Geforce GTX 970

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

I know alot of 970/980 topic's have been made but iv gone over 2-3 pages and still have not found what i am looking for. so here it is! I own a EVGA Geforce GTX 780 stock, I am looking into getting a Geforce GTX 970. now wat i really wanna know is brand/style, wat brand atm has the best 970? MSI? EVGA? Giggabyte? (others) i am looking for best cooling and gaming alone, higher out of box clock speeds ect, and the style, FTW, Windforce, ACX, ACX 2.0, Superclocked, SSC, Superclocked ACX ect ect.

 

 

so over all wat are your top picks for brand and style? i am getting mine from micro center since i live near one.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the card i am looking at right now.

 

http://www.microcenter.com/product/438841/GeForce_GTX_970_Video_Card#

[Razzaa]

I know alot of 970/980 topic's have been made but iv gone over 2-3 pages and still have not found what i am looking for. so here it is! I own a EVGA Geforce GTX 780 stock, I am looking into getting a Geforce GTX 970. now wat i really wanna know is brand/style, wat brand atm has the best 970? MSI? EVGA? Giggabyte? (others) i am looking for best cooling and gaming alone, higher out of box clock speeds ect, and the style, FTW, Windforce, ACX, ACX 2.0, Superclocked, SSC, Superclocked ACX ect ect.

so over all wat are your top picks for brand and style? i am getting mine from micro center since i live near one.

This is the card i am looking at right now.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/438841/GeForce_GTX_970_Video_Card#

Gigabyte G1 Gaming

[CostcoSamples]

um well basically whatever you can find that is in stock at this point!  

 

Ideally, the Gigabyte is the best in terms of cooling, quietness, out of the box clock speed, and overall build quality (goog luck getting one though).  Asus Strix is also good, MSI is decent too.  The EVGA ACX and ACX 2.0 are not as quiet and factory OC is not as high.

[MightyUnit]

I would buy MSI or ASUS. I like both the Strix cooler and then MSI Twin Frozr 5 cooler. As well for me in Canada ASUS and MSI have the best RMA service IMHO with MSI being the very best. 

[MEC-777]

I know alot of 970/980 topic's have been made but iv gone over 2-3 pages and still have not found what i am looking for. so here it is! I own a EVGA Geforce GTX 780 stock, I am looking into getting a Geforce GTX 970. now wat i really wanna know is brand/style, wat brand atm has the best 970? MSI? EVGA? Giggabyte? (others) i am looking for best cooling and gaming alone, higher out of box clock speeds ect, and the style, FTW, Windforce, ACX, ACX 2.0, Superclocked, SSC, Superclocked ACX ect ect.

 

 

so over all wat are your top picks for brand and style? i am getting mine from micro center since i live near one.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the card i am looking at right now.

 

http://www.microcenter.com/product/438841/GeForce_GTX_970_Video_Card#

You have a 780 which isn't far behind the 970. May I ask why you want to make such a tiny upgrade (performance wise)? 

 

Is it the new features and or the power efficiency you're after? Because there isn't much of a difference otherwise. You'd be better off keeping the 780 and waiting, IMO.

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

Gigabyte G1 Gaming

 

got a link of one i could take a look at?

 

You have a 780 which isn't far behind the 970. May I ask why you want to make such a tiny upgrade (performance wise)? 

 

Is it the new features and or the power efficiency you're after? Because there isn't much of a difference otherwise. You'd be better off keeping the 780 and waiting, IMO.

 

well i was looking at GPU boss and the clock speed alone is 20% faster and it just seems to be a better card all around and i have a 2 year replacement plan, so i go into the store and return the card get about $440 back and buy the new card and i can spend the rest on other stuff. so doesn't seem like a bad trade off.

 

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-970-vs-GeForce-GTX-780

[s4spencer]

That is one hell of a replacement plan you got there. I'd say the gigabyte G1 as well. I've been reading people OC'ing it to 1500+ clock speeds with no serious temperature issues, that extra fan isn't just for show.

It's also the highest factory OC'd available

 

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-gtx-970-g1-1329mhz-1a-102011.htm is the one im waiting on

[AndThenThereWas1]

got a link of one i could take a look at?

 

 

well i was looking at GPU boss and the clock speed alone is 20% faster and it just seems to be a better card all around and i have a 2 year replacement plan, so i go into the store and return the card get about $440 back and buy the new card and i can spend the rest on other stuff. so doesn't seem like a bad trade off.

