Which 970 Are You Buying?

Got vanilla zotac card. 72% ASIC.
With a modified firmware it overclocks to 1506/6800 stable, however I have to run fans at 100% to keep it ~80C. I'm waiting for two 92mm Noctua pwn fans to replace the default ones, to help with the noise and keep the card cooler. ;)
 
Killa|3yte said:
I think I'm going to pick up a reference 970 from Best Buy today (I need to return some other stuff there anyway).

Are the reference cards decent or should I be looking at the custom ones from other vendors?
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Porter_ said:
i haven't seen an official review of the reference card yet but the people buying them are reporting good overclocks and low temps.
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I'm torn right now. I have a 10% off for best buy which makes the reference either $337.32 out the door after price match, or closer to $300 if they will price match a different model which I doubt. Then the MSI 4G is $375 shipped with tax.

I have a FT02 rotated case and a blower style fan would be slightly better for me, but I am huge when it comes to noise and if that reference is at all loud or clocks bad I'm going to lose my mind for not choosing the MSI.
 
Boyiee said:
I'm torn right now. I have a 10% off for best buy which makes the reference either $337.32 out the door after price match, or closer to $300 if they will price match a different model which I doubt. Then the MSI 4G is $375 shipped with tax.

I have a FT02 rotated case and a blower style fan would be slightly better for me, but I am huge when it comes to noise and if that reference is at all loud or clocks bad I'm going to lose my mind for not choosing the MSI.
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Price match against who? I'm curious because I'll be buying a reference 970 most likely tomorrow.
 
Boyiee said:
I'm torn right now. I have a 10% off for best buy which makes the reference either $337.32 out the door after price match, or closer to $300 if they will price match a different model which I doubt. Then the MSI 4G is $375 shipped with tax.

I have a FT02 rotated case and a blower style fan would be slightly better for me, but I am huge when it comes to noise and if that reference is at all loud or clocks bad I'm going to lose my mind for not choosing the MSI.
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Ended up getting a 980 from BB. Been enjoying Far Cry 4 :cool:
 
Boyiee said:
I'm torn right now. I have a 10% off for best buy which makes the reference either $337.32 out the door after price match, or closer to $300 if they will price match a different model which I doubt. Then the MSI 4G is $375 shipped with tax.

I have a FT02 rotated case and a blower style fan would be slightly better for me, but I am huge when it comes to noise and if that reference is at all loud or clocks bad I'm going to lose my mind for not choosing the MSI.
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I've been far too busy working OT to really test my pair out that much, but compared to the 670 FTW's that they replaced, the BB reference cards are much quieter to my ear, but keep in mind that noise is a subjective thing.

As for clocks, this thread had some info I think from people who've had more time to mess with their cards than I have. My initial tests one night seemed pretty positive though.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1525046/best-buy-sells-the-reference-970

Worst case, if you're buying from a local BB, just take it back.
 
Limahl said:
I've been far too busy working OT to really test my pair out that much, but compared to the 670 FTW's that they replaced, the BB reference cards are much quieter to my ear, but keep in mind that noise is a subjective thing.

As for clocks, this thread had some info I think from people who've had more time to mess with their cards than I have. My initial tests one night seemed pretty positive though.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1525046/best-buy-sells-the-reference-970

Worst case, if you're buying from a local BB, just take it back.
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I think there is a restocking fee or something, hopefully not.

My conclusion is that the BB card will be enough cheaper, after tax and the 10% discount and price match, that it makes a second one down the road much more likely. Plus, if I do SLI, then the blower cards are even more preferred in this case.

Tigerdirect does have the MSI 4g for no tax though, $20 difference is hard to pass on!
 
Boyiee said:
I think there is a restocking fee or something, hopefully not.
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Best Buy only has restocking fees on select items, but not video cards. It's one of the reasons I shop there. And Fry's and Micro Center. And why I shop less at Tiger Direct, because of their 15% restocking fee.
 
Starrbuck said:
Best Buy only has restocking fees on select items, but not video cards. It's one of the reasons I shop there. And Fry's and Micro Center. And why I shop less at Tiger Direct, because of their 15% restocking fee.
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Good to know, leaving for Best Buy now.
 
I went with the Strix 970 regardless of any reviews. Stays amazingly cool and looks great with the back plate. No regrets.
 
Boyiee said:
Good to know, leaving for Best Buy now.
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Here are the specifics on their return policy:

Restocking Fee
A 15% restocking fee will be charged on opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS navigation and in-car video systems. A 25% restocking fee will be charged on special order products, including appliances. These fees apply unless the item is defective or damaged, you received the wrong item, or the fee is prohibited by law.
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Source

Nothing else has a restocking fee, but make sure you save your receipt, the box, all accessories, etc. as often they will check.
 
TahoeDust said:
Show them this and hope they don't try to add it to the cart...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814132038
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Anyone price matching bestbuy thank this dude and then print it out and take it with you. I fumbled at the register for 10 minutes on my phone trying to find this. For whatever reason it's damn near impossible via google search or newegg search.

Anyways, I went with this one (reference). It looks bad ass. I was super torn. I'm building up a PC for my girlfriend and had the choice of either; buying her a 750ti or giving her my 280x and getting myself the 970..We'll see how it performs.
 
My 10% off coupon wouldn't work with the combined free game from nvidia, so after price match (353.99) and tax I was out the door spending like 375.

