Which 970?

[Trynone]

I'm working on buying a new graphics card and monitor. For the GPU I'm going with either one of these two...

 

- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1        http://www.amazon.co...d=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

- EVGA 04G-2978-KR GeForce GTX 970 FTW 4GB            http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814487077

 

I currently can't decide since I've heard the G1 from Gigabyte is quieter and has better OC, but EVGA has awesome support. So, which card should I go with?

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Both those cards are cream of the crop. EVGA does indeed have great customer support but the real differences between the G1 and the FTW is that the EVGA is a good bit smaller and comes with a crazy factory overclock.

 

You can still push the OC further and with a bit of luck get it very close or even over the 1500Mhz mark 970's are seeing.

[Carde]

it is a coin toss between 2 lottery tickets

 

I say buy the one that you like aesthetically the most.

 

All I can say is my G1 did an amazing job, have not had the pleasure to try that EVGA card.

[Trynone]

Just was looking at the 2768 EVGA card. It seems like not a bad card for being about $100 cheaper than 2978. Any thoughts?   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130949&cm_re=2768-_-14-130-949-_-Product

[GrimDoctor]

On air: GB G1.

On water: EVGA FTW

 

The GB G1 will be fine on water also.

EVGA support waterblocks without voiding warranty (if that's important to you).

 

So it comes down to your intentions IMO.

EK GB G1 specific blocks are available now, don't think I've seen EVGA ones yet - something else to consider if on water.

[KamiKatze]

The Gigabyte G1 is actually one of the loudest at idle (0,9 Sone) and mediocre at load. The EVGA turns off its fan at low loads, at least with a recent BIOS. So regarding silence, the EVGA card wins by far. OC performance is higher on the G1 though.

[Jayfeather787]

MSI Gaming 4G, GALAX GTX 970 EXOC Black Edition, ASUS Strix 970 are all great for 350 dollars. They have the best heatsinks by far. The Gigabyte G1 is excellent as well for 360 dollars. The EVGA GTX 970 FTW is pretty good as well, but not worth the money. It has 4 heatpipes that are attached to a heatspreader and make contact with the GPU core. The MSI has the exact same setup, but costs 10 dollars less and looks better. The regular ACX 2.0 cooler is even worse, as shown here: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html. I have attached picture of the MSI and EVGA FTW heatsink below. 

Sources: wccftech and anandtech.

[Jayfeather787]

Just was looking at the 2768 EVGA card. It seems like not a bad card for being about $100 cheaper than 2978. Any thoughts?   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130949&cm_re=2768-_-14-130-949-_-Product

There is a big difference between the two. The 2768 is an Nvidia GTX 760, and the 2978 is a GTX 970. The 970 is roughly twice the performance for less than twice the price. The choice is up to your's, but I would not recommend buying that. If you want a card in that price range, it would be an AMD Radeon R9 290, not that. 

[SteveGrabowski]

Just was looking at the 2768 EVGA card. It seems like not a bad card for being about $100 cheaper than 2978. Any thoughts?   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130949&cm_re=2768-_-14-130-949-_-Product

 

$240 after a $30 rebate is a horrifyingly bad price on a GTX 760. I second Jayfeather787's recommendation of an R9 290 if you want to save a few bucks. The two nicest ones on newegg are:

 

The Sapphire Tri-X OC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202080

 

The PowerCooler PCS+

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131549

 

The PowerCoolerPCS+ is the best performing outside perhaps the Sapphire Vapor-X, which is hard to find now. It also runs cooler than most of the others. The Tri-X is the coolest of all of them, and doesn't need to ramp up to huge fan speeds to do it. Both of these cards were about $30 cheaper through most of November, so perhaps they come down a bit after the Christmas rush?