 

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-970-vs-GeForce-GTX-780

What store offers this?

[MEC-777]

got a link of one i could take a look at?

 

 

well i was looking at GPU boss and the clock speed alone is 20% faster and it just seems to be a better card all around and i have a 2 year replacement plan, so i go into the store and return the card get about $440 back and buy the new card and i can spend the rest on other stuff. so doesn't seem like a bad trade off.

 

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-970-vs-GeForce-GTX-780

1) Take the info on GPUboss with a grain of salt. It it's not that accurate/reliable.

 

2) Clocks speeds aren't everything. 

 

However, if you have this "replacement plan" that let's you trade in your old card for a pretty penny and upgrade to something else (I've never heard of anywhere that does this before...), then by all means.

[i_build_nanosuits]

I know alot of 970/980 topic's have been made but iv gone over 2-3 pages and still have not found what i am looking for. so here it is! I own a EVGA Geforce GTX 780 stock, I am looking into getting a Geforce GTX 970. now wat i really wanna know is brand/style, wat brand atm has the best 970? MSI? EVGA? Giggabyte? (others) i am looking for best cooling and gaming alone, higher out of box clock speeds ect, and the style, FTW, Windforce, ACX, ACX 2.0, Superclocked, SSC, Superclocked ACX ect ect.

 

 

so over all wat are your top picks for brand and style? i am getting mine from micro center since i live near one.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the card i am looking at right now.

 

http://www.microcenter.com/product/438841/GeForce_GTX_970_Video_Card#

the GTX 970 is really not worth the upgrade from the GTX 780, stick with what you have for a couple more generations.

If you want more performance just overclock your 780, the 970 is only negligibly faster.

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

That is one hell of a replacement plan you got there. I'd say the gigabyte G1 as well. I've been reading people OC'ing it to 1500+ clock speeds with no serious temperature issues, that extra fan isn't just for show.

It's also the highest factory OC'd available

 

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-gtx-970-g1-1329mhz-1a-102011.htm is the one im waiting on

 

1500+ is a pretty nice boost imo, since the normal geforce 780 is only like 800-900mhz! over all the 970 has higher speeds but less CUDA cores, would it make a big differents? 2304 CUDA Cores 780 863MHZ or 1664 CUDA Cores with 1500+ mhz

 

What store offers this?

 

Micro center, i always get a 2 year replacement plan and just return the gear before its up, i went from an AMD amd phenom ii to a AMD 6100, to a  intel I7 4470k over the years, and a random MB, to a Sabertooth 990fx r2.0 to a Z87 gryphon MB, and my video cards i went from a 650, to a 660, to a 760 to a 780 over afew years. i pretty much just go in, pick w/e i want go to the return center and say i wanna return this stuff and put it towards this stuff and boom! pay the extra+replacement plans again and im out the door. never had a problem with it.

 

1) Take the info on GPUboss with a grain of salt. It it's not that accurate/reliable.

 

2) Clocks speeds aren't everything. 

 

However, if you have this "replacement plan" that let's you trade in your old card for a pretty penny and upgrade to something else (I've never heard of anywhere that does this before...), then by all means.

 

i try my best to take it with a grain of salt for sure

Cloak speeds arent everything but the only real big difference i see is CUDA cores, how much of a difference would it make?

 

the GTX 970 is really not worth the upgrade from the GTX 780, stick with what you have for a couple more generations.

If you want more performance just overclock your 780, the 970 is only negligibly faster.

 

I will get around $450 for my video card once i return it, the G1 is abit pricey because the replacement plan will be around $70, so i wanna go with something under $400 so the plan would only cost me $50 or so and it would be covered by the return. the 970 seems to be a over all better card and upgrade - the less CUDA cores. i have overclocked my 780 but i can only seem to get an extra 150mhz clock speed, 200mem clock, 25 volts. after 200mhz clock, 300 mem, it seems to crash, maybe i am doing this wrong, its my first time! but 150 clock, 200 mem, 25volts gives me an extra 10FPS or so in middle earth at max settings.

[nike290]

I have two Asus GTX 970's and I am getting a boost clock of 1488MHz and a memory clock of 1851MHz on both cards with my overclock. I have not messed with the voltage yet.

[jaggysnake57]

That is one hell of a replacement plan you got there. I'd say the gigabyte G1 as well. I've been reading people OC'ing it to 1500+ clock speeds with no serious temperature issues, that extra fan isn't just for show.

