So err, back to the subject. MSI/ASUS/GA 980? Or is two 970's SLI a better choice? Or just get one 980 now and another later?
Yeah of all the producers MSI is marginally better, I went with 2x ASUS 970 mostly out of brand loyalty (my last 2 mobo's have been ASUS too) but that was very soon after release so I didn't have many reviews to go on, had I waited I would have gone MSI but oh well, the strix is still pretty damn sweet for what it cost me! Overclocking only really reduces the lifespan of a cpu if your cooling solution can't keep up with it as it is the thermal stresses that cause it to wear out more than anything else, if you have a decent cooling system then you can safely overclock it a fair bit and still not actually reduce its lifespan... also manufacturer specifications always play it safe with the numbers they release to the public, they will test the chip to it's actual limits, find out what it can handle without over-stressing it, and then they will set the manufacturer specifications lower than that to give themselves an extra safety margin I would definitely say go with MSI, but it's really up to you whether you think you will need all that power from 2 980's down the line, especially considering that a new chip architecture that puts the current one to shame might be out by then (even if the current maxwell is a thing of beauty compared to the previous one!) Basically if one 980 is more than enough for the next few years then go with that and only spend £450~ total, if you need more power than that but not enough to justify £900 for 2x 980, then pay £550 and get two 970's
Thanks for the help! Just wanted some things clarified. I will probably go with the MSI 980, and will hopefully not need to upgrade in the next few years due to the power of two cards if I need more power I can just overclock both CPU and GPU with the correct cooling system!
What ever you do don't get sli. Yes when you can use sli it's amazing but if a games not made for it then it's pointless really. Am running a 8350 4.2ghz amd 16gb ram and a 760gtx factory OC And I have yet to fine something can push it.
Hmm, well I can always get one GTX 980 and upgrade later to get SLI if I wanted. Just found a video of 3x 970 vs 2x 980. [DOUBLEPOST=1430226253][/DOUBLEPOST]Ive got another question that I could do with your opinion on. 2x GTX980 SLI or GTX Titan X. What are the pro/cons of using one over the other? Limitations/problems with SLI? @chaosblad3 I was reading this to get a better idea of what to chose Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan X: Benchmarks and Impressions - IGN Also the power consumption comes to about 565W with the SLI and 460W with the Titan X. As my power supply is only 600W will I need to increase this as the SLI setup is short by 35W, would this not cause problems? I currently dont have any 4K monitors, and dont plan on getting any in the near future. So would the extra power that the titan supplies be useful? Where would be the best place to buy the components from? Trusted websites? Cheers Ash
Pretty straight forward really, the titan is a damn good card for those who can afford it, doing 70-80% of what 2x 980's can do in a single card, and as slind pointed out before with an SLI setup you do run a small risk of microstuttering if a game isn't well optimised for SLI (personally I have yet to notice this in any of the games I play), but again it's entirely for you to decide whether the cost/power ratio is right for you. Yes, if you were planning to go for 2x 980's you would need to beef up your powersupply, the one I used in my first big gaming build was a 850w even though at the time I knew I wouldn't need all that power right away, but I still wanted a big overhead for future upgrades, so if you do go with one 980 and then plan to get a second later on then definitely upgrade your powersupply now, also as I mentioned before it's definitely worth getting a gold/plat rated one that you know will last, than settle for a cheaper bronze rated one. Depends what games you plan to be playing.. I don't have 4k either, but what I do have is nvidia surround outputting an already power hungry game (Star Citizen -early alpha build) at 144hz to 3 monitors, and the games more extravagant graphics features are still to come! Spoiler: This isn't mine as cba to find camera, but this is roughly what mine looks like! For a trusted source I buy almost all my parts through amazon since whether you are buying direct from amazon's own stock or from a 3rd party seller, amazon themselves will work very hard to sort out any problems you have, even up to the point of forcibly refunding money from a 3rd party seller to you without their consent if they are being uncooperative!
Seems that I already planned for an upgrade That saves me some money!! Thanks again for the advise. And ik it's a little bit dusty haha ^-^ If there any case that you would recommend @chaosblad3, I require something with a lot of room to mount two GTX 980's SLI
Final upgrade choices: Intel Core i7-4790K, MSI GeForce GTX 980 (2-Way SLI), Corsair 750D - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom CPU: i7 4790k GPU: MSI NVIDIA GTX 980 Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 7 Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 750D CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry Mix 2 CPU Fans: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Still debating if to get 2x GTX 980 with SLI or just get the one card for now...
you would be better off cross-firing instead of sli you should take a gander at my setup and go with that Intel Core i7-4790K, Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 (3-Way CrossFire), BitFenix Neos Black/Silver - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom
