Titan X or 980 SLI for 4K?

LFCNZ

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Sep 4, 2011
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I'm looking at building a 4K gaming machine in the next few months.

I know that 980 SLI is faster presently but wanting to try and future proof, so thinking of getting a Titan X, then in a year or two if I need more grunt get another Titan X to SLI with, assuming they would have dropped in price considerably by then hopefully.

Thoughts?
 

Majcric

Golden Member
May 3, 2011
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Titan X. overclocked Titan X can hang with 980sli and you won't have to worry about Vram bottlenecks. 4gb is not enough for the punch 2 980's can deliver. No sli problems either.


Now if you can wait there is a 980ti on it's way that supposed to have similar specs of the Titan X with the exception being half the Vram.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
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I'm looking at building a 4K gaming machine in the next few months.

Come back in the next 2-3 months. With R9 390/390X and GM200 6GB cards possibly launching, the entire landscape might change by then. Right now I would pick the Titan X over 980 SLI.
 

LFCNZ

Member
Sep 4, 2011
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Ok thanks, what sort of cooling requirements do you need to overclock the Titan X?

980 TI sounds interesting.
 

LFCNZ

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Sep 4, 2011
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RussianSenation, thanks yeah sounds like things could change quite a lot in the next couple of months.

I'm looking at hopefully August/October to upgrade.
 

RussianSensation

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Sep 5, 2003
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RussianSenation, thanks yeah sounds like things could change quite a lot in the next couple of months.

I'm looking at hopefully August/October to upgrade.

Wow, that's 4-6 months away. One of the key reasons a lot of people who can't readily afford a $1K Titan X with a water-block is the new price/performance levels of R9 390/390X and GM200 6GB cards. The other reason is a possibility of Titan X OC matching or beating performance in an after-market version of those cards. For example, a $799 EVGA Classified GM200 6GB could actually clock to 1.5Ghz on air and thus beat most air-cooled Titan Xs. For air overclocking, the Titan X is good for about 1.4-1.45Ghz from what I've seen. However, since the Titan X with an unmodded bios can barely adjust the voltage, that's another reason why cards like the MSI Lightning, EVGA Classified GM200 versions could have a big advantage.

Overall, since GPUs continue to get faster and/or cheaper, it's better if you ask in 4-6 months because if you aren't upgrading until that point, there is no point on getting 980 SLI/Titan X today. Also, who knows if there will be G-Sync and FreeSync 4K monitors that you might be interested in. This alone can heavily affect your buying decision since at 4K, in the 30-60 fps range, Adaptive Sync will be a big help!
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
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Wow, that's 4-6 months away. One of the key reasons a lot of people who can't readily afford a $1K Titan X with a water-block is the new price/performance levels of R9 390/390X and GM200 6GB cards. The other reason is a possibility of Titan X OC matching or beating performance in an after-market version of those cards. For example, a $799 EVGA Classified GM200 6GB could actually clock to 1.5Ghz on air and thus beat most air-cooled Titan Xs. For air overclocking, the Titan X is good for about 1.4-1.45Ghz from what I've seen. However, since the Titan X with an unmodded bios can barely adjust the voltage, that's another reason why cards like the MSI Lightning, EVGA Classified GM200 versions could have a big advantage.

Overall, since GPUs continue to get faster and/or cheaper, it's better if you ask in 4-6 months because if you aren't upgrading until that point, there is no point on getting 980 SLI/Titan X today. Also, who knows if there will be G-Sync and FreeSync 4K monitors that you might be interested in. This alone can heavily affect your buying decision since at 4K, in the 30-60 fps range, Adaptive Sync will be a big help!

How does the 390/390X perform? How much are they?
 
Feb 19, 2009
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How does the 390/390X perform? How much are they?

The point is 100% valid. OP needs a build in 4-6 months, best to wait and see that other GM200 SKUs are like and especially what 390/X are like.

If AMD is competitive, NV consumers also win due to price cuts.
 

Lil'John

Senior member
Dec 28, 2013
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As others have said, wait until you are closer to building to buy the graphics.

But I'd say it depends upon how many of the bonus features you want to turn on and what game.

I have two Titan X in SLI and they get hit hard in synthetic benchmarks(Unigine Heaven and Valley) at 4k with all the options on: average of ~60 frames but at scene load, they dip to low 30s.D: The scene load dip is visually noticeable.

These are not overclocked or water cooled... yet:cool:
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
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How does the 390/390X perform? How much are they?

I am not sure what the point of your questions is. It doesn't look like you read the thread carefully. The general rule of thumb for GPU building has always been to not buy any new GPU until you are ready to build (unless you can get some insane deal like a $200 Titan X today?). It makes no difference if R9 390X isn't out yet since the OP is building in 4-6 months, and thus, it doesn't matter at all what the exact performance of R9 390X is. On the NV side alone we may see new cards that will make the Titan X a poor buy in 4-6 months.

I am not sure what you are suggesting exactly to buy a Titan X or 980 SLI and keep them in the box for 4-6 months? Instead of being defensive, maybe you should focused on giving the OP advice in terms of his context.