HELP me choose a 970

[Samfisher]

EVGA ACX 2.0 gets my vote

 

The ACX2.0 seems to be pretty loud.  Anand did a review.

[MEC-777]

The EVGA ACX cooler on the 970 is garbage. First the third heat pipe is useless and is not even closed LOL. Second it's a loud cooler cause it's defective and must ramp up the fans to compensate.

The third heat pipe is not useless simply because it doesn't directly contact the die. It's there to help pull extra heat from the block, which it does. That's the way it was designed.

 

The ACX 970 is defective.

No, it's not.

 

Opinions founded on the facts yes.

 

http://www.eteknix.com/evga-gtx-970-feature-manufacturing-defect/

It's an unusual design we're not used to seeing. Doesn't mean it's defective or a poor/bad design, just different. And it is no less functional.

 

It really doesn't matter. Many people will just buy that card cause it is so hyped up even being a defective cooling unit and noisy card. Meanwhile I am getting knocked for promoting the STRIX 970 because it's a quality unit with ultra low noise cooler but I guess often the hype speaks more volume than actual quality.

It doesn't matter how many times anyone (including the company them selves or even Linus) tries to explain why it was designed this way, people like you seem to only want to believe the hype that it's some how a faulty design, when the fact is; it's not.

 

All the ACX GTX 970 coolers from EVGA are defective and all are loud.

 

As for the noise people have been complaining about on the 970 ACX 1.0 coolers, as EVGA has stated, it is due to an overly aggressive fan curve in the BIOS, which they will address with a BIOS update. 

 

As for the ACX 2.0 cooler, it has a different fan blade design with a higher number of fan blades to reduce noise even further, as well as 0db operation (fans off) below a certain temp threshold. 

 

 

I would also like to say that I have never owned an EVGA or Nvidia product in my life, so I have no brand-bias towards either. I'm not saying EVGA is the best brand or has the best cooler design either. I'm simply stating the facts: there is nothing wrong with the cooler, it's not a design flaw. It was designed this way for a reason. Like it or not, that is your choice. But don't claim it's defective, flawed or garbage, because that is simply not true. It is your opinion. 

[MEC-777]

The ACX2.0 seems to be pretty loud.  Anand did a review.

 

And in that review, you'll all notice it's a different cooler/heatsink design all-together on the FTW edition. No need to worry about heat pipes that don't directly contact the die here. Oh wait, none of the heat pipes directly contact the die on this cooler! Hmmm, according to some of you, that must mean the cooler is "useless" and "garbage" and "flawed"...  :rolleyes:

 

In fact, many of the other manufacturer's coolers have designs where none of the heat pipes directly contact the die. That's because they don't have to directly contact the die in order to do their job - which is to pull heat away from the die and block. Same thing goes for that 3rd pipe on the other EVGA cooler some of you are complaining about. It works the same way, so stop saying it's "useless". It's not.

[Samfisher]

And in that review, you'll all notice it's a different cooler/heatsink design all-together on the FTW edition. No need to worry about heat pipes that don't directly contact the die here. Oh wait, none of the heat pipes directly contact the die on this cooler! Hmmm, according to some of you, that must mean the cooler is "useless" and "garbage" and "flawed"...  :rolleyes:

 

In fact, many of the other manufacturer's coolers have designs where none of the heat pipes directly contact the die. That's because they don't have to directly contact the die in order to do their job - which is to pull heat away from the die and block. Same thing goes for that 3rd pipe on the other EVGA cooler some of you are complaining about. It works the same way, so stop saying it's "useless". It's not.

 

What?  I didn't even mention the heatpipes.  I mentioned it was loud, which was proven in Anand's test.  Take a chill pill.

[MEC-777]

What?  I didn't even mention the heatpipes.  I mentioned it was loud, which was proven in Anand's test.  Take a chill pill.

 

I wasn't talking to you, specifically. Hence why I said "you'll all notice..." and "according to some of you...". I was merely using the Anandtech review you mentioned to make a point. That's all. 

 

My apologies if you misunderstood. 

[Razzaa]

A user on a overclocking forum has been compiling data to determine why the Gigabyte 970 clocks higher on average compared to the others. So far he has found that the Gigabyte has a higher stock TDP then the Strix and Msi 970. The Asus and Strix hit the power limit and start to throttle while the Gigabyte doesnt ever come close to the stock power limit. It is a interesting read. I will post info tomorrow when he puts it all together.

So far the Strix throttles sooner than the MSI. This would explain the poor OC numbers on the Strix so far.

[Samfisher]

A user on a overclocking forum has been compiling data to determine why the Gigabyte 970 clocks higher on average compared to the others. So far he has found that the Gigabyte has a higher stock TDP then the Strix and Msi 970. The Asus and Strix hit the power limit and start to throttle while the Gigabyte doesnt ever come close to the stock power limit. It is a interesting read. I will post info tomorrow when he puts it all together.

I can't get the G1 to go above 112% TDP, that's the max MSI AB lets me go on that ):

[Razzaa]

I can't get the G1 to go above 112% TDP, that's the max MSI AB lets me go on that ):

It will never hit even close to that. Check out the max reading in GPU-Z. It tops out at 93% roughly for me @ 1500/1950. Stock voltage

[Samfisher]

It will never hit even close to that. Check out the max reading in GPU-Z. It tops out at 93% roughly.

 

Mine's hit about 105% before.  I also heard that the G1 comes with a higher TDP limit in the BIOS so 100% TDP on the G1 might be higher than 100% TDP on other cards.

