Hi,
 
I am just now reading about the great memory scandal with the 970 cards , lol. I don't use a 4k setup just 1080p. But, EVGA said they will still honor a step-up even though I am 30 days over for a standard 980 (I'm sure Tiger Direct would just laugh at me if I asked for a partial/full refund). Looking at the specs between the two the base speed on the 980 is slower but I'm sure the chipset is better. So, if I can get it for say a $150 difference would it be worth it? I'm not saying I would do this as my 970 works ok (not quite as good as I hoped but ok).

drmarc
I'd say not worth the 150 (or in most people's cases, the 300) dollar bump in price.  The translation in terms of gameplay difference is 3% in most cases...so about 3-4 FPS.  Both 970 and 980 do not perform well at 4K regardless.  If your 970 is working well, stick with it.  It's more than enough for 1080p to run smoothly, and even in some cases to bump it to 2x DSR and still get excellent performance.

Ok, thanks for the reply. I am in no big hurry to go to 4k/SLI and I'll just forget I saw the memory complaints on the 970... maybe . However, it does make a case to check out ATI's offerings next upgrade. The 970 is ok but these cards (seems like upgrades going way back) always seem to dissapoint on some level (turn shadows up; nope still sluggish..."oh, here is volametric smoke that was slow on my 680... nope, still slow on the 970" etc. etc.). I do understand there can be other bottle necks that can impact performance. 

Performance moving from a 970 FTW to a reference 980 GTX Is about 5-8% Gain depending on the title. Is it worth the extra like $200? Not to me anyways....

From my POV If it doesn't reap at least a 30-35% Gain the price isn't worth it.

I have a much older processor and less ram than you, and I am running at 50-60 fps even in places like Hinterlands.  I can give you a few pointers that may help optimize you in DAI.  First, my rig and some software optimizing I had to do.
 
i7 920 overclocked to 4.0 Ghz with HT on in BIOS
Software wise, all my power saving options is turned off in the BIOS (I have an EVGA x99 MB)
 
6GB of Corsair Dominator 9:9:9:24 in BIOS
My virtual memory in windows 7 is customized to range from 6000 to 18000mb (stopped my game from blue screening when the game first came out).
 
The GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 with kboost off, stock speeds, fan curve optimized to keep the temp at 60C
In NVIDIA, my PhysX is through the 970 (not my processor, this is very important as it improved my experience drastically)
 
As for the game, there's a few options that should be turned off when you tick to ultra.  The most important is turning OFF post-process anti-aliasing.  You use that in place of MSAA, not in addition to.  It pretty much tries to render 2 types of anti-aliasing while just using one of them.  It even says in the description to be used in place of MSAA.  Big performance boost here.  Also, turning HBAO full to just HBAO gave me another 5-6 fps with no visual difference as far as I could appreciate.
 
If none of this works, you can try to substitute MSAA with post-process anti-aliasing, and using 2x DSR.  This will improve your performance significantly and while the image quality takes a small hit, it's comparable.  With your computer though, it should have no problem running this game the way I do from a hardware standpoint.  and FYI, a single 980 will not run this game smoothly at 60 FPS when you try to crank it to ultra with 4x MSAA.  2 cards in SLI will.
 
I hope some of this does the trick for you.  It's really not a well optimized game lol.

Thanks Drmarc, I'm going to think this over (and read some more) this weekend.

You could always work a return with EVGA of the 970 FTW and then order whatever card you want.  I was contemplating doing that and getting 980 FTW, but I settled with the 970 FTW+ step-up.

Hi all,
 
EVGA is only giving me the option for the base model that I don't want. They said they would try to get me a refund and at that point I would probably just get the 980FTW. I am still miffed about the 970 memory but at the same time not fully motivated to return the card. A refund was the last thing I wanted to do. I was thinking about calling EVGA to speak to support about it again today.  

I went for a refund. The 970 issue just gave me a negative vibe that wouldn't go away so this will nip it in the bud. EVGA may be taking the brunt of this as I doubt Tiger Direct helped; thanks EVGA. I went ahead and ordered the EVGA 980 FTW from Newegg today. So, this issue is solved as far as I'm concerned.

finalflash88
Ok thanks for the feedback. I also thinking of getting the refund. GTX 980 FTW just is much more tempting then the stock model =)
I assume we'll get the money the card is worth now, and not the price we paid 2 -3 months ago, am I right?

I should be getting back the full value of the card minus any shipping and taxes. There was no shipping or taxes initially from Tiger Direct. I also have a back plate (Free, minus shipping) that I never installed and Far Cry 4 (told I could keep that from the promo last fall). To send it back ground in the US with insurance will cost around $20+. The 980FTW will be here Monday (3/16).