new GTX 980M coming

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB DDR5 for Clevo Alienware Upgrade Monkey | eBay

Buy it now at $1080... or make an offer.

 

This one is 995 and seems to have stock now..
Alienware 18 M18 17 M17 VGA Upgrade Kit New NVIDIA GTX 980M 8GB DDR5 | eBay

 

....one card costs 1000USD? Is this a serious price?

So that's 2000 USD for two cards for the Alienware 18/M18x?

 

Notice the sucky specs? Same CUDA/shader core count as GTX 780M. Need to be cautious until we actually see hardcore evidence from people we interact with whether or not 980M is really a beast that overclocks way better and higher than 780M or it will be another bogus pile of crap like 880M turned out to be.
I would love to test it, but no thanks... those prices are extremely retarded.

There's no way I'm paying a grand for only one MXM module. That will buy a 5960X or an extreme high end desktop mobo and 1200W Platinum PSU. Adding a second 980M will go a long ways toward desktop GTX 980 SLI or a Titan-Z card to go with the CPU and mobo.

 

That's it! $1000 is an idiotic price to pay. But if you look on eBay there are plenty of i̶d̶i̶o̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ "me first-ers" bidding the price into crazy land. If I were wasting money buying 2 at that price I'd sooner build a desktop too and just keep my faithful 780m's.
And yes.. same amount of Shaders is a massive disappointment. Nvidia had the know-how and technical ability to release a card with more shaders. Instead they are feeding us on a drip.

 

Right now, 4K displays are grossly overpriced, best suited for folks that have lots of discretionary money to spend and are eager to part with it, people that need to see many rows and columns of data, or view multiple documents side-by-side, without being annoyed by the need for excessive scrolling. 2560x1440 is great and I actually don't mind 1080p. For most things Full HD is still close to perfect, looks really good, and doesn't bog things down on GPUs with less vRAM and a smaller frame buffer.

 

High refresh rates want both gpu and cpu muscle so it's good for 120hz gamers who maybe want some aa too.

 

Oh the 980m slaps around the 780m overclocked (like my top scores) when it's at stock. No need to worry there.

 

Well, until we know for certain that upgrades go without a hitch on the older machines, GTX 980M greatness is yet to be established where it can be the most meaningful, in a platform where its performance can be truly exploited. As GTX 880M upgrades seemed to have more than normal share of issues on machines that have historically been upgrade-friendly, this is an unknown variable right now. I am hoping for a good outcome, but we don't know for sure.

If it is not compatible with the M18xR1/R2/18 and Clevo P570WM, downgrading to a system with a pantywaist soldered-on HQ CPU isn't really an acceptable option to get 980M. Is anyone shipping 980M SLI paired with a unlocked desktop K or mobile Extreme CPU at this time?

 

Yes sager but the cooling is not what you are looking for i think.

 

Is it their Haswell nightmare that so many of our friends here are struggling with?

Is 980M running cooler than 780M or 880M in that machine? It might be worth going for and try to fabricate some kind of heat sink mod if Alienware really ditches the 18 as the rumors have it.

I am really struggling with the thought of having to go back to a desktop. It's been too many years of mobility to have to be chained to a desk, but I also refuse to compromise with BGA CPU Ultrabook crap.

I'll go look for some benchmarks to see what kind of results might be on the Futuremark web site with 4930MX/4940MX CPU. I hope something is posted there for me to look at.

 

The 980m will run cooler in any machine, it's the cpu heatsink that you worry about. You have the controls to manage it but due to the size of the heatsink 3.9ghz is about the limit (BF4 no throttle) when I tweaked it with a slimmed pad and ic diamond.

 

I see... thanks for the words of wisdom. That's really extremely sad... such huge potential only to be ruined by an inadequate CPU heat sink. It is very unfortunately they didn't devote more effort to engineering.
I was hoping that Clevo could be a viable alternative here if I had to resort to a brand change. Maybe not. :cry: Dang it... P570WM discontinued, too. Well, let's hope for the best on 18/M18xR1/R2 and P570WM compatibility.

If that doesn't work out, I will definitely need to change my lifestyle to accommodate having a desk anchor being parked in my office that gets used much less frequently than my monster laptops always have been. I doubt that my wife will go for having a beast desktop taking up space and screwing with the decor in the family room.

 

On the plus side the gpu heatsinks are good and you get unlimited power to the gpus basically but you won't get any more out the cpu without some hardware heatsink mods.

