GTX 970 3.5 GB problem

I'm kinda surprised there's no thread on the issue yet so let's get started.

The first I heard about it was a couple of days ago when I was directed to this thread a few days after I'd bought a GTX 970: GTX 970s can only use 3.5GB of 4GB VRAM issue. Also take a look at the screenshots in this post on page 18 of that thread.

I haven't followed international blog and media coverage, but German tech portal heise online has covered the issue during the past couple of days, leaving little doubt that this is in fact a real issue:

GeForce GTX 970: Nvidia lässt Händler und Kunden im Regen stehen

Nvidia-Grafikkarten: GeForce GTX 970 hat auch weniger Rasterendstufen und L2-Cache als behauptet

Kommentar: Nvidias schmutzige Kartentricks

Nvidia führt Käufer der GeForce GTX 970 hinters Licht: Nur 3,5 statt 4 GByte RAM schnell angebunden

Sounds like Nvidia is still stonewalling but they were apparently forced to admit the observations (that the last 512 MB of VRAM are much slower than the first 3.5 GB on GTX 970 cards).

According to Nvidia, that would lead to a marginal performance drop once such a card uses more than the first 3.5 GB of VRAM, whereas reports suggest that using that much VRAM will lead to stutters and massive performance drops.

So, for the time being, I definitely wouldn't get one of these until Nvidia and/or manufacturers release a new, fixed revision or the cards see a massive drop in price.

Still haven't decided whether I'm going to return mine; while the shop is not legally required to take something back just because I don't like it, this sounds like the product is simply not functioning as advertised, which should give me plenty reason to return it or get a substantial bonus according to German law. And while the card is running fine so far, I can't tell whether it'll become a stuttering nightmare once an application makes it use all 4 GB of advertised VRAM. Also, the potential re-sale price probably dropped by >50% during the last couple of days, so I think Nvidia and (in my case) Gainward should take the fall, not me.

(Not sure whether my dealer can hand the problem back to their reseller, but if they can't, it's the risk of doing business I'd say).

Most interestingly, in Germany at least the cards seem to sell at a higher price than they did a week ago (the one I got is now 359 Euros and was 349 about a week ago in that online store; at my local store where I actually bought it it's now 352 instead of 340 Euros). WTF?

I just now canceled my order of an Asus Strix 970, due to this issue. And I let the shop know why I canceled.

The risen price could be reflecting the USD/EUR exchange.

I have read about it (I have a gigabyte G1 gaming), but I also heard that not every card is experiencing the issue. Not sure about it at all though. I think it had something to do with the brand of ram they used. Samsung memory chips werent affected last thing I read. But that was a few days ago and might not be true. My card has Samsung memory and I personally havent experienced any issues yet.

I have my card since release so no returning the card for me. Im happy with the card so far though. Also, from a legal standpoint nvidia hasnt done anything wrong. All 4 gigs are present, a small part is just very slow, but they never said it wasnt. But I don't think nvidia is going to be a dick about it, they would lose a lot of customers because of it.

Im going to wait and see whats going to happen in the next few days.

Oh no, I don't like the sound of this.

I'm just getting my gaming PC back up and running after upgrading from 2x GTX470 SLI to a GTX970.

Its been a longer process than I intended with delays getting the watercooling upgraded with another radiator and the GPU waterblock.

Windows is installed and Ive put assetto corsa on it but no gaming devices been connected yet.

I've not yet got DCS installed but looks like I've bought a lemon from what I've just read. I'm well past the 90 days to return it to where I bought it from... gutted is not the word. I considered the 980 but didnt go the extra mile...wish I had.

:(

First coil-whine, and now this. Good thing that I waited with my puchase, I think I am going to skip this generation of cards.

I was about to get one for my son but now I hold off !!!

A 750GTX-Ti must do it for him then..

