The great GPU depate

[Kagthul]

Regardless of what they can do they are probably going to be way pricy for my budget.

Theyll be the exact same prices as the current cards theyre going to replace.

[Doranian123]

If you can afford a 980Ti now, you can save up and just go high end on the new generation.

How exactly does the release of a new generation of cards typically work? There appears to be a lot of versions in simply the 970 and 980, do those all sort of come out at once?

[Granyala]

How exactly does the release of a new generation of cards typically work? There appears to be a lot of versions in simply the 970 and 980, do those all sort of come out at once?

Good question.

I don't follow every release but I think they release the high end / midrange variant first and then add the lower ranks later.

I agree that there are a lot of versions.
One needs to pay attention to the cooling solutions and to factory overclocks. The reference coolers often suck and are rather loud.

If you decide to wait I would simply check back here when the new stuff is released, so people can give you advice when we have more conclusive data. Right now, much is left to speculation.

[Remilia]

How exactly does the release of a new generation of cards typically work? There appears to be a lot of versions in simply the 970 and 980, do those all sort of come out at once?

Recently, typically mid/low end cards are sold for consumers, at least for Nvidia. Where I'm defining mid and low end isn't actually the pricing here however, but the die type. For example, Maxwell has GM200, 204, and 206. GM204 was sold first the 980 and 970 and GM206 a while later as 960 and then GM200 as Titan X / 980Ti. 950 was released some time forgot but not when 960 was but is based off GM206 nonetheless.

We know that AMD is releasing mid / low with Polaris 10/11 and later Vega 10/11. 10 being the bigger chip and 11 being the smaller.

Nvidia we don't know, but rumor goes that big Pascal GP100(?) is going to be released first for professional and super computer contract first but the mid / low end is going to appear for consumers first.

[Tucci]

Assuming you meant 970? Because as an owner of a 670 SLI, I'm getting ready to upgrade to a single GPU hopefully when Pascal releases. I could probably wait a little longer if my cards were 4gb but they're only 2 and now I'm really feeling it . Next gen screwed me, lol. I don't really want to settle for less than 8 at this point.

[Stormspark]

The 970 isn't a bad investment right now. BUT, with Pascal dropping in a few months, you will be able to get more performance for the same amount of money if you wait. So it's up to you really.

[Deleted]

The 970 isn't a bad investment right now.

I wouldn't call it good either... The 390 has better DX12 support.

[Artorius]

With the 390 at the market and new cards coming soon, the 970 is a terrible investment no matter how you look at it. It's an outdated card that is soon going to be treated as second class citizen by Nvidia, as if it didn't have enough problems to compete with the 390 already...

[Zelendria]

How exactly does the release of a new generation of cards typically work? There appears to be a lot of versions in simply the 970 and 980, do those all sort of come out at once?

Usually the flagship comes first. If a company wants to show off, it doesn't release its weakest version to the masses first it releases their best.

Within a manufacturer and all their variations of the same card say EVGA as it's already been discussed. The bog standard 1080 would come with possibly a SC, or SSC. However, the very highest clocked versions of the card come later.
Not every GPU is created equal. Some perform considerably better than others. EVGA will test all their GPUs saving the very best of the bunch for their most expensive, and highest performing cards.

This is found at every level from Nvidia saving their best for a Titan X or Ti, right the way down to an avid overclocker who will treasure a certain GPU/CPU that can hit the lofty numbers other don't and crash at.

As for a card to buy.... Good god don't buy this generation with the next gen cards due in the next couple of months. You'll have wasted all your cash. Unless you buy into a deal that EVGA does (I think it still does anyway?) a step up program that allows you, within a time period, to trade in your old card once for anything that is considered a higher performance card.

[mrgreenthump]

Usually the flagship comes first. If a company wants to show off, it doesn't release its weakest version to the masses first it releases their best.

Haven't seen that happen in a long time. And from AMD at least we know it's not going to happen this time either. And Nvidia is probably going to come out with "GTX 1080" and "GTX 1070" again much like they did with 970 and 980 last generation. With Titan coming out ~6 months later and cutdown from the titan coming out another 6 months later. Although it all depends on AMD's Vega timing, because Nvidia probably doesn't want to be late to the HBM2 game.

[Zelendria]

Sorry I kind of meant the 80 as their flagship as opposed to the Titan. That card to me is just a marketing campaign not really taken seriously by most consumers at the price it sits at.

[Lathais]

The 970 isn't a bad investment right now. BUT, with Pascal dropping in a few months, you will be able to get more performance for the same amount of money if you wait. So it's up to you really.

It's a horrible investment currently. For the price of a 970 you can get a 390 which performs better at all resolutions with the Crimson drivers and supports ASync Compute at the hardware level for better DX12 support. For those reasons alone the 970 is a horrible choice.

In addition, the 970 sits at about $300. You could by a 950 for $100 right now then when the x60 drops sell your 950 and get a x60 and have spent right around the same amount total, but the x60 will likely be a better performer than the 970. A 950 is enough to play most games on at least medium to high settings, probably better. It's capable of maxing out WoW that's for sure. With a OC it can perform about as good as a stock 960, which I have and know it can max out most things I have thrown at it pretty easily.

So how is the 970 not a bad investment?

[Zelendria]

TBF suggesting not buying a Nvidia, but do buy a AMD is also a horrible investment. The wise decision is to buy nothing, and be patient.

I was in pretty much the same boat when I wanted to upgrade, but the 9XX series was due.
Do I buy a 780 now, or be sensible and wait out what was about 6 weeks when the next cards came out.

[Deleted]

TBF suggesting not buying a Nvidia, but do buy a AMD is also a horrible investment. The wise decision is to buy nothing, and be patient.

