Miko Ryukudo
Do you guys think the SSC or FTW+ would do well for 1440p IPS? Lots of people are telling me the experience of IPS is too good to pass over TN.

Once you go IPS, you will never want to go back.
 

mr. wolf

Morphevz
@Mr. wolf: that's great to know; that'll be my plan Z by the end of the month, although I would still prefer FTW+, given that's what I thought I was buying when I drilled a hole in my bank account... =)

Yeah, I definitely prefer to get the FTW+, since I bought the now-faulty FTW, and will wait until the last minute of the last day of my step up window before settling for the SSC

At least yall can still step-up your FTWs.  Us that bought the FTW when it first came out are out of luck unless eVGA actually does good for it's loyal customers and allows us for a limited time to step-up to the FTW+.  I would be super disappointed in eVGA if they did not.

IAmTheNorwegianGamer
 
[...]
Wouldent 970 sli give me a big advantage since i am getting a 144Hz monitor? G-synch though (and 1080P)
 
I woud def. not get another 980. So either single 980, dual 970, you still mean 980 is the best way to go now?
Saves me 150$ which i can use on a block for the 980. Thank you!
 
Hilsen Fra Kr.sand^^
 

Haha! My best friend if from Kristiansand! Though, he's not living in Norway at the moment, and I'm not Norwegian. ;D
 
OK, I overlooked the fact that you'll be playing at 144Hz as well, instead of the usual 60Hz. Then, the 970 SLI setup will probably keep you kissing the 144Hz mark more often than a single GTX 980. But please, don't take my single opinion for it. Do the same I did; Google reviews and performance compares between single 980s and 2x SLI 970s, check the games you play, or at least games used in the benchmarks that use the same engine. Don't check only one or two reviews, but rather as many as you can find. See what fps was reported for each case in the reviews. You'll be wanting the cards that maintain stable ~140fps at 1080p. If a single 980 does that (I know 60Hz - aka 60fps wouldn't be a sweat), then that's all the money you need to spend and can discard SLI headaches. If the 980 can't make hold ~140fps on most games at 1080p, then the 2xSLI 970 would be the best bet to achieve it.
 
Do keep a thing in mind though; from what I noticed, most review sites tweak the game settings a bit, but don't exactly max them out, so do keep an eye on the graphical settings used, and if you own the games, check if that's their max before considering your options.
But again, don't base your decision on a single or a couple opinions, research and make an educated decision. If you regret it later, it is due to a call you and you alone made, and noone else misled you towards it.
 
So, to rephrase my earlier statement and prevent missunderstandings: 
Long story short, if I was playing at 1080p @60Hz, I would definitely stay the hell away from SLI headaches as a gamer. If I was playing at 1080p @144Hz, I'm not so sure, as I didn't dig into a setup I wasn't looking for. =)
 
Best of luck and may you enjoy your decision in the end!

ManBearPig
 
Once you go IPS, you will never want to go back.

I honestly can't fathom, my current monitor isn't even FHD. Our household just got our first 1080p TV for Christmas and it is a marvel to see. I hope Big Daddy will be able to handle it and not cost over $1000 ;w;
 
I bet that the FTW+'s would absolutely wreck it at 120hz up until the most demanding games. I just don't want to enter SLI until Nvidia fixes all the problems with it and gets around the bandwidth cap. Rumors float around that that might not be until Volta though x.x

aronh17

outlawii
So why are the FTW's faulty? 

They're not exactly faulty, they just do not deliver on the performance expectations that they should. They're good GPUs but are lacking in power draw and seemingly voltage as well. I've read about a few FTW cards not doing well even with voltage increase and my card has the issue as well. Seems the only thing the FTW owners got was a better heatsink for the cooler and that's it. The other problem is that the SSC is now outdoing the FTW, which is actually supposed to be under the FTW but isn't. I'd fully expect EVGA to allow the step up, but releasing the FTW as is to begin with makes me question what they're going to do or say about the issue.

Agreed! The FTW at the time was suppose to have been the top of the line EVGA 970. Instead we got a cheap board with cheap parts...but a better heateink.
Will EVGA release a FTW plus? They have to, to compete with the G1 and the MSI gamer.

ManBearPig
980 is the best single GPU out, but a pair of 970s will absolutely destroy it.  Plus the price/performance on the 970s is much better.  I thought I was going to get a 980 before they came out; then I saw the performance of the 970 and it's price.  I ended up getting 2 970 FTWs.  I play on a 1440p with 120Hz and couldn't be happier because a single 980 would not be able to do that with max settings.

