I've seen a lot of coverage on the Ramgate issue, and how 0.5 of the vram doesn't perform as fast.
Does Ramgate cause issues with games such as artifacting or other graphical issues?
Should I stay with my 970 or get a 980?
Oh dear... What's with all of the -gates?
It just tanks your fps when you go over the 3.5GB because that last 512MB is much, much slower. Stay with your 970.
..... But its much much slower. And I have the ability to get a 980 right now.
If you want a 980, get a 980. sell the 970 and you'll only have paid a bit for it.
I'm surprised the 970 is still advertised as 4gb... and why they didn't make it 4.5gb instead especially when the 960 4gb and even the 760 is...
JayzTwoCents did a "Is it still worth it?" video about the 970 issue. The answer is yes, it's still worth it because you don't need even 3.5GB unless... Are you gaming at ultra HD, such as Shadow of Mordor HD texture pack, or super high resolutions like 4k with demanding games? If the answer is no, than the issue with the 970 memory isn't an issue at all. Most games on the market simply do not use more than, or even as much as, 3.5GB VRAM. I think it's Linus who looked into how 4K is already possible for most of the popular games, such as LoL, SC2, even BF4 (see JayzTwoCents' video) with a single GPU.
As for why it is still advertised as a 4GB card... it's because it IS a 4GB card. There are 4GBs of VRAM on the card. It just runs like 3.5. I don't remember exactly why this is, but you get my point. Dishonest wording? Sure, but technically accurate.
It's not a case of adding 0.5GB to make it 4.5GB so it can address true 4GB as the last 1GB is shared through the same amount of lanes as a 0.5GB portion of the other 3GB and the last 0.5GB is clocked at 1000MHz where as the other 3.5GB is running at 7000MHz.
I know. U was stating that they should add 0.5gb of 7000mhz clocked memory and leave the 1000mhz clocked memory in tact for whatever theitnidea was. I'm curious; can you oc the 512mb portion to 7000mhz to match the rest of the card? Maybe a hacked firmware would allow thus it something like it does for voltages.
Oh gawd, DO NOT try to do that. You can't OC the .5GB part to match the rest. It's not a matter of that .5GBs just being slower, it's the actual, physical architecture of it. Like I said, I don't remember the specifics, but I do know that it's not a case of 4GBs with .5GB simply running slower. It's the architecture. I think either Linus or The Tek did a detailed discussion about what it is. You'll have to search for it, I don't know the name or I'd just link the video for you here :(
EDIT: just realised I basically said the same thing twice in that response >.>
If >=4k it may be worth considering, other than that no. The 970 is still a great gpu. A lot of the uproar is just bandwagon jumping jibber jabber. Benchmarks speak for themselves and there are only a very few instances where the vram config is a problem.
I have not once run into a memory issue with my 970.