 

They are discontinuing the 18? They going back to 17 sli?

 

Have you thought of putting together a mini-ITX case and simply lugging that along with a form-factor monitor around instead? Check this one out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66780NJNb7Q

And well considering Nvidia might have oversold 980M's performance a tad; according to PC Gamer it's only about 65% as fast as GTX 980, which is still about as fast as 680M SLI but it isn't the 80% many of us were expecting, if you can manage to put together a mini-ITX case now might be the time to migrate over to small-form-factory desktop....

GTX 980M benchmarked: testing Nvidia's mobile performance claims - PC Gamer

 

I got my 28 incher for 600. Not too expensive

 

Ethrem made a very good point that since the 980M will run cooler than the 780M, you could potentially get away with using the slave 680M heatsink from P370EM, which would allow you to use the P370EM's triple pipe CPU heatsink. From my own testing the CPU loses 10C but the slave GPU picks up that 10C. If 980M is able to run 10C cooler than 780M then this could be a very viable workaround.

And just to throw another data point in: using Liquid Ultra, cutting out the bottom cover and souping up the U3, I can do 4GHz on my 4900MQ. Don't remember exact numbers but never went above 88C when running Crysis 3 using the modded U3 with 120mm fans. This was in June too so ambient temp was likely above 24C (75F). Never had to force max fans but I imagine it would drop the temps by another 3-5C. Not an elegant solution in any way but it can be done.

 

No, I wouldn't consider a mini-ITX. If I build a desktop (still undecided because that's Plan B) my first choice would be an open air bench made specifically for extreme overclocking. I might like to try my hand at LN2 overclocking sometime if I have to ditch laptops due to their growing trend toward lameness.

Other than an open-air bench, I would only consider a massive full tower case something along the lines of what pathfindercod just built. I don't really care for the "mini" version anything in computers and I would plan on cramming either a couple of Titan-Z or go with 3-way GTX 980 SLI with 5960X. May start with a closed loop cooling system and move up to a custom full system liquid cooling with EKWB components. If I am forced to go back to a desktop because of all the laptop options being too sucky to put up with, it will be all all-out extreme desktop performance effort much like what I have tried to do with laptops.

I hate spending money even when doing so makes me happy with the end result, so when I do start blowing a wad of cash I want to do it the way that suits me best and make it really count. I'm just an ordinary working man, so I don't have a lot of extra dough just lying around to use for my overclocking addiction... in other words, I don't normally allow myself much wiggle room for second chances where money is involved.

If it looks like 980M SLI will work extremely well in the M18xR2 and P570WM, I will either upgrade the R2 or maybe buy a used P570WM and drop 980M SLI in it. I am sort of waiting to see if Clevo is eventually going to release a new X99 laptop to replace the P570WM so I can have a 5960X and 980M SLI in a laptop before I decide which way to go. There are just too many unknowns and unverified what if scenarios right now.

I really want a monster desktop much like what Brother Johnksss is benching now, but I have a real personal hangup about leaving mobility behind. There's something about having a super-wicked laptop that I like better. Extreme desktop performance is a little bit more common, and that has something to do with it as well as mobility. I will probably stick with laptops if I can avoid downgrading CPU performance from where I am at now. Sadly, I absolutely do not want anything I have seen so far that ships with 980M with less than an Extreme CPU... even thinking for a minute about paying money for a thin and light Ultra-poot turd-book makes me just want to puke. And, I don't really get too excited about starting a special project trying to mod a Clevo with a Haswell CPU in an effort to get it running as cool as my M18xR2 or the Alienware 18 CPU. I mean, sure, if I have no choice I would do that, but it would not be my first pick as an option.

 

If you do eventually decide to build a monster desktop I can wholeheartedly recommend the Phanteks Enthoo Primo. Appears to be a very watercooling friendly case, and I can attest to its excellent build quality.

I picked it up mainly for the velcro strips and PWM fan hub LOL but it really makes cable management that much easier. I managed to cram 13 fans (yes THIRTEEN, 9x 140mm + 4x 120mm) into the case and the fan hubs really do an excellent job of managing the fan cables. Yes it's a bit wasteful to use what was decidedly a watercooling oriented case for air cooling, but at least I'm using an H110 AIO, and I am thinking of doing a GPU loop with 2x Titan II/980 Ti when GM200 hits.

 

haha, now I need to get me some 980M's......crap, hopfully its not gonna turn out to be another 880M nightmare.

