MSI GTX 970 vs EVGA GTX 970 ACX 2.0

[TonightWeSail]

So I'm building mt first gaming PC and i have just about have the list the way i want, but I'm always bouncing back and forth between GPU's.

 

The two i have in mind are the following;

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB (link)

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 (link)

 

Considering I'm on a budget, I'm leaning more towards the MSI 970

[byalexandr]

So I'm building mt first gaming PC and i have just about have the list the way i want, but I'm always bouncing back and forth between GPU's.

 

The two i have in mind are the following;

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB (link)

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 (link)

 

Considering I'm on a budget, I'm leaning more towards the MSI 970

Both are great cards. I would get the EVGA one, but that's just me. I like a nice clean kinda stealthy look. Both cards are absolutely great though.

[007agentHP]

evga with a better cooling solution 

but i would recommend a 390 for %3 more performance

[SwiiftYz]

So I'm building mt first gaming PC and i have just about have the list the way i want, but I'm always bouncing back and forth between GPU's.

 

The two i have in mind are the following;

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB (link)

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 (link)

 

Considering I'm on a budget, I'm leaning more towards the MSI 970

 

Both are great cards, If I remember rightly the ACX 2.0 cooler is a little better than the one on the MSI cards. I went for the MSI cards myself and don't regret it at all so I'd highly recommend them over EVGA but that's just personal preference!

[doublehelix]

evga with a better cooling solution 

but i would recommend a 390 for %3 more performance

I have heard to just get which one you can find cheapest.

[TowerofPower]

I would go with the EVGA on behalf of the ACX 2.0 cooler and that I also have this card in my build currently. Solid card and it games really well.

[aeroencychris]

I really like my MSI one. If you like green they have a limited edition version of the card too, if that interests you. It's a great OCer, temps are amazing.

[Gofspar]

G1 Gaming, ACX is too fucking loud. My Classified sounds like a damn turbine.

[Dinkleberg]

So I'm building mt first gaming PC and i have just about have the list the way i want, but I'm always bouncing back and forth between GPU's.

The two i have in mind are the following;

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB (link)

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 (link)

Considering I'm on a budget, I'm leaning more towards the MSI 970

R9 390, performs better in every game and has more VRAM. The only reason to ever get a GTX 970 is if you can get it for considerably cheaper than the 390. Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202148&cm_re=R9_390-_-14-202-148-_-Product

This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150728&cm_re=R9_390-_-14-150-728-_-Product

Or this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131672&cm_re=R9_390-_-14-131-672-_-Product

[experiencednoob]

390 is uch better but if you really want a 970 i suggest you go with the msi

[2FA]

G1 Gaming, ACX is too fucking loud. My Classified sounds like a damn turbine.

 

That tends to happen with a massive overclock.

[Gofspar]

That tends to happen with a massive overclock.

voltage increases temps, not core clock. Im at stock volts.

[2FA]

voltage increases temps, not core clock. Im at stock volts.

Not entirely true but ok.

[Gofspar]

Not entirely true but ok.

bud I've been overclocking forever. at this point I do it on a semi-professional level, lol.

[2FA]

bud I've been overclocking forever. at this point I do it on a semi-professional level, lol.

I'm not doubting your experience, I'm just thinking that the faster the core cycles, the more friction that is being created by the electrons and therefore heat.

[Gofspar]

I'm not doubting your experience, I'm just thinking that the faster the core cycles, the more friction that is being created by the electrons and therefore heat.

There is minimal or none, I did testing with 3 Maxwell GPU's to test this theory awhile back. stock to 1600mhz on the 970 and 980 caused no difference or not enough to be measured, BUT there was extra power draw, only about 5w though.

 

And the 750 Ti couldn't measure it at all due to it already being low power.

[2FA]

There is minimal or none, I did testing with 3 Maxwell GPU's to test this theory awhile back. stock to 1600mhz on the 970 and 980 caused no difference or not enough to be measured, BUT there was extra power draw, only about 5w though.

 

And the 750 Ti couldn't measure it at all due to it already being low power.

