[H] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI 4K Video Card Review

[nvgpu]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/10/27/nvidia_geforce_gtx_980_sli_4k_video_card_review

However, look how much more power it is taking AMD R9 290X GPUs to achieve that performance! It takes 67% more power from AMD R9 290X CrossFire to reach the performance level of GTX 980 SLI. That's 300W more power, just to achieve the same level of performance.

 

[jackstar7]

As I believe I saw it spelled out, if you go for the best value 290x's, you get savings that would take years to offset with a pair of 980s. And a pair of 290x's could save you on your gas bill in the winter months by heating your house for you!

 

[96Firebird]

Good showing. Hopefully Nvidia can get more out of Maxwell SLI with future driver improvements.

 

[chimaxi83]

As I believe I saw it spelled out, if you go for the best value 290x's, you get savings that would take years to offset with a pair of 980s. And a pair of 290x's could save you on your gas bill in the winter months by heating your house for you!

Lol free space heating. He'll you can duct 290 power output into your central heating system. That's one way to look at it. AMD gets obliterated in performance/watt, but still very competitive in performance/$. Pick your poison.

 

[raghu78]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014..._980_sli_4k_video_card_review/11#.VE6Hrles98E

Performance summary

In most of the games tested GeForce GTX 980 SLI matched the same gameplay experience as AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire. This was surprising considering single-GPU GeForce GTX 980 is able to outperform single-GPU AMD Radeon R9 290X. We thought that naturally, putting two video cards together in SLI would equally excel past AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire. This wasn't the case. We got an unexpected result.

Instead, GeForce GTX 980 SLI was on par, equal with AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire in performance, most of the time. There were some occasions that AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire was even better than GeForce GTX 980 SLI, for example in Watch Dogs. We didn't expect that, considering that game had the heavy hand of NVIDIA Game Works applied to it. Yet, the competition seems to be scaling much better with CrossFire on that game. It seems SLI isn't doing well there.

We also saw problems in Alien: Isolation with SLI. Performance was more erratic, inconsistent compared to CrossFire. Performance even seemed to drop out when interacting with the computer terminals in the game under SLI. CrossFire had no problems with that.

These two games are the "newest" games in our gaming suite, and so far, CrossFire seems to be doing better compared to SLI. That's not enough for a trend, but it is interesting to note. We will have to see how Far Cry 4 does here next month.

Frame pacing Consistency and scaling

"We experienced something with SLI we aren't use to at 4K gaming. We experienced some inconsistent frames, some low efficiency and poor SLI scaling. We were used to seeing this on AMD GPUs until AMD fixed their issues. AMD implemented a technology called Frame Pacing, and ultimately went the hardware route with XDMA on the AMD Radeon R9 290/X.

At the end of the day, what we find is that GeForce GTX 980 SLI performance is left wanting at 4K, not because Maxwell isn't fast, but because the current implementation of SLI is more inconsistent and less efficient compared to AMD's XDMA technology on the AMD Radeon R9 290X. This is a case of aging SLI actually hindering very capable GPUs. SLI needs an upgrade, it needs to evolve. We do not think the true potential of the GeForce GTX 980 GPUs are being exploited with current 4K SLI gaming. It is being held back from its full potential. If GTX 980 could be fully and efficiently tapped, two GTX 980 GPUs have the potential to offer a better gameplay experience.

AMD hit NVIDIA hard with this new XDMA technology. Everyone was expecting NVIDIA would strike back with Maxwell by offering its own evolved SLI technology. However, it did not for this generation. That may end up biting NVIDIA in the butt as far as 4K gaming goes in the future."

The review is in fact appreciating that XDMA CF is the more consistent solution but the OP highlights the cons while neglecting the pros. When you take into account the fact that XFX R9 290X DD can be had for USD 300 after rebate AMD R9 290X XDMA CF is offering the best price perf and perf consistency at 4K.

 

[mindbomb]

the difference is large enough to power another gaming computer with a gtx 980

 

[raghu78]

Lol free space heating. He'll you can duct 290 power output into your central heating system. That's one way to look at it. AMD gets obliterated in performance/watt, but still very competitive in performance/$. Pick your poison.