Wonder what computer I should put it in? Either the R2 or the P570WM.. luxury problem I also need to upgrade the 780Ti's for some 980GTX soon as well...

 

There will not be a Ti version of the 980 as all shaders are unlocked on the 980.

 

GM200, not GM204 since it's a done deal.

 

The price of the 980M cards (if they really are) on ebay is revolting.

Assuming dell doesn't decide to screw us all over by not supporting the new card in some way, would it still cost 1000USD per card to upgrade when the time comes, if one already has 780Ms or 880Ms? Surely not, since the owner would have already spent close to 2000USD for those cards in the first place. On the eurocom page for the Eurocom X7 the prices for configuring one with two 780Ms or two 980Ms is surprisingly close together. Or will dell try to capitalise on the apparent performance leap of the new cards?

 

The Ti - and I'm 99% sure there will be a Ti, given that the 980 uses such little power for a top end GPU, giving lots of headroom for a larger GPU die - would use a different GPU core. I think they're also likely to produce a new generation of Titan with a bigger GPU core, seeming as the Titan and Titan Black were very popular cards.

 

I think I now have an idea of my future with regards gaming systems.

I Intend to go down the desktop route with a 5960x and Gtx 980 SLi as it suits my needs better. The AW18 is an epic machine and provided cost/difficulty I might upgrade it to 980m sli with a 4940mx/4910mq. If this proves to be too costly, I will looking into MSI/Alienware17 with 980m or 970m again on a cost basis.

I learnt with the Alienware 18 that it is not really portable, at least not under what I consider portable to be. If I want to game I need a mouse matt, mouse, somwthing to elevate the back end, power brick and a plug socket. That's a lot of move around. Plus in a vindicator backpack its back breaking to carry for any long period. Everything you can achieve on this system under battery like web surfing, Excel, youtube, etc you can do for longer on another system. It also probably wont break your legs when on your lap. The Apple 13" Macbook Pro retina or even Macbook Air does this function better almost every conceivable way. The only reason I am not getting on is My partner already has one. If she is on the desktop then a Laptop with a 980/970m in 15.6" format with a 1080p screen would be acceptable for some quick fix gaming. I can get my main graphical fix when she is done.

I already use an iPad mini retina to get my fix of news on the web and the few apps I do need. I might not love apple but again, thanks massively to its app eco system you can simply do more with an iPad than any other tablet. I simply have it as my AW18 is just to large to use on the bed and it doesn't last very long.

The idea of of laptops costing so much without being able to upgrade a little further down the line as processors get cheaper and new graphics cards come out is really disturbing me. I always new buying the AW18 with 4800mq and 780m I would always upgrade to a bigger processor and better graphics if I needed to. Based on what I use it for.

Just like Mr Fox the value of performance against the value of what's in my bank account really counts. If I won't feel the return then what's the point in wasting my money.

 

Does anybody know if it would be possible to put one of these in my clevo x7200?

I don't want to retire my computerer now! it's only my Gpu power that's doesn't do the work..

 

Until it's tested you can't be sure.

 

Hi buddies! Sorry for this question I'm going to make because I'm almost quite sure that you have already answered it. But I couldn't find it or understand the part I'm looking for so...
I have a M18X-R2's (680M SLI) based system and I plan to upgrade the GPUs to 980M's but I'm not quite sure if anyone knows if this upgrade it's possible or not.
Also if you don't mind to tell me if it's good idea or not to upgrade to this GPUs.
Do you think is it also a good idea to get or to make a Dual PSU for this system?

Thank you! and excuse my English!

 

I understand where youre coming from Fox; but you could also set out to create wickedly fast Mini-ITX, which will support multiple GPU's, and in case you haven't actually checkout out the case in the youtube video I sent you earlier, here it is, and IT BASICALLY IS AN OPEN AIR BENCH:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66780NJNb7Q

You would retain SOME mobility, you just will have to get creative with monitor transport. That's it!

Clevo rumored to offer a mobile X99, now that is extremely exciting.

 

Oh there totally will be a Ti, or it will be "Titan 2", but Big "22nm" Maxwell is definitely due out next year. In fact I am more than willing to wager that 22nM Kepler was all ready to go NOW but for strategic purposes Nvidia released a toned down iteration for everyone with < / = GTX 680 to jump on and full-blown Maxwell shortly thereafter for everyone currently running top-tier Kepler. The math here is fairly straightforward, those with more money than sense who just jumped on first-wave Maxwell will simply upgrade again next year, surprisingly there is a sizeable majority of the consumer market who does not wait say three years before upgrading; they will buy the newest iteration of technological drip-feed as soon as it becomes available. Nvidia knows this as well as Apple (just look at all of the buffoons who only purchased their perfectly functional and fine I-phone 5 last year paying up for the 6). If Nvidia or Apple released the state-of-the-art when it was actually developed they wouldn't be able to milk us twice.