It's also the highest factory OC'd available

 

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-gtx-970-g1-1329mhz-1a-102011.htm is the one im waiting on

 

its not the highest http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42978kr 1.22 vs 1.17

 

i have a 760 windforce and am looking to upgrade to the 970 too.  the msi looks good for the money but my windforce is a freak machine....never goes above 60c and is very quiet. add the fact that gigabyte have used  the best chips they could get there hands on and the g1 looks very good im still torn

 

the GTX 970 is really not worth the upgrade from the GTX 780, stick with what you have for a couple more generations.

If you want more performance just overclock your 780, the 970 is only negligibly faster.

 

10-20% faster lower power and good overclocks sounds good to me with the cash he is getting from his old card

[MEC-777]

I will get around $450 for my video card once i return it, the G1 is abit pricey because the replacement plan will be around $70, so i wanna go with something under $400 so the plan would only cost me $50 or so and it would be covered by the return. the 970 seems to be a over all better card and upgrade - the less CUDA cores. i have overclocked my 780 but i can only seem to get an extra 150mhz clock speed, 200mem clock, 25 volts. after 200mhz clock, 300 mem, it seems to crash, maybe i am doing this wrong, its my first time! but 150 clock, 200 mem, 25volts gives me an extra 10FPS or so in middle earth at max settings.

In that case, it's not a bad idea. Performance wise, you won't see much of a difference, but the 970 is a better card in that it uses less power and runs much cooler. Plus you get the added features like FMAA, DSR etc. 

 

The tricky part is which 970 to choose... A difficult decision I'm trying to make right now as well...

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

its not the highest http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42978kr 1.22 vs 1.17

 

i have a 760 windforce and am looking to upgrade to the 970 too.  the msi looks good for the money but my windforce is a freak machine....never goes above 60c and is very quiet. add the fact that gigabyte have used  the best chips they could get there hands on and the g1 looks very good im still torn

 

 

10-20% faster lower power and good overclocks sounds good to me with the cash he is getting from his old card

 

i wanna spend under $400 on the card, thats why i was looking at the EVGA SC 970 since its $340 and ill have left over money for the replacement plan and stuff, anything over $400 is $70 for replacement $300-$399 is $50. im not cheap but im also on a budget atm lol. i agree the whole 10-30% clock speed with Boost or overclocking is general, plus the cooling/power i could really over clock it without any trouble at all. and idk why this card is only getting 150mhz and 200mhz with crashs im not even getting 1000mhz

 

 

In that case, it's not a bad idea. Performance wise, you won't see much of a difference, but the 970 is a better card in that it uses less power and runs much cooler. Plus you get the added features like FMAA, DSR etc. 

 

The tricky part is which 970 to choose... A difficult decision I'm trying to make right now as well...

 

 

agreed! i think i will upgrade for sure! but picking the brand/model is SOOOO hard lol

 

 

 

 

the store also has http://www.microcenter.com/product/439028/GeForce_GTX_970_Overclocked_4GB_Video_Card_-_Armor_2X_Thermal_Design idk why but the store isnt letting me see ALLL the 970's they will have, only the 2 atm unless i google the brand/microcenter

 

 

also how do i turn on BOOST for a card?

 

 

 

This is my temp's  just playing hearthstone with the small amount of OC

[s4spencer]

its not the highest http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42978kr 1.22 vs 1.17

 

i have a 760 windforce and am looking to upgrade to the 970 too.  the msi looks good for the money but my windforce is a freak machine....never goes above 60c and is very quiet. add the fact that gigabyte have used  the best chips they could get there hands on and the g1 looks very good im still torn

 

 

10-20% faster lower power and good overclocks sounds good to me with the cash he is getting from his old card

 

ah right. I have an excessive amount of case fans in an ambient temperature of 10c, so I tend to consider boost-clock as the default

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

ah right. I have an excessive amount of case fans in an ambient temperature of 10c, so I tend to consider boost-clock as the default

 

i have 3 Fans, CPU fan and thats about it. i have a Cool master hyper T4 but i lost the backplate so i ordered a new one and still waiting for it to show up!

