Which GTX 970 model to buy?
- Thread starter CFogle21
- Start date
Depends. If you are going the SLI route with the card, I'd suggest getting a 970 with the reference cooler on it that blows air outside of the case rather than inside. If you are just getting a single card then you've got your pick of the litter. I've always gone with EVGA due to their customer service. I've been eying their GTX 970 Superclocked with the reference cooler myself.
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-1972-KR
The Living Tribunal and eVo7 care to add your suggestions?
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-1972-KR
The Living Tribunal and eVo7 care to add your suggestions?
Yeah, In benchmarks the gtx 970 is pretty much tied with the 780ti in terms of performance. It even slightly edges it out in a few games. It is probably the best value per performance out right now on the market.
That said the coil whine issue is really not that much of an issue only if you are extremely sensitive to noise (I game on my PC with a stereo headset.) I've never had a card with the issue, but I wouldn't really be bothered by it even then.
From what I know the EVGA Superclocked variant of the 970 seems to be the one plauged by this.
I have 2 gtx 780's in SLI and I can attest to what wshowers said in terms of the referrence cooler for SLI. I have the EVGA superclocked 780's that have the fans that blow the hot air into the case. I had to get a new case even to keep the cards cool and get addequate airflow going.
With that said, I'm not sure yet if EVGA has a gtx 970 FTW version. If they do I would absolutely get that version over the superclocked edition due to the fact that the FTW variant will have a higher factory overclock on the memory so you get even more bang for your buck from the get go.
Then again EVGA also has the Classified variant of their high end cards, but only buy that if you are into extreme overclocking of your gpu.
That said the coil whine issue is really not that much of an issue only if you are extremely sensitive to noise (I game on my PC with a stereo headset.) I've never had a card with the issue, but I wouldn't really be bothered by it even then.
From what I know the EVGA Superclocked variant of the 970 seems to be the one plauged by this.
I have 2 gtx 780's in SLI and I can attest to what wshowers said in terms of the referrence cooler for SLI. I have the EVGA superclocked 780's that have the fans that blow the hot air into the case. I had to get a new case even to keep the cards cool and get addequate airflow going.
With that said, I'm not sure yet if EVGA has a gtx 970 FTW version. If they do I would absolutely get that version over the superclocked edition due to the fact that the FTW variant will have a higher factory overclock on the memory so you get even more bang for your buck from the get go.
Then again EVGA also has the Classified variant of their high end cards, but only buy that if you are into extreme overclocking of your gpu.
I've been thinking about getting the 970 FTW Edition to succeed my current GTX 670 FTW.
http://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=04g-p4-2978-kr
I think that is a good uprade for you. It will be like a night and day difference. You are getting 780ti performance for nearly half the price.
*RIP the noble and trusty 670 FTW. You served your purpose well and with honor. The torch has been passed*
Yup. It'll be a Christmas gift to myself. I am getting excited just thinking about it.
Yup. It'll be a Christmas gift to myself. I am getting excited just thinking about it.
Hopefully you can get your hands on one easily by then.
I've been watching the 980s and 970s on Newegg. They are sold out nearly as fast as they get in stock. The demand is absolutely incredible.
I still have a 670 FTW
. Need to update processor/mobo/RAM next year before thinking GPU.
Honestly, with the way things are headed I don't see the need for much more than 4gb any time soon.
It looks like PC devs (well at least the ones that actually care to optimize) are scaling back using ultra high resolution textures to fit more in line with what consoles are capable of doing...(sadly).
Go more than 4gbs only if you plan on playing in pretty much 4k most of the time.
It looks like PC devs (well at least the ones that actually care to optimize) are scaling back using ultra high resolution textures to fit more in line with what consoles are capable of doing...(sadly).
Go more than 4gbs only if you plan on playing in pretty much 4k most of the time.
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I would honestly go with the ASUS strix version in you are going to be overclocking, (which if you're buying a 900 series card, you absolutely should be) the PCB is upgraded with better mosfets, chokes and capacitors, the cooler is great to and is silent as in the fans on it don't spin at all at idle. Most of the time the superclocked EVGA and FTW editions are reference PCB's, only the classified are modified PCB's.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...99&cm_re=GTX_970_Strix-_-14-121-899-_-Product
What is FTW? I am a bit lost here. The 970s are selling better than 980 here, I think. I saw some 980 but no 970 the last time I visited my local brick & mortar (see I know American slang) shop.
That card looks really nice and robust. The colors also matches my HAF 932 Cooler Master case. Damn you, eVo7. Now I have to choose between this and the FTW. lol
The FTW has a BIOS switch in case you wanted to run modified BIOS, it essentially will protect you from bricking your card and has an extra MOSFET, other than that, it is a reference PCB. The build quality on the ASUS Strix is going to be a bit better than the 970 FTW.
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