[Razzaa]

Mine's hit about 105% before. I also heard that the G1 comes with a higher TDP limit in the BIOS so 100% TDP on the G1 might be higher than 100% TDP on other cards.

Thats why they overclock higher on average compared to the others.

[Razzaa]

Mine's hit about 105% before. I also heard that the G1 comes with a higher TDP limit in the BIOS so 100% TDP on the G1 might be higher than 100% TDP on other cards.

What clocks did it hit 105%? I never got past 93% @ 1500/1950

[Samfisher]

What clocks did it hit 105%? I never got past 93% @ 1500/1950

 

I managed to get up to 1554/1900 before any more becomes a bit unstable.

[Razzaa]

I managed to get up to 1554/1900 before any more becomes a bit unstable.

Is 105% the highest it has hit?

[Samfisher]

Is 105% the highest it has hit?

 

I did benchmarks and OC on day 1 of the purchase, haven't paid attention to it since.  I'll do some more tests and benchmarks probably tomorrow if Blizzard decides to have Maintenance

[Schmo]

SO AFTER all this i'm going FTW, EVGA

Good choice matey ;-)

If I wasn't going to water cool I'd do the same.

[Midnight]

If you would look and see that I did more than once in the above posts.

 

No, you didn't.

[Samppa221]

Asus or Gigabyte if i remember correctly Gigabyte draws more power.

[I/O]

No, you didn't.

Leave the thread troll ... YOU DID NOT EVEN LOOK.

[Midnight]

Leave the thread troll ... YOU DID NOT EVEN LOOK.

 

I don't know why you are so mad. I did look, and I'm just stating a simple fact.

 

You claimed that ALL ACX 970 coolers are defective. I heavily implied that you support the claim with evidence (articles, news, reports, etc.), which you failed to do so. (Now, if you bring up the video you posted before, I told you that one sample is not enough as evidence). Now you're calling me a troll for something you have not done.

 

So, give me credible sources and then (maybe) I will change my POV from you being a liar to me disagreeing with you.

 

Also, maybe you should leave, if you're going to be so irate over this...

[MEC-777]

I don't know why you are so mad. I did look, and I'm just stating a simple fact.

 

You claimed that ALL ACX 970 coolers are defective. I heavily implied that you support the claim with evidence (articles, news, reports, etc.), which you failed to do so. (Now, if you bring up the video you posted before, I told you that one sample is not enough as evidence). Now you're calling me a troll for something you have not done.

 

So, give me credible sources and then (maybe) I will change my POV from you being a liar to me disagreeing with you.

 

Also, maybe you should leave, if you're going to be so irate over this...

Don't waste your time and effort replying to I/O. He/she is only interested in arguing. 

[fRodzet]

The EVGA 970 ACX cooler is defective, whether EVGA would like to admit it or not. They have clearly saved money where possible, and while it does not have a huge effect on such a low power consumption card like the 970, they could have done better. Not only that, the cooler itself is quite loud, however, they have claimed to have fixed it through a BIOS update (i wonder), but let's see what the future reviews brings us.

 

They have re-used an otherwise pretty decent cooler, the third heatpipe have no effect what so ever, they would have been better off removing it completely - this would have left behind no confusion.

 

Please, to those of you who still believe that this is not a flaw and not a way for EVGA to reduce cost, have a look at the picture once more:

 

 

 

HINT: Follow the third Heatpipe all the way around... WOW, what's that? Why did they cut it off? Leaving it with absolutely no use at ALL!

 

EDIT: Let me mark it for you.

 

This will just cause any cold air to dissipate out of the pipe into nothingness.

 

 

 

 

Now to answer OP's question, i would pick whichever you find most attractive and which ever has the features you need. Both MSI and ASUS has a 0dB mode until the GPU reaches a certain temperature. The Gigabyte, should in theory, be able to overclock the most as Gigabyte claim to cherry pick their chips, to make sure the card can deliver the highest OC potential. Gigabyte, MSI and ASUS are all 3 solid cards.

[DarkRift5]

I like EVGA too, but apparently their new cards with the ACX coolers are having some issues (I just hope my 980 SC holds up). You're probably OK and they have great support if something goes wrong, but ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte and even Zotac are pretty good. You really can't go wrong- just don't buy PNY. There's a reason they're cheaper.

 

I like the ASUS Strix 970 as far as looks go, and ASUS cards usually run cool and are still pretty powerful so I'd recommend that. If you can find one, that is- availability, at least in the US, is pretty scarce from the big online vendors (NCIX, Newegg, Amazon), but you might have some luck if you go to a Microcenter or something. Heck, I know someone who bought their 770 last year from Best Buy.

[Schmo]

Now to answer OP's question, i would pick whichever you find most attractive and which ever has the features you need. Both MSI and ASUS has a 0dB mode until the GPU reaches a certain temperature. The Gigabyte, should in theory, be able to overclock the most as Gigabyte claim to cherry pick their chips, to make sure the card can deliver the highest OC potential. Gigabyte, MSI and ASUS are all 3 solid cards.

 

I believe Gigabyte's "cherry-picking" is actually just "binning".

 

This is a good explanation of binning; http://www.overclock.net/t/1032362/the-concept-of-binning-vs-cherry-picking-gpu-chips 

 

[Schmo]

@drcypher, if you do go for the EVGA 970 FTW edition like you said you were, rest assured the ACX 2.0 cooler on that card in not the same as discussed here.

They've improved the heatpipe setup for the FTW version.

[Samfisher]

Is 105% the highest it has hit?

 

I tried playing some Tomb Raider today, and it hit 110%