About to buy a new GTX, but not sure what to buy

[Devrim]

Hi. Yes, this is another "What should I buy?" thread, but I have some questions.

 

My constants are "nVidia" + "4GB VRam".

Two main questions in my mind;

 

1) According to my wallet I can buy GTX960 or 970. According to specs, 960 has higher GPU clock, RAM clock than 970, but it's 128bit. 970 has slightly lower values but 256 bit. What's that? How should I evaluate these cards?

 

2) A friend of mine talked me very suspicious about my system; if I will get -for example- GTX960, I will need to upgrade my CPU or motherboard as well (i7 2600 3.4 & Z68X-UD4-B3 1155 DDR3 2133Mhz). Really do I need to upgrade them to get proper performance from my possible new GTX card?

 

I can't wait for it, if you say "go ahead", I'll run or fly to the store and buy the GTX card (maybe today!).

 

Really thanks so much in advance.

:noexpression:

[OnlyforDCS]

Never look at clockspeed when choosing video cards, it's usually its the least important spec.

 

The bus is pretty telling, the 256bit 970 has TWICE the possible bandwidth of the 128bit 960. This tells you pretty much all you need to know. Although there are other technical details such as the GPU architecture, CUDAs etc. which Im not going to go into.

 

Suffice to say that of those two cards the 970 is by far the better pick.

 

Get it, you wont regret it.

 

As for your other question, yes DCS is currently severely CPU limited so you are not going to see drastic improvement over your current setup (you will be able to up the eyecandy a lot though) but that is due to the DX9 limitations of the current engine, this will most probably change with the release of DCS 2.0. which is DX11, so I wouldnt worry about upgrading anything else really until 2.0 hits. When it hits you will see and decide for yourself whether an upgrade in the other departments warrants another look.

[boedha68]

dcs 2.0 is coming. I say according to your system is very good. Buy 2 gtx 970's and you're the boss. I did it too.:thumbup::pilotfly:

 

Oh ya, buy trackir 5. It's a huge improvement you'll never regreat. I played a year with facetrack, i never dreamed of the advantage of trackir 5.

 

example: stuttering issue when you try pull a switch in the cockpit is history. You know what i mean.:music_whistling:

Edited August 7, 2015 by boedha68

[Nooch]

Yes, the 970 is the better choice here. You wouldn't need to buy a new cpu if you had it overclocked. If I were you I'd probably the new skylake i5 cpu, just came out a three days ago.

[gavagai]

yes DCS is currently severely CPU limited so you are not going to see drastic improvement over your current setup (you will be able to up the eyecandy a lot though) but that is due to the DX9 limitations of the current engine, this will most probably change with the release of DCS 2.0. which is DX11

 

DCS is "CPU limited" because it only uses a single cpu core for the simulation, and that is not changing with DCS 2.0.

[Joni]

if you upgrade to a 970 you will gain 30 more fps for sure. I upgraded to an EVGA GTX 970 from your same card and the benefit was inmense.

 

good luck!

[Devrim]

Really thanks a lot guys!

 

An other requirement of upgrading GTX is that I need more VRAM. I use mods; ground texture mods, cockpit mods etc., and I guess I need a new card, at least for future.

 

And, I'll go for 970. I think (maybe) I needed to hear(read) your words. I'll get it.

 

And yes, I know that stutter with Freetrack while slewing Shkval especially, Boedha. :) I'm thinking about TIR5 now. :D Thanks so much.

[outlawal2]

DCS is "CPU limited" because it only uses a single cpu core for the simulation, and that is not changing with DCS 2.0.

 

While that is correct as far as the cpu goes, the new version will use DirectX11 and this will offload a lot of things that the CPU handled in DX9 to the GPU and this will provide much better performance..

 

And definitely go with the GTX970... Best bang for the buck out there. Period..

