Reference 970 worth it?

[Syntaxvgm]

You think its worth an extra $50 over a non-reference one?

Only if reference is really important to you. I've always bought reference for myself, and I intend to continue. 

Plenty of great non-reference ones

[FatPenguin]

yaaas yasss

whats this sticky stuff coming out of my pc it must really like the sexiness of this card

[cheeze_tartz]

Only if reference is really important to you. I've always bought reference for myself, and I intend to continue. 

Plenty of great non-reference ones

Well, I am getting it for aesthetics. I am getting a green motherboard and a green AIO, as well as green ram

[monaka25]

You think its worth an extra $50 over a non-reference one?

    Oh, if the non reference is more expensive, then I wouldn't recommend it considering that other coolers are beter.

[boboman342]

My reference gtx 970 from BestBuy also runs slightly louder than other non-reference coolers and hovers around 80C during long gaming sessions, but it is running at 1582Mhz core 8002Mhz memory I loved the look of the sexy reference design, that's why I bought it! (plus the nvidia backplate is cool)

 

that's....odd

did you have the best buy nvidia model or the ocuk one? 

Does the one from ocuk have the vapor chamber?

[ExcitezR]

it will be hotter and louder than a MSI or Gigabyte one but it does look so sexy  

[maizenblue]

that's....odd

did you have the best buy nvidia model or the ocuk one? 

I had the Best buy Nvidia model.

 

I don't want to make it sound like it was a horrible card. I guess I just figured that because the 970 has such low TDP that a titan style cooler would keep the card exceptionally cool for a blower style cooler, but that was definitely not the case. The Best Buy one lacks a vapor chamber(I don't know about the OCUK one). Apparently the Vapor chamber makes a big difference because the cooling performance seemed pretty lackluster to me. Its basically a garden variety blower cooler made up to look like a Titan cooler.

 

As I said before at least it does vent the heat outside of your case, so I don't know that temps in the high 70s to low 80s would really shorten the life of the card any. Overall though the performance was disappointing for a 380 dollar card. I never did attempt to overclock it any. Someone else said theirs overclocked a pretty good amount.

[Syntaxvgm]

I had the Best buy Nvidia model.

 

I don't want to make it sound like it was a horrible card. I guess I just figured that because the 970 has such low TDP that a titan style cooler would keep the card exceptionally cool for a blower style cooler, but that was definitely not the case. The Best Buy one lacks a vapor chamber(I don't know about the OCUK one). Apparently the Vapor chamber makes a big difference because the cooling performance seemed pretty lackluster to me. Its basically a garden variety blower cooler made up to look like a Titan cooler.

 

As I said before at least it does vent the heat outside of your case, so I don't know that temps in the high 70s to low 80s would really shorten the life of the card any. Overall though the performance was disappointing for a 380 dollar card. I never did attempt to overclock it any. Someone else said theirs overclocked a pretty good amount.

That makes sense, but I also have the best buy one and have a much lower temps than everyone is reporting. I don't overclock it, but it's comfortably cool, even without the vapor chamber. Yet everyone else with one doesn't have the same experience. 

[cheeze_tartz]

That makes sense, but I also have the best buy one and have a much lower temps than everyone is reporting. I don't overclock it, but it's comfortably cool, even without the vapor chamber. Yet everyone else with one doesn't have the same experience. 

Just wondering, are you able to max out most games at 1080p?

[Syntaxvgm]

Just wondering, are you able to max out most games at 1080p?

Uh yah I guess...haven't really tried much. I've mainly been gaming at 1440p, and I leave the settings as is usually anymore, not much I have to change.