False Specs on GTX 970?

Bandwidth is 196+28 GB/s (adding those value is impossible), Bus is 224+32 Bit (adding those value is impossible). I have no idea who is telling about "224 GB/s", maybe total GB/s amount but it only works for GTX 980. The GTX 970 cant use both channels simultaneously (no dual channel, its like 2 single channel with one of them performing terrible) so it is impossible having a true 256 bit bus running at 224 GB/s, according to my knowledge. Additionally because it cant read both channels at once, as soon as it have to use the 32 bit/500 MB RAM even the quicker 224 bit/3.5 GB RAM will suffer performance loss because it will need to switch around and many work on primary channel may be delayed so the true GB/s is below 224 GB/s, 970 cant achieve such speeds in term its splitted. However, all memory channels are enabled but ROP, L2 cache and bus interface is cut by 1/8 (last 500 MB splitted away by 1/8 bus). Pretty complicated but still not to hard to get. I think the full ressources are physically available as it should be identical to 980, but it is cut on the driver level and maybe BIOS too. Guess the reason the monitor tools was not able to see the ressource-cut because it is physically available but disabled. Tools was only able to see the 3 SMM cut resulting in the loss of 3x 128 ALU. Technically i think the bus splitting could be made retrogressive but may need a totaly new driver as they need to change the way the driver is managing the memory, not a instant matter. It may fix the 3.5 GB issue.

Dejo was mentioning 224bit throughout the thread.

you cant access the 224bit and 32 bit busses simultaneously from what I understand. so you basically have either a 224bit bus or a 32bit bus at any given time

Guess thats correct, in real world terms it means as soon as it will exceed 3.5 GB it may suffer but probably no huge impact when only maybe +50 MB used, but when 400+ MB used i do expect it to create serious impact because need to switch way more frequently, 5 FPS or so and worst of all there could be spikes.

From Anand (posted earlier)...

Finally, because of this configuration and the lack of a ROP/L2 unit we get to the memory segments. Although the full 256-bit memory bus is present and active on GTX 970 and capable of providing 224GB/sec of combined memory bandwidth between the DRAM modules and the memory controllers, it’s a bit of a misnomer to say the card has that much bandwidth between the memory controllers and everything else, at least in the same sense that the GTX 980 does.

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But last Anand was mentioned and you replied, you said they were in NVIDIA's back pocket anyway so...

PoisonIvaaaaaaaaay said:

Guess thats correct, in real world terms it means as soon as it will exceed 3.5 GB it may suffer but probably no huge impact when only maybe +50 MB used, but when 400+ MB used i do expect it to create serious impact because need to switch way more frequently, 5 FPS or so and worst of all there could be spikes.

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Who knows the impact. It can manifest it self in FPS, or just create large hiccups like when you run out of vRAM and page out. THough this is 2x as fast than the PCIe bus so it may not be as bad? But to put a FPS number is, well, premature at best, a wild *** guess at worst.

looks like the responses are starting to come in and they are telling customers to f*** off. same thing nvidia always does

EarthDog said:

From Anand (posted earlier)...

But last Anand was mentioned and you replied, you said they were in NVIDIA's back pocket anyway so...


Who knows the impact. It can manifest it self in FPS, or just create large hiccups like when you run out of vRAM and page out. THough this is 2x as fast than the PCIe bus so it may not be as bad? But to put a FPS number is, well, premature at best, a wild *** guess at worst.

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Just a guess, nothing else, situation is different for every single software of course but certainly the amount used will matter not just "scratching it".

Anand is certainly a pocket holder... so i may always take it with a grain of salt for not being overly critical. For example that the full 256 bit bus is available is simply not valid when we understand the way the splitting works and i think it is not realistic providing 224 GB/s. It can only be fixed by getting ride of the splitting i guess.

dejo said:

looks like the responses are starting to come in and they are telling customers to f*** off. same thing nvidia always does

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They told customers to return the card to where they bought them from. If they are having problems to contact NVIDIA? (See post earlier).


There sure is a lot of anger towards NVIDIA in this thread that I just can't wrap my head around...

EarthDog said:

From Anand (posted earlier)...

But last Anand was mentioned and you replied, you said they were in NVIDIA's back pocket anyway so...







Who knows the impact. It can manifest it self in FPS, or just create large hiccups like when you run out of vRAM and page out. THough this is 2x as fast than the PCIe bus so it may not be as bad? But to put a FPS number is, well, premature at best, a wild *** guess at worst.

