Which GTX 970 to watercool

[W-L]

Hey guy I'm planning on getting a GTX 970 around Christmas/New year and integrating into a system I have planned and want to watercool in the near future, but as of right now which one do you all recommend for this purpose. I was looking towards either the Asus strix or using gigabytes G1 with EK's new waterblocks. What do you guys think is the better option and I know a few of you may say not to watercool a GTX 970 and go up to the flagship if you plan to watercool but a GTX 980 is a overkill since I will be only gaming at 1080p.

 

 

[EarthboundHero]

Hey guy I'm planning on getting a GTX 970 around Christmas/New year and integrating into a system I have planned and want to watercool in the near future, but as of right now which one do you all recommend for this purpose. I was looking towards either the Asus strix or using gigabytes G1 with EK's new waterblocks. What do you guys think is the better option and I know a few of you may say not to watercool a GTX 970 and go up to the flagship if you plan to watercool but a GTX 980 is a overkill since I will be only gaming at 1080p.

I'm not sure waterblocks are compatible with those cards. I could be wrong though. I was wrong.

[ZacDaMan72]

Go EVGA.

[79wjd]

I'm not sure waterblocks are compatible with those cards. I could be wrong though.

They released a waterblock for the g1 gaming. 

 

Id probably go EVGA since the warranty is still applicable even after removing the cooler (I don't believe the same is true for gigabyte). 

[W-L]

I'm not sure waterblocks are compatible with those cards. I could be wrong though.

 

They released a waterblock for the g1 gaming. 

 

I noticed EK recently had some new waterblocks out as didwosk97 said but I'm not sure what card to get exactly since there are a fairly wide selection of aftermarket blocks since not many are going for the reference design other than one form Evga I believe.

 

Ek has ones for the MSI gaming, Asus Strix and Gigabtye G1 and more from evga soon...

 

 

 

Go EVGA.

 

I did see them soon releasing a GTX970 FTW waterblock I think it was.

[soaringchicken]

get a reference one to cost you less money

[Samson123]

superclocked acx by EVGA personally would be the one i choose to water cool. They make a block to fit it and if your cheap like me the kraken g10 will fit it aswell. happy shopping and good luck

[W-L]

get a reference one to cost you less money

 

The only one that is close to reference is this the GTX 970 doesn't have a nivida reference using the grey cooler like the GTX 980 apparently.

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-1970-KR

[79wjd]

The only one that is close to reference is this the GTX 970 doesn't have a nivida reference using the grey cooler like the GTX 980 apparently.

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-1970-KR

That is the reference cooler

[soaringchicken]

The only one that is close to reference is this the GTX 970 doesn't have a nivida reference using the grey cooler like the GTX 980 apparently.

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-1970-KR

I saw a gainward like that one but a bit cheaper?

[W-L]

That is the reference cooler

 

Oh I thought the reference design was the nvidia grey one like they were for the 770, 780 and 980, with the 970 using 4 DP and one DVi   3DP, 1HDMI, and 1 DVI connector?

 

Also this may be a bit vague since it depends on some cards but can you re-use original backplates that came with cards and mount a waterblock with some tinkering, or is it an absolute no.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Oh I thought the reference design was the nvidia grey one like they were for the 770, 780 and 980, with the 970 using 4 DP and one DVi   3DP, 1HDMI, and 1 DVI connector?

 

 

Also this may be a bit vague since it depends on some cards but can you re-use original backplates that came with cards and mount a waterblock with some tinkering, or is it an absolute no.

 

The reference design GTX 970's are really hard to find (at least in my area they are). If you're water cooling it, you're probably overclocking so you might as well get the G1 than.

[W-L]

The reference design GTX 970's are really hard to find (at least in my area they are). If you're water cooling it, you're probably overclocking so you might as well get the G1 than.

 

I think I either will go for an Evga, or Gigabyte G1 since I can't get a hold of any Asus strix due to no stock.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

I think I either will go for an Evga, or Gigabyte G1 since I can't get a hold of any Asus strix due to no stock.

 

Both of those will be great. I'm getting a GTX 970 FTW in a few months. It has plate on top of the heat pipes. So no direct contact issues, although I'm not convinced the whole 'only two heat pipes touch the GPU' fiasco had any real negative impact on cooling performance in the first place. Plus it comes with an ambitious factory overclock and is 1/3 smaller than the G1 while having about the same temps air cooled.

[W-L]

Both of those will be great. I'm getting a GTX 970 FTW in a few months. It has plate on top of the heat pipes. So no direct contact issues, although I'm not convinced the whole 'only two heat pipes touch the GPU' fiasco had any real negative impact on cooling performance in the first place. Plus it comes with an ambitious factory overclock and is 1/3 smaller than the G1 while having about the same temps air cooled.

 

I was just browsing through Ek's list of available waterblocks and it seems none of them are 100% full cover, though the gigabyte G1 comes close, covering about 90%, I think that will be the candidate for now until I see what they release for Evga's GPU's. I wish evga had the hydro blocks for the gtx 970 as long as the price was reasonable they looked so clean and nice. The hydro block 980 looks sweet but not so much with an almost $1000 price tag. 

 

For the heatpipe thing I wouldn't think too much of it since you have a huge block of copper surrounding the die it'll make it's way around very quickly with little to no impact from thermal conductivity