Recently, like so many sites keen to get their grubby mitts on NVIDIA’s latest tech, Anandtech assessed the gaming performance of NVIDI’s GTX 980 Ti.
Given that we’re more interested the GTX 980 Ti’s 4K applications in comparison to the GTX Titan X, as well as the likes of AMD’s R2 295X2, we explore their findings and the card’s heavenly impact.
For those tech-heads out there, Anandtech used press release drivers, release 352.90, for their assessment of the GTX 980 Ti. These new drivers just add support for the GTX 980 Ti, and are somewhat identical to the 352.86 drivers we’re all using.
The test rig Anandtech used is as follows:
| CPU: | Intel Core i7-4960X @ 4.2GHz |
| Motherboard: | ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Professional |
| Power Supply: | Corsair AX1200i |
| Hard Disk: | Samsung SSD 840 EVO (750GB) |
| Memory: | G.Skill RipjawZ DDR3-1866 4 x 8GB (9-10-9-26) |
| Case: | NZXT Phantom 630 Windowed Edition |
| Monitor: | Asus PQ321 |
| Video Cards: | AMD Radeon R9 295X2 AMD Radeon R9 290X AMD Radeon HD 7970 NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA Release 352.90 Beta AMD Catalyst Cat 15.5 Beta |
| OS: | Windows 8.1 Pro |
So what about the new features the GTX 980 Ti comes bundled with?
What does it do, that others don’t or can’t?
Gotta love ’em gaming features, oh boy
Gotta love that G-Sync action, yo! Image courtesy of Anandtech.
The GTX 980 Ti has G-Sync Variable Overdrive which varies the amount of overdrive applied to a pixel based on an estimate of when the next frame will appear.
This will help G-Sync monitors to improve pixel response times and reduce ghosting. Along with this feature, the card also has windowed G-Sync without stuttering or tearing.
Check out that VR pefromane! Image courtesy of Anandtech.
The card also supports GameWorks VR & Multi-Res Shading that will help to increase rendering efficiency. The GTX 980 Ti should then, in reality, perform well in the likelihood you want to use VR.
Especially when you consider that the Oculus Rift will require a hefty rig to power.
So much rendering, so little time. Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Finally, and most importantly, like all of their GTX 9xx series, the GTX 980 Ti features the Maxwell 2 architecture which is there first to fully support DirectX feature level 12_1.
Given the performance of this card, see below, and what Microsoft claims the GTX 980 Ti can do, we’re in for one heck of a contender.
DX12, AMD what? Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Gaming performance huzzah!
But what about actual performance in games? We have that covered!
Check out the GTX 980 Ti’s fps performance, all of which are at resolutions of 3840×2160 and 2560x144o. The benchmarks are performed at varied quality settings, depending on the game.
Battlefield 4
Would you look at that. Around 2 fps is all that separates these two cards at 4K.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Do you own a GTX Titan X? It’s starting to look a little bleak for you, isn’t it.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Total War: Attila
In Total War: Attila, the GTX 980 Ti performs damn near identically to the Titan X. They’re practically the same card, only one costs significantly less.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Grand Theft Auto V
Like in the case of Total War: Attila, you’d struggle to tell the difference between NVIDIA’s two fastest cards.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech.
It’s quite easy to see that the GTX 980 Ti is an NVIDIA beast of note.
In virtually all benchmarks, it’s nipping at the heels of the GTX Titan, a considerable achievement when it may cost around R7,000 less.
In most cases, in fact, it performs just as well as the Titan X. Now consider that AMD’s upcoming flagship card and only real competitor at this performance level, the Radeon Fury (formerly the Fiji XT), will be mighty expensive, well we needn’t explain the rest.
It may not be NVIDIA’s fastest card, but a price/performance balance is what the GTX 980 Ti does best, and that’s what wins GPU wars.
Source: Anandtech
More NVIDIA bliss to ogle at
NVIDIA’s GTX 980 Ti to cost between R9,000 and R12,000
The GTX 980 Ti’s specs are confirmed thanks to Asus
The GTX 980 Ti’s leaked specs reveal it’s a cheaper Titan X
The GeForce GTX 980 Ti, an AMD fanboy’s worst nightmare
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