But if you really need something now, AMD is the better choice. Unles you really need some Nvidia specific stuff

[Lathais]

TBF suggesting not buying a Nvidia, but do buy a AMD is also a horrible investment. The wise decision is to buy nothing, and be patient.

I was in pretty much the same boat when I wanted to upgrade, but the 9XX series was due.
Do I buy a 780 now, or be sensible and wait out what was about 6 weeks when the next cards came out.

While this is true, if you have nothing right now, the 390/390x/Nano are very good choices. The Nano, or any of the furies, the Nano is just cheap and when "unlocked" will perform like a Fury X, supports DX12 better than anything else currently out and performs well at all resolutions. It's currently the best card on the market. If you have nothing at all, it's not a horrible choice, still not a great one though.

However, I really do agree with you. this is why my current recommendation to most people that must have something right now is to get a 950. It's cheap-ish at about $150 and can be sold later for at least $50 would be my guess. You can then invest in the new cards when they come out. Between the money you saved buying a 950 now, money you can save between now and then and the money you get from selling the 950, you should easily be able to get an x70 which should outperform most things on the market currently.

[Deleted]

I had a 970 SSC and it was way too loud for me, compared to a MSI Twin Frozr 970 or the Palit 980 I have now. But right now is a bad time to buy Videocards. When Pascal is released all old Cards will get even cheaper.

[Bigvizz]

It's a horrible investment currently. For the price of a 970 you can get a 390 which performs better at all resolutions with the Crimson drivers and supports ASync Compute at the hardware level for better DX12 support. For those reasons alone the 970 is a horrible choice.

In addition, the 970 sits at about $300. You could by a 950 for $100 right now then when the x60 drops sell your 950 and get a x60 and have spent right around the same amount total, but the x60 will likely be a better performer than the 970. A 950 is enough to play most games on at least medium to high settings, probably better. It's capable of maxing out WoW that's for sure. With a OC it can perform about as good as a stock 960, which I have and know it can max out most things I have thrown at it pretty easily.

So how is the 970 not a bad investment?

Words, I wouldn't call it "Horrible" investment, just not Ideal considering the upcoming cards. As for Async Compute once DX12 saturates the market this will be an issue, but not for a while, Nether 390 or the 970 take full advantage of DX12, Who knows maybe the next generation cards will be guess we'll see huh....

[Lathais]

Words, I wouldn't call it "Horrible" investment, just not Ideal considering the upcoming cards. As for Async Compute once DX12 saturates the market this will be an issue, but not for a while, Nether 390 or the 970 take full advantage of DX12, Who knows maybe the next generation cards will be guess we'll see huh....

When the 390 is the same price, actually just a few dollars cheaper, and performs better across the board, how is the 970 anything but a horrible choice? The fact that it supports DX12 better due to having the hardware for ASync compute is bonus, but even aside from that the card is better all around. In addition, AMD cards tend to age better, with better driver support over time whereas nVidia doesn't care about their old stuff.

[Bigvizz]

When the 390 is the same price, actually just a few dollars cheaper, and performs better across the board, how is the 970 anything but a horrible choice? The fact that it supports DX12 better due to having the hardware for ASync compute is bonus, but even aside from that the card is better all around. In addition, AMD cards tend to age better, with better driver support over time whereas nVidia doesn't care about their old stuff.

Right....Still using that word "Horrible", cool 390 supports a single factor of an API that's mostly not in use yet and by the time DX12 is main streamed the 390 will be an after thought at its price point due to superior cards at the time. AMD aging better than Nvidia sounds more like an opinion rather than a fact, unless of course you can cite it so. Like I said the 970 isn't a Horrible buy just not Ideal, just my opinion I suppose.

[Lathais]

Right....Still using that word "Horrible", cool 390 supports a single factor of an API that's mostly not in use yet and by the time DX12 is main streamed the 390 will be an after thought at its price point due to superior cards at the time. AMD aging better than Nvidia sounds more like an opinion rather than a fact, unless of course you can cite it so. Like I said the 970 isn't a Horrible buy just not Ideal, just my opinion I suppose.

Again you are focusing on only the bonus. The fact is, the 390 is cheaper and performs better across the board. Period. Ignore the ASync Compute part, that's only a bonus. The 390 is just the better all around choice, excluding any thoughts of DX12. More memory helps with higher resolutions and FPS has always been better at higher resolutions, now with the Crimson drivers it performs better at 1080p too.

Look here:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,24.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,25.html

The 390 is a better card than the 970. So the 970 is a bad choice to begin with. You add in the -bonus- that it supports DX12 better through ASync Compute which is arguably the most important feature of DX12 and the 970 looks even worse. But even IGNORING DX12 ENTIRELY, the 390 is still a better choice.

Also, you claim that by the time you'll use ASync Compute your GPU will be replaced. That may be true for you, but most people I know keep their GPUs anywhere from 3-6 years. Sure, I try to upgrade mine every 2-4, but if in 4 years my card is still going strong, why bother? Games using Async Compute are coming out this year, there will be more in the next 6 years. So for someone who can not wait for the next gen, it is certainly a consideration.

Also, really, buying anything but a 950 as a holdover for the new cards is really a bad idea right now IMO. You put all the other things the 970 has working against it and yeah, it boils down to horrible.

Edit to add:
Also, for proof on AMD aging better, well, look at the crimson drivers. Those came out and seriously increased the performance of most of AMDs line-up. What has nVidia done that has increased the performance of their entire line-up? Nothing, they update your drivers all the damn time to do stuff for the latest greatest games which causes older games to run poorly to get you to upgrade. AMD has, in the past, consistently increased the performance of their older cards through drivers, years after. nVidia releases a few patches after a game comes out to make that game run better and then moves on to making the next game run better.