$560 MSI GTX 980 Ti Golden Edition

[96Firebird]

I read the EVGA step-up rules and , quite frankly, I'm not sure buying a GTX970 now and "stepping up" to a 1080 will qualify. I would contact EVGA and ask if it would. Get in writing (official e-mail).

Why not?

 

[Kenmitch]

Why not?

It's up to EVGA to determine which cards are included in the step up program. It's also to their discretion which cards are deemed limited supply and not eligible.

I'm not really sure how long it takes them to add new generation cards to the list. A person does have a 90 day window to start the process in the end. Guess if your willing to roll the dice and be stuck with old gen tech possibly it might be worth the risk.

Too risky for me....Actually my son in the end.

 

[SexyK]

It's up to EVGA to determine which cards are included in the step up program. It's also to their discretion which cards are deemed limited supply and not eligible.

I'm not really sure how long it takes them to add new generation cards to the list. A person does have a 90 day window to start the process in the end. Guess if your willing to roll the dice and be stuck with old gen tech possibly it might be worth the risk.

Too risky for me....Actually my son in the end.

The policy does leave a lot of room for EVGA to simply hold back cards they don't want to include in the program. That said, it is kinda against the spirit of the program for them to completely hold out a new line of cards for more than the initial rush period.

Assuming you need a card now, it seems to me that you're better off taking your chance on the step up with a ~$300 card rather than a ~$600 card, both of which will be old tech after the launch.

I would recommend a 970 for any kind of room scale vr -vive? Especially for close to the next gen releases.

Are you saying you would or you wouldn't recommend the 970 as a stop gap? Should have the Vive in the next week or so and it will be my first VR experience, so I'd rather not have it be gimped by the 970 if that's what you're saying.

 

[Kenmitch]

The policy does leave a lot of room for EVGA to simply hold back cards they don't want to include in the program. That said, it is kinda against the spirit of the program for them to completely hold out a new line of cards for more than the initial rush period.

Assuming you need a card now, it seems to me that you're better off taking your chance on the step up with a ~$300 card rather than a ~$600 card, both of which will be old tech after the launch.



Are you saying you would or you wouldn't recommend the 970 as a stop gap? Should have the Vive in the next week or so and it will be my first VR experience, so I'd rather not have it be gimped by the 970 if that's what you're saying.

It's not really against the spirit of the program when you look at it. The program is more for buyers remorse and not future proofing your purchases. It's more like you thought you could get away with card X but really need card Y. Not really designed with the intent that card Z is launching sometime later. It does look like many had success when the 970/980 launch took place. I guess it's more dependent on the timing involved. Guess it would be best to put off the purchase as long as possible in the end.

His statement was kind of confusing to me also. Apply the English is not his native language and it's he wouldn't recommend it is how I read it.

 

[96Firebird]

It's not really against the spirit of the program when you look at it. The program is more for buyers remorse and not future proofing your purchases. It's more like you thought you could get away with card X but really need card Y. Not really designed with the intent that card Z is launching sometime later. It does look like many had success when the 970/980 launch took place. I guess it's more dependent on the timing involved. Guess it would be best to put off the purchase as long as possible in the end.

This is what I was going to site, plenty used this to upgrade from a recently purchased 760/770/780 when GM204 was launched. It took a while for the new cards to ship to the step-up customers, but as long as you initiated the step-up before 90 days from purchase you were included. And it is usually reference or close-to-standard clock cards, rarely are the SC, SSC, FTW, etc. cards available for step-up. With the exception of the 970 FTW, which they added a little after launch (and which I took advantage of).

Of course, it is always a risk on when the new cards will launch.

 

[Kenmitch]

This is what I was going to site, plenty used this to upgrade from a recently purchased 760/770/780 when GM204 was launched. It took a while for the new cards to ship to the step-up customers, but as long as you initiated the step-up before 90 days from purchase you were included. And it is usually reference or close-to-standard clock cards, rarely are the SC, SSC, FTW, etc. cards available for step-up. With the exception of the 970 FTW, which they added a little after launch (and which I took advantage of).

Of course, it is always a risk on when the new cards will launch.

For those who are only going to purchase a NVidia based card it's a option as long as the timing is good.

As far as purchase for my Son it's a best bang for the buck purchase as he doesn't upgrade often. Seeing actual reviews of the future products is a must before locking into one camp or the other.

