SHOULD I DO IT?

[swinger]

Hey there-have the GTX 970 vid card and thinking of getting the GTX 1070?
My comp has 330 watt supply and runs the 970 OK,
I get 130 FPS @ unlimited settings.
Will the GTX 1070 be better and work?
The 970 & 1070 are the same size.
BTW this unit, comp, will not accept a larger watt supply

TY geagler

[Bizman]

You probably wouldn't see any noticeable improvements. I wouldn't do it. Leave the upgrade for your next computer.

[Gman]

Disagree, partially anyway - you may not see a lot of noticeable improvements with AH2, but for other games - significant increase in fps/performance when going from 970 to 1070.  Would you see a lot more of a noticeable improvement going to a 1080 - yes, but it's also much more expensive, where as you can sell your 970 and for a couple hundred bucks or less more than the proceeds of that sale get any 1070 you want.

There are piles of reviews and comparisons for various games and the 970 to 1070 difference, just google the ones that matter to you.  PC Gamer took an aggregate of 15 of the more popular/common games and did a test with video cards very recently, in 1080p, 1440p, and 4k.  http://www.pcgamer.com/the-geforce-gtx-1070-review/ .  Some games like Doom see only a 25% overall improvement, others like GTA see a 90% increase in FPS almost across the board.  So again, it's not a simple question to answer without more info regarding what you play, or plan on playing.

Do some of your own research, then decide.  I do agree with Biz though, that for this specific game - I don't think I would bother going from 970 to 1070 - to a 1080, especially for AH3, sure, otherwise, I'd wait as Biz said.  If you play other stuff, then by all means.

If $ isn't a major concern, really get the 1080.

[Skuzzy]

<snip>
Do some of your own research, then decide.  I do agree with Biz though, that for this specific game - I don't think I would bother going from 970 to 1070 - to a 1080, especially for AH3, sure, otherwise, I'd wait as Biz said.  If you play other stuff, then by all means.<snip>

Just FYI.  AH3 is very, VERY dependent on the performance of the video card.  The faster the card, the better the game will run.

For AH2, it will not make much difference.

[Bizman]

I was thinking mostly about AH, 2 and 3. As per Skuzzy, a GTX 970 should be able to run AH3 with full eye candy at the current standards, 1020x1080 @ 60 Hz.

Also, in the specifications both cards say 500W for power supply, so that adds to not to upgrade the card on this very computer.

How come you can't install a larger power supply? Is it a <brand> computer that only accepts brand specific dedicated components? If so, there's not much you can do. 

[Gman]

Again, disagree, I did a lot of testing with 980 and 980SLI with AH3, and neither could run the beta at max 60hz/fps 1080p, especially over large bases down low, without dropping well, well below 60fps.  I realize it's early days, and that once at higher alt 144fps was pretty constant with the 980, but if the 980 was tough slugging at lower alts, the 970 will be even more so.   You crank every setting including environment to max, at 1080p, not even 1440p or 4k, with a 970, and go fly at 1k over the large base with the drones.  Then get back to me on your results, as I know what mine are, on 2 different pcs with 980, 980sli, and 980ti have been.  And now, 1080SLI as well - I haven't tried flipping SLI off yet on the 1080 systems, but I don't think it'll make a lot of difference. 

Will a 970 be "good enough" for AH3?  IMO yes.  But it's certainly not going to provide constant 60fps 100% of the time at 1080p, not yet at least from what I've tested.

I realize AH3 is more video card reliant, this isn't the first time we've heard this - haha- and that's the reason why I said if he was buying a new card for AH3, go with the 1080 over the 1070, as the difference from 970 to 1070 and the cost fraction considered doesn't make it worth it for Ah3/beta IMO, since based on my experience with the 1080SLI even THAT is being taxed and unable to provide constant max fps.  The 1080SLI, even at low alt over busy/large bases, it's working VERY hard to maintain max fps, and drops below it still.  I'm happy to provide film/screen shots of the fps counter with all the cards mentioned above.

[Skuzzy]

SLI is irrelevant, unless you did a custom SLI profile as the default AH SLI profile, NVidia ships, is no where near compatible with AH3.  You can throw 50 video cards at it, and if you are using the default profile, the performance is not going to change much, if at all.

Also, it is BETA.  The performance drop over fields is likely due to the collision code, which has nothing to do the with video card.  We are aware of it.  Again,..BETA,...not optimized at all.

100% of the graphics in AH3 are all done on the video card.  The better the video card, the better the overall application will run.  That is not an opinion.

