The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Review
by Ryan Smith on May 31, 2015 6:00 PM ESTSynthetics
As always we’ll also take a quick look at synthetic performance. Being a virtual copy of the GTX Titan X, GTX 980 Ti should perform very similarly here, just as we've seen in our gaming tests.
Compared to GTX Titan X, GTX 980 Ti does technically lose 2 Polymorph Engines as a result of losing 2 SMMs. However as with our games, this doesn’t really hinder GTX 980 Ti, leading it being within a few percent of GTX Titan X on tessellation performance.
As for texel and pixel fillrates, the results are both as-expected and a bit surprising. On the expected side, we see the GTX 980 Ti trail GTX Titan X by a bit, again taking a hit from the SMM loss. On the other hand we’re seeing a larger than expected drop in the pixel fill rates. GTX 980 Ti loses some rasterization throughput from the SMM loss, but a 15% drop in this test is much larger than 2 SMMs. Just to be sure we checked to make sure the ROP/MC configuration of GTX 980 Ti was unchanged at 96 ROPs, so while we can explain 10% or so (GTX 980 Ti doesn't have its clockspeed advantage in such a short test), we're at a loss to fully explain the last 5%. The short run time of the test also makes it more varaible than other tests, so that may be the last 5%.
Though in either case, despite what 3DMark is telling us, we aren’t seeing any signs of GTX 980 Ti struggling at 4K versus GTX Titan X. So if there is a meaningful difference in pixel fillrates, it’s not impacting game performance.
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chizow - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
780 was $650 at launch actually, and stayed there for some 6 months until AMD launched the 290X. The only way Nvidia will drop price on the 980Ti is if Fiji is both faster than it and priced similar, and even then Nvidia may not touch a thing.I think Nvidia knows what AMD has and they've already set the price points for AMD so that they won't have to change their pricing no matter what.
fingerbob69 - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
"The only way Nvidia will drop price on the 980Ti is if Fiji is both faster than it and priced similar" ...and given themselves a month's head start ...and AMD a whole month too look at this Ti and adjust accordingly (if even necessary).I think it's nVidia who's looking weak here. In the UK Scan/Overclockers are really low on AMD stock 290 thru to 290x ...big launch coming?
chizow - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
Yes, I'm sure it was AMD taking a position of strength to allow Nvidia to completely dominate the dGPU landscape for the last 9 months, unopposed, unchallenged since the GTX 970/980 launch, followed by the GTX 960, GTX Titan X, and GTX 980Ti. Makes perfect sense.Everyone expects a big launch from AMD sure, but I guess they are just waiting for Nvidia to tire themselves out first. I mean a quick scan in the US shows you can't find the GTX 980Ti anywhere, sold out instantly in a single day. AMD is just biding their time though for something big to pop out of a hole in the ground! :)
HeavyHemi - Saturday, September 12, 2015 - link
'Hole in the ground' if someone was buried a55 up. Ha...theuglyman0war - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
that would be a shame. It's been a long time since I pulled the trigger on my upgrade itches. Never thought it would be this long. ( gtx 480 tri sli at $399 with the starcraft release discount coupon )I think I assumed that the rise in pricing after gtx 580 was just going to be a short term fluke and that the world would return to sanity with resumption of the $499 pricing.
I imagine I would have probably have upgraded twice otherwise. I wonder if my demographic adds up to a significant lost market at the end of the day?
On the bright side...
Having waited this long, If I start buying used in two years the performance gain will be worth the loss of warranty considering the high cost.
NvidiaWins - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link
Agreed. Nvidia has no worries when it comes to AMD next series gpu. AMD will not be able to compete with the 980Ti price point.n13L5 - Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - link
"Just wait for AMD's release and the price will have to drop."Exactly why all those Nvidia fanboys should shut their mouths:
If they were to succeed in maligning AMD to death, handing Nvidia a monopoly, Nvidia will have not only lost any reason to ever drop prices, they'll also loose any reason to rush new gaming cards out. They'd put consumer cards at the very back of the queue, to be released at Nvidia's convenience - because Nvidia gets better margins from HPC sales.
Frenetic Pony - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
Sir! You're trolling is commendable, the people biting, so serious. I salute you.StevoLincolnite - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
You're = You are.In this instance it is "your".
Leyawiin - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link
Their, they're, there - no call for typo nitpicking. He who is free of guilt and all. As far as the 28nm bit, its probably ore of a well-poisoning comment by someone who leans towards the other camp.