VRAM Redux

[ocre]

Just noting that twin x70s are faster than x80s and x80 Tis.   No real reference to the memory issue.  6GB is way more than enough, after the "fake rage" 3.5 GB issue was conclusively shown to be a "non issue".  I don't see anything suffering from 970s memory at 1440p and below and if you want 4k, you don't buy a 970.

nVidia is working to discourage peeps buying two 3rd tier cards instead of their flagship.  No more buying two $200 cards and beating the x80.  The performance of the 960s in SLI is dismal .... not even as fast as a single 970.

(2) 560 Ti's ($400)  beat the 580 ($500) by 40% while being $100 less
(2) 960s ($400) is a real dumb buy as it is $80 more than the $320 970 which beats it.

It would seem that nVidia was leaving cash on the table by discouraging the purchase of the 580 .... by putting out a product (560 Ti) that with 2 of them, you could get 40% more performance while reducing their income by $100.  They want you to pay more more money for more performance, not the other way around.   They have accomplished that with the 9xx series.

Right now the enthusiast's gamer's buzz is about either

1440p @ 144 Hz
2160p @ 60 Hz

Given the choice, I'll take 1440p @ 144 Hz.  I don't see 2160p as being ready for prime time for 12 - 18 months.

a)  If it ain't 120/144 Hz, I'm not interested
b)  We won't see 2160p at much above 60 Hz until Display Port 1.3 arrives.
c)  What's the point of having 120/144 Hz if your cards can't do 60+ fps ?
d)  No pair of cards in SLI / CF can reliably deliver 60+ fps across all new AAA games nor can they deliver 2160p at those frame rates until they have DP 1.3 .... tho i thought I saw a monitor blurb from Computex that used 2 DP 1.2 cables.

oh okay

I totally agree with you about the refresh rates. No gamer should be interested in buying 60hz panels these days. is your monitor higher than 60hz now?

I also think that 1440p would be ideal. But it is not really the resolution, its the pixels per inch that matter. Pixel density. But that apparently is too complex and we resort to 1440p/1080/1600/2160 and ignore the most important factor. It is the pixel density that makes 4k what it is, not the 4k part.

I ended up with a 1080p 144hz gsync monitor. It is an amassing gaming monitor. The draw back is its size. Its huge for a 1080 screen. 27 inches. XB270H.
I love it though, and there are many others that do.

But a monitor like this, it may not be fore everyone. I dont have perfect vision and perhaps that is one of the reasons i am fine with it. I think for 27 inches, a lot of people would want at least 1440p. But me, I would rather have higher frame rates and the highest settings rather than the denser pixels. One of the reasons i love PC and always have, it is the choice and options. The preferences are what make it awesome, at least i appreciate that.

Anyway, i agree that the 960 is crap for SLI. But i think it is crap for a mid ranged option.
I am not sure if this is any master plan to prevent mid ranged SLI besting the high end though. I am leaning towards it being a byproduct. Being stuck at 28nm really had an effect. Maxwell was pulled in and originally it was planned for 20nm.
I know it may not sound like much but changing fabs or nodes is bigger that what most think. It is not cheap and could drain a lot of resources. A lot happens before a chip can move to production, Heck a lot before one even tapes out. Nvidia was very successful with the gm107 but they went with a smaller and less complex maxwell first. The follow up with the gm204 was inevitable and seemed to go very well. Nvidia had confidence but decided to go with the gm204 rather than trying to push out the biggest 28nm chip ever next. See, the gm204 was a much safer bet and would buy them a lot of time to get the gm200 to market.

I truly believe that the gtx960 was filled with the gm206 just as a product of opportunity and not a plan to stop mid ranged SLI. The gm206 fills the slot. It is just how this gen played out.

Maxwell is would have been a different generation had it been on 20nm. Its segmented with the 750ti on one generation and the 960 on the other. It wasnt this organized plan from long ago, it is just how things played out.

of course, nvidia may never release a powerful mid range gpu again. It remains to be seen. But with advancing nodes becoming so problematic these days, times are changing. GPUs have never been stuck on a node for so long. The future, who knows