Which 980?

Gibbo · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:11

Kronos said:
It comes off easily enough without leaving any residue. But warranty aside is there any other reason why I cannot cover it? Heat or some other technical limitation covering would cause?

Be fine, backplate does get warm so it might start to peel back off would be the only concern.

Gibbo · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:12

Mayh3M said:
What's your thoughts on the Strix 980? I currently have the Strix 970 and its a beauty in terms of design (especially the backplate) and noise. Or are all 980s virtually as quiet?

Kronos doesn't it irk you that your paying a lot more for 980s when the performance is only going to be sizably better because of the 970 memory issues. I only ask because I'm pretty much considering the direction your going in but it leaves a sour taste.

980 is identical in noise/cooling, great card!

Kronos · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:20

Gibbo said:
Be fine, backplate does get warm so it might start to peel back off would be the only concern.

I had a couple of 670's covered with no peel back issues, though I admit that as they did not have a backplate there was obviously no covering.

But will give it a go.

Thanks.

Kronos · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:24

Mayh3M said:
Kronos doesn't it irk you that your paying a lot more for 980s when the performance is only going to be sizably better because of the 970 memory issues. I only ask because I'm pretty much considering the direction your going in but it leaves a sour taste.

Yes it does annoy but as I might be going SLI in the future and there are definite issues there I am not prepared to take the risk. But you are quite right it does rather leave an unpleasant taste in my mouth. But I could not be comfortable buying the 970 particularly when I read somewhere that Nvidia are prepared to help out those who wish to RMA their GPU which suggest the problem is very real.

Kronos · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:35

What about this one? EVGA GeForce GTX 980 ACX 2.0 can be had for around £438. Which is still eligible for the free warranty extension until mid-March.

JediFragger · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:41

LOL, you need to read the rules m8

Kronos · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:47

JediFragger said:
LOL, you need to read the rules m8

Sorted mate. Cheers.

mattcrane · 29 Jan 2015 at 10:48

Had the 970Ref on Pre-order and decided that although it wasn't going to be an issue for the immediate future I am not the kind of person who can afford to replace graphics card every 6-12months if it became an issue, it just isn't financially viable for me.

So I cancelled the order and paid the extra for the Zotac Ref980 I would have got the OCUK version as it was a bit cheaper but at the time they weren't in stock with no ETA on them. Plus the Zotac has a 5 year warranty which is good for me.

I fitted it two days ago and am very very happy with my choice.

It sits here at idle at 40degrees with 26% fan and I cannot hear it at all.

Load up BF4 with everything on ultra and gets up to 70ish degrees but the fan is only at something like 40% and still cannot be heard over the case fans.

I even ramped up the fan manually to 70% just as an experiment and the temp dropped drastically and although the fan could be heard it wasn't loud I think it was the fact it was a different type of noise to the case fans that made it audible the wife sat across the room watching TV said she couldn't even hear it.

Kronos · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:00

That's in my price range and cheers for the mini review.

Legend · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:07

I'm confused. All this talk of the 970 problems and not having 4GB of VRAM, with Gibbo saying how memory requirements are going up faster than even he anticipated... so how long does the 4GB 980 even have left as a viable card for high-detail gaming going forwards @ 1440p and above, if that 4GB limit is constantly being hit and in some cases exceeded? Loads of people seem eager to jump on to the 980's now, but what makes them better than the great deals on the 290X 8GB cards, some of which are 970 money?? I feel I'm missing something here. I'm coming at this from 1440p with a view to upgrading to 3440x1440 later in the year.

loftie · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:12

Kronos said:
Given the on going issues with the 970 GPU particularly with SLI I am now looking at a 980. So prior to doing my own research I am looking for suggestions. Budget around £450 and hopefully will not need any PSU upgrade from the one in my signature.

You still going SLI with the 980 at some point? Just wondering if you're aiming at a particular res.