Exactly; the only reason I'm not regretting my SLI decision is the fact that I moved to 1440p @144Hz. If I was still on my old 1080 @60Hz, I would be slapping me silly over this investment. And not being fully satisfied with the FTWs, kinda made me feel sorry for the money spent. But as they say, you live, you learn.
 

Miko Ryukudo
 I see. Looks like it will be GM200/210 for me then. I want to stay single if possible. Going to have to spend at least $350 on a GPU to get the mileage out of my new 4790k anyways. 

Keep in mind that my advice on a single 980 over SLI 970s, was considering a 1080p @ 60Hz setup. I don't have enough info to advise anyone on the ideal GPU setup for 1080p @120/144Hz.
 

ManBearPig
 
Once you go IPS, you will never want to go back.
 
At least yall can still step-up your FTWs.  Us that bought the FTW when it first came out are out of luck unless eVGA actually does good for it's loyal customers and allows us for a limited time to step-up to the FTW+.  I would be super disappointed in eVGA if they did not.

Unfortunately, tearing is one of the things that "tears me apart" (pun intended with "The Room" reference in the mix) ;)
Therefore, 1ms and G-sync are mandatory for me, over super image quality. I have a 55" Sony Bravia HX850 for movies or occasional couch gaming. But the monitor is for the authentic gaming experience. ;P
 
I really think the best way to EVGA to save safe with their 900 series launch would be with a recall of the SCC and FTW models and replace them with their "corrected +" counterparts. Will this happen? I think it's something their marketing department should bring up in the next meeting with the finance and customer service teams. Good luck in your case; I'll be monitoring the situation closely to see if nothing better than a "SCC+" is offered for step up without having to spend additional cash by the end of the month.

Miko Ryukudo
I honestly can't fathom, my current monitor isn't even FHD. Our household just got our first 1080p TV for Christmas and it is a marvel to see. I hope Big Daddy will be able to handle it and not cost over $1000 ;w;
 
I bet that the FTW+'s would absolutely wreck it at 120hz up until the most demanding games. I just don't want to enter SLI until Nvidia fixes all the problems with it and gets around the bandwidth cap. Rumors float around that that might not be until Volta though x.x

Yeah, my Samsung 1080p TV that I got years ago when 1080p was still new really spoiled me since it was of course IPS.  Even though my TV would be considered old now, it still looks great since I went with a really good TV back then; spend a little more for a good TV and it will last you.  Ever since it, I haven't been able to buy another TN; even my 18.4" on my Alienware 18 is a Samsung IPS.  Also why I couldn't get one of the 144Hz 1440p monitors, because they were all TNs.  I decided to get one of the Korean 1440p monitors with the LG IPS screen and got the OC PCB that lets me get my monitor to 120Hz now.

the FTW+ will have 4 heat pipes instead of 3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MStdkcJc4

Morphevz
@MvdL79: curious fact: the card I ordered first was a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980 G1 GAMING - 4GB, since I've been curious about the brand but always had second thoughts on trying it. But let's just say I couldn't keep thinking if I had done the right choice, since I normally SLI but couldn't spend the money in 2 980s, and cancelled my ordered and decided to return to stick with EVGA giving their top of the line products and good customer service reputation. So, I bought the two GTX 970 thinking I was buying the best 970 models that money could buy, keeping in mind that the Gigabyte version would supply more power to the cards, but trusting EVGA's rep remark that "the card has no used for more power" as mentioned in one of the few reviews done on the FTWs. Speaking of reviews, the lack of them also sounded the alarms in my head. Why isn't EVGA supplying more reviewers with the model? I guess that... You know what you've done if you don't want people to start sniffing around it...

Ask yourself this, if EVGA's says and I quote: "the card has no used for more power" then why do they now release an SSC and a FTW+ who do have 6-pin PCIE >AND< a 8-pin PCIE connector?
Just another marketing trick from EVGA imho. :P

Airwolf24
the FTW+ will have 4 heat pipes instead of 3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MStdkcJc4

I watched the whole vid (in case I missed it) and kept pausing it at around 0:49 and still only saw 3 heat pipes coming out the back. The 980 at the end of course had 4 heat pipes though.   

El-Dubya

Airwolf24
the FTW+ will have 4 heat pipes instead of 3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MStdkcJc4

I watched the whole vid (in case I missed it) and kept pausing it at around 0:49 and still only saw 3 heat pipes coming out the back. The 980 at the end of course had 4 heat pipes though.   

I just did the same thing lol.  I think he was talking about the 4 pipe cooler that is sitting near it at the start of the video which looks like the old FTW cooler (non copper).  Where if you look when he is holding the actual card, you can tell they are copper heat pipes this time.  And if you pause it at just the right spot, you can count 3 at the end.  So it looks like it will be using the same cooler as the new SSC.