The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Review
by Ryan Smith on May 31, 2015 6:00 PM ESTBattlefield 4
Kicking off our benchmark suite is Battlefield 4, DICE’s 2013 multiplayer military shooter. After a rocky start, Battlefield 4 has since become a challenging game in its own right and a showcase title for low-level graphics APIs. As these benchmarks are from single player mode, based on our experiences our rule of thumb here is that multiplayer framerates will dip to half our single player framerates, which means a card needs to be able to average at least 60fps if it’s to be able to hold up in multiplayer.
Battlefield 4 is going to set the pace for the rest of this review. In our introduction we talked about how the GTX 980 Ti may as well be the GTX Titan X, and this is one such example why. With a framerate deficit of no more than 3% in this benchmark, the difference between the two cards is just outside the range of standard run-to-run experimental variation that we see in our benchmarking process. So yes, it really is that fast.
In any case, after stripping away the Frostbite engine’s expensive (and not wholly effective) MSAA, what we’re left with for BF4 at 4K with Ultra quality puts the 980 Ti in a pretty good light. At 56.5fps it’s not quite up to the 60fps mark, but it comes very close, close enough that the GTX 980 Ti should be able to stay above 30fps virtually the entire time, and never drop too far below 30fps in even the worst case scenario. Alternatively, dropping to Medium quality should give the card plenty of headroom, with an average framerate of 91.8fps meaning even the lowest framerate never drops below 45fps.
Meanwhile our other significant comparison here is the GTX 980, which just saw its price cut by $50 to $499 to make room for the GTX 980 Ti. At $649 the GTX 980 Ti ideally should be 30% faster to justify its 30% higher price tag; here it’s almost exactly on that mark, fluctuating between a 28% and 32% lead depending on the resolution and settings.
Finally, shifting gears for a moment, gamers looking for the ultimate 1440p card will not be disappointed. GTX 980 Ti will not get to 120fps here (it won’t even come close), but at 77.7fps it’s well suited for driving 1440p144 displays. In fact and GTX Titan X are the single-GPU cards to do better than 60fps at this resolution.
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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.