3DMark and Unigine Heaven
Now that we have taken a look at our gaming tests using our Frame Rating metrics and testing methods, we are including a set of tests from more standard benchmarks, like Unigine Heaven and the new 3DMark benchmark.
I consider these tests to be somewhat of a "best case" for all the cards in our comparison. We aren't using our frame capture system, we aren't measuring frame latency, we are doing nothing like that; I think this should give you an idea of graphics performance if each vendor had the best result for each game.
In the standard Fire Strike result, the MSI GTX 970 Gaming is faster than the R9 290 but slower than the R9 290X. When we move up to Fire Strike Extreme, the GTX 970 Gaming from MSI is actually able to overtake the R9 290X as well, but by a slim (2%) margin.
In Unigine Heaven, you can see the slight edge that the overclocked GTX 970 Gaming has over the reference design, allowing the GM204 part to best the R9 290, but it still stays behind the R9 290X.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
So this is probably a dumb
So this is probably a dumb question, but why is all the testing at 1440p? At this level of GPU, do they not show a lot of difference at 1080p? If so, does this mean that if you are gaming at 1080p still that you can’t go wrong with any of these cards?
My opinion – yes – a single
My opinion – yes – a single 970 or 980 pretty much conquers everything (with a fast enough CPU) at 1080p. The only exception being the Oculus rift DK2 (1920×1080) and the 75 FPS *minimum* you want to maintain. Even there, it’ll do it for 98% of 3D games, but a few like Elite Dangerous will require low settings to perform consistently.
On the flip side, 4K gaming is a weird spot for these cards as some games are already running into VRAM issues @ 4K with 4 GB cards. Star Citizen will even use 3.5 GB at 2560×1600 (my Radeon 7970 3 GB fell flat on it’s face due to VRAM usage at x1600). SC is CryEngine based..
My msi 970 doesn’t conquer
My msi 970 doesn’t conquer anything to say this is absolutely not true can you honestly say no matter what game or bench you throw at a 970 with whatever settings its going to be a solid 60fps well believe me its not… how about euro truck sim 2 @ 80p dropping to 40fps although this is an actually driver problem dont get carried away saying it will destoy anything at 80p it wont..
Euro Truck Sim 2?!@? Cmon
Euro Truck Sim 2?!@? Cmon man…
yeah its called a driver
yeah its called a driver problem, and i have just been playing planet side 2 with the exact same overclock as what ryan achieved and its not on max settings because it will drop below 60fps don’t try and pretend 80p is delt with..
Yeah, sorry, I should have
Yeah, sorry, I should have spelled that out more. At 1080p, this card is MORE than powerful enough for just about any scenario and could even be considered overkill for many users. We tested 2560×1440 (and sometimes at 4K) for hardware that really needs that kind of resolution to show differences.
Even Ubisoft crap ports ?
Even Ubisoft crap ports ?
I hope you must have realized
I hope you must have realized that how much money you can save by subscribing to any such website.
They will be having their wedding and of course
they will have a sweet honeymoon where Edward will say,
“Last night was the best night of life. I also like the scene where Cheryl confesses to Gracie that she was attacked, which prompts Gracie to teach Cheryl self-defense.
Hey Ryan. Big fan
Hey Ryan. Big fan here!
Wasn’t the whole “$400+ GPU is too much for 1080p” put to bed with the introduction of high refresh monitors?
I don’t think any GPU is overkill at any resolution if your intention is too keep the GPU(s) for a while. I’d rather have 100fps, than just enough.
Because 1080p is not an issue
Because 1080p is not an issue anymore… its done, conquered for all future releases too. Midrange cards are fully capable to rape todays games on 1080p. Entry level cards even push solid 60 for all new games on med/high.
1080p is now, what 720p was to you before you read this.
If you think its not conquered, just because some idiot turned up 32xAA in crysis3, or enabled all the broken sun ray effects in stalker clear sky – then screw that guy, he clearly is an imbecile.