 

 

i mean ill be happy with anything over 1ghz out of box and better cooling then the 780 and still be able to overclock alittle bit

[AndThenThereWas1]

Micro center, i always get a 2 year replacement plan and just return the gear before its up, i went from an AMD amd phenom ii to a AMD 6100, to a  intel I7 4470k over the years, and a random MB, to a Sabertooth 990fx r2.0 to a Z87 gryphon MB, and my video cards i went from a 650, to a 660, to a 760 to a 780 over afew years. i pretty much just go in, pick w/e i want go to the return center and say i wanna return this stuff and put it towards this stuff and boom! pay the extra+replacement plans again and im out the door. never had a problem with it.

 

I just looked at their website and they dont have any 970s, have you checked with them to make sure they have any in store? Also, what is their cost for the 2 year replacement plan?

[deathjester]

I read reviews until I was bleary eyed.

 

On their highest end GTX 970? Gigabyte>MSI>Asus>EVGA. Eventually I gave up trying to find any in stock and bought a r9 290 though. 

 

I just looked at their website and they dont have any 970s, have you checked with them to make sure they have any in store? Also, what is their cost for the 2 year replacement plan?

 

My local Microcenter had the low end MSI in for a few hours before it sold out (showed up on the website). The lower end cards have 6/6 pin connectors and can't clock near as high as the 6/8. So they have been in the store. My newest add from them (came this weekend) shows all EVGA cards (like all their models) and the the G1 Gigabyte at 370. None in stock though. If they do appear in stock they will show up on the website. Also shows the Gigabyte 980 for those interested.

 

You prob have a better chance of getting it at Microcenter than online though. Online they are already being gouged on pre order. Good to see Microcenter is keeping em at regular price. Basically just keep hitting refresh on the 970 search and do the buy/pickup thing. Best of luck man. I gave up, but maybe you have more fortitude than me lol. 

[MEC-777]

I read reviews until I was bleary eyed.

 

On their highest end GTX 970? Gigabyte>MSI>Asus>EVGA. Eventually I gave up trying to find any in stock and bought a r9 290 though. 

Lol, same here about reading reviews...

 

Which R9 290 did you end up getting?

 

Right now I can grab an HIS R9 290 IceQ X2 for $299 (basically 50% price cut) and I'm VERY tempted, to say the least. After tax here in Canada, that's about $100 less than a brand new 970.

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

I just looked at their website and they dont have any 970s, have you checked with them to make sure they have any in store? Also, what is their cost for the 2 year replacement plan?

 

See i checked the website as well and couldn't find any 970's other then the MSI one, but if you Google 970's and micro center you find afew different ones but not ALL of them. i also got on support and asked and they said the 970/980 are being sold out and they are having a hard time getting any from the manufacturer's and that i will just have to keep checking back to see if any are in stock. the price of a 2 year replacement plan is based off price, for a $300-$399 is $50, for $400-$1000+ its $70!

 

I read reviews until I was bleary eyed.

 

On their highest end GTX 970? Gigabyte>MSI>Asus>EVGA. Eventually I gave up trying to find any in stock and bought a r9 290 though. 

 

 

My local Microcenter had the low end MSI in for a few hours before it sold out (showed up on the website). The lower end cards have 6/6 pin connectors and can't clock near as high as the 6/8. So they have been in the store. My newest add from them (came this weekend) shows all EVGA cards (like all their models) and the the G1 Gigabyte at 370. None in stock though. If they do appear in stock they will show up on the website. Also shows the Gigabyte 980 for those interested.

 

You prob have a better chance of getting it at Microcenter than online though. Online they are already being gouged on pre order. Good to see Microcenter is keeping em at regular price. Basically just keep hitting refresh on the 970 search and do the buy/pickup thing. Best of luck man. I gave up, but maybe you have more fortitude than me lol. 

 

see i can only find a low end MSI on the website if i use the search on the website but i find afew more if i google it, i see why people dont want a 6/6 pin vs the 6/8 pin and ill have to make sure i get the 6/8 pin card! i didnt even think about checking that tbh! thanks for the tip, i think ill end up going with a G1 Gigabyte 370 unless it cost to much at Micro center lol i wanna send under $400! i plan on going in, check stuff out before i buy anything! im fine with waiting a week or so before i get anything but ill be going to micro center this friday to check stuff out.

 

 

Lol, same here about reading reviews...

 

Which R9 290 did you end up getting?

 

Right now I can grab an HIS R9 290 IceQ X2 for $299 (basically 50% price cut) and I'm VERY tempted, to say the least. After tax here in Canada, that's about $100 less than a brand new 970.