The fact is in price perf (perf / $) at 4K, R9 290X CF obliterates the GTX 980 SLI. In fact the review even so far goes to say XDMA CF is the more consistent solution.

 

[jackstar7]

I would say get 980s if you're at 4K with g-synch and for 4K non-gsynch, just go 290x's and enjoy.

Generally a can't lose situation these days.

 

[wand3r3r]

Wow, the 290x crossfire is trading blows and actually even better in some games than the almost double priced 980's!

290x crossfire was better in 3 games (Alien Isolation, Watchdogs, Tomb Raider)
290x was about even in BF4 even in DX11! as well as Crysis 3
980 was clearly better in Far Cry 3

The 980 can't even outperform the year old nearly half priced 290x in 4k other than consuming less power.

I wouldn't have predicted that, not at $550 vs. $300 (83% more expensive).

This really shows the strengths of Hawaii's 512 bus with XDMA crossfire. Sure it consumes more power, but if the price is $300 vs. $550 it's a no brainer. I'd like to see 3 and 4 way tests.

OP highlighted the important bit:

just to achieve the same level of performance.

$550 buys you lower power consumption (and lower resolution wins). Now the price looks even worse. The 970 would still be a lot better buy, although the 290x would have a bit clearer victory.

Of course the 970/980 have overclocking headroom, but can they pull away enough to justify the price premium? Not in my opinion if they are getting1437 MHz average overclocks (825 submissions) vs. 1143/1585MHz on the 290x (4,700 submissions).

Of course the real competition is between the 970 and 290, but it's still a huge price disparity too.

 

[x3sphere]

One thing to consider there are other aspects when considering a card for 4K res. If you are gaming on a large 4K TV, nearly all of them only support HDMI 2.0 and have no DP port. Anyone gaming on a Sony, Samsung, LG TV will have to go NV to get 60 Hz.

It is the main reason I switched from 290s to 980s personally. I realize it is a niche case though.

 

[Pariah]

If you compare a pair of 980 GTX's to a pair of 290x's at release, the 980's win handily. SLI looks like it needs some major driver improvements from the NVidia team, which shouldn't be too surprising considering how new it is. I can't remember a product being panned as much as the 295x2 was by major review sites at release. Usually, even if a product is not that good, the conclusions would still come up with some positives and niche scenarios where it would be a good choice. Compared to the outright recommendations to not buy a 295x2, the 980 SLI setup looks pretty good in the early going.

The 290x CF is likely tapped out as far as performance improvements go, the 980 SLI will likely look much better after a year of driver updates.

Having just switched to a 780ti about a week ago after using AMD for over a decade and seeing all the stability problems and multi-monitor issues go away that I have been dealing with, and that greatly increased with AMD latest WHQL drivers, I don't care how cheap AMD's cards are, you can't put a price on just working. AMD needs to fire their entire driver team.

 

[Skurge]

Is SLI using less power cause it isn't working properly?

 

[AntonioHG]

Is SLI using less power cause it isn't working properly?

I'd say probably not or not much less because it would still fall below the 780Ti SLI.

 

[digitaldurandal]

If you compare a pair of 980 GTX's to a pair of 290x's at release, the 980's win handily. SLI looks like it needs some major driver improvements from the NVidia team, which shouldn't be too surprising considering how new it is. I can't remember a product being panned as much as the 295x2 was by major review sites at release. Usually, even if a product is not that good, the conclusions would still come up with some positives and niche scenarios where it would be a good choice. Compared to the outright recommendations to not buy a 295x2, the 980 SLI setup looks pretty good in the early going.

The 290x CF is likely tapped out as far as performance improvements go, the 980 SLI will likely look much better after a year of driver updates.

Having just switched to a 780ti about a week ago after using AMD for over a decade and seeing all the stability problems and multi-monitor issues go away that I have been dealing with, and that greatly increased with AMD latest WHQL drivers, I don't care how cheap AMD's cards are, you can't put a price on just working. AMD needs to fire their entire driver team.