Some Nvidia engineer is running 22nM Maxwell, likely 50% faster than GTX 980, right now on some test computer in some lab laughing their *** off. So is Nvidia marketing, all the way to the bank.

 

I saw that review.. man that think is a waste being mITX though.

How's your rig going fella?

 

See my last comment above, and see the 780 Ti SLI bench in my signature, GTX 980 is ~10% faster than 780 Ti, and that's only comparing reference to reference: according to Guru3D overclocked reference GTX 980 SLI pulled 20k GPU in Firestrike compared to nearly 25k GPU of my non-reference 780 Ti SLI (see signature).

No point in paying up $1k for another 1GB of VRAM. Nvidia's ploy is fairly apparent (see above).

 

Who me? I recently picked up Nvidia 3D Vision and have grown incredibly fond of it. I don't know if youve seen it, but for me there is absolutely no going back to 2D. Tomb Raider, AC4: Black Flag, Crysis 3, Max Payne 3, and Batman: AC are drop dead eye candy in 3D. Unfortunately you need a super-rig to run it as to render 60 FPS 3D your system needs to be able to render 120 FPS (one distinct frame for each eye). Fortunately my system has been able to run all of the above at a near constant 60 FPS, even at 2560x1440 with all of the settings maxed out. Oh and I'm loving the 3D movies! Just viewed Captain America: Winter Soldier and Transformers: Age of Extinction, total eye candy to the max.

How is your R2 holding up? Are you planning on picking up 980M? Love your avatar, reminds me of an anime version of Jason Vorhees. How are things in Japan?

 

No one? :S

Also another question came to my mind, if this new 980M is G-SYNC's capable and HDMI 2.0 would I be able to use those features with my actual m18x-r2?
I mean using the current HDMI output or mini-DP.
Would be awsome to be able of using those features.


PS: I had quoted myself to don't let this question die. If the moderator thinks that it's wrong to do so just delete this post. Excuse me in advance.

 

Nikos! I recognize you, youre to thank for being brave enough to experiment with Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...y-liquid-ultra-any-tips-before-i-start-5.html

Yes, 980M apparently is as fast as 680M SLI and may only consume between 120-150W so you might actually be able to get away with a single 330W PSU although there are no hard numbers on power consumption yet.

I don't recall reading anything about G-Sync and 980M, I'm sure if it is a feature it would've been widely publicized. Not sure about HDMI 2.0, I am nearly certain Mr. Fox knows the answer to these questions.

 

hahaha yeah! it's me I'm still alive just been living abroad for a while but I came back with new crazy ideas to try
I will wait for the moment to answer those questions before buying anything I think I'm not going to be the first this time.

Thank you for sharing your info

 

3D Vision sounds good. Have you tried it with Skyrim? Sure do need that rig to push 120fps to get that golden 60 per eye.
The R2 is going strong, love it. The bad and good thing is there isn't anything else for me to get right now. I shouldn't really build a rig until I'm back in Oz in a 1-2 years time. If Clevo do a x99 I might be interested in changing it up. Still for now I need and am digging portable power.
I think 980m SLI seems like a good fit.

How about you? Going to fire your R2 up for another round of SLI action ?

 

Yeah I do t see gsync support in any mobile GPUS, even the 980m.. It's a shame really.. Using the ROG Swift monitor is simply amazing on my desktop... It is very much like the old CRT days in terms of smoothness...

 

I didn't mean to totally snub your suggestion. I have seen the InWin D-Frame and absolutely love how it looks and how it is made. It's only the form factor that I don't care for. If I go desktop I will want nothing less than E-ATX and a mobo like the Asus Rampage V Extreme. The D-Frame in a full tower with E-ATX support would be sweet. I love the combination of "Industrial" and "Automotive/SuperBike" flavor. The D-Frame reminds me of a motorcycle frame and/or roll-cage.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's very sharp aesthetically as well.

 

It's to bad they only have the d-frame mini now. The s-frame is pretty cool buy way over priced IMO for the amount of room/expandablity. I could spec out a crazy CaseLabs casr for that kind of coin...

