290X Lightning or GTX 970 Strix

[theyo100lol]

Price is pretty much the same. I will be upgrading from a gtx 670, and I game at 1440p. Any thoughts on which is a better choice?

[Guest Philosophy]

I prefer the 970. 

[TheKDub]

I'd go for the 970, it will use much less power, run cooler, and quieter. (and its nvidia )

[kelvin123204]

970 

PS:a nvidia fan

[Wingfan]

Price is pretty much the same. I will be upgrading from a gtx 670, and I game at 1440p. Any thoughts on which is a better choice?

I have the Lightning and love it. Fast, quiet, and runs cool.

The 970 is newer and its NVidia

either way you cant go wrong

[H4X3R]

970

[Lingrah]

970

[Imakuni]

I say 970... although I don't recommend the asus one. It's good, but other brands will probably be better.

[ShotDC]

I say 970... although I don't recommend the asus one. It's good, but other brands will probably be better.

like what brand? cus i was checking on the evga one and in the reviews some people say it has coil whining and such, im planning on getting a 970 for january so it would be really helpfull to know witch brand to get

[Wingfan]

I would go with the G1

[Najuno]

I´ve recently bought a GTX980 STRIX. Awesome card and super silent. Has a special PCB and no coil whine. So a GTX970 STRIX is a good choice.

[Lays]

I own both a 290x Lightning and a gigabyte g1 970, even overclocked to 1600 mhz on the core on the 970, it can't keep up with the lightning at 1200 @ 1440p, at 1080p the 970 would most likely be quicker.

 

 

but

 

It's quieter, uses 1/2 the power, and will be easier to get a second one of without having spacing issues.

 

PS: when I say quieter, I mean silent.   I can leave every fan in my case at 5 volts, and turn the fan speed all the way down and game for 2+ hours, temps don't go above 78c on the 970, absolutely brilliant.

[Imakuni]

like what brand? cus i was checking on the evga one and in the reviews some people say it has coil whining and such, im planning on getting a 970 for january so it would be really helpfull to know witch brand to get

 

I would go with the G1

It depends on pricing, which varies a lot depending on place and purchase date. I personally find EVGA ugly to look at, and so much more expensive that I forget it right away. That said, the 3 major brands are: MSI Gaming, Gigabyte G1/non-G1, Asus Strix.

 

1. You want the strix if: you find it beautifull. And you only have an 8 pin connector on your PSU. The "flagship" is that it is the quietest card. But this source says it is not.

   If you disconsider this review, you get the strix if: you run a fanless PC AND you are always at idle. Being the quietest model is useless, as you have other things that produce noise in your case; those will be louder than any card at idle anyway, and at load, all cards get noisy.

    

2. You don't want the G1 from gigabyte. You are effectively paying extra money for a blue LED on the logo and a backplate, compared to the non-g1 windforce.

    

3. You want the non-g1 from gigabyte if: you want the absolute coolest card, and the absolute highest OCing. Note: watch out for the size of the GPU, it might not fit your case.

   BUT, if you plan to SLI or at the very least have a compatible SLI mobo, avoid this card, due to cooling issues in this particular cenario.

    

4. You want the MSI Gaming if: you want the best overall performance. 2nd place in pretty much any category.

All of that said, they are similar enough for pricing to be the deciding factor. I currently own a non-g1 gigabyte 970. I originally wanted the MSI model; but during Black Friday, it got to a wooping 75$ discount over the MSI, and thus I got it. But if there wasn't such difference, I'd have bought the MSI.

[dougyfresh]

I just got my ASUS gtx970 strix today. Awesome card to say the least. Mine boost clocks to about 1324mhz instead of the normal "1253" that its supposed to and I haven't even touched it yet haha. While boosted to that it only hits roughly 50c and around the 40-50% fan usage. Far Cry 4 maxed out at 1080p is giving around 60fps. Battlefield 4 maxed out gets me around 120+fps. Great card for sure. I did find the single 8pin to be really odd but it's whatever.

[ShotDC]

It depends on pricing, which varies a lot depending on place and purchase date. I personally find EVGA ugly to look at, and so much more expensive that I forget it right away. That said, the 3 major brands are: MSI Gaming, Gigabyte G1/non-G1, Asus Strix.

 

1. You want the strix if: you find it beautifull. And you only have an 8 pin connector on your PSU. The "flagship" is that it is the quietest card. But this source says it is not.

   If you disconsider this review, you get the strix if: you run a fanless PC AND you are always at idle. Being the quietest model is useless, as you have other things that produce noise in your case; those will be louder than any card at idle anyway, and at load, all cards get noisy.

    

2. You don't want the G1 from gigabyte. You are effectively paying extra money for a blue LED on the logo and a backplate, compared to the non-g1 windforce.

    

3. You want the non-g1 from gigabyte if: you want the absolute coolest card, and the absolute highest OCing. Note: watch out for the size of the GPU, it might not fit your case.

   BUT, if you plan to SLI or at the very least have a compatible SLI mobo, avoid this card, due to cooling issues in this particular cenario.

    

4. You want the MSI Gaming if: you want the best overall performance. 2nd place in pretty much any category.

All of that said, they are similar enough for pricing to be the deciding factor. I currently own a non-g1 gigabyte 970. I originally wanted the MSI model; but during Black Friday, it got to a wooping 75$ discount over the MSI, and thus I got it. But if there wasn't such difference, I'd have bought the MSI.

ok ty dude i think i will consider the non g1 or the msi, you think theyll fit in a thermaltake commander?