The major 3.5 GB memory thing as an "issue that wasn't". While nVidiia certainly deserves to be bashed for not being up front about the memory configuration, these are the reported facts:
1. The horror stories posted by youtube fame wannabees, were dismissed by testing at reputable web sites. Yes, if you tried to "create* a problem you could, but as was detailed on said sites, they did not occur in normal usage and you had to work real had to create them.
2. These problems could only be created at 4k and high settings and if you bought a 970 to run @ 4k, you made a bad choice ... these cards were never intended or recommended to be used at 4k.
3. In ever instance where you could **create** a problem with the 970, you could **create** the same problem with the 4 GB 980, clearly making the 3.5 GB claim a indisputably false one.
https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/m...-mordor-geforce-gtx-970-vram-stress-test.html
As for the RTX issue.... no way to judge as yet what the cause is here.... only time will tell. But, while the folks who already purchased it have my sympathy, it does reinforce my thoughts on people's purchase choices...
1. Why oh why do people feel the overwhelming need against common sense to be "the 1st one on the block to have the new shiny thing" ? Prices will be inflated under normal conditions but in this instance, it's not just the normal demand exceeds supply think with vendor profiteering.
2. There's the addition of nVidia's need to clear old 10xx series inventory which, from a corporate responsibility / obligation standpoint, essentially **requires** them to maintain a significant price differential between generations till that inventory is cleared.
3. I'll never understand the public's lack of caution / common sense in buying 1st stepping products:
a) No one remembers the P68 B3 Stepping Mobos which finally cured the error in the Intel Chipset ? Owners of previous steppings certainly do.
b) No one remembers the problems with the initial steppings of Z87 Asus boards where external devices would not escape from sleep until after c1 stepping ? That delayed my personal build for about 3 months so I certainly do.
c) No remembers the initial EVGA 970 SC where 1/3rd of the heat sink "missed" the GPU ? ... it also shipped without the back plate or thermal pads.
d) What about, and this one had nothing to do with the product, the initial 9xx series cards from MSI had a piece of tape holding the fans still during shipping in which the adhesive was so strong, some folks damaged their fans when removing it ?
e) What about the EVGA 1060 - 1080 SC and FTW cards where they cheaped out and didn't use thermal pads between the VRMs and memory chips resulting in cards going up in smoke ?
When ya see a new piece of hardware drop, sit tight ... resist the urge to spend more money for what will likely be an inferior product. You may escape examples like the above but later steppings always have an reliability and / or performance advantage over the older issues. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a new stepping. We always recommend waiting 3 months as a minimum from new hardware drops; let others to the troubleshooting and expend their time and effort trying to figure out where problems exist.
