Which 970 Are You Buying?

polonyc2 said:
I'm glad to finally see Nvidia take a page out of AMD's playbook and release a new card with competitive pricing versus overcharging out of the gate
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Same here, I haven't owned an nVidia card since I purchased a 4200Ti back in 2002, and it's not because of brand loyalty, it's simply that AMD has traditionally offered the best bang for my buck. This time around I decided that even if I had to spend an extra $100 to get comparable performance, I was going to go with nVidia - just so I could experience something different. Fortunately for me, I won't have to spend that extra $100 to buy into nVidia this generation.
 
My eVGA SC isn't stable out of the box, returning it today.
Not a huge deal as I game at 1080p and have my 7950 boost to fall back on, but still dissapointed.

I guess at this point I'll just wait until revision 2 cards come along. Would love to see some reviews of the Zotac. If / when I do try for a 970 again in future, it will be a short PCB version.
 
I like the output selection that Gigabyte has on their G1. I don't know if the length is a dealbreaker.

Otherwise, probably the MSI.
 
I think I'm going to wind up with Zotac's base model - it's shorter than the others (just over 8") which will make fitting it into my case (a Silverstone SG05) much easier than the others (standard card length seems to be 9.5", which is cutting it close, and the Asus Strix card is 11", which won't fit at all).

I'd have looked at the EVGA cards - they used to be my preferred vendor for NVIDIA stuff - but with the continued issues with their ACX cooler I'm not feeling that it's worth the hassle.
 
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I'm hoping there will be 970's in stock this friday, planning to make an impromptu trip down to Microcenter and load up a cart full of parts. C'MON LUCK!
 
So far, the ASUS Strix seems like the one to go with. Except for their poor RMA service, in the event that you need it. I have to admit, though, I've had a couple of different ASUS NVidia cards (660ti, 670), and have had zero problems.
 
waderunner said:
So far, the ASUS Strix seems like the one to go with. Except for their poor RMA service, in the event that you need it. I have to admit, though, I've had a couple of different ASUS NVidia cards (660ti, 670), and have had zero problems.
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Doing a bit more reading and BIT-tech gave the msi a higher rating.. I have a MSI hd6950 and its been solid for all this years . No issues but is time to upgrade
 
n=1 said:
Let us know how it overclocks!
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I'll be toying with it this weekend. Been a while since I've ocd a gpu, my 680 didn't go far. If anyone has rips send em my way. The card is huuuge. I heard mention you can adjust the windforce lighting, but I haven't discovered how.
 
seems like MSI is the one to get at the moment followed by Gigabyte and ASUS...right?
 
waderunner said:
So far, the ASUS Strix seems like the one to go with. Except for their poor RMA service, in the event that you need it. I have to admit, though, I've had a couple of different ASUS NVidia cards (660ti, 670), and have had zero problems.
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It's fine if you don't intend to overclock it heavily. Only has a single 8 pin so power delivery will be limited compared to the MSI and Gigabyte cards at 8+6 pins.

Also, 6+1 phase means power delivery to memory will be kinda meh. Both MSI and Gigabyte are better in that regard having 6+2 phases.

Ghoststalker said:
I'll be toying with it this weekend. Been a while since I've ocd a gpu, my 680 didn't go far. If anyone has rips send em my way. The card is huuuge. I heard mention you can adjust the windforce lighting, but I haven't discovered how.
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I read the lighting could be turned off in Gigabyte's software. Also from the pictures it looks like the lighting has a dedicated connector, so a more permanent solution would be to just yank the connector.

polonyc2 said:
seems like MSI is the one to get at the moment followed by Gigabyte and ASUS...right?
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If you have enough room in your case the Gigabyte is the better choice due to better cooling.
 
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Just Ordered the MSI on newegg ebay store they have some right now and it will be shipped by the 30 :) , just wish the msi had a backplate....
 
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Still happy with my MSI Gaming 970 :) No coil whine and cannot hear it under load over my low speed triple rad setup and/or gentle typhoons.

Not much time for benching or anything but Bioshock Infinite is smooth as butter - completely maxed out at 1080p. Injustice ran great as well though I think the game suffers somewhat from poor coding/porting.

Wish I could get out of the stone age with a 1440p or greater :(
 
ROG Swift -- 1440p @ 144Hz, just unbeatable. I'd spring for one myself if it wasn't so pricey.
 
n=1 said:
ROG Swift -- 1440p @ 144Hz, just unbeatable. I'd spring for one myself if it wasn't so pricey.
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I'd get one if it were not so damned hard to find in stock. The rampant price gouging from the other sellers on Amazon is sickening and insulting.
 
Ordered the Zotac (basic model) because A) it was available and B) It was the only available other than the 70$ more, longer 3 fans Gigabyte model. All the other models were back order...

