GPU, at £350 you're looking at 1070 pricing, and who's to say it's better than the 980Ti? Tomorrow will be very interesting.

Supernova · 16 May 2016 at 18:26

I'd HAVE bought if for that price. Good deal!

PaulM · 16 May 2016 at 18:39

martian1 said:
...
The guy I bought it off basically tried it and realised he just spent a fortune on something he will not get much time to use due to other commitments and should have spent the money elsewhere [I have done this myself]
...

I'd be willing to bet the guy you bought it off buys a 1080 shortly after release

. Still a relatively decent price for a 980 Ti and if you're happy it was the right decision.

martian1 · 17 May 2016 at 01:25

I was more concerned about buying second hand but as it seems to be on its way now hoping all's good I done good.
Should tide me over till proper hd monitors come out as they are ripping people off with the gimmick crap out at the moment give me a flat screen 32" ultraHD oled monitor please

And VR not good on the 980ti another daft gimmick you can keep unless they bring a ray-ban version out otherwise you will look a right ***** with that crap hanging off your face

Mods can close please cheers

Shampoo · 17 May 2016 at 04:50

You should have waited. You could have got a potentially better card for the same money brand new more efficient with a proper warranty and all or at the worst get the 2nd hand card for a hell of a lot less when they flood the bay in a few days.

LOL!

Hedge · 17 May 2016 at 06:48

"Mods can close please".

Lol he got what he wanted. Enough people to justify his purchase for him.

The price isn't bad but I would have waited just to see how things pan out over next few weeks. Lack of patience is the issue here.

GFX-Kid · 17 May 2016 at 07:01

Hedge said:
"Mods can close please".

Lol he got what he wanted. Enough people to justify his purchase for him.

The price isn't bad but I would have waited just to see how things pan out over next few weeks. Lack of patience is the issue here.

Completely agreed, apart from the price being alright.

In a few days, maybe weeks he will realise if he made the right decision or not alright, lol

DarrenM343 · 17 May 2016 at 07:38

I reckon it'll be on eBay in days if not already.
Will he find a greater fool?

Shampoo · 17 May 2016 at 08:41

I thought I done well shifting my 970 for £280 over the weekend (paid £330 last year), but the guy who sold op his card done one better!

So close to the new stuff to ever consider buying the old line-up. A few months and I'd understand, but we're days away and when everyone is chatting about their new 1070's and 1080's you'll be in the corner having paid pretty strongly for the old stuff.

I'd send it back.