 

[guskline]

Kenmitch stated it nicely as to the EVGA step up program. My GTX980TI was not in the step up program. I suggest you google EVGA step up program and read the entire section.

 

[SexyK]

By way of update, I decided not to risk it and just grabbed an EVGA 980 Ti. If I can ultimately set up to a next-gen card with equal or greater performance in the next three months, great. If not, at least I won't be stuck with/trying to flip a completely impotent card. Full mITX VR/living room build now in sig.

While progress has certainly slowed across the board, I'm still impressed that his tiny cube build is as fast or faster than my water cooled hex core build, and also almost as quiet. The platform is much improved as well.

 

[Arachnotronic]

By way of update, I decided not to risk it and just grabbed an EVGA 980 Ti. If I can ultimately set up to a next-gen card with equal or greater performance in the next three months, great. If not, at least I won't be stuck with/trying to flip a completely impotent card. Full mITX VR/living room build now in sig.

While progress has certainly slowed across the board, I'm still impressed that his tiny cube build is as fast or faster than my water cooled hex core build, and also almost as quiet. The platform is much improved as well.

Congrats, enjoy the new GPU!

 

[96Firebird]

If you are interested in the step-up program, be sure to register your card with EVGA.

 

[SexyK]

If you are interested in the step-up program, be sure to register your card with EVGA.

Good reminder - thanks.

 

[guskline]

Good luck with the EVGA GTX980 TI. Mine has been solid.

 

[Aikouka]

By way of update, I decided not to risk it and just grabbed an EVGA 980 Ti. If I can ultimately set up to a next-gen card with equal or greater performance in the next three months, great. If not, at least I won't be stuck with/trying to flip a completely impotent card. Full mITX VR/living room build now in sig.

While progress has certainly slowed across the board, I'm still impressed that his tiny cube build is as fast or faster than my water cooled hex core build, and also almost as quiet. The platform is much improved as well.

That's what I did when I decided that I didn't want to lug around my PC to do VR or permanently relocate the PC to a different room. (It's in a room downstairs that stays fairly cool.) I figure that Pascal should be out within 90 days, but to be clear, there's no guarantee that the card will even be available on their Step Up program.

I also prefer out-of-the-box speed vs. having to overclock, and I picked up an EVGA FTW variant that was clocked nearly 200MHz higher. To be fair, I probably could've found one at a higher speed from MSI or Gigabyte, but that would undermine Step Up.

 

[RussianSensation]

How does the step-up actually work? If say the 980Ti is purchased at $560 instead of $649 MSRP, but 1080 MSRP is $599, could EVGA assign step up based on MSRP (deny) or do they look at the value you actually paid for the 980Ti ($599 - $560 = $39 in step-up costs + shipping)?

 

[guskline]

How does the step-up actually work? If say the 980Ti is purchased at $560 instead of $649 MSRP, but 1080 MSRP is $599, could EVGA assign step up based on MSRP (deny) or do they look at the value you actually paid for the 980Ti ($599 - $560 = $39 in step-up costs + shipping)?

RS, I read and reread the EVGA step up program rules and what presently qualifies. I think it best to contact EVGA directly, and in writing (e-mail) get them to confirm that you qualify to step up to a 1080.

My reading of the present setup does not guarantee a step up to 1080 if you buy a GTX980TI. It is all up to EVGA.

Moreover, since the 1080 series has not yet been released there is no way to determine its MSRP so there is no way to determine the cost to step up even if it is allowed.

BTW, I bought my EVGA GTX980TI SC on 7/6/2015 for $629 so I've gotten almost a year of use and the price has stayed almost the same.

I'm beyond the step-up time so I'm keeping it.

 

[RussianSensation]

There is definitively risk involved. If you buy the 980Ti above 1080's price, you cannot step up. The value had to be greater. I think the program's real value is in buying a 970, realizing it's not fast enough, then stepping up to a 980Ti. On the other hand, what if there is a $299-399 card with similar performance to a 980Ti?

Either way, now I would actually be putting up a 980Ti for sale if I were you. The chance of that card bombing in price similar to a 780Ti is absolutely huge. When 970 came out, if you didn't time the resale of 780Ti right, you could be looking at $200-250 loss of resale value in 1 week's time, maybe days.

