Which 970 Are You Buying?

just got my Asus cards... they're pretty. and larger than I though. They're not long as the Gigabyte but beefy and quite heavy.

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now that's a heat pipe! :eek: :cool:

edit: I got sucked into work crap and wasn't able to get my cards installed today.. I hope tomorrow but I have a lot going on. I did get to examine the cards a lot though.. I was reading concerns the the VRM sink would not get enough air but it is right under a set of fins and fan...

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maybe warm air, but it should get something. My top card is going to be really close to my SBZ so the front fan will get starved a bit but I am hoping because of the way the PCB and sink/fan setup sticks out about an inch and change more than normal cards it'll give it the little extra breathing room to get some air in. I might put my side fan back to intake rather than exhaust maybe also... just want to see how much hot air comes off the sides of these...

edit2: cards installed and wow.. they are fast and soooo quiet. I built a fan profile for them in Afterburner because I don't like to see 45c to 50c idle temps... it bugs me. with the fans at 40% to keep idle temps down I still can't even hear them. crazy! Also these coolers do a nice job of shoving heat out of the back of the case but I still have my side fan on exhaust for now. It's probably 80F in my office now and my top card maxed out at 65c after 15 mins of valley... no additional tweaking other than the fan profile.. the boost is hitting 1303 on both cards without any tweaks.
 
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limitedaccess said:
Be aware that Asus might have the sticker as well. The backplate just might be covering it. I'm not sure for this series specifically but the reports were there for last gen.
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I just wanted to come back to this since I looked into it more and does appear retail samples (see above posts for example) at least have sightings of the tamper sticker over the heatsink screw for both the Asus Strix 970 and 980, other examples -

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/grafikkarten/353761-unboxing-asus-gtx-970-strix.html
http://rog.asus.com/370272014/gaming-graphics-cards-2/unboxing-strix-geforce-gtx-980/

So it seems both Asus and MSI have a tamper sticker over a heatsink screw.

From my other research so far it seems like the following don't -
EVGA (doesn't really matter though as warranty terms cover heatsink removal)
Gigabyte
Zotac

Rest is unknown.
 
I can confirm that my Gigabyte 970 G1 Gaming cards did not have tamper stickers on any of the screws.
 
revenant said:
just got my Asus cards... they're pretty. and larger than I though. They're not long as the Gigabyte but beefy and quite heavy.

now that's a heat pipe! :eek: :cool:
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They're certainly longer than the Titan cooler. I think I might not be comfortable with anything longer in my case. The Gigabyte would have really been a tight fit... too tight to be comfortable in my opinion. But after coming from a pair of reference 780s, these feel like they weigh as much as paper by comparison. But isn't it sexy? :D

revenant said:
edit: I got sucked into work crap and wasn't able to get my cards installed today.. I hope tomorrow but I have a lot going on. I did get to examine the cards a lot though.. I was reading concerns the the VRM sink would not get enough air but it is right under a set of fins and fan...

maybe warm air, but it should get something. My top card is going to be really close to my SBZ so the front fan will get starved a bit but I am hoping because of the way the PCB and sink/fan setup sticks out about an inch and change more than normal cards it'll give it the little extra breathing room to get some air in. I might put my side fan back to intake rather than exhaust maybe also... just want to see how much hot air comes off the sides of these...
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The VRMs get passively cooled enough that I wouldn't worry about it. These really were not made to overclock as much as the Gigabyte, that's for sure. The stock voltage on these is a lot lower than other 970s, too, at 1.175v.

revenant said:
edit2: cards installed and wow.. they are fast and soooo quiet. I built a fan profile for them in Afterburner because I don't like to see 45c to 50c idle temps... it bugs me. with the fans at 40% to keep idle temps down I still can't even hear them. crazy! Also these coolers do a nice job of shoving heat out of the back of the case but I still have my side fan on exhaust for now. It's probably 80F in my office now and my top card maxed out at 65c after 15 mins of valley... no additional tweaking other than the fan profile.. the boost is hitting 1303 on both cards without any tweaks.
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Interesting... I think the cooling in my case may be better than your's as they both idle right around 40C with the stock fan profile (0% below 60C). I also have a SBZ right above GPU1. Setting your side fan to intake might help. I have a NZXT Phantom for reference, with all optional fans but the 200mm side fan installed. Front and side hard drive fans are set to intake, rear and top fans are set to exhaust. A/C in the room where my computer sits is set to 25C.
 
Hi - my cards seem to run at 1.21v while under stress.... Also yes, I am planning on turning my side fan around once I install the water cooling for my cpu... right now with a custom fan profile my top card idles at 40c and the bottom at around 37c with the fan on at about 30 or 35%... I can't hear it. When the cards are working the side fan is tossing a lot of hot air so while I like the idea of that air getting pulled out but I'm very curious to see how turning that fan around effects things.
 