[The Fugitive]

Hey there-have the GTX 970 vid card and thinking of getting the GTX 1070?
My comp has 330 watt supply and runs the 970 OK,
I get 130 FPS @ unlimited settings.
Will the GTX 1070 be better and work?
The 970 & 1070 are the same size.
BTW this unit, comp, will not accept a larger watt supply

TY geagler

330 watt powersupply would be my worry.... oh and by the way, there are ways to make them fit   

Heck you could drill a hole in the side panel big enough to pass the cables through and then just screw the new powersupply to the outside of the case. Pretty? No, but it will work.

[Gman]

100% of the graphics in AH3 are all done on the video card.  The better the video card, the better the overall application will run.  That is not an opinion.

Where did I say it was?  Which again, was why I said getting  a 1080 would be better than the 1070 - better video card and all that.

And yes, I built my own SLI profile using nVidia inspector, the same way I did for past SLI set ups.  And yes, it makes little difference having either 1080, 980, 780, or 680s in SLI from my experience.  Even with a self created one - the guys over at DCS/ED are big into creating their own SLI profiles, and I sort of applied that info, for better or worse, to the AH ones, along with what Chalenge has said/done over the years with it.

I don't understand this constant bashing me on the head about the video card thing - I've repeated it myself often enough, it's not some big secret that you've said over and over that AH3 will be video card dependent.

I did say several times in this thread and others the words "early days" and "beta" regarding the graphics/fps drop over the main airfield, and have numerous times pointed out the difference from going to the base to the SE on the offline map and how much fps improves.  I get 44 fps with a 1080 in sli and a single one, both with a 6800 and a 6900k CPU overclocked, and the card(s) running at 200/500 overclocked as well, when flying low over the default base.  Obviously this isn't how anyone would expect it to be once AH goes live, since I get 144 and 165 on the respective monitors with these refresh rates in other areas/altitudes - I'm merely using it to point out that giving advice and guarantees to players considering cards is bonkers regarding AH3, because as of right now, the fastest gaming setups you can buy can't pull off the numbers being quoted and thrown around.  Yes I realize this is temporary, but advice should reflect this as well.

[Condor]

I,m a little confused Gman because just a couple of weeks ago in the thread "970 and AH3 you said " 970 IMO for the purposes of this game, and many others, will suffice and then some for years still.  Bonus is for another bit of $, the 1070 will let you run everything out there at max and expect longevity for quite a while." Now you appear to be saying the 970 will probably not be adequate for AH3 and even casting doubt on the performance of the 1070 for AH3. Am I misunderstanding?

 

[Chalenge]

The difference is between 'running well' and 'full eye-candy.' Running well implies that you will have to turn some things off, and 'full eye-candy' almost certainly means you are not trying to get to a constant 60fps.

Two 980s in SLI will not hold a constant 60fps with all the eye-candy on at 4k. I have great doubt that it can even do it at 1080p, because of the environment slider which is pretty hard to satisfy. Shadows, reflections, and environment are not that important to me when I'm playing, but when I'm making videos it's all different. So, if you are buying a card to get all the eye-candy I think you will meet with dissatisfaction like Gman said. Also, it is really obvious that SLI is not a cure all unless a game is designed for it and that there is a profile provided. For whatever reason self-created profiles seem to give inconsistent results.

That's why all those options are there in AH, so you can aim for higher FPS by the changes you make.

[MADe]

depends, you already mention a weak PSU, will that new card get bottlenecked by something in your system, weak cpu for instance, pcie 2.0 mobo maybe......I use a 970 in a 2.0 slot and it was rockin AH3, AH 2............................ .............

if I was building a new rig, well its no discussion................... .......................

[guncrasher]

based on my experience you are not fully taking advantage of the 970 with that weak power supply.  and for sure a 1070 is not gonna be good unless you upgrade your ps.


semp

[Skuzzy]

Gman, I am not "bashing" you.  You made an incorrect statement regarding going from a 970 to a 1070 as it pertains to performance in AH3.  A 1070 WILL get better performance than a 970 in AH3, at 1080p.  The it seemed you were continuing to try and justify that statement.

As it pertains to SLI profiles, I have no idea how the DCS graphics engine works, so it could be way off the mark compared to the AH3 engine.

One thing worth mentioning is, if you are cranking the environment slider to full updates, even an NVidia 1080 will take a major hit in performance.

[Bizman]

Again, disagree, I did a lot of testing---

I agree I haven't tested any of the new cards, I'm just telling what I've read here and there about them. I appreciate your experience here having tested gear with this very game. 

--- if he was buying a new card for AH3, go with the 1080 over the 1070, as the difference from 970 to 1070 and the cost fraction considered doesn't make it worth it ---

The original question was about upgrading from 970 to 1070 which we both think wouldn't be worth it. Not knowing the rest of the specs aside the underpowered 330W PSU there's too many unknown factors to wholeheartedly recommend the much better 1080, IMO. Especially since the OP is happy with his frame rates being 130. But again, this is only an opinion.