Single GTX-980 to replace my old GTX-690 for 3D Vision Surround?
This is one question that I am contemplating now for a longer time. I bought my GTX-690 together with my current system (INTEL i7-3770K @4x4,40GHz Ivy Bridge nVidia GTX 690 16GB DDR3 PC1600 RAM) back in mid 2012.
I play most of my games on my Sony HMZ-T3 which means the GTX-690 is still sufficient for nearly all kind of games (since the HMZ-T3 is limited to 720p 3D).
But there are some games that I use to play in 1080p 3D Vision Surround (mainly beat'em ups like Injustice, StreetFighter X Tekken and NOW Mortal Kombat X - which I totally love).
We all know that games sometimes are not optimized for SLI and then you are limited to just one of your GPUs which in my case means a single GTX-680. Mortal Kombat X seems to be poorly optimized for PC in general and it really stutters in 3D Vision Surround to the point of being a slide show (since it is not optimized for SLI).
I encountered this problem not only with Mortal Kombat X but also some other games in the past so I would really like to upgrade to a SINGLE card that doesn't leave me out in the cold if SLI is not supported.
Again I play most of my games on my Sony HMZ-T3 so the new single card doesn't need to be ultra-potent because the games I play in 1080p 3D Vision surround normally are not THAT demanding. But being limited on just a single GTX-680 for 1080p 3D Vision Surround is definitely no option.
What do you think? Would a single GTX-980 make good for a replacement here? Also shouldn't the 4GB of the GTX-980 make for a huge difference compared to the 2GB of my GTX-690 (although it theoretically sports 4GB)?
Any advice?
Also would even a single GTX-970 be enough to replace my GTX-690 (having in mind that this upgrade is aimed for those non-SLI games where I am limited to just one GPU)?
This is one question that I am contemplating now for a longer time. I bought my GTX-690 together with my current system (INTEL i7-3770K @4x4,40GHz Ivy Bridge nVidia GTX 690 16GB DDR3 PC1600 RAM) back in mid 2012.
I play most of my games on my Sony HMZ-T3 which means the GTX-690 is still sufficient for nearly all kind of games (since the HMZ-T3 is limited to 720p 3D).
But there are some games that I use to play in 1080p 3D Vision Surround (mainly beat'em ups like Injustice, StreetFighter X Tekken and NOW Mortal Kombat X - which I totally love).
We all know that games sometimes are not optimized for SLI and then you are limited to just one of your GPUs which in my case means a single GTX-680. Mortal Kombat X seems to be poorly optimized for PC in general and it really stutters in 3D Vision Surround to the point of being a slide show (since it is not optimized for SLI).
I encountered this problem not only with Mortal Kombat X but also some other games in the past so I would really like to upgrade to a SINGLE card that doesn't leave me out in the cold if SLI is not supported.
Again I play most of my games on my Sony HMZ-T3 so the new single card doesn't need to be ultra-potent because the games I play in 1080p 3D Vision surround normally are not THAT demanding. But being limited on just a single GTX-680 for 1080p 3D Vision Surround is definitely no option.
What do you think? Would a single GTX-980 make good for a replacement here? Also shouldn't the 4GB of the GTX-980 make for a huge difference compared to the 2GB of my GTX-690 (although it theoretically sports 4GB)?
Any advice?
Also would even a single GTX-970 be enough to replace my GTX-690 (having in mind that this upgrade is aimed for those non-SLI games where I am limited to just one GPU)?
Hello,
I have this set-up right now. A single GTX980 with a healthy overclock driving 3 ASUS VG248QE monitors with G-Sync modules installed. I "downgraded" to this from SLI 780 Ti's because I really wanted to future-proof my set-up with G-Sync while the module kits were still available to protect myself against the seemingly inevitability that we wont be able to play new releases in 3D. (so far this amazing 3D community and modders have more or less prevented that from happening however). So, I traded in my 780 Ti's for a single 980 and g-sync kits.
So, how do I like it? Really its going to come down to your tolerance to frame rates in 3D. For my backlog of games that are 3-5 years old like the Dead Space series and Batman Arkham games, a single 980 is plenty to keep the framerates at or above 60 FPS. And it definitely keeps them at 40+ FPS which is what I consider to be comfortable to play considering its 3D Surround. With newish titles, like Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV, i was really only able to get frame rates around 30 FPS with some tweaked settings. And with GTA5, with everything turned down, its only in the range of 24-30 FPS. So for these games, I find myself playing in 3D until i get annoyed with the downgraded graphics and low framerates. Then I'll play in 2D with everything cranked up at about 50+ FPS with G-Sync until i get annoyed that its not in 3D. And just go back and forth.