Rape? Seriously?
Rape? Seriously?
Seriously? Seriously?
Seriously? Seriously?
Ryan, I have a request: A
Ryan, I have a request: A full review dedicated to comparing overclocked flagship cards. GTX 970 vs GTX 980 vs R9 290x vs R9 290. OC them all as high as possible and then go through all the same testing. Realistically I’d prefer to see this all done with results of both single card and SLI/CF so we can see temps on the top card. Realistically i’d like to see these results with both 2560×1440 & 4k. I realize that with both single and CF that would be a lot of data…but yes a lot of data would be great to see!
I think you also used to do a bang/buck type comparison on your reviews. Basically how much do you get for what you paid for. A review like what i’m requesting seems to be a great place to have bang/buck comparisons.
Thanks.
The biggest problem with
The biggest problem with showing temps is that everyone house is different, an people live in different places, different PC setups, etc. So the only way Ryan can show off true temps of card if he was using a temp controlled room an that cost alot of money.
For me, i just skip all the BS about card temps for this very reason.
Well could get away with just
Well could get away with just a small caption says “Using open air test bench and ambient air temp of xx degree’s”. that would pretty much eliminate that problem.
Are my eyes playing tricks on
Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Or are you slipping with no anti-AMD drivel?
All temp readings needs to
All temp readings needs to have that kind disclaimer on them.
The reason we haven't included temps (which I probably still should) is because temps are regulated by the cooler to not go over a set level. For example, even when overclocked, the GTX 970 Gaming tested here runs at 80C. To compensate, the fan just spins as fast as necessary to keep it cool.
All temp readings needs to
All temp readings needs to have that kind disclaimer on them.
The reason we haven't included temps (which I probably still should) is because temps are regulated by the cooler to not go over a set level. For example, even when overclocked, the GTX 970 Gaming tested here runs at 80C. To compensate, the fan just spins as fast as necessary to keep it cool.
i still think a 1080P
i still think a 1080P comparison should be done anyways. not everyone out there doesn’t have 1140p screens. i know it takes more time but for us the consumer would like to know what the majority of people are using for gaming and thats 1080P really.
I’m confused by the sound
I’m confused by the sound levels of the MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Gaming. You say it is 30.9 dbA at idle, but it is supposed to be semi passive cooling as long as the card is below 60c and the fans don’t run. How are you recording 30.9 dbA if the card is idling? Is your case or room especially warm?
I’d like to know because I want to buy this card for a HTPC and have it silent when not gaming and only using XBMC.
Thanks for writing up this
Thanks for writing up this review 🙂 I really think 1080p results should be included for us mainstream gamer/users. EVGA is kinda pricey and the cooler is just ok if you ask me. I got the MSI gtx 970 gamer oc version and love it! I’ll have to say the GTX 970 is nice now when it comes to maximum details/performance for 1080p.
Hi, I’ve just installed a msi
Hi, I’ve just installed a msi gtx970 to replace my gtx670sli. here are the benchmark comparatives made in 3dmark. Interesting to see on many points actually.
but there’s a mystery that remains to be solved. If you take a look to the cloud gate test result for the gtx970, you’ll notice a massive drop in the physics score which is not consistent with all the other results – by so far its clear there is something going on there.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5572125
I’ve tried so far:
uninstalling then cleaning with clean sweep and reinstalling graphic drivers
reinstalling 3dmark
playing with NVidia 3dsettings in config panel
on 3dmark FAQ:
seems that ‘cloud gate’ is testing directx10 functions -through directx11
on the web: I cant find anybody who reported this so far…
here are the two pages for
here are the two pages for comparatives:
gtx970: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5572125
gtx 670sli: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/2635825
I have switched RAM for
I have switched RAM for TridentX ddr3-2400 16gig and it didn’t change a thing. Same results.
I am trying to find out how
I am trying to find out how much power i am pulling with 2 gtx 970 at a 5760×1080 trying to keep a min of 75 fps and are they able to do it