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R9 390? it's cheaper than 970 with generally better performance

Crysis trilogy

depends.. do you only play games? then the R9 390 is a better choice (8GB VRAM advantage and overall better performance) do you do some productivity aswell? then the 970 with it's CUDA acceleration will be more beneficial.. but i assume most of you play games so i'd definitely opt for the 390

CUDA is probably the only reason to choose nvidia over amd..

you could check whether your card have a reference of a non reference board on EKWB Configurator site.. they have a visual image of the board without the cooler for almost every card sold in the market.. look for the one that have the VRM on the right side of the board, because that is where the G10 fan that cools your VRM would be (just like every other hybrid cooler).. then you can decide which card to buy if you're going with the G10 config also on your PCPP list, it's better to use the H55 AiO to go with the G10 instead for the CPU.. and you could opt for a good air cooler for the CPU such as Noctua NH-D14/15

well you get the benefit of reusing the G10 & AiO cooler for your next gpu upgrade..

well the only bad news is (depends on how you look at it) it's a 290 refresh.. but everything else is good.. you get 8GB of VRAM, and it's better than 970 in price/performance standpoint if i were to choose between a 390 & a 970 today, i'll get the 390

iirc nzxt says the G10 will fit any card as long as it's a reference board, they did not guarantee it will work on non reference card.. that being said, it doesn't mean it wont work on non reference card.. i use the G10 + H75 combo on my non reference 970 and it fits perfectly with no modifications needed (except adding extra heatsink on the VRM) as for OP, watercooling the card using either G10, Hybrid, or Costum Loop will net you a massive drop in temperature compared to air cooling.. and because the card stays cool, it will stay in boost mode for a much longer period (and in most cases it will stay in that boost clock during gaming sessions).. so even without overclocking you'll get better performance and a much cooler card (pun intended)

@Faceman @Zayzo so i took a closer look at the stock cooler and i noticed that the heatsink plate is not made of copper, but alumunium.. and it's bigger than the entire gpu die.. i think that is why i dont get better temperature after repasting

no i cant monitor the VRM temps, my card doesn't have VRM temp sensors.. even an open air enviroment (i uses HAF XB) with air conditioning (~23c) i only see drops about 1-3c max

@Faceman its Inno3D GTX 970 HerculeZ X2

this is an excellent writeup, i thoroughly enjoyed reading it and i decided to pull the trigger and bought myself a Kraken G10 + H75 combo for my GTX970 my card have a bizzarely high temperature on idle and under load for a 970 (40c idle and 80c load) and it kinda worries me.. i've tried reapplying the thermal paste but after 1 week the temperature didn't get any better.. it had a midplate, but it doesn't have the 4 prongs that extend towards the die (referring to your post here) and it doesnt have a backplate.. so i safely assume the non reference board will accept the G10 bracket without any need for a copper shim or extra modifications.. i have some question regarding VRM cooling though.. heres the picture of the PCB with the midplate

i wholly agree, two eyes does wonder on percepting 3D objects as you got an actual sense of scale and depth compared to flat images.. and you get to touch it! you'll appreciate it more if you could interact with it (in a good way ofc)

there's no 'legal' way of doing hackintosh since apple doesn't want you to do it anyway but apple got no concerns on hackintosh as far as i know, so you're good to go