That being said, you can't beat 3D Vision Surround. So, my plan was and still is to try and get through my back-log with my single 980 while saving up for a second one.
So as far as advice for you... i believe the 980 to be more or less a lateral move from the 690. Now, you will lose the SLI headache and the 980 has 4GB of VRAM which will certainly make an impact while using 3 monitors. So if you are comfortable with the framerates you are getting from your 690 in 3D surround, I'd think youd be just as satisfied with the 980. I just wouldn't expect any major performance gains outside of games that have no SLI compatibility.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-980/performance
I have this set-up right now. A single GTX980 with a healthy overclock driving 3 ASUS VG248QE monitors with G-Sync modules installed. I "downgraded" to this from SLI 780 Ti's because I really wanted to future-proof my set-up with G-Sync while the module kits were still available to protect myself against the seemingly inevitability that we wont be able to play new releases in 3D. (so far this amazing 3D community and modders have more or less prevented that from happening however). So, I traded in my 780 Ti's for a single 980 and g-sync kits.
So, how do I like it? Really its going to come down to your tolerance to frame rates in 3D. For my backlog of games that are 3-5 years old like the Dead Space series and Batman Arkham games, a single 980 is plenty to keep the framerates at or above 60 FPS. And it definitely keeps them at 40+ FPS which is what I consider to be comfortable to play considering its 3D Surround. With newish titles, like Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV, i was really only able to get frame rates around 30 FPS with some tweaked settings. And with GTA5, with everything turned down, its only in the range of 24-30 FPS. So for these games, I find myself playing in 3D until i get annoyed with the downgraded graphics and low framerates. Then I'll play in 2D with everything cranked up at about 50+ FPS with G-Sync until i get annoyed that its not in 3D. And just go back and forth.
That being said, you can't beat 3D Vision Surround. So, my plan was and still is to try and get through my back-log with my single 980 while saving up for a second one.
So as far as advice for you... i believe the 980 to be more or less a lateral move from the 690. Now, you will lose the SLI headache and the 980 has 4GB of VRAM which will certainly make an impact while using 3 monitors. So if you are comfortable with the framerates you are getting from your 690 in 3D surround, I'd think youd be just as satisfied with the 980. I just wouldn't expect any major performance gains outside of games that have no SLI compatibility.
That's what I call a helpful answer. Thanks alot! Exactly that, I am pretty forgiving when it comes to fps but Mortal Kombat X really is a slide-show in 3DV Surround with my 690. So yes, if the 980 performs similar to my 690 in SLI this should be sufficient for those Mortal Kombat X'esque games in 3D Vision Surround and Mortal Kombat X in particular. Also I could upgrade later just like you with a second 980.
That's what I call a helpful answer. Thanks alot! Exactly that, I am pretty forgiving when it comes to fps but Mortal Kombat X really is a slide-show in 3DV Surround with my 690. So yes, if the 980 performs similar to my 690 in SLI this should be sufficient for those Mortal Kombat X'esque games in 3D Vision Surround and Mortal Kombat X in particular. Also I could upgrade later just like you with a second 980.
This might just be my own personal situation and not something others can relate to, but I have twice purchased a single GPU with the intentions of purchasing a second identical one in the future once the first one started to show its age. Both times were pointless exercises. By the time I really felt a second card was necessary to keep up with the latest games, the card was essentially obsolete, and only available through secondary markets. Plus, the advancement in technology made it somewhat inefficient to go that route (power usage, etc.).
So I personally wouldn't recommend buying a slightly inferior GPU (relatively speaking of course) with the idea of SLI'ing it in the future, because by the time you really need that extra power, a 2nd obsolete card isn't going to get you there anyhow. (Or at least in an efficient, bang-for-your buck manner).
That's why, for my last purchase, I chose the 690. At the time, it was the grandaddy of them all. I don't play in surround, and so it still holds up pretty well. We are in that little time period where the current top dog isn't THAT much more powerful, and the only way to really advance performance is to SLI the top dog. So IMHO, if you want to future proof, just go big all at once - either wait for a 990 (or whatever single GPU they eventually release) or SLI a pair of 980s.
