Graphics What should I do? (980ti, Fury X)

Before I get started I'd just like to say that I really don't want this turning into a name-calling, hair-pulling AMD vs NVIDIA flame war - I'd just like some objective advice.

I've had an EVGA 980ti Hybrid on pre-order since last week (for £640 if you're interested) and the supplier is still waiting for stock - it should have been here by now based on both their initial estimates and some revised ones. Having seen the announcement of the Fury X yesterday I'm now very torn as to what to do - if it makes a difference I game at 2560x1440 so, in your opinion, should I:

(a) stick with the 980ti

(b) cancel the pre-order and get a Fury X

(c) something else

I'd appreciate thoughts asap so if I do decide to cancel I'm not messing around the supplier too much.

Cheers!

George

 

If it was me, I would cancel the pre-order and wait for reviews to go live and see what the performance is like and how much it can be overclocked etc.

Either way both cards look like they are going to be cracking cards but, the Fury is still a unknown until the reviews go live and I have not seen the reviews of the 980Ti hybrid.

 

Damien has the best idea I reckon. Cancel the pre-order and wait for reviews to see how the two compare. That's what I'd do too.

 

I agree. The 980Ti is a cracking card, but you could be mightily peeved if the Fury piddles all over it for similar money. For the sake of a week or so, I'd cancel and wait.

 

Have cancelled - thanks for the speedy replies. Typically I'm usually a nvidia fan and have only used their GPUs for the last 5 / 6 years but if the Fury X is either (a) more powerful for the same money, (b) the same power for cheaper then I'd happily jump ship. It would also fit the colour scheme of my rig better Also the release of the Fury X may well push down the cost of the 980 ti which I wouldn't be too sad about either...

 

Yep, this is the way to go, reviews should be live on the 24th.

 

I thought it was the 26th?

 

Definitely 24th - only a week to wait

 

Why cancel the pre-order if the supplier is still waiting for stock?

a) You shouldn't be charged until it is in stock and ready to be dispatched to you.
b) Even if it came in stock today, got processed and sent out to be delivered tomorrow; you could still leave it in its box unopened until the 24th and still have a further 7 days absolute minimum to return the 980ti penalty-free under CCR.

This protects you in the event you decide to keep the 980ti - you haven't lose your place in the queue for stock (which could be who knows how long?) and if Fury X turns out to be a dud/no-show/12 week wait then you just open it up and get it installed!

That said, it's a Fury X for me as long as reviews don't show it to be crap!

 

Oh well - too late now. The estimated delivery date had been moved to Friday / Monday and I can't be bothered with sending it back and potentially losing out on money (shipping it back wouldn't be cheap and who's to say the supplier wouldn't try to charge something like a 'restocking fee').

Edit: I know that a supplier can't charge a restocking fee but I've seen it tried...

 

I'd cancel before its shipped

I have been toying with switching out my 290s but think I will wait to see the lay of the land after the windows 10 Dx12 bombshell drops.

 

I'd have stuck with the 980Ti TBH.

6GB of VRAM and has fewer driver issues in the latest games like Project Cars, Witcher 3, GTAV and the extras that will be Nvidia Gameworks specific in the upcoming Batman AK.

Performance and power consumption wise they'll most likely be in the same ballpark give or take a few % here and there.

 

That's a very good point - it might be that one or other is much more suited to Dx12...

If I decide to go down the 980ti route I think I'll wait to see if the Fury launch pushes the prices down a bit - the whole AMD driver update (or lack thereof) issue does concern me a bit if I'm being honest.

 

Definitely wait for reviews. Worst case scenario: Fury X performs the same or slightly less than 980ti, Nvidia keeps prices the same, and you have a slightly longer wait for the card. Bes case, Fuxy X outperforms the 980ti, and Nvidia drop prices to compensate, and you have a choice between two similarly performing cards at a lower price.

 

I wouldn't worry about the whole AMD Vs Nvidia drivers talk. Unless your going multigpu in which case Nvidia would be the better option.
Also + 1 for waiting. The only problem i see is constrained stock of the Fury. Mind you 980Tis have been low on stock.

 

Even multiGPU is going to change with DX12 as OS rather than driver will handle it.

 

Part of me wants to wait for that and see how it affects my current setup (SLI 780) just out of interest before I upgrade haha

 

Requires a Direct x 12 game first and foremost. You could still be waiting 2 years for that magical thing to happen.

 

Remember a lot of these DX12 enhancements (e.g. engine-driven multi-GPU rather than driver-driven) are optional and depend on developers implementing them. These are low-level optimisations, so require a lot of work (and skill) to get any benefit out of. Implemented in 3rd party engines like Unreal and Unity will give access to these for lot of developers with less effort, but for anyone using an in-house engine there may not be the time needed to actually make use of them.
Currently, how well multi-GPU scales for a given game depends on how much work the driver developers put into adding case-by-case hooks and hacks to the drivers to handle new edge cases. With DK12, then game developers can optionally take that effort onto themselves, but someone still has to do all that work.

 

I have pre-ordered the EVGA 980ti Hybrid as well (from scan) but there is zero chance I am cancelling.

it sits at a higher frequency at standard clock (1140mhz) vs the only other card I would even look at the Zotac (1025, 1114mhz boost etc).

The boost of the Hybrid is 1228MHz!

I think the EVGA 980ti Hybrid is a serious bit of kit and a huge upgrade even to this 980HOF which is meant to be pretty fast, it has impressed tbh.

You have to remember there are little bits in the 980ti fine tuned for VR or will at least help,

Not getting the very best 980ti you can get to set your self up for what promises to be an amazing next 12 months.

Your going to head into the next 12 months with an AMD card?

nope

if you gave me the AMD card for free, I would give it away and still buy the 980ti