 

But don't buy a 760. That was last year's midrange card and is most of the time outperformed by the R9 280 which regularly sells for $150-$180.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202099

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789

 

The R9 280 is an incredible bang for your buck card right now. Though probably not as good as the R9 290 now for performance per dollar. If you're looking for a cheaper yet still very solid R9 290, the MSI Gaming R9 290 is $260 after rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127774

[SteveGrabowski]

MSI Gaming 4G, GALAX GTX 970 EXOC Black Edition, ASUS Strix 970 are all great for 350 dollars. They have the best heatsinks by far. The Gigabyte G1 is excellent as well for 360 dollars. The EVGA GTX 970 FTW is pretty good as well, but not worth the money. It has 4 heatpipes that are attached to a heatspreader and make contact with the GPU core. The MSI has the exact same setup, but costs 10 dollars less and looks better. The regular ACX 2.0 cooler is even worse, as shown here: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html. I have attached picture of the MSI and EVGA FTW heatsink below. 

Sources: wccftech and anandtech.

 

I think that's the ACX 1.0 cooler, which EVGA pulled off the market really quickly.

[Spev]

I have the GTX 970 FTW from EVGA if you have any questions about the card.

[TheFalseHuman]

I too read that eVGA has much better support than other manufacturers.

 

If you are considering the G1 970, make sure your case is compatible with it, as it is a very long card.

 

Like what Carde said, buy the one that would look the best in your system.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

MSI Gaming 4G, GALAX GTX 970 EXOC Black Edition, ASUS Strix 970 are all great for 350 dollars. They have the best heatsinks by far. The Gigabyte G1 is excellent as well for 360 dollars. The EVGA GTX 970 FTW is pretty good as well, but not worth the money. It has 4 heatpipes that are attached to a heatspreader and make contact with the GPU core. The MSI has the exact same setup, but costs 10 dollars less and looks better. The regular ACX 2.0 cooler is even worse, as shown here: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html. I have attached picture of the MSI and EVGA FTW heatsink below. 

Sources: wccftech and anandtech.

 

Not worth the money? It's $10 more. The factory overclock (for those not comfortable about fiddling with overclocking), excellent customer support and non-void water cooling warranty is already worth the extra $10.

 

The FTW does indeed have a different heatsink design that addresses the paranoid concerns of gamer's that instantly assumed that EVGA was cutting corners and stabbing them in the back by not having all three heatpipes make direct contact with the GPU on the ACX 2.0 model. In real world terms that's how the heat sink was designed and it has insignificant to no negative effect on temps.

[jaggysnake57]

the g1 is a great card BUT mine has a shit chip and isnt stable @ +80 on the core so that whole chip bin process is marketing crap......

[R_Golden]

I'd like to recommend the Asus Strix

[Matt255]

I have the GTX 970 FTW from EVGA if you have any questions about the card.

have you overclocked it?

[Spev]

have you overclocked it?

Not yet, but I will. Probably going to wait till its water cool or I might take a look at it this weekend.

[Jayfeather787]

Oddly enough, the little Zotac GTX 970 appears to overclock very well. It's the cheapest option, and reviewers on Newegg have reported a boost clock of anywhere from 1400 to 1800 MHz, which is pretty insane. 

[Jayfeather787]

Not worth the money? It's $10 more. The factory overclock (for those not comfortable about fiddling with overclocking), excellent customer support and non-void water cooling warranty is already worth the extra $10.

 

The FTW does indeed have a different heatsink design that addresses the paranoid concerns of gamer's that instantly assumed that EVGA was cutting corners and stabbing them in the back by not having all three heatpipes make direct contact with the GPU on the ACX 2.0 model. In real world terms that's how the heat sink was designed and it has insignificant to no negative effect on temps.

I know that it has no negative affect for the most part, but you should pick the most for your money. The regular ACX 2.0 is 329 dollars, and that is simply the best for the money. The Gigabyte G1 is worth the extra 10 dollars, you have changed by mind. 

[Trynone]

I'll probably go with the GTX 970 SSC. Not sure if the Windforce G1 can fit in my case.

[MeDownYou]

evga ofc,  the windforce coolers suck

[Imakuni]

evga ofc,  the windforce coolers suck

If by "suck" you mean it's the coolest, yeah, it totally -suck-.

[MeDownYou]

If by "suck" you mean it's the coolest, yeah, it totally -suck-.

by coolest you mean cooler stays cool gpu stays hot then yes.