You don't have to run at 144 fps with a high refresh rate monitor. Just by having a higher refresh rate means you get less motion blur. I have a 970 SLI and none of the games I play at the moment (GTA V, Witcher 3 etc) run over 80 fps in 1440p and for example GTA V goes under 60 at times. With G-Sync this is not really even noticeable.
I think a single 970 or 980 can do pretty well in 1440p as long as you don't use MSAA. SMAA is fine for most games as AA becomes slightly less relevant as the resolution goes up.
You can try using DSR to downscale from 1440p and see for yourself how it performs on your setup.
Yeah, I admittedly don't have any experience with anything over 60hz. I welcome less motion blur, absolutely. But I don't think it is motion blur....well not just motion blur.
I just figured that gaming at over 100fps/Hz sounds like something that might be awesome. Considering the difference I feel gaming at a locked 30-45fps vs locked at 60fps. I can actually tell a difference between 50fps and locked at 60fps.
I cannot stand going from 60fps and dropping 10fps. I cannot stand tearing either and I always play with vsync, always. And I usually play with all eye candy I can manage. I have been gaming at 60hz so my vsync is 60fps. Some games will dip down to 52 and 50, then back up. I find the experience so bothering, I might set my frame cap to something odd like 50 or 55. I am weird like that. See, it is not the micro stutter, it is the feeling.......responsiveness. The change in it. I guess we could say, input lag. It changes and I am very sensitive to it. I can feel the difference in frame rate locked at 50 vs frame rate locked at 60. Even worse, 45 or 40. I am not talking about stutter, that will eventually happen with uneven frames though. I am just saying, turn gsync off in gta5 and lock your frame rate at 45, play for a little bit then lock it at 60fps and feel the difference. I am very very sensitive to that.
I do not know what gaming at 100hz or 144fps will be like. But I cannot see how I won't be blown away by it. Heck, I bet 80fps/Hz would be amassing for me. But I am only speculating. I do know people who will go on for hours about how awesome gaming over 60hz is by itself, on monitors without gsync. I think I will enjoy that too.
As for your case, you have 2 gtx970s to drive a 144 panel. That is a good deal more powerful than a single 980.
Surely you can run a 980 on a 1440p and I have used DSR. I love the picture quality, I just hate the effect on responsiveness. Even In a game like dragon age inquisition, 45-50fps I get with DSR, it is hard to enjoy because of the reduction in responsiveness. It just feels sluggish to me, I think it is more than motion blur.
Am I making any sense? I think I will prefer frame rates higher but gsync may be a totally different experience. 50fps on gsync may feel way different. I will find out soon enough.
I still am not sure about a single 980 playing at 1440p. I believe that it is doable, but I don't think I will be happy about that. I think I would end up buying another 980 or something.
All I know is soon I will know....
I will get to see what gsync is like, what 144hz is like, etc.
That is something I am looking forward to soo much.