Whats has the future got in store for NVidia?

RusstheDroog · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:08

Right so rather selfishly I have started a thread to solve a dilemma of mine. I've been bleating on for a while in the forums about what GPU / Monitor options are best suited for me.

I am dead set on going 4K and Gsync, so I have limited options anyway. The 970 stuff has further knackered my options being that I was 100% decided on 2x970 HOFs in SLI however this isn't going to cut it now with the VRAM turd. So I'm now looking at a 980.

I am currently modding my case with a new paint job etc and waiting for the paint to cure, so I'm telling myself, forcing myself, convincing myself I'm in no hurry with this... But, I just want to get building my rig.

So, do-eth anyone-eth haveth any information / rumours / speculation on Nvids movements over the next couple of months. I've been following deals on OCuk and almost splurged on the Galax 980 SOC with the Acer Predator 4k monitor. However, stocks of 980s seem to be thinning out (being that the SOC isn't available now), Titans have been taken off site listings, and the general price of 980s are going up it seems.

I'm tempted to wait for a couple munfs and spend if and when something new comes along - however despite regular news searches there isn't much coming out of the rumour mill regarding future Nvidia products. As such my thinking is the 980s will stay at this price for a while, unless Nvidia drop prices to counter any incoming new AMD products.

Thoughts? Speculation? NDC breaking hard facts from an unknown source that'll blow all of our minds?

VincentHanna · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:11

Specifically from Nvidia, GM200 will be the next thing, but it'll cost £1000ish.

In the meantime AMD will release their 'refresh' and hopefully their next new cards, plus 'Freesync' monitors will start to appear so they will have a G-sync equivalent.

setter · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:13

Not a great time for gpu upgrading at present, and as your set on gsync its worse as there is no info on upcoming NVIDIA cards. I don't see the point of getting a 980 for 4k due to the 4gb of VRAM. Their most useful card for 4k is probably the titan which is around two years old now.

RusstheDroog · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:35

setter said:
Not a great time for gpu upgrading at present, and as your set on gsync its worse as there is no info on upcoming NVIDIA cards. I don't see the point of getting a 980 for 4k due to the 4gb of VRAM. Their most useful card for 4k is probably the titan which is around two years old now.

Agreed, although I've not heard of anything maxing 4GB VRAM yet really and this'll likely become less of an issue with DX12 coming along.

Still it would be nice to see some 8GB 980s coming through, all the rumours seem to point at these being delayed though.

Muz333 · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:38

RusstheDroog said:
Agreed, although I've not heard of anything maxing 4GB VRAM yet really and this'll likely become less of an issue with DX12 coming along.

Still it would be nice to see some 8GB 980s coming through, all the rumours seem to point at these being delayed though.

Naive question on my part but what makes you think DX12 will reduce VRAM usage?

Edit:

I presume you mean memory stacking in SLI/Xfire?

I'm sure I read something about it being unlikely for games to go down this route. I hope that's not the case though as memory stacking would be fantastic.

Mei · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:45

i guess the same yeh
i think cases of that would be very small
just because something is possible doesnt mean game makers will take advantage of it either
we might be waiting many years before we even see a game take good advantage of dx12

RusstheDroog · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:48

right, I will have to have a dig and look it up but yeah, one point being the potential stacking as you mentioned and the second being I believe there was going to be more emphasis on utilising compute power of the core clock rather than VRAM, ultimately reducing demand placed on this.

That really wasn't put eloquently so I'll have a look for some sources rather than spout rubbish.

RanxZy · 20 Feb 2015 at 12:50

RusstheDroog said:
Agreed, although I've not heard of anything maxing 4GB VRAM yet really and this'll likely become less of an issue with DX12 coming along.

Still it would be nice to see some 8GB 980s coming through, all the rumours seem to point at these being delayed though.

At 4k quite a few recent games can break 4GB and that is unlikely to become rarer in the next year or two.

If I'm being frank profits are king to NVIDIA so thats why they refuse to release a 8GB 980. If they release GM200 with 6-8 GB vram they can slap a very high price tag on it, but if people already have 8GB 980s in SLI that will make it pointless to upgrade to the overpriced GM200. I predict they will release 8GB 980s only after they have got what they want out of GM200 (millions)

Gibbo has told NVIDIA time and time again that 8GB 980s would sell crazy but they refuse. NVIDIA are playing the long game and they will make a fortune off of GM200.

RusstheDroog · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:00

RanxZy said:
At 4k quite a few recent games can break 4GB and that is unlikely to become rarer in the next year or two.

