So I decided to move to the GTX 1080 despite very lukewarm reviews and potential throttling issues.  With a 4k panel, every bit helps, and a 980Ti can still be sold for a decent recovery at this point.  Slightly better performance for less power seemed a reasonable hold over for a couple of hundred dollars until the inevitable 1080Ti drops.   The good news is that installing the new card in the Graphics Amp was definitely the easiest GPU upgrade ever!  The bad news is that the gains for an FE 1080 vs a custom cooler 980Ti like the EVGA SC+ really are “meh”.  First example, Fire Strike Ultra:

For reference, the 980Ti SC+ came in at 4161 so this is a lack luster 13% game.  Hopefully gaming benchmarks will push closer to the 20%+ range!