Used card to hold out until Pascal - 780 (ti) vs 970 vs 980 (ti)

Best Graphics Card to hold me until Pascal

  • GTX 780 - $200

  • GTX 780 ti - $275

  • GTX 970 - $270

  • GTX 980 - $350

  • GTX 980 ti - $560


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dpk33

Senior member
Mar 6, 2011
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0
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I'm looking for one of these cards to hold me until the new generation of graphics cards comes out later this year. My options are:

1. GTX 780 - $200
2. GTX 780 ti - $275
3. GTX 970 - $270
4. GTX 980 - $350
5. GTX 980 ti - $560

Usage typically consists of mostly moderate gaming at 2560x1440 at 144 hz and playback of 60+ fps video (which is surprisingly demanding). Games typically consist of CS:GO, but will be playing GTA V and FO4 as well. Will definitely be turning down the settings in GTA though - not really expecting highest settings, just something that will be "doable" until Pascal. A quick look at benchmarks tells me that the 780, 780ti, or 970 would be my best bet, but what do you guys think?

Sticking with nvidia only, as I have a G-Sync monitor and would like to take advantage of that. So in conclusion, which one do you guys think would be best for my uses?
 
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boozzer

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2012
1,549
18
81
hold out card? simple.

the cheapest.

keep in mind the resale value though.
 
Feb 19, 2009
10,457
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290 @ 1050 = 390.

You would be downgrading with most of those options, besides the 980Ti. The 980 is a side-grade.

If you want Gsync with similar performance, the 980 is minimum.

I would wait. 390 performs top notch in new games.
 

MrTeal

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2003
3,554
1,658
136
Yeah, none of those options is really as good as keep the 290 and wait for Pascal. Even money you won't be able to sell a used 290 and get comparable performance from an nVidia card.
 

crisium

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2001
2,643
615
136
What an odd poll.

All your choices are a downgrade or sidegrade, except the 980 Ti of course.

You already have the best used card to hold you over. Just reading the title I was getting ready to post "290" and to my shock you already have it.

I'm sure you are eager to test G Sync on your monitor but unless you get the 980 Ti you are just throwing money away on any of those cards. Just wait it out.
 

.vodka

Golden Member
Dec 5, 2014
1,203
1,537
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The 980ti is the only real upgrade in that list, and it's not wise to spend that much money in old tech... the new stuff is just around the corner.

Keep the 290, clock it higher if needed, until pascal cards are available.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
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gtx 970 @ med/high setting will do. Make sure you overclock it to~ 980 performance.

@ very high settings with overclock should net you 51 fps avg.
gtav_2560_1440.png


@ very high settings with overclock should net you 62fps avg.
fallout4_2560_1440.png


CS go should be well over 100fps.
 
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dpk33

Senior member
Mar 6, 2011
687
0
76
290 @ 1050 = 390.

You would be downgrading with most of those options, besides the 980Ti. The 980 is a side-grade.

If you want Gsync with similar performance, the 980 is minimum.

I would wait. 390 performs top notch in new games.

Yeah, none of those options is really as good as keep the 290 and wait for Pascal. Even money you won't be able to sell a used 290 and get comparable performance from an nVidia card.

What an odd poll.

All your choices are a downgrade or sidegrade, except the 980 Ti of course.

You already have the best used card to hold you over. Just reading the title I was getting ready to post "290" and to my shock you already have it.

I'm sure you are eager to test G Sync on your monitor but unless you get the 980 Ti you are just throwing money away on any of those cards. Just wait it out.
The 980ti is the only real upgrade in that list, and it's not wise to spend that much money in old tech... the new stuff is just around the corner.

Keep the 290, clock it higher if needed, until pascal cards are available.

Yeah, I'd definitely keep this 290 (it's a pretty nice Sapphire Tri-X version), but it's been giving me issues with my Asus PG278Q and it's apparently a common thing with AMD cards. Specifically that it flickers and loses display signal randomly every couple seconds or minutes. Shouldn't be the card, since the card works fine with every other monitor (3 specifically) that I've used it with. Also, the 290 is only capable of 120hz refresh rate and not the 144 that the monitor is capable of (which works with my old gtx 960).

Anyway, I had a GTX 960 that worked flawlessly with this monitor, but was painfully slow in comparison. Ended up selling that off a few days ago, so I'm back with the faulty setup.

A side-grade would be best case for me in this scenario (or even a small downgrade would be fine). Just not the 960, as it's a bit too slow for my liking. I definitely realize that the 290 is by far, the best price-performance at the moment. But all in all, it's just the display cutting out every so often that really gives incentive for an nvidia card. In fact, my monitor went black about 6 times in the time it took me to type this. Gsync and ULMB and even 3d vision are just icing on top of the cake.
 
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ThatBuzzkiller

Golden Member
Nov 14, 2014
1,120
260
136
I would get the 970 in your situation or even consider the 980 since you might be unsatisfied about the slower performance but at least with the latter your guaranteed somewhat moderately better performance ...
 

topmounter

Member
Aug 3, 2010
194
18
81
If you still had the 960, then I'd say buy a second 960 used for SLI and get ~980 performance. Otherwise the more you spend, the more patient you can be waiting for Pascal availability since the 980 or 980 ti in particular will remain very capable cards at 1440p. If you're going to buy a Pascal card no matter what as soon as possible, then I'd sell / trade the 290 and get a 970 which would at least solve your compatibility issue, if not deliver optimum performance at 144/1440p.
 
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Feb 19, 2009
10,457
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Sapphire Tri-X 290 will sell well on ebay if you need something compatible with monitor.

And yes, 960 is a major downgrade.

970 is even a downgrade in recent games compared to a 290 at 390 performance. But it will do, you can sell that later when Pascal arrives for a real upgrade.
 

moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
10,635
3,095
136
I can't believe a 290 is matching a 980 all of a sudden. But here we are...

I hope Nvidia realizes what is happening to the perceived value of their brand. It is seriously going down the drain faster than @$@!.
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
38,487
11,943
146
I can't believe a 290 is matching a 980 all of a sudden. But here we are...

I hope Nvidia realizes what is happening to the perceived value of their brand. It is seriously going down the drain faster than @$@!.

Why do you care more about the image of one company instead of simply purchasing the product with the highest performance/value?
 

crisium

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2001
2,643
615
136
Why do you care more about the image of one company instead of simply purchasing the product with the highest performance/value?

Uh, I'm not gonna fight his battles for him, but you may want to see his signature.

For dpk33, since you are having card issues, you have little choice. At those prices, I would just get the used 970. Hopefully after selling your 290 you don't lose too much cash.

Also at those prices, the 980 isn't bad - in fact $80 more than the 970 is fair since it is a bit more robust, and honestly is the price premium it should carry now. If you want to jump on Pascal very early then forget it and just get the 970, but if you plan to wait for price wars or the "round 2" 580/780 equivalent Pascal to come out you may want the 980. It is less driver dependent to deliver a good gaming experience because after the way Kepler was treated I would not look toward Nvidia with confidence to manage the memory of the 970 in every game after Pascal launches.
 
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parvadomus

Senior member
Dec 11, 2012
685
14
81
If you still had the 960, then I'd say buy a second 960 used for SLI and get ~980 performance. Otherwise the more you spend, the more patient you can be waiting for Pascal availability since the 980 or 980 ti in particular will remain very capable cards at 1440p. If you're going to buy a Pascal card no matter what as soon as possible, then I'd sell / trade the 290 and get a 970 which would at least solve your compatibility issue, if not deliver optimum performance at 144/1440p.

960SLI is slower than a 290.