NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 SLI

[W1zzard]

At half the price of a GeForce GTX 780 Ti, the GeForce GTX 970 can tempt you into buy a pair of them. With Ultra HD monitors dropping below the $500 mark, a playable Ultra HD gaming PC under $2000 suddenly sounds realistic. Here's why spending 3 grand on a GTX TITAN-Z was a bad idea.

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[Steevo]

No less than 3.26 light years away. LOL


Yep, unless AMD comes back with anything solid they are screwed this year in sales.

 

[terroralpha]

what time do these go on sale?!? it's about 1 am eastern right now. i'm getting anxious!

i'm going to be one of those douche bags who will cause the early stock to deplete too fast. i'll be ordering 4 EVGA ACX SC cards. 2 for myself and 2 as gifts.

 

[Steevo]

W1zzard could gift me one and I would love him long time.

 

[GreiverBlade]

oh well ... as i said, w1zz reviews shall make me shift color... all hail @W1zzard (nope not nVidia ... it's the review who is awesome ... not the product)

 

[The Von Matrices]

One statement in the conclusion is incorrect:

With most $150-ish Intel Z87 and Z97 chipset motherboards shipping with a third PCI-Express gen 3.0 slot that works at x4 when three slots are populated (bandwidth comparable to PCI-Express 1.1 x16), a third GTX 970 could be an audacious alternative to spending $999 on a single R9 295X2.

While that would be a nice idea, NVIDIA doesn't allow SLI using slots with any fewer than 8 lanes. So unfortunately Z87/Z97 users are stuck with 2-way SLI.

 

[Maban]

One statement in the conclusion is incorrect:

While that would be a nice idea, NVIDIA doesn't allow SLI using slots with any fewer than 8 lanes. So unfortunately Z87/Z97 users are stuck with 2-way SLI.

This is unfortunately true. You're going to need either HEDT or a PLX switch for 3/4-way SLI.

 

[Fluffmeister]

oh well ... as i said, w1zz reviews shall make me shift color... all hail @W1zzard (nope not nVidia ... it's the review who is awesome ... not the product)

Livid?

Hehe

 

[GreiverBlade]

Livid?

Hehe

bahahahah, thanks now i can go to work after a good abs excercise

naaa red to green obviously ... but i have to say i am green to let down the red ... but since i got blue from red for CPU ... then why not

 

[ensabrenoir]

awe man ...... these are so awesome ....but we know there will be ti's and non reference models that will push it even further....waiting hurts

 

[Frick]

awe man ...... these are so awesome ....but we know there will be ti's and non reference models that will push it even further....waiting hurts

Screw that, i want to know what the lower end cards will do, the 960's and 950's.

 

[seanmac]

Dear AMD. Goodbye for now. I might be back one day. Hello GTX 970 ( 1 at first, then another ).Hello better thermals and great power consumption !

 

[zsolt_93]

They seriously need to up the 750Ti and not just rebadge. That fits more like a 940 with much less than half of the top dogs performance. The 950/Ti is what i am waiting for, having lived with the 450 for a bit too long. And now , not even the X2 is worth the price with the 970SLI.

 

[2big2fail]

Only one word to describe this:

$660 SLI setup beats both $1500/$1000 R925X2 and $3000 Titan Z at 2/3 the W(s).

No way the $330 price tag is gonna not inflate by $100 by next month.

 

[Raptor_i]

You made SLI looks like heaven .....

 

[hv43082]

Big question, for gaming at 3440x1440, would 3 x Gtx 970 be faster than 2 x Gtx 980? The latter solution is about $100 more expensive.

 

[W1zzard]

would 3 x Gtx 970 be faster than 2 x Gtx 980?

yes, but 3x sli scaling might differ from game to game. But both solutions need SLI support in games in the first place.
Not 100% sure what I would buy, probably 3x 970 due to much better pricing (if I have a mobo which supports triple slot SLI with at least x8 on all slots)

 

[2big2fail]

Big question, for gaming at 3440x1440, would 3 x Gtx 970 be faster than 2 x Gtx 980? The latter solution is about $100 more expensive.

That's a tough question.

First of all, at these performance numbers, I don't see why GTX 970 SLI couldn't handle 5K (i.e. 4x1440p) decently.

If your bound and determined to squeeze more performance out by going triple 970 or 980 SLI, then I would say this: get 980 SLI.

Why? Driver issues and motherboard. 980 SLI is going to be more efficient and better supported than 3x 970s. That's well worth the extra $100, not to mention you'd need to spend an extra $100 to get a motherboard with a PLX chip to get (3-4x) PCIE 3.0 x8 slots.

 

[hv43082]

Thanks for both quick responses. I am still on Sandy Bridge with the Intel 2500k chip at 4.6 Ghz and a Asus P87 motherboard that only support 2 way SLI. Perhaps 980 SLI would be easier to upgrade.

 

[W1zzard]

Perhaps 980 SLI would be easier to upgrade.

In that case, yes. But do the whole platform cost math, maybe it can work out to be a cheap upgrade.

 

[hv43082]

In that case, yes. But do the whole platform cost math, maybe it can work out to be a cheap upgrade.

I ended up getting a pair of EVGA GTX 980 and the LG 34UM94 to go with my current set up.

 

[Champ]

yes, but 3x sli scaling might differ from game to game. But both solutions need SLI support in games in the first place.
Not 100% sure what I would buy, probably 3x 970 due to much better pricing (if I have a mobo which supports triple slot SLI with at least x8 on all slots)

Interesting. I'm looking to drive my 4K monitor. Just SLI usually covers 3 way also? On a side note, it wasn't this site but the power consumption to FPS ratio is amazing with these cards. One site test a x99 OCed to 4 GHz and 980 sli and stayed under 500 watts,

 

[Durvelle27]

I didn't see this in the review. How much did these cards draw in SLI as i'm trying to see if i need to get a new PSU if i get 2x 970s.

 

[W1zzard]

I didn't see this in the review. How much did these cards draw in SLI as i'm trying to see if i need to get a new PSU if i get 2x 970s.

Due to lack of reference cards I didn't test power consumption. It is safe to assume that power draw will not be bigger than single card multiplied by the amount of cards you have. So I'd say 150-180 W per card.

 

[Durvelle27]

Due to lack of reference cards I didn't test power consumption. It is safe to assume that power draw will not be bigger than single card multiplied by the amount of cards you have. So I'd say 150-180 W per card.

Do you think 850W would be sufficient for 2x 970s