This might just be my own personal situation and not something others can relate to, but I have twice purchased a single GPU with the intentions of purchasing a second identical one in the future once the first one started to show its age. Both times were pointless exercises. By the time I really felt a second card was necessary to keep up with the latest games, the card was essentially obsolete, and only available through secondary markets. Plus, the advancement in technology made it somewhat inefficient to go that route (power usage, etc.).
So I personally wouldn't recommend buying a slightly inferior GPU (relatively speaking of course) with the idea of SLI'ing it in the future, because by the time you really need that extra power, a 2nd obsolete card isn't going to get you there anyhow. (Or at least in an efficient, bang-for-your buck manner).
That's why, for my last purchase, I chose the 690. At the time, it was the grandaddy of them all. I don't play in surround, and so it still holds up pretty well. We are in that little time period where the current top dog isn't THAT much more powerful, and the only way to really advance performance is to SLI the top dog. So IMHO, if you want to future proof, just go big all at once - either wait for a 990 (or whatever single GPU they eventually release) or SLI a pair of 980s.
|CPU: i7-2700k @ 4.5Ghz
|Cooler: Zalman 9900 Max
|MB: MSI Military Class II Z68 GD-80
|RAM: Corsair Vengence 16GB DDR3
|SSDs: Seagate 600 240GB; Crucial M4 128GB
|HDDs: Seagate Barracuda 1TB; Seagate Barracuda 500GB
|PS: OCZ ZX Series 1250watt
|Case: Antec 1200 V3
|Monitors: Asus 3D VG278HE; Asus 3D VG236H; Samsung 3D 51" Plasma;
|GPU:MSI 1080GTX "Duke"
|OS: Windows 10 Pro X64
Totally getting your point here Snicker. Yes I said that I could upgrade with the 980 in SLI although I absolutely agree with you that this decision maybe would be made at a point were I would want to go in a totally other direction.
My point for switching the 690 with a 980 is the fact that I am always totally depending on working SLI when it comes to current games because if SLI is not working properly (just like it's now the case with Mortal Kombat X) I am left out in the cold being limited to basically just one GTX-680 which is definitely not enough for 3D Vision Surround even when speaking of games that are not THAT demanding.
More demanding games like Battlefield, Far Cry, Batman....... I prefer to play on my HMZ-T3 in 720p where I have absolutely no problems with getting the game to run properly but those games that I love to play in 3D Vision Surround (mainly those beat'em ups like Injustice, Streetfighter and Mortal Kombat) while not demanding for an Ultra system still need decent performance when being played in 3D Vision Surround. So with a 980 I should ALWAYS get slightly higher performance than with my fully working GTX-690 where there's always the chance that the performance is cut in half due to poor SLI-compatibility (which unfortunately is no exception nowadays).
Totally getting your point here Snicker. Yes I said that I could upgrade with the 980 in SLI although I absolutely agree with you that this decision maybe would be made at a point were I would want to go in a totally other direction.
My point for switching the 690 with a 980 is the fact that I am always totally depending on working SLI when it comes to current games because if SLI is not working properly (just like it's now the case with Mortal Kombat X) I am left out in the cold being limited to basically just one GTX-680 which is definitely not enough for 3D Vision Surround even when speaking of games that are not THAT demanding.
More demanding games like Battlefield, Far Cry, Batman....... I prefer to play on my HMZ-T3 in 720p where I have absolutely no problems with getting the game to run properly but those games that I love to play in 3D Vision Surround (mainly those beat'em ups like Injustice, Streetfighter and Mortal Kombat) while not demanding for an Ultra system still need decent performance when being played in 3D Vision Surround. So with a 980 I should ALWAYS get slightly higher performance than with my fully working GTX-690 where there's always the chance that the performance is cut in half due to poor SLI-compatibility (which unfortunately is no exception nowadays).
^^^ Also good points. Well, if you can afford it, then go for it. Your GPU purchasing cycle might be faster than mine. Honestly I've barely been gaming lately, as I've been tied up with a house designing project. Your needs are different with surround, so I can understand the dilemma.
^^^ Also good points. Well, if you can afford it, then go for it. Your GPU purchasing cycle might be faster than mine. Honestly I've barely been gaming lately, as I've been tied up with a house designing project. Your needs are different with surround, so I can understand the dilemma.
|CPU: i7-2700k @ 4.5Ghz
|Cooler: Zalman 9900 Max
|MB: MSI Military Class II Z68 GD-80
|RAM: Corsair Vengence 16GB DDR3
|SSDs: Seagate 600 240GB; Crucial M4 128GB
|HDDs: Seagate Barracuda 1TB; Seagate Barracuda 500GB
|PS: OCZ ZX Series 1250watt
|Case: Antec 1200 V3
|Monitors: Asus 3D VG278HE; Asus 3D VG236H; Samsung 3D 51" Plasma;
|GPU:MSI 1080GTX "Duke"
|OS: Windows 10 Pro X64
Just to add to the points above, I upgraded from a 690 to 2x970's and I'm perfectly happy.
