What's the best GTX 970?

[orangecat]

So I'm going to be close to affording a 970 soon and I want to start looking around and since i upgrade my GPU every few years I want to make sure i get the best GPU I can get. I may not overclock my GPU right away but eventually I will want to overclock and I want to be able to push the card to the limits.

 

I'm thinking 970 STRIX Link but I'm not sure yet.

[j.dirona]

mhh imo the G1 but in reality there isn't that much of a difference find one that goes well with your build  

[TheKDub]

To most its just a matter of opinion, some will say Gigabyte, some will say ASUS, some will say EVGA, etc...

 

I personally prefer the EVGA 970 SC ACX 2.0.

[SeanAngelo]

gigabyte g2 gaming or exga sc acx 2.0

[orangecat]

To most its just a matter of opinion, some will say Gigabyte, some will say ASUS, some will say EVGA, etc...

 

I personally prefer the EVGA 970 SC ACX 2.0.

Between the ACX 2.0 and the STRIX I can't seem to decide.

[FuzzyYellow]

the gaming g1, or the EVGA IMO.

[Burdock]

I have used MSI's 980, Asus's 970, and the G1.

I went with gigabytes after OCing them all.

 

#1 they Idle almost silently, not quite on the level as the Asus cards, but pretty close.

#2 they overclock like beasts, I got a 1500Core/7200Memory on all 3 cards I have used (1 friends unit, and the 2 I have in SLI) 

#3 they have by FAR the best cooling, expect <65c under load. 

[TheKDub]

Between the ACX 2.0 and the STRIX I can't seem to decide.

 

I like the look of the ACX 2.0 more than the STRIX as it just looks much cleaner and fits my color scheme better. (black & blue)

 

Other than the look there isn't really much different between the two..

[TheKDub]

I have used MSI's 980, Asus's 970, and the G1.

I went with gigabytes after OCing them all.

 

#1 they Idle almost silently, not quite on the level as the Asus cards, but pretty close.

#2 they overclock like beasts, I got a 1500Core/7200Memory on all 3 cards I have used (1 friends unit, and the 2 I have in SLI) 

#3 they have by FAR the best cooling, expect <65c under load. 

 

With a firmware update the EVGA 970 ACX 2.0 turns the fans off when below 60c or so.

[Major_Josh1]

G1 gaming has great clock speeds and cooling and looks great

[Burdock]

With a firmware update the EVGA 970 ACX 2.0 turns the fans off when below 60c or so.

I didn't have a chance to use a EVGA so sadly I cant comment. From what I hear it is also awesome!

[foamygopher]

I would have to say the Gigabyte GTX970 G1. Its got a serious factory OC, runs really cool and is very quiet. I just got the 980 counterpart and I love it!

[orangecat]

I have used MSI's 980, Asus's 970, and the G1.

I went with gigabytes after OCing them all.

 

#1 they Idle almost silently, not quite on the level as the Asus cards, but pretty close.

#2 they overclock like beasts, I got a 1500Core/7200Memory on all 3 cards I have used (1 friends unit, and the 2 I have in SLI) 

#3 they have by FAR the best cooling, expect <65c under load. 

So basically anyone from the big 3 are good?

[Doughnutnator]

So basically anyone from the big 3 are good?

Yup, after all, they're 970's.

 

The MSI 970 is like the middle spot: The Strix is optimized for efficiency, and the power delivery is very low, but it's silent (it's worthy if you're a silence freak, I don't think it's very important since I have other fans running in my PC). The G1 Gaming is a performance beast, the cooler is overkill, and it can suck a lot more power than the Strix and MSI. It also has VRM's cooling, binned chips and a higher factory OC.

 

I have a G1 Gaming and my case fans are louder than it at idle.

 

I would pick the G1 Gaming if it isn't very expensive, if it costs the same as the Strix or MSI go for it, you won't regret it. But if it's very expensive grab an ACX 2.0, Strix or MSI 970, you'll be happy with it anyways.

[SurvivorNVL]

Gigabyte bins their gpu's so they're -really- good, but EVGA is just.. EVGA, they're great, fast, and you can't go wrong between those two.  If I were going with a 970 / 980 - I'd definitely go for the EVGA or Gigabyte cards. Even I couldn't decide between them    Though the EVGA cards are always sexier, slimmer, and OC -great-.