As someone who is looking at buying 2 290s to switch to the red team, can you elaborate on the issues you saw. I also am running multi monitor.

 

[Silverforce11]

Is SLI using less power cause it isn't working properly?

"What truly matters though is the minimum framerate. AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire's minimum framerate is 67 FPS while GeForce GTX 980 SLI is 41 FPS. 26 FPS is a fairly large delta. If you look at the graph and see where the GTX 980 SLI dropped down to 40 FPS, we know exactly what this scene is in the game."

"That means CrossFire is doing its job during those interactions, and SLI is not."

You might be on to something, if the GPUs are not being taxed 100% due to poor SLI scaling AND poor latency, stutter issues, it would therefore use less power.

Also this test would look so much worse for NV if [H] included newer titles; Ryse representing the next-gen Crytek engine, Mordor and Civ BE.

Interesting: "The slowest configuration was the previous generation GeForce GTX 780 Ti SLI. It averaged a lower FPS, and the lowest minimum framerates. It was also even more inconsistent than the GeForce GTX 980 SLI."

It looks like their SLI implementation in high bandwidth gaming @4K definitely needs a evolution.

 

[positivedoppler]

Wow, with each new review the 980 just keeps losing it's luster. Maybe Nvidia optimized the performance for 1080 at the most optimal power consumption level for the current generation of games. It sure made for many blowout reviews on day one. Then came the disappointing SLI performance. Wow, the min frame rate on this card is atrocious. Then the few reviews that shows the after market cards being just a bit more efficient than the 290x. Then the disappointing Ryse result which probably makes a lot of people hold off on the card in fear of losing performance with the next generation of cards.

Think I'm waiting for the new year to start my new build anyway. Hopefully by then Nvidia and AMD will both have a real next gen card at 20 nm for me to consider. If there's nothing by January, I'll consider two cheap 290 XF for 250 each and maybe undervolt it a tad and strap a water cooler to it. Maybe even a couple of 780 ti if they get put on firesale too =D

 

[Jionix]

I can't remember a product being panned as much as the 295x2 was by major review sites at release. Usually, even if a product is not that good, the conclusions would still come up with some positives and niche scenarios where it would be a good choice.

Ha, ha, ha. I see what you did there. You sarcastically used "295x2" instead of Titan Z, right? This is a cunning joke... Right? I mean, that is the only logical answer for you posting this. Because what you posted didn't happen --- At least, not in regards to the 295x5.

It did happen to the Titan Z, though.

So, that must be what you meant to post. It has to be. Because the 295x2 wasn't universally panned... Unlike the Titan Z.

(Sorry to derail, but someone had to point out this incredible attempt at rewriting history.)

 

[3DVagabond]

If you compare a pair of 980 GTX's to a pair of 290x's at release, the 980's win handily. SLI looks like it needs some major driver improvements from the NVidia team, which shouldn't be too surprising considering how new it is. I can't remember a product being panned as much as the 295x2 was by major review sites at release. Usually, even if a product is not that good, the conclusions would still come up with some positives and niche scenarios where it would be a good choice. Compared to the outright recommendations to not buy a 295x2, the 980 SLI setup looks pretty good in the early going.

The 290x CF is likely tapped out as far as performance improvements go, the 980 SLI will likely look much better after a year of driver updates.

Having just switched to a 780ti about a week ago after using AMD for over a decade and seeing all the stability problems and multi-monitor issues go away that I have been dealing with, and that greatly increased with AMD latest WHQL drivers, I don't care how cheap AMD's cards are, you can't put a price on just working. AMD needs to fire their entire driver team.

What? source for any of this?

 

[AnandThenMan]

Did a quick search and the first two reviews that came up gave the 295 a very positive rating. I remember before the card came out people saying it was going to be a dud that turned out to be not true at all.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r9_295x2_review,35.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_295_X2/30.html

On SLI it looks to me like Nvidia has become complacent they need to light a fire under the driver team. Low minimum frame rates and stuttering sours the experience for me although I'm not as sensitive to it as some people.