Is the difference enough in the gigabyte G1 Gamer 970 and the gigabyte 970 Superclock to wait and get the G1 Gamer?
 
Just ordered two Asus Strix gtx970 from Amazon. Should say preordered because they're out of stock. Like the Gigabyte Gaming 1 also but it was a bit too long for my case.
 
I wish all the good cards weren't so tall. I just got a brand new Corsair Air 240 and none of the good cards will fit. Either too tall (Asus & MSI) or too long (Gigabyte).
 
so which is the definitive best 970 card to get?...MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G, Gigabyte G1 Gaming or ASUS Strix?
 
Owned a windforce coolers the last 2 years returning the g1 gamming 980 and Got an MSI 980 x2
0db is nice and ram cpu overclock much better for me than the card I had. I haven't even touched the voltage yet on MSI.
 
polonyc2 said:
so which is the definitive best 970 card to get?...MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G, Gigabyte G1 Gaming or ASUS Strix?
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I feel like you can't really go wrong with any of those 3. They all seem to have glowing reviews anywhere you look, and they are all made by solid companies. Pick the one that fits your needs the most (i.e. do you want the passive cooling mode, does it fit easily into your case, etc). Unfortunately, it may end up being a matter of what's in stock lol.


I have 2 ASUS Strix in SLI, and I really like them. They stay very quiet and destroy everything at 1440p even without overclocking. I liked the price point too -- very small price premium for a very nice cooler and a backplate.
 
polonyc2 said:
so which is the definitive best 970 card to get?...MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G, Gigabyte G1 Gaming or ASUS Strix?
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Have a look at this OCN thread which I'm sure will answer 90% of your questions.

And as others have mentioned, it really depends on how your define "definitive best". If you want the absolute best performance and cooling, Gigabyte it is. If you favor silence but still want good performance, get the MSI. If you don't really care for OC, and want a silent and well-built card with a backplate, get the Asus.

One more thing to consider if you think you'll ever want to do 3-way SLI: MSI's fan shroud is a bit oversized, so you can't use a rigid 3-way SLI bridge, and will be forced to flex bridge all 3 cards. Looks a bit unclean but otherwise no functional loss. Gigabyte and Asus don't seem to have this problem as the fan shroud is flush with the SLI fingers.
 
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thanks...none of the Big 3 cards are in stock at the moment which might be a good thing as I want the Assassin's Creed: Unity bundle included which I hear doesn't start up until November...right now they are offering the Borderlands Pre-Sequel bundle
 
Got MSI GTX 970, bundled with Elders Scroll Online,

Not sure if that's a good thing lol, but I think I am happy with the card, can boost clock by +200 at stock voltage, and my surrounding is loud enough to drown out most noise my case makes. If there is coil whine with my card, I either can't hear it or I don't recognise it, either way it isn't bothering me. :D
 
I went with the 970m flavor myself ;)

Sager NP8268-S
 
polonyc2 said:
where is it being bundled with ESO?...I'm guessing not in the USA
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Taiwan,

Now, whether that game came free with the card is a totally different matter, because the prices of cards in Taiwan, believe it or not, can be inflated by as much as a 1/3rd over US prices...
 
n=1 said:
Have a look at this OCN thread which I'm sure will answer 90% of your questions.

And as others have mentioned, it really depends on how your define "definitive best". If you want the absolute best performance and cooling, Gigabyte it is. If you favor silence but still want good performance, get the MSI. If you don't really care for OC, and want a silent and well-built card with a backplate, get the Asus.

One more thing to consider if you think you'll ever want to do 3-way SLI: MSI's fan shroud is a bit oversized, so you can't use a rigid 3-way SLI bridge, and will be forced to flex bridge all 3 cards. Looks a bit unclean but otherwise no functional loss. Gigabyte and Asus don't seem to have this problem as the fan shroud is flush with the SLI fingers.
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The Asus actually overclocks pretty well according to all of the reviews of it, so it's not like you won't be able to OC at all if you go the Asus route.
 
It's all relative of course. Being that the Asus only has a single 8pin, the OC headroom is going to be lower than either the Gigabyte or MSI.

Both GB and MSI cards easily overclock to 1500+ core, but seems the Asus needs a bit more tweaking and luck to hit that.
 
i bought the zotac one Link

Should i return it and get something else?

Really going for looks. I ordered a kraken g10 and h105 to hook up to the card(or any other card if it matters)

Also i won't be overclocking
 
phiquach said:
i bought the zotac one Link

Should i return it and get something else?

