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Nvidia Launches GTX 980 And GTX 970 "Maxwell" Graphics Cards ($549 & $329)

Naked Snake said:
Hmm, ran the Unigine Benchmark at 1080p Ultra with no AA (to match the settings of Bit-Tech's review and compare), and I got a score of 3052, which seems significantly lower than Bit-Tech's review lists their score of the same card at 4497.

Their setup's CPU, RAM and SSD are much faster than my build, but they mention that Unigine is a GPU bound test so I didn't think those factors would make such a big difference. Neither card is overclocked beyond factory.

Does the difference of CPU (i5-2500 @3.3GHz Vs. i5 3570K @4.2GHz) and RAM (1333MHz DDR3 Vs. 2,400MHz DDR3) explain a 47% increase in the benchmark score on a GPU-bound test? Should I be worried?

Unfortunately I don't have any games to run right now...
except Super Hexagon :P
Click to expand...

I'll be home in 40 mins and will test on my machine. But it should not be that big a gap. I remember vaguely scoring over 3k with 8x AA though.
 
Naked Snake said:
Hmm, ran the Unigine Benchmark at 1080p Ultra with no AA (to match the settings of Bit-Tech's review and compare), and I got a score of 3052, which seems significantly lower than Bit-Tech's review lists their score of the same card at 4497.

Their setup's CPU, RAM and SSD are much faster than my build, but they mention that Unigine is a GPU bound test so I didn't think those factors would make such a big difference. Neither card is overclocked beyond factory.

Does the difference of CPU (i5-2500 @3.3GHz Vs. i5 3570K @4.2GHz) and RAM (1333MHz DDR3 Vs. 2,400MHz DDR3) and HDD Vs. SSD explain a 47% increase in the benchmark score on a GPU-bound test? Should I be worried?

Unfortunately I don't have any games to run right now...
except Super Hexagon :P
Click to expand...

Something's wrong. I get a score of 4056 on my factory OC'd 780.
Ultra, 1080p, no AA.
 
Just bought the Gigabyte 970 on Amazon. Estimated delivery: 15 Nov 2014 - 19 Nov 2014. Let's hope the "estimated" delivery date is on point.
 
Kezen said:
Make sure your case is big enough, the card is 31cm long.
Click to expand...

MbfsCYi.jpg


There's plenty of space :p Thinking about using the 680 as a Physx card until I sell it. Would the PSU handle both cards?
 
Kezen said:
That's one beautiful looking system, slick and clean.
A Physx card isn't worth it really.
Click to expand...

I know that's why I plan on selling it but in the meantime it wont hurt using both, unless the PSU can't handle it. Also for the free Ubisoft games, do I have to sign up anywhere or will the GPU come with a code? It didn't mention anything on Amazon.

Edit: Also thanks :)
 
SliChillax said:
I know that's why I plan on selling it but in the meantime it wont hurt using both, unless the PSU can't handle it. Also for the free Ubisoft games, do I have to sign up anywhere or will the GPU come with a code? It didn't mention anything on Amazon.

Edit: Also thanks :)
Click to expand...

Your PSU should handle both without breaking a sweat. For the Ubisoft promotions usually you have to enter a code when you validate your order.
Looking at Amazon.uk I'm not seeing anything though, perhaps Amazon isn't part of Nvidia deals.
 
Kezen said:
Your PSU should handle both without breaking a sweat. For the Ubisoft promotions usually you have to enter a code when you validate your order.
Looking at Amazon.uk I'm not seeing anything though, perhaps Amazon isn't part of Nvidia deals.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, you were right. Cancelled the order on Amazon ordered it through Overclockers.uk, it was also 30 pounds cheaper.
 
Kezen said:
Something's wrong. I get a score of 4056 on my factory OC'd 780.
Ultra, 1080p, no AA.
Click to expand...

lordfuzzybutt said:
I'll be home in 40 mins and will test on my machine. But it should not be that big a gap. I remember vaguely scoring over 3k with 8x AA though.
Click to expand...


Fuck my card almost fried!

I restarted my PC and ran the Unigine benchmark again, I was eating some snacks and wasn't paying much attention to the screen, but when I looked at it I saw temps were 91 degrees! I looked at the fans and they were not spinning! God damn. The fans were twitching back and forth as if trying to start but failing. I quit the benchmark immediately and opened Afterburner, tried to run the fans manually no luck, tried a fan curve, nothing. Then I gave each one of them a nudge with my finger and then they started spinning and temps gradually went down.