 

[Pariah]

Correction on my part. It was the 7990 that was panned, not the 295x2. My mistake on that one.

As someone who is looking at buying 2 290s to switch to the red team, can you elaborate on the issues you saw. I also am running multi monitor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2403033

 

[amenx]

Always been like that for Nvidia with new gen cards. I believe their driver team is fully focused on single GPU performance even if at the expense of SLI when cards are released. Anyone paying attention to driver release notes over the years cannot but help notice the issues, fixes performance improvements for SLI seem to outweigh those for single cards.

 

[Silverforce11]

@amenx No its a special situation where the traditional and out-dated SLI bridge just lacks bandwidth to cope with 4K resolution, the stutters, frame latency spikes or dropped frames does not happen (no where near as bad) on lower resolution.

It's worse in the 780 ti, so its not immature drivers.

 

[KaRLiToS]

I like how the OP quoted the only negative point about AMD (maybe to make them look bad I don't know)

Why you didn't quote this OP?

We experienced something with SLI we aren't use to at 4K gaming. We experienced some inconsistent frames, some low efficiency and poor SLI scaling. We were used to seeing this on AMD GPUs until AMD fixed their issues. AMD implemented a technology called Frame Pacing, and ultimately went the hardware route with XDMA on the AMD Radeon R9 290/X.

But to be fair (or unbiased), you need to post the Conclusion

The Bottom Line

The end result of this evaluation is a bit shocking, a bit unexpected. We thought we were going to be able to conclude praising GeForce GTX 980 SLI as the hands down best 4K gaming experience to date. However, our testing has revealed that this is not necessarily the case. GeForce GTX 980 SLI has stiff competition with its competition. AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire is hitting back hard and showing us that it can compete at 4K gaming.

We think this just ultimately comes down to AMD's better implementation of multi-GPU technology using its XDMA technology. Since the Radeon R9 290/X has been out its efficient and smooth CrossFire performance has been heralded. Ultimately, we think that Maxwell may be held back by its current implementation, at least at 4K gaming. Is it better than the previous Kepler generation? Oh hell yes, a lot better.

GeForce GTX 980 SLI offers a big upgrade compared to GeForce GTX 780 Ti SLI, no question about it. GeForce GTX 980 SLI will buy you a better gaming experience at 4K compared to the previous generation. It just has some tough competition to face is all. NVIDIA now has a 4K gaming solution that can go head-to-head with its competition. Ultimately, this is good for NVIDIA, to finally have a competitive product for 4K gaming that is actually viable.

Whether you go for GeForce GTX 980 SLI or AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire, both will offer you the best possible gameplay settings at 4K for right now. These are the top-end, flagship products for 4K gaming, and both equally offer the same gameplay experience. Just take note of that power, GeForce GTX 980 SLI is able to do it with a lot less wattage. If efficiency is important, GeForce GTX 980 SLI gets the job done in a tremendously more efficient manner. Now the question is burning to be answered, what happens when you overclock both video cards in SLI and CrossFire? That is up next.

I just can't wait for the OC vs OC results (Quoted in Blue).

Good showing. Hopefully Nvidia can get more out of Maxwell SLI with future driver improvements.

Hmmm, we'll see but I highly doubt it, unless they release a magic Sli bridge.

 

[crisium]

Crossfire is really ahead of SLI. Given the price discrepency, the GTX 980 is not worth it except for when your PSU simply cannot handle AMD's high wattage.

 

[RussianSensation]

Crossfire is really ahead of SLI. Given the price discrepency, the GTX 980 is not worth it except for when your PSU simply cannot handle AMD's high wattage.

NV has time to improve their drivers before 390/390X launch. If not, they will just use GM200 to compete. As long as their customer base is willing to pay $550 for a 980 they have little reason to lift a finger. Even when NV's driver's don't work well until an SLI/driver fix, NV users tend brush their issues aside mostly. A lot of 780/780ti SLI owners who decided to hold off on upgrading to 970/980 made the right decision at this time.