 

[96Firebird]

The step-up program is pretty simple really, you upload your invoice that shows what you paid. They subtract this amount from the MSRP of the card you want (MSRP being what they are selling the card for in their store I believe) and you pay the difference (plus shipping costs). If the MSRP of the card you want is less than the card you're sending in, you only have to pay shipping (I think some people did this with the 770 -> 970 at release).

 

[SexyK]

The step-up program is pretty simple really, you upload your invoice that shows what you paid. They subtract this amount from the MSRP of the card you want (MSRP being what they are selling the card for in their store I believe) and you pay the difference (plus shipping costs). If the MSRP of the card you want is less than the card you're sending in, you only have to pay shipping (I think some people did this with the 770 -> 970 at release).

Correct. They credit you with what you actually paid for the card, not the MSRP. You can then "step down" to a card with an MSPR that is lower than what you paid for your current card if you so desire. The only risk of going with a 980Ti is that you end up "overpaying" for a 1080 if it's MSRP is less than what you paid for the 980Ti.

 

[Rvenger]

I always found it better to just sell your current card and buy the new card instead of waiting in line for that new card.

 

[96Firebird]

I always found it better to just sell your current card and buy the new card instead of waiting in line for that new card.

It depends, really...

Say you bought a 770 for $330 a month before the 970 was released, you'd have a hard time trying to sell it for anything close to $300 after the 970 hit the market. Instead, you step-up to the 970 for nearly nothing. Sure, you might have to hang on to your 770 for a bit while you wait in the queue, but paying nothing for more performance is worth it I'd say...

When you sell a used card you are almost always guaranteed to lose money from what you paid, with step-up you recoup all that money (minus rebates that have been sent in). You also are not able to get any rebates on the step-up card, but new releases typically don't get rebates.

 

[guskline]

There is definitively risk involved. If you buy the 980Ti above 1080's price, you cannot step up. The value had to be greater. I think the program's real value is in buying a 970, realizing it's not fast enough, then stepping up to a 980Ti. On the other hand, what if there is a $299-399 card with similar performance to a 980Ti?

Either way, now I would actually be putting up a 980Ti for sale if I were you. The chance of that card bombing in price similar to a 780Ti is absolutely huge. When 970 came out, if you didn't time the resale of 780Ti right, you could be looking at $200-250 loss of resale value in 1 week's time, maybe days.

If I sell the GTX980TI now what will I get? May $550 if I'm lucky and still having the water block but no video card for a couple months.

Will a $399.00 GTX 1080 outperform my GTX980TI? Who knows. Will my EK waterblock fit a 1080? Who knows.

My GTX980TI runs stock at 1102 core so I can still crank it way up to get more performance if I need it.

I'm more interested in replacing my 2 R9 290s in CF with a single card that will out perform them. I'll wait till big Vega next year.

 

[Leyawiin]

The sub-$600 slide has slowly begun. Newegg has five models under $600 today. Regardless, if you need a high end card right now its kind of a tough position to be in. I've read a couple months for Pol/Pas and I've also read close to the end of the year for higher end new models. If it turns out to be the latter its kind of hard to be circling the airport for eight months waiting. I have an HD 7950 in my i7 4790k PC. It's not quite up to it for newer games and has coil whine from hell. I would love to replace it now. Hate this situation!

 

[guskline]

RS's financial position makes sense and cents if you are constantly upgrading video cards.

Conversely, if you own a GTX980TI now and don't have the bug to upgrade anytime soon, does selling it now make sense and cents? Depends if you have a card to tide you over till the new cards drop. Depends on how much the new card will be that outperforms it. Etc, etc.

Each situation is unique. I think it's a fair statement that if you are using a 970 or 290 and the $560 "itch" to buy a GTX980TI is enticing you, at this time I would wait until the new cards drop (probably the next 60 days) unless you absolutely need the bump in performance.

 

[guskline]

I always found it better to just sell your current card and buy the new card instead of waiting in line for that new card.

Rvenger, what is the "new" card?

 

[thesmokingman]

Conversely, if you own a GTX980TI now and don't have the bug to upgrade anytime soon, does selling it now make sense and cents?

(GURU3D RUMOR) AMD Polaris 10 GPU To Offer Near 980 Ti Performance For 299 USD?

Does it? This should give some perspective on what to expect with upcoming midrange... I would assume whatever Nv equivalent to be in that ballpark as well.