 

Assuming compatibility M18xR2, it will be interesting to see what 980M does for battery life compared to 780M. I am sure that won't come close to the Intel HD Graphics. While it is not important to me in the grand scheme of things, it is really rare to find a beast of this size that can boast about 5+ hours of battery life. Even the new 18 only goes half that much with an "efficient" Haswell because they put such a small battery in it.

 

I think it's a little unfair to call the people that upgrade like that 'buffoons'. It's not a case of 'more money than sense' (although there definitely are plenty of new tech buyers that the statement applies to), some people are simply technology enthusiasts. If they have the cash to spare, why not? Hell, I was considering giving up my 'perfectly functional' iPhone 5s for the new 6+ for the much larger screen, the main reason I'm not is because I don't have the money to spare for that unfortunately. (That, and disappointment that Apple still has 16GB as the base storage and charges a ludicrous amount for more.) Does that make me one of those 'buffoons'?

Of course, those upgrading their phones (or graphics cards, or any other tech) like that and getting into financial trouble as a result are buffoons, but that definitely doesn't apply to all of them. And going from a 780 Ti to a 980 seems a little silly too, given the gap between them is so small. (Not exactly the same or particularly comparable to the big differences between some phone updates.)

Is 3D vision really worth it? I'm strongly considering going for it, but looking at the threads about it on the nVidia forums (and elsewhere), it seems nVidia's support of it recently has been very lacking. That along with the consumer release of the Oculus Rift not being far off is putting me off going for it.

 

To be fair the 980 was never really meant for people who have a 780 or above, it's really meant for those still rocking a 680 or below.

I'm personally going to buy 2 Titan X/980 Ti/whatever the hell nVidia wants to call GM200 and then sticking with them since Pascal is at least 1.5 years out. It just occured to me that the original Titan which is now 1.5 years old is still very much alive and kicking, and ironically that 6GB of memory may actually give it a longer service life compared to more powerful but vram limited cards.

 

Well, I already asked this but who is to say that the 980M will work on the AW 18 or AW Mx18 R2 to begin with? There is one user here who installed th 880M on the R2 and it was a gltich fest.

 

True, nobody has tried it yet. But, 880M more or less does not work great for anything, including machines it was sold in from the factory. It was just a big glitch all around for NVIDIA.

 

I will wait till I see some real testing and also until slv7 manage to mod the vbios. I'm quite sure they would overclock like hell!
But if for any reason it happens that this are not fully compatible with my current system I guess I should get two pairs of 780M and start to think to get one desktop instead. I don't want to say goodbye to this family

 

Nice to see youre still around Nikos.

I might actually, it depends, like I am in between jobs at the moment and for about a day I seriously contemplated returning to living on the rough, back to pitching a tent every-night and tearing it down in the morning and hanging out in public libraries while I look for another job, a lifestyle where if I wish to continue doing what I love, PC gaming, requires a strong mobile platform. So if I were to do that, or prepare for that option in the future, then piecing my M18x R2 back together (all of the 2.5" drives are now residing in my desktop and have been converted from MBR to GPT format, meaning at least one of them will need to return and be reformatted and Windows re-installed, just for starters) including the possibility of upgrading my half-dead 680M's to 980M SLI (they won't hold any kind of OC). But this is assuming 980M SLI is compatible with the R2, which I am only assuming will be, and without issue with a single 330W PSU (no figures on power consumption yet but ballpark is 120-150W per 980M) and assuming I will have $2k lying around for such an upgrade (I don't and probably won't for a very long time, my desktop was my last hoorah).

All of that aside, I am happy to announce that i just pulled the trigger on a rather inexpensive cooling solution for my desktop's 780 Ti's as elaborated by "Faceman" here: Kraken G10 Help - Water Cooling - Linus Tech Tips

It was exciting to think about the possibility of Asetek actually releasing to the public their prototype liquid cooling solution for the R2 but well Dell came along, purchased the patent and.......(crickets).

At least with the desktop there are a myriad solutions to every perceivable issue, one could go with a full blown custom-loop for $600+ or for say $180 run a pair of AIO coolers as I am about to do.

Mobile X99 sounds very exciting, Clevo would be the one to do it with it's dual PSU's; I see about 170W TDP from my 4930 at 4.6GHz, I would imagine 5960 approaches 200W at a comparable frequency.