 

:thumbup:

[Joni]

One thing to notice is that the 970 has 3.5GB of fast memory and 0.5GB of slow memory. This has been discussed a thousand times but the bottom line for me is that the 970 is a magnific card, but if you have plans of gaming at 4k or 2k then the 390 which is cheaper will give you more.

 

But the 970 is great, I have it and dont regret it. GTA V at ultra 60FPS.

Edited August 7, 2015 by JohnnyQ

[*Rage*]

The best bang for buck currently is the AMD 390. If DCS 1.5 can resolve its issues with AMD cards then it would be the better buy.

[Joni]

The best bang for buck currently is the AMD 390. If DCS 1.5 can resolve its issues with AMD cards then it would be the better buy.

 

Yes I meant the 390 when I said 290, sorry.

[Roadrunner]

actualy i would wait those 4-8 weeks until the announced 1.5 release and have a look at the performance with your current card to have a point to start from.

 

to be honest, i do exactly that, having the 560 as well atm ;)

 

side note, your signature says two screens, if you use them within DCS, then a 970 would be better then a 960 i'd say.

 

regards,

RR

 

PS:

if i remember correct you dont have to deactivate modules when changing graphics cards, but better double check that ;)

[Devrim]

Thanks all for your comments. :)

 

And ah, thanks Roadrunner, I was thinking and looking for activation issue. I'll check, but I think you're right about that.

 

And I get you about waiting for v1.5, but as I said prev. page, after all I need more VRAM. Although 560's performance is not bad, I have some problems with low VRAM (Crowded servers, using Shkval can be pain in the azz by the way).

 

Nowadays there's a unexpected income to my wallet, if I can't use it for my system, probably I will not able to upgrade something on my system forever. :P :)

 

Thanks.

[hannibal]

why doesnt this dude wait until DCS 1.5 and let windows 10 settle in to make a descision to purchase?

[Gladman]

I wouldn't wait for 1.5 for the same reason I wouldn't wait for 2.0. It might be a while. Might be tomorrow, who knows.

 

I would also never wait for MS anything. Running Win7 is the best way to go right now in my opinion. Win 8.? has had and still has its issues, Win10 will be plagued as any other other new OS. Being behind the new stuff curve definitely has its advantages. More game time, less headaches.

[Nooch]

The best bang for buck currently is the AMD 390. If DCS 1.5 can resolve its issues with AMD cards then it would be the better buy.

 

It's true but their drivers are still utter crap imo.

[Devrim]

why doesnt this dude wait until DCS 1.5 and let windows 10 settle in to make a descision to purchase?

This dude is excited. He suffers from lack of VRam, and he is OK with Win7.

 

***

 

Dear moderator; thanks for the tittle fix. :D

[Zibell]

I just got myself a GTX 970. Everybody seems to be getting one.

From my limited experience these days, there's absolutely no reason you should not get one.

[blackbelter]

I just got myself a GTX 970. Everybody seems to be getting one.

From my limited experience these days, there's absolutely no reason you should not get one.

 

In fact there is at least one reason...

[Dusty Rhodes]

The 780Ti is a monster and evolved. The 970 seems to be decent but from what I have observed and read and heard, it suffers from driver issues. I think the 780Ti is best card on the market right now when you balance power with cost.

[Python]

I'm holding out for DCS2 before upgrading my GPU, simply to see what actually works best when it arrives. But if I were to be specific, I quite like the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming.

[*Rage*]

In one of Wags streams he mentions a tester as getting almost double the fps with xfire. As such it may be better to upgrade to two mid range cards rather than a brand new high spec card.

[Cibit]

Is it not possible to run a gtx970 with the 560 in sli?

[Demon_]

No, Unfortunately.

[Devrim]

Is it not possible to run a gtx970 with the 560 in sli?

Ah, I wish it would, but as far as I know, they have to be identical cards for SLI. :\

 

The 780Ti is a monster and evolved...

Great card, but unfortunately out of my budget in my country. :\

 

Now, I'm looking for the differences between regular 970 and 970G1...