SLI a GTX 970 or...?

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Hey. So I'm looking to upgrade my PC a bit. I would like to play more modern games at 4K, like ELEX for example, which is not *the* most graphically demanding, but a bit more than my current 970 GTX can handle.

@Wisdom; suggested that I get another 970 and SLI them, which definitely seems to be an option. I'd have to upgrade my current ASUS H81-M motherboard to something with SLI capability, but that wouldn't be that bad of a project to take on. Pick up a gently used 970 second-hand and that could be the ticket.

But what other options would there be that may work better? The 1080 seems to be around $500, maybe can get one on Ebay for $425-ish? Then if I sell the 970 for $200 or so, I guess it would be a similar price overall and save me the hassle of upgrading my motherboard.

Thoughts on this? My budget is a bit tight overall. And it's a longshot but does anyone have any of these GPUs they are looking to sell?
 
NVida SLI gaming is much better than AMD's SLI solution. Obviously a single card is a better solution by a little bit. So i think a 970 in SLI.
 
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Fluent said:
Aye, I think that's what I will do. At least get me some ELEX in 4K.
Click to expand...

Have fun with that. :) It is like the one game I feel like I am missing out by not having a 4k monitor because I feel that using the jet pack and crossing large valleys etc n the game would be breathtaking.
 
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You're gaming at 4K, right? I'd say don't do it. The GTX 970 has the issue that only 3.5GB of its 4GB VRAM are usable at full speed. SLI does not double VRAM. You won't have 7GB fast VRAM but 3.5GB VRAM shared between two cards that lack the raw power for 4K resolution and will run out of VRAM real fast.

You are better off selling the 970 and buying ideally a GTX 1080 but even a GTX 1070(Ti) would make more sense IMHO.
Things would be different if you were gaming at 1080p but at 2160p I really would not walk down the dead end 970 SLI route. You will be disappointed due to the limitations of the 970, both on the VRAM as well as the raw power side.
 
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Out of the two options there's only one thing I could say with certainty, you won't end up regretting getting a new single card due to it being a single card. Even before taking jabs at the GTX970.

If need be sell the 970 and put the funds towards a single better card. You seem to like Nvidia so maybe also have a look at the 1070ti rather than jumping right into 1080 as a default. I haven't been keeping up on this, it's gotten so terribly boring lately, so no idea how its price/performance stacks up but it's always good to go in considering more than one thing.
 
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Moriendor said:
You're gaming at 4K, right? I'd say don't do it. The GTX 970 has the issue that only 3.5GB of its 4GB VRAM are usable at full speed. SLI does not double VRAM. You won't have 7GB fast VRAM but 3.5GB VRAM shared between two cards that lack the raw power for 4K resolution and will run out of VRAM real fast.

You are better off selling the 970 and buying ideally a GTX 1080 but even a GTX 1070(Ti) would make more sense IMHO.
Things would be different if you were gaming at 1080p but at 2160p I really would not walk down the dead end 970 SLI route. You will be disappointed due to the limitations of the 970, both on the VRAM as well as the raw power side.
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I've been gaming with the 970 @ 4K though, albeit with older games like Skyrim or Oblivion with mods. But 4K on Ultra settings gets me about 15-20 FPS right now, too low for my tastes, but I think a second 970 should at least get me to reasonable 45-60 FPS with ELEX, right? That's all I really need at this point, and since my budget is thin I don't have enough to really upgrade to the 1080 just yet, even if I sell the 970.
 
Watchtower said:
Out of the two options there's only one thing I could say with certainty, you won't end up regretting getting a new single card due to it being a single card. Even before taking jabs at the GTX970.

If need be sell the 970 and put the funds towards a single better card. You seem to like Nvidia so maybe also have a look at the 1070ti rather than jumping right into 1080 as a default. I haven't been keeping up on this, it's gotten so terribly boring lately, so no idea how its price/performance stacks up but it's always good to go in considering more than one thing.
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Hmm, the 1070ti is even more expensive than the 1080. I may look into the option of selling the 970 and then putting that toward a 1080. Thanks.
 
If it's just for Elex, sure, Elex -like all previous PB games on this same engine- is very easy on VRAM.

But as soon as you get into other more modern games then the sound that GTX 970 is making at 4K is something like this…

Pfffffffffftttttttttttttttttttttt…………

:biggrin:
 
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Moriendor said:
If it's just for Elex, sure, Elex -like all previous PB games on this same engine- is very easy on VRAM.

But as soon as you get into other more modern games then the sound that GTX 970 is making at 4K is something like this…

Pfffffffffftttttttttttttttttttttt…………

:biggrin:
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True. :) I may just try and get a cheap 970 + SLI motherboard and get out the cheap way, at least (hopefully) getting me into the 4K realm for ELEX. For games beyond ELEX I'll end up upgrading to a better single card down the line (maybe when TES VI comes out. :biggrin:)
 
Would an AMD card be better bang for the buck here? Maybe the R9 Fury X or something? Just really trying to get 60 FPS @ 4K with ELEX and I'll be happy. :)
 
Fluent said:
Would an AMD card be better bang for the buck here? Maybe the R9 Fury X or something? Just really trying to get 60 FPS @ 4K with ELEX and I'll be happy. :)
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4K@60fps is not going to happen on any single GPU. Check benchmarks here and here (German sites but almost self-explanatory) for an idea of 4K performance.

PCGH (2nd link) is using an ultra config and only getting 37fps on a 1080Ti. Computerbase is using max details, AO low, fog quality high, shadows high and SMAA anti-aliasing and even with these not maxed out settings the 1080Ti is barely scraping 60fps (56fps average).