G-Sync is cool, I never notice input-lag until playing with G-Sync enabled. That said, one cannot run both Nvidia 3D vision and G-Sync simultaneously and having seen the former I have to say that I would choose that over G-Sync any day of the week. The input lag is actually barely noticeable without G-Sync, its difficult to say that after I say it is noticeable. It's there, but it's not THAT big of a deal. Other than that, G-Sync really only seems to shine above 45FPS, if you get any lower than that, youre still going to experience stuttering. But yeah, if youre running the Swift and have yet to experience 3D Vision YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO EXPERIENCE IT. It's not a gimmick and I am surprised as to how many games support it. Nearly 75% of my existing steam library of over 20 titles:

Portal 2
Max Payne 3
Tomb Raider
Crysis 2, 3 (Origin)
Mass Effect 2,3 (Origin)
Dirt 3
Dishonored
Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon
GTA 4 and likely 5
Metro: LL (and 2033 and Redux versions)
Alien Isolation
The Witcher 2 (and likely 3)
Batman: AC, Origins and likely Dark Knight
AC4: Black Flag (Uplay)
Star Craft 2
Grid 2
Project Cars
Next Car Game

and many, many other titles that can't come to mind.

The 3D is STUNNING. I'm telling you right now, youre not going to care AT ALL about G-Sync once you see it. Youll never want to go back to 2D ever again. If you have a Swift and are sporting AT LEAST GTX 780 SLI (3D at 1440p is extremely demanding) you owe it to yourself to pick up Nvidia's 3D Vision 2 kit.

Awesome, I understand where youre coming from, I figured you might like the idea of having one of the fastest Mini-ITX in an open-air case and retaining some mobility over a cumbersome giant PC case as you are a mobile enthusiast and are already sacrificing a great deal in terms of raw power vs. mobility. You could still have a wickedly fast PC with 2x SLI options available, you just couldn't run 3x SLI or X99.....

 

No youre right, it is a bit hypocritical for me to purchase 680M right after 580M a year earlier only to put together a desktop with top-tier Kepler the next yet point out the inanity of buying a new smart-phone every year. Yes the distinction between buffoon and enthusiast is amorphous; maybe we're all must enthusiast buffoons.

Good for you not being able to jump on the 6, hint, the 7 will be that much better and it's less than a year away. Ditto Big Maxwell. Point is, sure, lets be enthusiasts, but lets also begin to be smart about this because the tech is refreshed so frequently it is impossible to keep up financially.

Oh yeah 3D's worth it, our enthused community is keeping going strong thanks to Helix etc, like take Alien: Isolation for example, there is no official Nvidia support, but the community has already got it working:

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/780158/3d-vision/alien-isolation/

Helix rocking the mods here:

Helix Mod: Game List (automatically updated)

You should be ok with 880M SLI at 1080p, you just might have to turn a few features down to appreciate a playable framerate in 3D. To get an idea, go ahead and turn off V-Sync and see what kind of frames you get in various newer games youre enjoying at the moment (i.e. Metro:LL, Crysis 2,3, Tomb Raider, AC4: Black Flag, Batman: AC etc.). You will need to see an average of 120 FPS to realize 60 FPS in 3D. If youre only seeing say 70-80 FPS, you can only expect to see 30-40 FPS 3D. And your cards will be at 99% utilization constant, which is the reason I had to look into and implement an inexpensive cooling solution for my desktop 780 Ti's, they are seeing between 75-99% utilization constant with 75C load temps on the primary.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm going to run a pair of NZXT Kraken G10's in conjunction with the existing EVGA ACX mid-plates (for VRM cooling) and 120mm Corsair H55 AIO cooler's pushing the heat out of the front of the case. Realistically I should see no more than 55 C primary (a single 120mm radiator is adequate on AMD's 505W TDP Radeon R9 295x2 and I will be rocking one per 780 Ti) , and as others who have retained their non-reference VRM plates have reported, a 20-30 C drop in VRM temps. as well. This was the biggest initial criticism of the Kraken G10, that it doesn't keep the VRM area cool. More on this project is elaborated by "Faceman" here:

Kraken G10 Help - Water Cooling - Linus Tech Tips

 

I've tried 3d vision. It was decent on my aw17 I had. I'm more of a competitor in online gaming and personally prefer the very high FPS and smoothness it provides. I haven't noticed any input lag with gsync enabled at 144hz. I have little doubt my desktop coudktn handle 3d vision, just more into higher FPS to be more competitive.