Really going for looks. I ordered a kraken g10 and h105 to hook up to the card(or any other card if it matters)

Also i won't be overclocking
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Just keep that if you aren't overclocking. You are really overdoing it in the cooling, core temp limits are never the issue with these cards. Might look stupid too, the Kraken is going to stick out way past the end of the short Zotac PCB.
 
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^agreed. If you're not overclocking, just get the cheapest 970 available (check). And absolutely no point throwing on the Kraken either since you'll never hit thermal limits no matter how hard you try (ok fine you will if you took out the fans)
 
n=1 said:
^agreed. If you're not overclocking, just get the cheapest 970 available (check). And absolutely no point throwing on the Kraken either since you'll never hit thermal limits no matter how hard you try (ok fine you will if you took out the fans)
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Which is why I kept the ASUS STRIX GTX 970 in the mix now that local availability has improved - MC Fairfax actually has some in stock; they are actually tied for cheapest, along with the PNY (which is OOS).

I have two PSUs of the same wattage - one with a single 6+2-pin PCI-E, and the other with both a 6+2-pin PCI-E feed and a 6-pin PCI-E feed (the former is the one that I am using) - therefore, neither power feed or wattage (both are 600 watts) is an issue - as long as I don't go insane with drives. (I plan on maybe adding ONE more physical drive - all other changes are about either capacity OR drive type, such as replacing platter drives with SSDs or going with larger platter drives - I have two platter drives and zero SSDs currently.)
 
thanks for the input.

Like i said, i'm only going to for looks that is why i bought the kraken g10.

But since the board is a little short, i might just return it and get a longer card so it doesn't look so goofy.

I'll see when it arrives tomorrow.

Thanks again
 
If MSI makes a blower version for the 970 like the 980 I'd probably go that route.

My Lian-Li case can handle a very long card but I'd rather it would be <10" if possible.
 
I was going to wait for gtx 960 but I might pull the trigger and buy gtx970 instead to upgrade gtx650ti in my HTPC to drive 1080P TV.

I belive my options are very limited for my HTPC Silverstone GD05 HTPC case?
According to the specs if I'm not mistaken my limit is 4.92" (H) x 11" (L).

Based on that my only options are EVGA or Zotac non-amp offerings....
Since it is HTPC case I don't think I will be o/c (noise and relatively limited air flow) I'm leaning toward EVGA FTW offering... or should I just get the chepest of the bunch... My current GTX650TI is Zotac and I had no issues with it.

Please advise. ;)

BTW... my CPU is stock ivy bridge i5 running at 3.4Ghz, 8gb of ram and win 8.1.
 
If you are not planning on OCing, I'd go for the cheapest. The standard ACX 2.0 (2972) turns the fans off at low load and that would probably include BR/DVD playback.

The FTW adds a higher guaranteed minimum clock, a beefier heatsink, a better voltage controller and triple BIOS... none of which you will need in an HTPC.

PNY and MSI also have blower options that will fit but I don't know if your want a blower card in an HTPC.
 
flopticalcube said:
If you are not planning on OCing, I'd go for the cheapest. The standard ACX 2.0 (2972) turns the fans off at low load and that would probably include BR/DVD playback.

The FTW adds a higher guaranteed minimum clock, a beefier heatsink, a better voltage controller and triple BIOS... none of which you will need in an HTPC.

PNY and MSI also have blower options that will fit but I don't know if your want a blower card in an HTPC.
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Thanks for a prompt feedback ;) what about coil whine on acx vs ftw? Based on some quick reading it seems Zotac might be safer for coil whine? However I'm sure EVGA outsells Zotac big time, so of course there will be more negative feedback from EVGA customers. Yeah I don't think I will want blower option.
 
amd7674 said:
Thanks for a prompt feedback ;) what about coil whine on acx vs ftw? Based on some quick reading it seems Zotac might be safer for coil whine? However I'm sure EVGA outsells Zotac big time, so of course there will be more negative feedback from EVGA customers. Yeah I don't think I will want blower option.
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All the cards seem to have coil whine. At least with EVGA, they are happy to RMA the card until you are happy. I suspect that they are also doing something to reduce the instances of it, at least that is what I gathered from their recent press release.
 
as i am too lazy to look through the oc thread, could someone tell me whether there are significant differences between the various 980's with regards to overclocking and overvolting? i'm not too concerned about thermal performance as i plan to water cool sometime in the future.
 
Asus Strix has been fantastic for me. It's overclocked +150core and +250 memory it performs flawlessly. I had bought the Gigabyte G1 but then realized it's far to big to fit in my case. I'm glad I got the Strix instead.
 
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