I have 2 MSI Gaming cards and immediately overclocked them to something resembling stock 980 performance and while I'm still largely benefiting from SLI in most titles I also know that in single card mode it's a significant upgrade from the equivalent of a 680.
I agree with Snicker's point about future intentions too. I've decided to go SLI from day one as I game in surround which really benefits. My next upgrade will probably be straight to a 980 TI or 980 TI SLI.
I really toyed with the idea of a 980 but a single card didn't really represent value for money for me.
Just to add to the points above, I upgraded from a 690 to 2x970's and I'm perfectly happy.
I have 2 MSI Gaming cards and immediately overclocked them to something resembling stock 980 performance and while I'm still largely benefiting from SLI in most titles I also know that in single card mode it's a significant upgrade from the equivalent of a 680.
I agree with Snicker's point about future intentions too. I've decided to go SLI from day one as I game in surround which really benefits. My next upgrade will probably be straight to a 980 TI or 980 TI SLI.
I really toyed with the idea of a 980 but a single card didn't really represent value for money for me.
GTX 1070 SLI, I7-6700k ~ 4.4Ghz, 3x BenQ XL2420T, BenQ TK800, LG 55EG960V (3D OLED), Samsung 850 EVO SSD, Crucial M4 SSD, 3D vision kit, Xpand x104 glasses, Corsair HX1000i, Win 10 pro 64/Win 7 64https://www.3dmark.com/fs/9529310
I play most of my games on my Sony HMZ-T3 which means the GTX-690 is still sufficient for nearly all kind of games (since the HMZ-T3 is limited to 720p 3D).
But there are some games that I use to play in 1080p 3D Vision Surround (mainly beat'em ups like Injustice, StreetFighter X Tekken and NOW Mortal Kombat X - which I totally love).
We all know that games sometimes are not optimized for SLI and then you are limited to just one of your GPUs which in my case means a single GTX-680. Mortal Kombat X seems to be poorly optimized for PC in general and it really stutters in 3D Vision Surround to the point of being a slide show (since it is not optimized for SLI).
I encountered this problem not only with Mortal Kombat X but also some other games in the past so I would really like to upgrade to a SINGLE card that doesn't leave me out in the cold if SLI is not supported.
Again I play most of my games on my Sony HMZ-T3 so the new single card doesn't need to be ultra-potent because the games I play in 1080p 3D Vision surround normally are not THAT demanding. But being limited on just a single GTX-680 for 1080p 3D Vision Surround is definitely no option.
What do you think? Would a single GTX-980 make good for a replacement here? Also shouldn't the 4GB of the GTX-980 make for a huge difference compared to the 2GB of my GTX-690 (although it theoretically sports 4GB)?
Any advice?
Also would even a single GTX-970 be enough to replace my GTX-690 (having in mind that this upgrade is aimed for those non-SLI games where I am limited to just one GPU)?
I have this set-up right now. A single GTX980 with a healthy overclock driving 3 ASUS VG248QE monitors with G-Sync modules installed. I "downgraded" to this from SLI 780 Ti's because I really wanted to future-proof my set-up with G-Sync while the module kits were still available to protect myself against the seemingly inevitability that we wont be able to play new releases in 3D. (so far this amazing 3D community and modders have more or less prevented that from happening however). So, I traded in my 780 Ti's for a single 980 and g-sync kits.
So, how do I like it? Really its going to come down to your tolerance to frame rates in 3D. For my backlog of games that are 3-5 years old like the Dead Space series and Batman Arkham games, a single 980 is plenty to keep the framerates at or above 60 FPS. And it definitely keeps them at 40+ FPS which is what I consider to be comfortable to play considering its 3D Surround. With newish titles, like Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV, i was really only able to get frame rates around 30 FPS with some tweaked settings. And with GTA5, with everything turned down, its only in the range of 24-30 FPS. So for these games, I find myself playing in 3D until i get annoyed with the downgraded graphics and low framerates. Then I'll play in 2D with everything cranked up at about 50+ FPS with G-Sync until i get annoyed that its not in 3D. And just go back and forth.