Yeah something is definitely wrong with this card... sigh :(

Ironically this happens minutes after I post about being lucky with electronics and having lucked out with this card regarding coil whine.
 
Naked Snake said:
Fuck my card almost fried!

I restarted my PC and ran the Unigine benchmark again, I was eating some snacks and wasn't paying much attention to the screen, but when I looked at it I saw temps were 91 degrees! I looked at the fans and they were not spinning! God damn. The fans were twitching back and forth as if trying to start but failing. I quit the benchmark immediately and opened Afterburner, tried to run the fans manually no luck, tried a fan curve, nothing. Then I gave each one of them a nudge with my finger and then they started spinning and temps gradually went down.

Yeah something is definitely wrong with this card... sigh :(
Click to expand...

you have a MSI card right? Were there any stickers on the fans? I remember something about MSI cards and stickers on fans that caused some issues awhile back.
 
Naked Snake said:
Hmm, ran the Unigine Benchmark at 1080p Ultra with no AA (to match the settings of Bit-Tech's review and compare), and I got a score of 3052, which seems significantly lower than Bit-Tech's review lists their score of the same card at 4497.

Their setup's CPU, RAM and SSD are much faster than my build, but they mention that Unigine is a GPU bound test so I didn't think those factors would make such a big difference. Neither card is overclocked beyond factory.

Does the difference of CPU (i5-2500 @3.3GHz Vs. i5 3570K @4.2GHz) and RAM (1333MHz DDR3 Vs. 2,400MHz DDR3) and HDD Vs. SSD explain a 47% increase in the benchmark score on a GPU-bound test? Should I be worried?

Unfortunately I don't have any games to run right now...
except Super Hexagon :P
Click to expand...

I have run two tests on Valley @1080p ultra with no AA. This is with the MSI 970, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, I5-3570k @3.8GHz, Corsair MX100 SSD

At standard speeds of 1316MHz (with boost) / memory 3506MHz I get: 4129
With a stable overclock at 1526MHz / memory 4000MHz I get: 4549
 
garath said:
you have a MSI card right? Were there any stickers on the fans? I remember something about MSI cards and stickers on fans that caused some issues awhile back.
Click to expand...

Yes MSI but there were no stickers. Although when I bought the card at my local store the seal on the box was broken, and the card was missing the plastic caps on the video ports. So it looked like it had been used or tested but the salesman said that's not possible. I really wanted the card and it was the last one in stock so I took it. I'm going to be calling the store tomorrow.

Speaking of plastic caps, there seems to be two transparent-blue plastic caps on the top of the card (above the dragon/MSI logo), I didn't take those off, don't know what they're for.
 
Naked Snake said:
Fuck my card almost fried!

I restarted my PC and ran the Unigine benchmark again, I was eating some snacks and wasn't paying much attention to the screen, but when I looked at it I saw temps were 91 degrees! I looked at the fans and they were not spinning! God damn. The fans were twitching back and forth as if trying to start but failing. I quit the benchmark immediately and opened Afterburner, tried to run the fans manually no luck, tried a fan curve, nothing. Then I gave each one of them a nudge with my finger and then they started spinning and temps gradually went down.

Yeah something is definitely wrong with this card... sigh :(
Click to expand...

Damn dude, that's scary, time to raise hell at your store I guess?
 
Naked Snake said:
Yes MSI but there were no stickers. Although when I bought the card at my local store the seal on the box was broken, and the card was missing the plastic caps on the video ports. So it looked like it had been used or tested but the salesman said that's not possible. I really wanted the card and it was the last one in stock so I took it. I'm going to be calling the store tomorrow.

Speaking of plastic caps, there seems to be two transparent-blue plastic caps on the top of the card (above the dragon/MSI logo), I didn't take those off, don't know what they're for.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you got a used card. I would return it.

The two caps you are referring to are covering the SLI connectors.
 
CyanideFuse said:
I have run two tests on Valley @1080p ultra with no AA. This is with the MSI 970, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, I5-3570k @3.8GHz, Corsair MX100 SSD

At standard speeds of 1316MHz (with boost) / memory 3506MHz I get: 4129
With a stable overclock at 1526MHz / memory 4000MHz I get: 4549
Click to expand...

I ran the test again after closing all programs, disabling Avast antivirus and disabling my internet connection. Got a score of 4048. I guess that's a lot better.

The fans don't seem to want to run at all unless I have Afterburner open now. Behavior of this card seems so random.
 
Naked Snake said:
I ran the test again after closing all programs, disabling Avast antivirus and disabling my internet connection. Got a score of 4048. I guess that's a lot better.

The fans don't seem to want to run at all unless I have Afterburner open now. Behavior of this card seems so random.
Click to expand...

I got 4200 at stock MSI 970 Gaming.
 
razgriz417 said:
ah ok, hmm so whats the general consensus here as to the best manufacturer to go with?
...
Anyone know which manufacturer has the least likely chance of coil whine?
Click to expand...

I've been researching this too, and it seems like they all have it about the same percentage, and that no one manufacturer is more coil whine proof than the rest.

Other things to consider though, MSI seems to have fan issues that the others don't, and EVGA cards seem to get the best consumer reviews for satisfaction. Personally I'm ordering a superclocked EVGA 970 today. The FTW both costs more and is harder to find in stock, and although it does get better performance it's not enough for me to justify the extra money.
 
Naked Snake said:
Found a youtube video showing the issue with my fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcTPwzJRCao

It shows how the fan doesn't spin unless you kickstart it with your finger. This originally happened with one fan on my card, then with both fans.
Click to expand...

That looks exactly like what happened to me. I really wish I finger bumped mine to see if it would get going.

I got mine going with MSI afterburner. Unless it was just some weird coincidence that the moment I set up a custom fan curve, the red fan started moving.
 
Salaadin said:
That looks exactly like what happened to me. I really wish I finger bumped mine to see if it would get going.

I got mine going with MSI afterburner. Unless it was just some weird coincidence that the moment I set up a custom fan curve, the red fan started moving.
Click to expand...

Like I said already it seems very random on my end. One time the fans refused to work unless I have Afterburner on. Other times they wouldn't spin no matter what I did with Afterburner.

Currently I have set a fan curve where they are always spinning at 20% when idle. That way the fans never stop spinning. Just have to make sure they initially spin when you turn on the computer, then you should be good as long as you don't let them park when idle.

Anyway I'm returning this card tomorrow. I think the store only has the Zotac in stock and I don't feel like getting that one, so I'll have to wait for other brands to come in stock.
 
M.D said:
Right, but I was under the impression its a way bigger problem with this card in particular?
Click to expand...

BebopMcJigglypuff said:
Only because they're comparatively quiet next to previous high end cards. Usually that shits just drowned out by fans/case noise.
Click to expand...

It appears to be a bigger problem with the 970s. This is the first card type I've ever owned that did this across two different manufacturers too. Nothing to do with how quiet the cards are. The whine is unmistakable at high fps regardless of what fans are running. The buzzing might be masked by case noise.
 
garath said:
It appears to be a bigger problem with the 970s. This is the first card type I've ever owned that did this across two different manufacturers too. Nothing to do with how quiet the cards are. The whine is unmistakable at high fps regardless of what fans are running. The buzzing might be masked by case noise.
Click to expand...

I see, my MSI 970s are nearly silent. Most of the videos I'm seeing of 970 coil whine sound no worse to me than the switching power supplies in my house from laptop chargers to my damn toothbrush charger. A few of the videos do seem particularly bad though.
 
BebopMcJigglypuff said:
I see, my MSI 970s are nearly silent. Most of the videos I'm seeing of 970 coil whine sound no worse to me than the switching power supplies in my house from laptop chargers to my damn toothbrush charger. A few of the videos do seem particularly bad though.
Click to expand...

My MSI card has been very silent too. I've been testing some older games, running them in 4K DSR + AA and all the bells and whistles in Nvidia control panel turned to maximum... The image quality is jaw dropping (I don't know why but even uncompressed screenshots don't do it justice) and everything I threw at it so far has ran at 60fps, and I haven't heard any coil whine during gameplay at all. The only times I heard a faint whine is during menus/loading screens and benchmark tests.

I wish I didn't have to give the card back, but the fan issue is troubling for long term peace of mind.
 
Naked Snake said:
Not all of us lurk on MSI forums ;)

Edit: Holy shit DSR looks amazing! I'm seriously blown away. Never experienced super-sampling in games before. Can you use DSR with Stereo 3D?
Click to expand...

I don't know about DSR, but it definitely works with GeDoSaTo and looks stellar.
 
Just set up my MSI 970, has a bit of coil whine with the case open. It's probably been there for all my gpus, but you lot have made me notice it so I'll always hear it now! Tbh, it's not that bad, and once the case is closed and it's back in its slot, I'll probably not notice it.
 
Oh god. I was expecting decent results, but BF4 running at ultra, 4XMSAA and 125% resolution and still keeping a rock solid 60fps is beyond what I even imagined.
 
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