That would make sense as the current most likely increased a tad but 5w isn't a lot of energy/heat to dissipate. Also, one quick question. Have you ever had an overclock break the driver stack to where the driver had to be reinstalled? Because that's what my 980 did when I got a little too high on that. 

[TonightWeSail]

R9 390, performs better in every game and has more VRAM. The only reason to ever get a GTX 970 is if you can get it for considerably cheaper than the 390. Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202148&cm_re=R9_390-_-14-202-148-_-Product

This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150728&cm_re=R9_390-_-14-150-728-_-Product

Or this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131672&cm_re=R9_390-_-14-131-672-_-Product

I took a look at those cards and did some research and read reviews and it looks promising. However, i saw some reviews claiming it is a 'bigger' card and may not fit in the case. I planned on using the Corsair SPEC-03. Do you, or anyone else, know if that card will fit? Also, I heard that AMD GPU's run at a higher temp than nVidia. I don't have any plans to OC so will i be ok just running the 390 normally? Im not the most tech savvy guy out there

[Dinkleberg]

I took a look at those cards and did some research and read reviews and it looks promising. However, i saw some reviews claiming it is a 'bigger' card and may not fit in the case. I planned on using the Corsair SPEC-03. Do you, or anyone else, know if that card will fit? Also, I heard that AMD GPU's run at a higher temp than nVidia. I don't have any plans to OC so will i be ok just running the 390 normally? Im not the most tech savvy guy out there

The SPEC-03 isn't a good case for its price range, for the same price you can get the Fractal Design Define S, and for cheaper you can get the NZXT S340, both are better than the SPEC-03 in terms of cable management and ease of build, and, at least for me, in terms of overall looks, if you really want the SPEC-03, it can easily fit the longest R9 390 out there, it supports cards up to 16.54" while the Sapphire R9 390 is just 12.13".

AMD cards have higher power usage, so they produce more heat than their Nvidia counterparts, on the other hand AMD GPUs have a higher temperature ceiling so they can support more heat than Nvidia GPUs, but nearly any R9 390 cooler will keep the chip running at nearly 60 degrees so there's no need to worry about it, you'll be more than okay, if you want to overclock in the future, just make sure the temps stay below 80 degrees.

[Columbo]

The 390 is not comparable to the 970. The 390x is. I would flip a coin between the two 970's.

[rjfaber91]

So I'm building mt first gaming PC and i have just about have the list the way i want, but I'm always bouncing back and forth between GPU's.

 

The two i have in mind are the following;

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB (link)

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 (link)

 

Considering I'm on a budget, I'm leaning more towards the MSI 970

 

They're both decent cards. The MSI seems to have more of a tendency towards audible coil while than the EVGA card, going off of people's reports, but neither is bad. Personally however, I would (and did, in fact) go for a Gigabyte 970, preferably the G1 Gaming, although the regular Windforce is also a fine card, and slightly cheaper than the G1.

[Dinkleberg]

The 390 is not comparable to the 970. The 390x is. I would flip a coin between the two 970's.

The 390 is the one comparable to the 970 not the 390X, the 390X is comparable to the 980. Read some reviews, mate.

[Nena Trinity]

MSI if you overclock but the EVGA one if you dont.

[SteveGrabowski0]

The MSI Gaming is better. The EVGA cards aren't worth it unless you get the SSC. I have a 2974-KR EVGA GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 and it's a really lousy overclocker, I can only get it stable at 1367 boost clock, with GPU Boost 2.0 taking it to 1418 MHz usually. The 4+2 power delivery on my 2974-KR is what really holds it back, and I think the 2976-KR has the same. I think it's the 3xxx-KR models that have the better 6+2 power delivery that allows the SSC cards to routinely hit 1500 MHz or near.

[gilang01]

The 390 is the one comparable to the 970 not the 390X, the 390X is comparable to the 980. Read some reviews, mate

agreed, except for the 390x part lol. it's comparable to a reference 980. non reference ones are difference beasts entirely

 you can however, overclock your 970 to reference 980 speeds