 

See i thought about AMD cards but i just cant do it. i find geforce WAY easier to use and understand and over all i just like it more. i hear the R9 290's are pretty great tho!

[deathjester]

Lol, same here about reading reviews...

 

Which R9 290 did you end up getting?

 

Right now I can grab an HIS R9 290 IceQ X2 for $299 (basically 50% price cut) and I'm VERY tempted, to say the least. After tax here in Canada, that's about $100 less than a brand new 970.

 

The Sapphire Tri-X. 

 

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

 

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/65172-sapphire-r9-290-4gb-tri-x-oc-review-8.html

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290

 

Will beat many 290X's due to temps and because it comes nowhere near throttling and actually has some headroom. 

 

Yeah for me it was pretty much the Gigabyte 970 G1 or bust. If I am paying 370 for a card I want it to be really kick butt. They just aren't available, cus everyone pretty much wants the same card. I would have settled for the MSI (the higher end one) but no dice on those either. The EVGA? The r9 290 gives me that performance and probably better, so why bother. 

 

Now if I had say a decent 700watt PSU and a better mb and definately planned on getting 2 cards? I would have waited a few months (maybe). I have to swap out mb (lanes) and psu anyways for crossfire/SLI though, so it didn't matter. My PSU can run one good card and that is about it.  

[MEC-777]

The Sapphire Tri-X. 

 

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

 

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/65172-sapphire-r9-290-4gb-tri-x-oc-review-8.html

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7601/sapphire-radeon-r9-290-review-our-first-custom-cooled-290

 

Will beat many 290X's due to temps and because it comes nowhere near throttling and actually has some headroom. 

 

Yeah for me it was pretty much the Gigabyte 970 G1 or bust. If I am paying 370 for a card I want it to be really kick butt. They just aren't available, cus everyone pretty much wants the same card. I would have settled for the MSI (the higher end one) but no dice on those either. The EVGA? The r9 290 gives me that performance and probably better, so why bother. 

 

Now if I had say a decent 700watt PSU and a better mb and definately planned on getting 2 cards? I would have waited a few months (maybe). I have to swap out mb (lanes) and psu anyways for crossfire/SLI though, so it didn't matter. My PSU can run one good card and that is about it.  

Yeah, I've heard from a lot of sources those Sapphire tri-X 290's are really good cards. Unfortunately in Canada, newegg still lists that card as $439. The cheapest 290 on newegg right now is the Gigabyte winforce non OC for $349, and that's not enough to make it worth it over waiting a little longer for a 970. 

 

But Memory Express has the HIS 290 and NCIX has the Winforce 290 both for 299 right now. The NCIX I can go down the street and pick up tomorrow if I want... Talk about tempting... 

[deathjester]

Yeah, I've heard from a lot of sources those Sapphire tri-X 290's are really good cards. Unfortunately in Canada, newegg still lists that card as $439. The cheapest 290 on newegg right now is the Gigabyte winforce non OC for $349, and that's not enough to make it worth it over waiting a little longer for a 970. 

 

But Memory Express has the HIS 290 and NCIX has the Winforce 290 both for 299 right now. The NCIX I can go down the street and pick up tomorrow if I want... Talk about tempting... 

 

Yeah I wouldn't go with the Gigabyte. I read a lot of conflicting stuff on them. Weird how, a company can make the best card on one series and a mediocre one on another eh? That is what makes all the brand argument so funny .

 

People are all like EVGA SUCKS. Nope. They just got outplayed on one series. Still a great brand and they might destroy everyone on the next.

[Mrfoot_Fungus]

i would love to pick up a Gigabyte Geforce GTX 970 G1 but it seems to be around $450 for that card! maybe if Micro center gets it and its under $400 or so i might just pick one up! other wise i might have to go with a high end MSI or EVGA ACX card. w/e gives best  cooling and stock speeds.

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-Graphics-GV-N970G1-GAMING-4GD/dp/B00NH5T1MS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412554109&sr=8-2&keywords=geforce+970 - my first pick atm

 

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Superclocked-Graphics-04G-P4-2974-KR/dp/B00NVODXR4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1412554109&sr=8-6&keywords=geforce+970 if i cant get a G1 for cheaper

 

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Graphics-Cards-04G-P4-2975-KR/dp/B00NT9UUGI/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1412554109&sr=8-11&keywords=geforce+970 - 3rd pick if i cant get the others under $400

 

 

now if micro center would just show the cards on the website so i could see them all! lol