Now the zero tax from tiger direct for the msi 4g is killing me since it would have been cheaper (but I wouldn't have it installed today). Gotta keep telling myself the blower model is better with my rotated case!
 
Boyiee said:
My 10% off coupon wouldn't work with the combined free game from nvidia, so after price match (353.99) and tax I was out the door spending like 375.

Now the zero tax from tiger direct for the msi 4g is killing me since it would have been cheaper (but I wouldn't have it installed today). Gotta keep telling myself the blower model is better with my rotated case!
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eh nothing wrong with burning a little money for instant gratification. you got a nice GTX 970.
 
Anyone pick up the card from bestbuy and not sure how to redeem the game credit? Nothing in the box at all really.
 
What cards are available other than the Evga in a standard length? I am looking for a 970 with a length of no more than 9.5".

Any suggestions?
 
Purchased a 970 GTX FTW ACX2.0, very happy with it, was playing Far Cry 4 in Ultra all high levels. temps were low and the fans never got above 1100 RPM.
 
I have to say I love the Reference 970 I bought for my sister's computer. Only tried stock so far, but 1240 boost and only 1800 on the fan (max is 4186). It's still in the "barely hear it in a quiet room area" with a ton of headroom. Awesome for a blower! Will definitely need a bios mod though.
 
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I got myself a pair of Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce 3X OC cards and thankfully they were not as huge as Gigabyte's product pages would have you believe (the measurements are for the entire card including panels etc) as I was able to fit them in my Fractal Define R3 case without problems.

The cards themselves came slightly bent, both in the same way so I guess that's how they were from the factory. Likewise the plastic fan shroud doesn't seem too rigid but causes no issues really. I bought these models mainly because they were available and for two cards I didn't feel the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming model offered enough to warrant the roughly 40e price difference (for two cards). For a single card it might be a better bet.

The Windforce 3X OCs perform like a champ though but I wasn't too happy about the idle fan noise (unlike MSI/ASUS they don't turn fan off at idle) so I had to mod the BIOS of the cards to get them to run at less than 1500 RPM on idle.
 
any benefits in buying the reference gtx 970 as opposed to the MSI/Gigabyte brands? I have numerous best buy's near me with these in stock.
 
Vatican said:
any benefits in buying the reference gtx 970 as opposed to the MSI/Gigabyte brands? I have numerous best buy's near me with these in stock.
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Should be quiet from a coil whine perspective. Very few people have complained about noise on these cards and the PCB design is different.
 
ocellaris said:
Should be quiet from a coil whine perspective. Very few people have complained about noise on these cards and the PCB design is different.
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But performance wise, the MSI/Gigabyte should be overclocking better right? And they have higher clocks out of the box it seems.
 
any thought on the EVGA GTX 970 SSC with the remodeled heatspreader?
 
Got a Gigabyte G1 Gaming card. When I opened the box I was in awe at how beastly it was with the three fans. No space issues at all in case. Backplate a +.
 
Hulk said:
any thought on the EVGA GTX 970 SSC with the remodeled heatspreader?
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The ACX+ cools better and has a custom ("beefier") board design.

Compared to the other popular contenders, the Asus Strix, MSI Gaming, and Gigabyte Windforce G1 it still performs worse in terms of cooling but that is really more of a size tradeoff, you'll notice the ACX+ is the smallest heatsink out of those.

I really like the full front plate design they used (side note, I dislike how MSI regressed in this area compared to the 7xx series).

At the end now there isn't really going to be a huge difference for these cards. I think the ACX 2.0+ SSC is going the cheapest now in the US and combined with EVGA reputable service you might as well get that. I wouldn't sweat out the details unless you really want something specific that a model offers.

As a side the EVGAs aren't the only ones that have been revised actually. The MSI Gaming got a silent 1.3 revision since the launch models. The VRM heatsink is larger now, they added a support brace from the back bracket to the front plate, I believe some sort of damping material is across the chokes (coil whine), and the card is 1cm longer now. I don't know if the Asus and Gigabytes have been changed.
 
I went and purchases a EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0+ from B-List.

I think the board is identical to the 970 FTW ACX 2.0+ so I was going to flash one of the vbios's with a FTW image when I get it. (Ordered it over the weekend so it's finally shipping today).

Upgrading from a GTX 760 / 4770k (in an itx case) to this card and a i7-980x.
 
My EVGA Hadron Air case is recommended to fit gpu's that are 10.5" (266.7mm).
In reality it can fit 11" (MAX) cards.
GTX 970 g1 gaming gpu is measured in at 299mm which is 11.77 inches approx.

I have attached a picture for you to look at for my following question:

Looking at that picture attached you will see near the end of the gpu the black plastic at the top and bottom extend a little past the copper heatshrink. My question is: If i were to cut the end black plastic to match the inner copper end of the gpu what size would the card be?

So basically what length would the card be from the start to the end being the copper heatshrink looking copper arrow things that stick out near the end?

Look at the attached picture, you will see that i plan on cutting at the purple line to make the gpu shorter.
So before i buy this gpu, can you please measure from the start to the beginning of the blue line and tell me what the distance is EXACTLY?

Please measure the BLUE line for me & i Plan to cut at the Purple Line.
9

http://tinypic.com/r/bc5jp/9

Thanks! :)
 
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