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I see what you did there

the issue is that nvidia is willing to lie to sell product. this is the second time they have lied to me and I know they will get away with it as they always do.

that is the part that drives me crazy. I know for what the card is doing right now it is a great card, its just not what they stated it was. I also dont think that msi or microcenter should lose money over nvidia not giving the truth on specs. I would send it back in today if nvidia offers a full refund.

sadly, I drove 2 hours to dallas and 2 hours back to get the card and think if I was to take it back then I should be compensated for 8 hours of work for taking that much of my time to deal with a product that isnt what it was sold as

I don't know why it's a big deal to return the cards to the store. The store will then return them to Nvidia. Does anyone really think newegg or MC is gonna eat the cost of this and nvidia will remain unscathed?...

dejo said:

sadly, I drove 2 hours to dallas and 2 hours back to get the card and think if I was to take it back then I should be compensated for 8 hours of work for taking that much of my time to deal with a product that isnt what it was sold as

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Dooood! That's what the internet is for

dejo said:

all I know is that the card was misrepresented and money was spent by me to obtain said card and said specs. which is not what I recieved. this was totally nvidia's doings and not msi or microcenter. I want nvidia to be the ones to refund my money in full. as they are the only ones that I currently have an issue with. fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you

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Not how it works, nV must give the retailer the go ahead to accept the return, and nV will credit the retailer.
The retailer won't lose $.

ninjacore said:

I don't know why it's a big deal to return the cards to the store. The store will then return them to Nvidia. Does anyone really think newegg or MC is gonna eat the cost of this and nvidia will remain unscathed?...

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muzz said:

Not how it works, nV must give the retailer the go ahead to accept the return, and nV will credit the retailer.
The retailer won't lose $.

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I'm glad we are getting out heads around that part!

Probably only works in the US. Certainly some racist issues around.

Ivy said:

Probably only works in the US.

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You know what assuming does right? Makes an *** out of U and ME (see what I did there, spelled out ASSUME.. ). I don't see why this would have borders on it if that is what they will end up doing...last I heard that is what they said.

Ivy said:

Certainly some racist issues around.

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Come on, Ivy. You haven't even ordered your card yet

There is still the shipment cost, it wont be free unless Nvidia will take it over. Generally bad experience with most vendors... in most terms they even deny RMA in term not defective. Can become some hassle so i have to ask if they probably just gonna fix it.

Oh wait... great time for testing it out if the card can fit my case... in term it doesnt i will RMA and tell them it is a fake spec card and i am mad (fitting will be my little secret)... ah yes good idea. In term vendor doesnt accept i will sing the song of assumption.

Weird enough the price from many 970 was increasing the past few days in my country. It seems like RMA is becoming a hassle... i dunno, so they raise the 970 price and the 980 is becoming cheaper in comparison. Just a assumption... Fact is the price seems to be pushed for many 970 and some 290 X is already same price range.

the retailer made money via me purchasing the card, nvidia would be taking away those earnings if I took the card back to the store when its an nvidia issue that caused the whole issue to start with.
I just want to see nvidia step up and do whats right, which wont happen. I would make a wager on that.

I am just ticked that they are willing to lie and nothing ever gets done and they dont get any better as there have never been any financial repercussions for them. They laugh in the office and work on the next time they will pull something. prolly have a wager going on as to how many they can **** off.

too many fan boys that ride their goods and are willing to stick up for them to no end.

If I end up keeping the card its not that big a deal as I was ready for anew gpu, its the fact that I once again buy a new higher end card and it is once again not what it was sold as

dejo said:

the retailer made money via me purchasing the card, nvidia would be taking away those earnings if I took the card back to the store when its an nvidia issue that caused the whole issue to start with.
I just want to see nvidia step up and do whats right, which wont happen. I would make a wager on that.

I am just ticked that they are willing to lie and nothing ever gets done and they dont get any better as there have never been any financial repercussions for them. They laugh in the office and work on the next time they will pull something. prolly have a wager going on as to how many they can **** off.

too many fan boys that ride their goods and are willing to stick up for them to no end.

If I end up keeping the card its not that big a deal as I was ready for anew gpu, its the fact that I once again buy a new higher end card and it is once again not what it was sold as

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Why not go to Geforce.com and contact Peter the Moderator?
He stated that if you weren't happy with the card, that he would get get a refund/exchange....IOW- HE will contact the retailer and have the return approved (POR most likely).
He stated he's an nV employee(engineer), and he's been posting over there since last night about it.

Looks to me like they are just going to give the folks that want a return what they want, to make them happy, instead of a full blown recall/whatever, which makes sense by keeping people "happy", and only spending what they need to.
If it were me, I'd be contacting him IF your retailer denies you request.

LOL, johnny, you know me... the only fanboy in my world is my wallet.

Also, why do you think they are fibbing? Why are you holding that as the truth so close to your heart with absolutely no concrete evidence? Is it a leap to think so, naa, but I don't have a reason to think otherwise. Frankly, I think their story is believable. I say that because I have first hand experience at how there is a disconnect between technical and PR being a reviewer and dealing with PR people mostly...they run out of steam QUICK even when I am asking them questions (I'm no Ryan Shroud, LOL!)!

Just something else to think about...

muzz said:

Why not go to Geforce.com and contact Peter the Moderator?
He stated that if you weren't happy with the card, that he would get get a refund/exchange....IOW- HE will contact the retailer and have the return approved (POR most likely).
He stated he's an nV employee(engineer), and he's been posting over there since last night about it.

Looks to me like they are just going to give the folks that want a return what they want, to make them happy, instead of a full blown recall/whatever, which makes sense by keeping people "happy", and only spending what they need to.
If it were me, I'd be contacting him IF your retailer denies you request.

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+1