Mayh3M · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:13

Legend said:
I'm confused. All this talk of the 970 problems and not having 4GB of VRAM, with Gibbo saying how memory requirements are going up faster than even he anticipated... so how long does the 4GB 980 even have left as a viable card for high-detail gaming going forwards @ 1440p and above, if that 4GB limit is constantly being hit and in some cases exceeded? Loads of people seem eager to jump on to the 980's now, but what makes them better than the great deals on the 290X 8GB cards, some of which are 970 money?? I feel I'm missing something here. I'm coming at this from 1440p with a view to upgrading to 3440x1440 later in the year.

I agree about 4GB VRAM and am also worried about the longevity of it. Thing about the AMD cards is that their supposedly really noisy and hot compared to the Maxwells. For me personally that's a huge deal. Its the reason why I won't consider returning the 970 for a R9 290X. I'm considering waiting for a 980 8GB.

mattcrane · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:15

Legend said:
I'm confused. All this talk of the 970 problems and not having 4GB of VRAM, with Gibbo saying how memory requirements are going up faster than even he anticipated... so how long does the 4GB 980 even have left as a viable card for high-detail gaming going forwards @ 1440p and above, if that 4GB limit is constantly being hit and in some cases exceeded? Loads of people seem eager to jump on to the 980's now, but what makes them better than the great deals on the 290X 8GB cards, some of which are 970 money?? I feel I'm missing something here. I'm coming at this from 1440p with a view to upgrading to 3440x1440 later in the year.

The only reason's I didn't go for one of the 8GB 290x's was because I have only just, (as in monday this week), got a G-sync monitor and I think it would have caused me some heating issues in the new case I was about to order.

If it wasn't for that then I would have possibly held off a little longer and looked more at the AMD cards.

As it stands yes its more money but I am very happy with my purchase, free extended warranty is a bonus.

And its going to look great in my new NZXT440 case

Legend · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:32

I have the H440 also, so the heat issue of the AMD cards is a concern.

Kronos · 29 Jan 2015 at 11:42

loftie said:
You still going SLI with the 980 at some point? Just wondering if you're aiming at a particular res.

Not really no. I am currently 2560 x 1440 which I find comfortable.

mattcrane · 29 Jan 2015 at 12:14

Legend said:
I have the H440 also, so the heat issue of the AMD cards is a concern.

Yeah I did look at other cases but every time I did I felt like I was cheating and would go back to drooling over the H440

The power needs of the AMD cards didnt really concern me as a new PSU was always on the cards for me anyway as my existing unit is 6years old, although to be honest its been running this 980 with no problems for the last 2 days.

The only other card I seriously considered was the R295x2 but the only real benefit for me going AMD was mantle for BF4, whereas sticking with Nvidia and getting a G-Sync monitor will give me better experience in any game I play not just one title.

I know more games will be coming that utilize mantle but who knows if they are games that will interest me.

Anyway my new White H440 just arrived along with 3 x Corsair AF120 fans for the roof of it and a new EVGA 850W PSU so plenty of new toys ready for the PC rebuild and living room improvement

loftie · 29 Jan 2015 at 14:41

Kronos said:
Not really no. I am currently 2560 x 1440 which I find comfortable.

Fair enough! Was gonna suggest the AMDs if you were going to go higher, I don't know how they compare at that resolution tbh. They'd run hotter which would be a downside but they'd be cheaper. Think OC has an MSI 290X for around 260.

Enjoy mate, well jealous

Kronos · 30 Jan 2015 at 09:04

loftie said:
Fair enough! Was gonna suggest the AMDs if you were going to go higher, I don't know how they compare at that resolution tbh. They'd run hotter which would be a downside but they'd be cheaper. Think OC has an MSI 290X for around 260.

Enjoy mate, well jealous

I would rather have been more confident to buy the 970 to be honest as I feel that the 980 is not really worth the high cost when the overall performance increase is not that big.

Kronos · 30 Jan 2015 at 10:18

Can someone tell me exactly where the power connections are on this card? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-204-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

phate101101 · 30 Jan 2015 at 12:15

Is there any eta for 8GB 980's? google doesn't seem to give any concrete info..

Have 970 SLI and debating what to do, at 1440p i'm worried 3.5gb + 500mb slow vram will hold them back ;/
Realistically how well will they hold up?