The Gigabyte had 3 DP 1 HDMI and 1 Dual-Link DVI thats the only reason it could have been interesting but my plan is to replace my 27inch 16:9 display with a 34inch 21:9 display anyway plus a second 970 for SLI.

Replacing a nearly 6 year old 295 GTX :)

Oh and: Status On vehicle for delivery Date/Time SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 AT 09:10
 
Looking to replace my evga 970s with either the Asus strix or msi gaming. I saw the msi has an 8pin and 6pin, while the Asus claims to use high end components. Any thoughts?
 
FRZ said:
Looking to replace my evga 970s with either the Asus strix or msi gaming. I saw the msi has an 8pin and 6pin, while the Asus claims to use high end components. Any thoughts?
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If you're going to be overclocking get the MSi, if not get the ASUS. Either way, I've heard MSi has customer support that is magnitudes better than ASUS, if that concerns you.
 
Armenius said:
If you're going to be overclocking get the MSi, if not get the ASUS. Either way, I've heard MSi has customer support that is magnitudes better than ASUS, if that concerns you.
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Well with these cards headroom I would like to overclock them. Guess I'll be on the lookout for msi cards :)
 
What does the MSI offer over the Gigabyte? Both seem to have similar power delivery systems but Gigabyte has the better cooling of ALL components?
 
My current GPU is a MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II that I won in at [H]'s GameXperience show in Dallas in 2011. I liked MSI's cooler- probably the best stock GPU cooling I've had since the Arctic on the 8800GT back in the day.

So it's down to either the MSI Gaming 4G or Asus Strix. Depends which shows up in stock first.
 
melk said:
What does the MSI offer over the Gigabyte? Both seem to have similar power delivery systems but Gigabyte has the better cooling of ALL components?
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The MSi is frequently in stock while the Gigabyte is never in stock ;). But the Gigabyte is also around $100 more than the MSRP of $329, while the MSi is only $20 more.
 
Gigabyte is only $370 on Amazon if you can afford to wait. I'm personally sitting this one out until the initial excitement dies down and sellers no longer find price gouging profitable, and then grabbing 2 Gigabyte cards.

I like how there are sellers on Amazon selling everything for MSRP + $150 or more. How desperate do they think we are? :rolleyes:
 
rabidz7 said:
I'm serious. EVGA makes the best stuff.
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You should probably go browse the threads about EVGA 970s. Generally, I swear by EVGA, and their support is second to none in the industry. They messed up this time though. Their products are directly inferior to the competition in the 970 range, and it's the first time I didn't recommend them to a friend when he asked about getting a 970.
 
n=1 said:
Gigabyte is only $370 on Amazon if you can afford to wait. I'm personally sitting this one out until the initial excitement dies down and sellers no longer find price gouging profitable, and then grabbing 2 Gigabyte cards.

I like how there are sellers on Amazon selling everything for MSRP + $150 or more. How desperate do they think we are? :rolleyes:
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Good point. I'm patiently waiting for the PG278Q because resellers are trying to sell them at $900+.
 
bpizzle1 said:
You should probably go browse the threads about EVGA 970s. Generally, I swear by EVGA, and their support is second to none in the industry. They messed up this time though. Their products are directly inferior to the competition in the 970 range, and it's the first time I didn't recommend them to a friend when he asked about getting a 970.
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The cooler change was planned and is not an issue.
 
Yeah the gouging on ROG Swift is equally unbelievable, but luckily for me I barely have enough room on my desk for my 24" VG248QE, so not in a rush to get the ROG Swift anytime soon.

rabidz7 said:
The cooler change was planned and is not an issue.
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Then what about the fact EVGA only uses 4+2 phases for power delivery and 2x6 pins, while both MSI and Gigabyte use 6+2 phases and 6+8 pins? Even Asus uses 6+1 phases so power delivery to the core will be superior. And so far I haven't seen complaints of coil whine on either the Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI cards either.
 
rabidz7 said:
The cooler change was planned and is not an issue.
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The cooler isn't everyone's main complaint. Sure, it's louder than the competition, but it clearly cools the card well enough. The problem is it seems they have used inferior power delivery as well as lower quality parts. Hence why there's a lot of people dealing with loud buzzing and coil whine.
 
bpizzle1 said:
The cooler isn't everyone's main complaint. Sure, it's louder than the competition, but it clearly cools the card well enough. The problem is it seems they have used inferior power delivery as well as lower quality parts. Hence why there's a lot of people dealing with loud buzzing and coil whine.
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I was in this boat. Totally fine with the ACX 1.0 being louder than normal, and I didn't expect the power delivery components would affect me since I don't overclock.

What I ended up with was a squealing card that lasted less than 48 hour in my PC before being boxed up and sent back for a refund.
 
Are there any 970 using the the stock Titan cooler? All the vendors are pushing aftermarket coolers that are too big for my case (M1).
 
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