GeForce GTX 970 SLI review

(.)(.)

2014-09-26 13:52

Great review as always Hilbert! Though, 73 fps in Metro LL @ 1440p doesn't excite me, same goes for Crysis 3. I kinda expected more.

#4923023

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-09-26 13:56

Great review as always Hilbert! Though, 73 fps in Metro LL @ 1440p doesn't excite me, same goes for Crysis 3. I kinda expected more.

Weeeeeelll ... It's nearly double scaling, so that's not bad. Crysis slowly seems to get get more CPU dependent with its age though. Right, that was 8 articles in 7 days you guys. Beer and pizza time ! Beer-assistant, where is she ?!!

#4923032

Corbus

2014-09-26 14:01

Great review and scaling. At 4k we probably still need to wait 2 more years to play at decent fps and max details .

#4923047

Ven0m

2014-09-26 14:18

Thanks for the review. I hope you'll be able to find out what's with these frame drops. It's also weird to observe better scaling in lower resolutions... So: * 4k, 3D Mark and Battlefield = 780 Ti scales better * The rest = 970 scales better I think that it might be partially explained by 256bit RAM bus in 970.

#4923050

(.)(.)

2014-09-26 14:23

Thanks for the review. I hope you'll be able to find out what's with these frame drops. It's also weird to observe better scaling in lower resolutions... So: * 4k, 3D Mark and Battlefield = 780 Ti scales better * The rest = 970 scales better I think that it might be partially explained by 256bit RAM bus in 970.

I knew it... wea dat 512bit at.

#4923073

Cave Waverider

2014-09-26 14:46

Nice article. I'm very much looking forward to the GTX980 SLi reviews, too.

#4923076

CrazY_Milojko

2014-09-26 14:48

Great review Hilbert, thanks man! 970 in SLI are bargain for 1440+ gamers and when you look at TDP and themperatures... they're nothing more than final nail in the coffin for 780Ti SLI (for some gamers who had plans for buying 780 SLI). Whole week has passed after official 970/980 launch and still I haven't got a chance to lay my hands on some GTX 970 or GTX 980 for testing, not to mention two of them for SLI, to find just one 970/980 it's science fiction here where I'm atm 😡 Probably 970/980 situation will be better in few weeks from now, but doubt prices at "re-launch" here in Serbia will be match for prices in the rest of the world 🙁 Future here I come, maybe I'll be late a bit... 😥 BTW, I'm curious about 780Ti prices (new and used) in rest of the civilized world, any drops yet? Here in Serbia prices for 780Ti are frozen in time, they are same like few months ago, juuuuust great :bang:

#4923080

(.)(.)

2014-09-26 14:51

Nice article. I'm very much looking forward to the GTX980 SLi reviews, too.

Ahh.... phewww, see the thing is you need a special license to have that much power in such a small space and Netherlands is quite small.., so not to sure if Hilbert has govt clearance yet. Reason: 980sli power output can be confused with Energon readings, and we saw in that (piss-poor) documentary as to what happens when Decepticons want Energon.

#4923105

Loophole35

2014-09-26 15:28

So the frame drops are a bit concerning to me. Do you think its just immature drivers or could it be deeper?

#4923113

Spets

2014-09-26 15:37

Great review Hilbert:)

#4923126

Fox2232

2014-09-26 15:58

As expected, it was bound to choke a bit on 4k. And I would like some manufacturer to make 8GB version for certain someones here, so they can enjoy even more choking once utilized.

#4923134

Loophole35

2014-09-26 16:05

As expected, it was bound to choke a bit on 4k. And I would like some manufacturer to make 8GB version for certain someones here, so they can enjoy even more choking once utilized.

Yes me as well and they would come in here telling us they could use it all with one card with no AA on 1920x1080.

#4923138

Mato87

2014-09-26 16:09

Oh wow, after reading this fine review I had to buy another gtx 970, I just couldn't resist the urge to have the best cards in sli that outperform even the titanz.... http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4923135#post4923135 Thanks Hilbert ! Oh and if anybody can help, where can I get that neat lookin sli bridge ? http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/nvidia-starts-selling-sturdy-sli-bridges-with-led-lighting.html Iam from europe so any form of help is highly appreciated

#4923153

morbias

2014-09-26 16:21

BTW, I'm curious about 780Ti prices (new and used) in rest of the civilized world, any drops yet? Here in Serbia prices for 780Ti are frozen in time, they are same like few months ago, juuuuust great :bang:

I wouldn't be surprised if the prices actually go up, it's often the case for EOL cards; they become rare because there's no more production and anyone who already owns one that wants to go SLI will have to pay the extra!

#4923165

Rexob

2014-09-26 16:28

Is anyone actually selling the reference 970 with the titan cooler on it?

#4923176

nanogenesis

2014-09-26 16:37

So, sandwitching two cards and expecting it to perform well? I bet the cards are not even boosting at all because of temperature thresholds. Besides, isn't that GTX980 in the pictures? the GTX970 reference has a smaller pcb AFAIK

#4923180

SSD_PRO

2014-09-26 16:41

Is anyone actually selling the reference 970 with the titan cooler on it?

Its not the titan cooler, its just the reference cooler on the reference pcb but no one sells it yet. It is OEM only. All the partners used custom PCB and coolers on the 970. I would like someone to adopt the reference cooler but it costs more because you have to buy it from nvidia vs producing your own cheaply.

#4923181

Netherwind

2014-09-26 16:41

I couldn't find the reference boards clock speeds anywhere in the review. What are they? Anyhow, I'm so glad I didn't go for reference boards in my case. The MSI cards are just too good to be true. Some comparisons with OCed results (1380/7500) I did earlier. Ran them on a ROG Swift 1440p monitor with G-sync disabled. Temps idle: Reference 970SLI - 33 MSI 970SLI - 54 (fans are turned off if card is idle, plus I have the 2D bug) Temps load: Reference 970SLI - 83 MSI 970SLI - 73 (fans inaudible at 1400RPM) Metro Last Light Redux (Very High, 16xAF) Reference 970SLI - Avg.FPS: 73 MSI 970SLI - Avg.FPS: 108 (I'm running the Redux version, maybe it's better optimized?) Thief (Very High Preset with SSAA Off) Reference 970SLI - Avg.FPS: 75 MSI 970SLI - Avg.FPS: 101 Pretty big differences...maybe too big?

#4923188

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-09-26 16:52

I couldn't find the reference boards clock speeds anywhere in the review. What are they?

Reference baseclock is 1050 MHz for the GTX 970. So yeah the MSI cards overall are pretty terrific alright. Your Metro results, no clue on Redux. We use the standard version with the Metro LL v2.0 benchmark. But my results are on par with other SLI combo's. For Thief I have SSAA enabled at high as well as FXAA and the other IQ settings.

#4923263

Netherwind

2014-09-26 17:57

Reference baseclock is 1050 MHz for the GTX 970. So yeah the MSI cards overall are pretty terrific alright. Your Metro results, no clue on Redux. We use the standard version with the Metro LL v2.0 benchmark. But my results are on par with other SLI combo's. For Thief I have SSAA enabled at high as well as FXAA and the other IQ settings.

Regarding Thief, I thought it was FXAA only. Did a run with SSAA - High and got 87.3fps, very interesting. Thanks for the review by the way!