That being said, you can't beat 3D Vision Surround. So, my plan was and still is to try and get through my back-log with my single 980 while saving up for a second one.
So as far as advice for you... i believe the 980 to be more or less a lateral move from the 690. Now, you will lose the SLI headache and the 980 has 4GB of VRAM which will certainly make an impact while using 3 monitors. So if you are comfortable with the framerates you are getting from your 690 in 3D surround, I'd think youd be just as satisfied with the 980. I just wouldn't expect any major performance gains outside of games that have no SLI compatibility.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-980/performance
3D Vision Surround | Driver 359.00 | Windows 7
GTX 980 SLI | i7 3770K @ 4.2 GHz | 16 GB RAM
3x ASUS VG248QE w/ G-SYNC
So I personally wouldn't recommend buying a slightly inferior GPU (relatively speaking of course) with the idea of SLI'ing it in the future, because by the time you really need that extra power, a 2nd obsolete card isn't going to get you there anyhow. (Or at least in an efficient, bang-for-your buck manner).
That's why, for my last purchase, I chose the 690. At the time, it was the grandaddy of them all. I don't play in surround, and so it still holds up pretty well. We are in that little time period where the current top dog isn't THAT much more powerful, and the only way to really advance performance is to SLI the top dog. So IMHO, if you want to future proof, just go big all at once - either wait for a 990 (or whatever single GPU they eventually release) or SLI a pair of 980s.
|CPU: i7-2700k @ 4.5Ghz
|Cooler: Zalman 9900 Max
|MB: MSI Military Class II Z68 GD-80
|RAM: Corsair Vengence 16GB DDR3
|SSDs: Seagate 600 240GB; Crucial M4 128GB
|HDDs: Seagate Barracuda 1TB; Seagate Barracuda 500GB
|PS: OCZ ZX Series 1250watt
|Case: Antec 1200 V3
|Monitors: Asus 3D VG278HE; Asus 3D VG236H; Samsung 3D 51" Plasma;
|GPU:MSI 1080GTX "Duke"
|OS: Windows 10 Pro X64
My point for switching the 690 with a 980 is the fact that I am always totally depending on working SLI when it comes to current games because if SLI is not working properly (just like it's now the case with Mortal Kombat X) I am left out in the cold being limited to basically just one GTX-680 which is definitely not enough for 3D Vision Surround even when speaking of games that are not THAT demanding.
More demanding games like Battlefield, Far Cry, Batman....... I prefer to play on my HMZ-T3 in 720p where I have absolutely no problems with getting the game to run properly but those games that I love to play in 3D Vision Surround (mainly those beat'em ups like Injustice, Streetfighter and Mortal Kombat) while not demanding for an Ultra system still need decent performance when being played in 3D Vision Surround. So with a 980 I should ALWAYS get slightly higher performance than with my fully working GTX-690 where there's always the chance that the performance is cut in half due to poor SLI-compatibility (which unfortunately is no exception nowadays).
|CPU: i7-2700k @ 4.5Ghz
|Cooler: Zalman 9900 Max
|MB: MSI Military Class II Z68 GD-80
|RAM: Corsair Vengence 16GB DDR3
|SSDs: Seagate 600 240GB; Crucial M4 128GB
|HDDs: Seagate Barracuda 1TB; Seagate Barracuda 500GB
|PS: OCZ ZX Series 1250watt
|Case: Antec 1200 V3
|Monitors: Asus 3D VG278HE; Asus 3D VG236H; Samsung 3D 51" Plasma;
|GPU:MSI 1080GTX "Duke"
|OS: Windows 10 Pro X64
I have 2 MSI Gaming cards and immediately overclocked them to something resembling stock 980 performance and while I'm still largely benefiting from SLI in most titles I also know that in single card mode it's a significant upgrade from the equivalent of a 680.
I agree with Snicker's point about future intentions too. I've decided to go SLI from day one as I game in surround which really benefits. My next upgrade will probably be straight to a 980 TI or 980 TI SLI.
I really toyed with the idea of a 980 but a single card didn't really represent value for money for me.
GTX 1070 SLI, I7-6700k ~ 4.4Ghz, 3x BenQ XL2420T, BenQ TK800, LG 55EG960V (3D OLED), Samsung 850 EVO SSD, Crucial M4 SSD, 3D vision kit, Xpand x104 glasses, Corsair HX1000i, Win 10 pro 64/Win 7 64https://www.3dmark.com/fs/9529310