Waiting on my 980 GTX to finally ARRIVE grrrhhhhh non-deliverable at my wholesale... grrhhh

Well i kind of expected this, it being a 256 bit card with 4GB of ram, while AMDs 4GB cards are all 512bit, i never thought it could use 4GB effectively, though my knowledge of how it works, may not be correct.

Nvidia is supposed to be trying to fix it with a driver update by forcing data that doesn't need to be fast (background driver kind of stuff) to the 512 MB partition.

I bought my 970 knowing about the issue (I don't think it's an issue, TBH) and I couldn't care less. The card is a f'n BEAST either way, and there is absolutely nothing out there that can touch it in terms of price/performance, 3.5 GB or not.

This is what Toms Hardware Have to say about it.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-specifications,news-49637.html

Until I've got it all set up again and ive tried myself I dont know if it will cause me a problem.

A bit of over clocking could fix it :)

This is what Toms Hardware Have to say about it.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-specifications,news-49637.html

 

Until I've got it all set up again and ive tried myself I dont know if it will cause me a problem.

A bit of over clocking could fix it :)

Toms analogy is absolutely terrible.

Its still a great card. They will probably release a driver which will limit the memory use to the 3.5 GB. Still its a totally horrible move by Nvidia, especially on what is most probably the best buy card of this generation. Heh. Well no longer I guess.

All I can say is that I am glad I got a GTX 980 for my build.

Like how.AMD slashed the R9-290x prices with the line :

"4Gb means 4gb", lol

This situation is definitely suck but gtx 970 still works good. Im sure before we will need this 0.5Gb we able to buy a next gen.

I read about the issue around the web, but I'm pretty sure it's nothing. I have the msi 970 and works great. DCS is running as it should, while when I was packing a HD 6990 it was stutterfest (shittiest card I ever had).

Guess that IF there's actually a bug, they'll fix it with updated drivers, keep in mind that Maxwell is a rather new architecture and could have its teething problems (and I may add, that after years with amd cards, having experienced their dedication to support their hardware with at least decent drivers, I'm rather cool about this)

edit: see the enclosed gif, GPUZ reports my 970 memory as it should be

It is a hardware issue, driver or bios update can just limit access to slow section.

Not a big deal. You will only run into problems if you try play at 4K which no card can do at playable levels anyway. My old 570 would do worse. :)

Not a big deal. You will only run into problems if you try play at 4K which no card can do at playable levels anyway. My old 570 would do worse. :)

What are "playable levels"?

Equal or above 30FPS

Not so sure you will spend 4GB so easely at 1080P even with full filters switched on. If there is an impact then NVIDIA would be committing a fatal design oversight resulting in massive card recalls.

They missed this issue completely when reviewing the cards. It was only detected because people pushed them over above and beyond. You need a faster card for those territories anyway.

yes, by cranking up the detail to levels not realistically meant for these cards anyway.

Like how.AMD slashed the R9-290x prices with the line :

"4Gb means 4gb", lol

they also need to market the fact that its 512 bit buffer with 4gb of ram :)

Unfortunately DSR plus texture mods gets you into the 3.x GB RAM usage easily...

DSR - Dynamic Super Resolution a new NVIDIA feature to display higher resolutioms on your full HD screen, up to 4k. Just 2x 1080p packs quite a punch on the card with high resolution texture mods plus lots of complex objects. Though I hadn't noticed any 'stutter' yet, after I updated the MOtherboards BIOS and installed the current drivers...

I somehow agree with Pilotasso here, the card that can run 4k might not be the 970 anyway.

The real issue is how NVIDIA treats their customers and partners. Pretty bad move and marketing strategy that will surely backfire...

This situation is definitely suck but gtx 970 still works good. Im sure before we will need this 0.5Gb we able to buy a next gen.

Plauing War Thunder @1080p with 4xAA everything ultra Im using 3,9gb.....

Plauing War Thunder @1080p with 4xAA everything ultra Im using 3,9gb.....

I play it @1200 and get more than 100 fps at times.