Edit: I have attached a screenshot of the PCGH benchmarks because it may be difficult to pull up the 4K benchmarks without a grasp of the German language.
 

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Moriendor said:
4K@60fps is not going to happen on any single GPU. Check benchmarks here and here (German sites but almost self-explanatory) for an idea of 4K performance.

PCGH (2nd link) is using an ultra config and only getting 37fps on a 1080Ti. Computerbase is using max details, AO low, fog quality high, shadows high and SMAA anti-aliasing and even with these not maxed out settings the 1080Ti is barely scraping 60fps (56fps average).

Edit: I have attached a screenshot of the PCGH benchmarks because it may be difficult to pull up the 4K benchmarks without a grasp of the German language.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info bro. By that graph, it seems maybe the 980ti would be a decent option? I don't mind 45-ish FPS with Fog quality turned down to high, preferably AO on High, SMAA off is fine and the rest of the settings maxed.

So maybe either the 980ti, 1070 or Fury X. Hmm.
 
Fluent said:
So maybe either the 980ti, 1070 or Fury X. Hmm.
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Unless you can get a deal that you just can not refuse on the 980Ti then out of those three definitely get a 1070.

+ 8GB VRAM
+ Runs a lot cooler, more efficient and more silent than the 980Ti + Fury
+ Latest card generation = better driver support
+ More features

I've owned a Gainward GTX 1070 Golden Sample myself and it was a helluva card. Fast. Silent (nigh inaudible in my dampened case). Awesome. :)
 
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Moriendor said:
Unless you can get a deal that you just can not refuse on the 980Ti then out of those three definitely get a 1070.

+ 8GB VRAM
+ Runs a lot cooler, more efficient and more silent than the 980Ti + Fury
+ Latest card generation = better driver support
+ More features

I've owned a Gainward GTX 1070 Golden Sample myself and it was a helluva card. Fast. Silent (nigh inaudible in my dampened case). Awesome. :)
Click to expand...

You read my mind because I'm already putting in offers for a 1070. :)

Looking forward to it!
 
Woah, slow down there….

A 1070 isn't suitable for 4k. No, you're not happy with 45FPS!

Modern monitors are 120 to 144Hz which means they do 120 to 144 frames per second to the screen

Screen tearing is a thing. If you get low FPS you'll get screen tearing. If you enable vsync your controls will feel like shit.

There is a monitor technology from NVIDIA called Gsync which is a hardware solution for tearing, and alternative to vsync, which is free from input lag.

4k is a really big screen but if it performs like shit then its really not that impressive.

I think 144fps on a 144Hz 1080p monitor looks much better than 45FPS on a 4k monitor. Still images are one thing, but when you want to turn around 360 degrees then framerate looks better than screen size.

1080ti is the only way to go for 4k. Start saving for your 1170 ;)

edit: heres a quick guide:

1080p = gtx1070
1440p = gtx1080
2160p = gtx1080ti
 
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Appreciate the input but I really don't have money to revamp my whole setup. I just have a basic 4K TV, nothing fancy, and can probably only afford the 1070 at max. Maybe in the future I can get busy with a better setup though. I have to settle for 45 fps at 4K I guess.
 
I tested my AMD Vega 64 with Elex on everything maxed out, so all setting maxed, SMAA, 16x AF and longest draw distance. The results are that I get 71 on average and 64fps the lowest at 1440p. So I think you can get an AMD Vega 64 and put a few settings down and get 4k at 60 fps.

EDIT: I thought I would test with the setting in this link:
http://digiworthy.com/2017/10/18/amd-nvidia-gpus-elex-benchmarks/
to compare with the recently released patch. It says 76fps average with fog and ambient occlusion off or lowered and with SMAA at 1440p.

Outside it was 103fps to 116fps at 1440p.

In a town it was 87.5fps average according to fraps. With SMAA.
With FXAA in town it was 89.875fps average.


I did both while running at 1440p.

So a minimum of about 15% improvement. so you would get about 51fps on the Vega 64 at 4k even in towns, switch to FXAA instead of SMAA you can get it to 53fps average at 4k. The 1070 is at 35.5fps average at 4k. So for another $40 USD you can get at least a further 16fps.
 
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Damian said:
I tested my AMD Vega 64 with Elex on everything maxed out, so all setting maxed, SMAA, 16x AF and longest draw distance. The results are that I get 71 on average and 64fps the lowest at 1440p. So I think you can get an AMD Vega 64 and put a few settings down and get 4k at 60 fps.

EDIT: I thought I would test with the setting in this link:
http://digiworthy.com/2017/10/18/amd-nvidia-gpus-elex-benchmarks/
to compare with the recently released patch. It says 76fps average with fog and ambient occlusion off or lowered and with SMAA at 1440p.

Outside it was 103fps to 116fps at 1440p.

In a town it was 87.5fps average according to fraps. With SMAA.
With FXAA in town it was 89.875fps average.


I did both while running at 1440p.

So a minimum of about 15% improvement. so you would get about 51fps on the Vega 64 at 4k even in towns, switch to FXAA instead of SMAA you can get it to 53fps average at 4k. The 1080 is at 35.5fps average at 4k. So for another $40 USD you can get at least a further 16fps.
Click to expand...

Damn, nice! I want to get the Vega then. Hoping I can figure out how to afford it now, lol.
 
Fluent said:
Damn, nice! I want to get the Vega then. Hoping I can figure out how to afford it now, lol.
Click to expand...

Just so you know i made a typo, i wrote 1080 instead of 1070 at the time i posted it.
 
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