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GTX 980 TI vs two GTX 970 asus strix

SlowmichaelSlowmichael Posts: 65
in The Commons

I am considering upgrading my gpu. I could buy a gtx 980 ti or 2 gtx 970 cards, i can get a deal on the 2 gtx 970 cards making them cheaper then the 980.

I think that the 2 970 cards combined offer more cuda cores more ram (8gb vs 6gb). So would that be the best choice?

 

Michel

Comments

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,715

    I have a strix, 980ti and a 970; I would considering waiting, or managing with one as Pascal is almost here; depends on your needs and cash-flow.

    RAM is not combined for rendering; Pascal may allow that, although probably just with Pascal cards. Windows 10, and DirectX12 may bring that functionality to rendering as well as gaming - I doubt i.

    It will be about the same as a 980ti, or perhaps a little more, and one card might suffer more as it is your display card too.

    It will use a lot more power; make sure you have enough.

    The balance to two cards is you still have some functionality if one fails.

    I recently made a post about an overnight render i did; it took nine hours on the two cards; the 970 contributed about 20% of the total render.

  • SlowmichaelSlowmichael Posts: 65

    nicst thanks.

    Pascal is indeed next generation but release date will be Q3,Q4 2016 a long time and prices will  probebly be higher. If i want to use iray in the full potential i will need to upgrade my GPU.

    It's a pitty that the RAM is not combined. 

    Would the 4GB from the 2*970 be a bottleneck?

     

    Michel

  • HavosHavos Posts: 5,636

    I have a GTX 970, and I render some pretty complex scenes with multiple characters, detailed backgrounds etc, and so far I have never encountered a scene that has exceeded the boundaries of my 4 GB of video RAM, although I have not delibrately tried to go over it. If the price drops, I will probably pick up a second GTX 970 at some point as that would double my CUDA cores and roughly half my render time (note that I always render GPU only, so I have my CPU fully available for other work whilst the render is running).

    Naturally only you can decide what is within your budget, and if you would rather wait for the newer technology, but my guess is that Pascal cards will be fairly pricey when they first arrive, but we will have to wait and see on that one.

  • SlowmichaelSlowmichael Posts: 65

    I can by the two GTX 970 's for 600 euro or 800 usd. This is a very good price in europe. Ah choices, decisions.... .

  • boisselazonboisselazon Posts: 458
    edited December 2015

    I'd go to 980ti

    - almost same power as 2 970

    - elec consumption far less

    - far much versatile (no need of SLI)

    - no need of new PSU

    - more ram (50%!)

    -far less heat in summer (only one gpu)

    -hdmi 2.0 (not the 970 if i recall right)

    etc...

    and when I want to extend for more powa, I'd have some room left in my computer

    Post edited by boisselazon on
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