If I'm being frank profits are king to NVIDIA so thats why they refuse to release a 8GB 980. If they release GM200 with 6-8 GB vram they can slap a very high price tag on it, but if people already have 8GB 980s in SLI that will make it pointless to upgrade to the overpriced GM200. I predict they will release 8GB 980s only after they have got what they want out of GM200 (millions)

Gibbo has told NVIDIA time and time again that 8GB 980s would sell crazy but they refuse. NVIDIA are playing the long game and they will make a fortune off of GM200.

I don't doubt that you are right, and if the cards are selling well generally, then from their perspective, yeah there isn't much point. If this is the case however then I can't really understand why prices of 980's are fluctuating so much. It appears GM200 is a way off and although I'm tempted I can't really justify splurging a grand on a Titan 2 / X whatever it be named.

RanxZy · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:16

Imo things will only really change once AMD have released the 380X/390X. Until then NVIDIA have the edge with the 980s performance and profits which is just the way they like it.

Boomstick777 · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:19

setter said:
Not a great time for gpu upgrading at present, and as your set on gsync its worse as there is no info on upcoming NVIDIA cards. I don't see the point of getting a 980 for 4k due to the 4gb of VRAM. Their most useful card for 4k is probably the titan which is around two years old now.

+ 1

Wait for GM200 and 390X, I've sold my cards in preparation for these. Time for a real upgrade in performance !

Using a passive 270 in the meantime :eek:

bru · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:24

I've got a feeling that NVIDIA might suprise a few people with the price of the GM200 cards, everyone is expecting this to be another titan esque card. But myself I don't think it will be, don't get me wrong it won't be cheap but I really expect it to be in the £600 bracket rather than the £1000 one.
NVIDIA are not in the position they were in with the first titan, the 28nm era is finally coming to a close, rather than just starting out like it was back then. AMD is closer to announcing new cards, I just don't think the market will support a very high priced card that is only similar in performance to the opposition, rather than leaps and bounds ahead.

Of course all this is just my opinion and as always we will have to wait and see.

RusstheDroog · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:25

Boomstick777 said:
+ 1

Wait for GM200 and 390X, I've sold my cards in preparation for these. Time for a real upgrade in performance !

Using a passive 270 in the meantime

Next to nowt in the way of info on GM200 though.

suspected wider bus
higher VRAM
some dubious hypothetical benchmarks.

Hopefully the Nvidia events in march will shed some light on the next 6 months.

r7slayer · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:40

setter said:
Not a great time for gpu upgrading at present, and as your set on gsync its worse as there is no info on upcoming NVIDIA cards. I don't see the point of getting a 980 for 4k due to the 4gb of VRAM. Their most useful card for 4k is probably the titan which is around two years old now.

IMO 290x with 8gb of ram is more useful! Also supports DX12 which titan doesn't. Also cheaper.

RanxZy · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:42

bru said:
I've got a feeling that NVIDIA might suprise a few people with the price of the GM200 cards, everyone is expecting this to be another titan esque card. But myself I don't think it will be, don't get me wrong it won't be cheap but I really expect it to be in the £600 bracket rather than the £1000 one.

I think you may be right, especially if it doesn't come with the "Super computer" feature.

setter · 20 Feb 2015 at 13:58

r7slayer said:
IMO 290x with 8gb of ram is more useful! Also supports DX12 which titan doesn't. Also cheaper.

I agree with you, but as the op mentioned gsync AMD cards aren't an option for him

Muz333 · 20 Feb 2015 at 14:06

setter said:
I agree with you, but as the op mentioned gsync AMD cards aren't an option for him

I think, as long as you're waiting for the next generation of cards to come out, it's worth waiting to see how freesync compares to gsync.

setter · 20 Feb 2015 at 14:12

Yep, I'm interested in freesync and how it performs, I am still on NVIDIA cards myself and came very close to buying an Rog swift, then my work dried up sadly.

RusstheDroog · 20 Feb 2015 at 14:20

Yeah, I certainly have no allegiance and being a 'this gen' newby (i.e. not dabbled with PCs for a few years) I've been impressed with the Gsync stuff. I'd rather this thread not get all fanboyish and I've done plenty of homework on both so far and this was my preferred option. Thing is, if prices on 980s don't move much and AMD offer up something stonking in the next month or so then I could easily be swayed.

shadow_boxer · 20 Feb 2015 at 14:43

I think new nvidia cards are still some way off, the GTX 980 was only released about 6 months ago so I'd hazards a guess we won't see anything till around autumn time (probably a revision of some sort perhaps a GTX 980ti. AMD on the other hand are due a release of their R9 390X a lot sooner so probably best to see what FreeSync offers. Personally I'm not a fan of the concept of G-Sync and FreeSync whereby you are essentially tied to one manufacturer of GPU's after you buy a monitor.

PS don't expect much movement in terms of price for the GTX 980 until AMD's new cards are out and then nividia will start dropping the prices or giving gaming promotions away.