GTX 970, Which one?

[Sir Tophat V]

Ok LTT forums I need help picking the best 970 for my need

I have £300 and I don't know what 970 to pick, I could probably just pick the MSI one and all will be good but I just feel like it would be best to ask first.

 

I would like to know the one with best performance and not too loud, I also don't plan to OC it.

 

Thanks

[comefightme]

The ASUS STRIX, its got everything and anything you want

 

Fanless mode when not under load and stuff like that

[ZetZet]

G1 Gaming, it's binned.

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn970g1gaming4gd

[comefightme]

Its software also lets you get 20% more performance with a few clicks so why not?

[_Banas_]

The EVGA FTW GTX 970 looks good. 

 

But for £300 you could get som better performance with a R9 390

[Xenift]

Would recommend EVGA FTW, G1 Gaming Gigabyte or MSI.

[Bazilias]

Ok LTT forums I need help picking the best 970 for my need

I have £300 and I don't know what 970 to pick, I could probably just pick the MSI one and all will be good but I just feel like it would be best to ask first.

 

I would like to know the one with best performance and not too loud, I also don't plan to OC it.

 

Thanks

Why not an AMD R9 390? It has more VRAM and also performs better.

[SeanAngelo]

Ok LTT forums I need help picking the best 970 for my need

I have £300 and I don't know what 970 to pick, I could probably just pick the MSI one and all will be good but I just feel like it would be best to ask first.

 

I would like to know the one with best performance and not too loud, I also don't plan to OC it.

 

Thanks

EVGA or Gigabyte

 

But have you heard of the R9 390? It's better than the GTX 970 at around the same price.... and more VRAM.

[Majestic]

The ASUS STRIX, its got everything and anything you want

 

Fanless mode when not under load and stuff like that

 

The strix is pretty lacklustre. Very TDP limited, low overclocking headroom (i'm not talking valley, fire up firestrike or crysis3) and pretty poor fans.

 

Gigabyte's G1 model, EVGA's ACX2.0 or MSI's TwinFrozr models are all better in some way. G1 is binned, EVGA has dual-ball-bearing fans for longevity and the MSI is arguably the moest quiet.

 

 

Why not an AMD R9 390? It has more VRAM and also performs better.

 

Because VRAM is moot on the resolutions these cards operate at, it's more noisy, uses more power and doesn't perform better once you start testing it towards factory overclocked 970's.

[Guest]

 

 

 

Because VRAM is moot on the resolutions these cards operate at, 

*cough*GTA V Maxed *cough*

 

At least uses a shit ton of vram with me.

 

But I have to add I play on 1920x1200 instead, don't know if it makes that much of a diff.

[Majestic]

*cough*GTA V Maxed *cough*

 

At least uses a shit ton of vram with me.

 

That doesn't imply it won't work with less. Certainly not seen this reflected in the benchmarks.

 

Games just fill the available memory. Memory used =! memory required.

[Guest]

That doesn't imply it won't work with less. Certainly not seen this reflected in the benchmarks.

 

Games just fill the available memory. Memory used =! memory required.

Yer, but I think he may have a hard time maxing the advanced shadows options.

[Majestic]

Yer, but I think he may have a hard time maxing the advanced shadows options.

 

"I think", exactly. It's just subjective. So please don't put it forth as something that has been emperically proven to be true.

 

I have not seen 4GB (3.5GB if you're 12) be any sort of limiting factor at 1080p/1440p.

[Goat]

I recommend on an r9 390 as it has about the same price as the 970 but generally performs better. If you insist on the 970, I recommend the EVGA one.

[Majestic]

I recommend on an r9 390 as it has about the same price as the 970 but generally performs better. If you insist on the 970, I recommend the EVGA one.

When you start looking at actual models that hit the market, with factor overclocks. There is no lead for the 390, certainly not an overall lead across all games.

Some the 970 wins, some the 390 wins. But nothing concisive. So it comes down to other variables. Day-one driver support, temps, noise, power supply requirements, driver overhead on CPU. Shadowplay.

 

Featurewise, the 970 has the 390 beat.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Godlygamer23
Clean up.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Ok LTT forums I need help picking the best 970 for my need

I have £300 and I don't know what 970 to pick, I could probably just pick the MSI one and all will be good but I just feel like it would be best to ask first.

 

I would like to know the one with best performance and not too loud, I also don't plan to OC it.

 

Thanks

 

G1 is a pretty nice favourite. Though you might wanna consider Evga for their warranty. Or a 390 as well since they're around the same price. 

[Sir Tophat V]

I use GeForce Experience too much to change, call me a fanboy all you want but don't try and tell me that bloat ware you call Raptr is a good alternative 

[Sir Tophat V]

 

Look @coolkingler1 , all you people do is repeat what the next guy said upon entering each discussion. See 970 in title, enter discussion "muh 390 is better and cheaper it has the 8GB'S" and leave. Because that's the doctrine on LTT.

 

But when you start looking at actual models that hit the market, with factor overclocks. There is no lead for the 390, certainly not an overall lead across all games.

Some the 970 wins, some the 390 wins. But nothing concisive. So it comes down to other variables. Day-one driver support, temps, noise, power supply requirements, driver overhead on CPU. Shadowplay.

 

Featurewise, the 970 has the 390 beat.

I made this thread knowing people will tell me to get some AMD thing I don't want lol

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

I use GeForce Experience too much to change, call me a fanboy all you want but don't try and tell me that bloat ware you call Raptr is a good alternative 

 

Then either a G1 or Evga. All the peeps above have already recommended cards to you with the exception of one not stating a brand for Nvidia. Don't act as if everyone is out to tear the 970 apart and slap the 390 in your face. 

[VagabondWraith]

390 is the best 970.

[FinestRyeBread]

*cough*GTA V Maxed *cough*

At least uses a shit ton of vram with me.

But I have to add I play on 1920x1200 instead, don't know if it makes that much of a diff.

gta v maxed settings 1080p only uses about 3.1gb of vram

[Sir Tophat V]

Then either a G1 or Evga. All the peeps above have already recommended cards to you with the exception of one not stating a brand for Nvidia. Don't act as if everyone is out to tear the 970 apart and slap the 390 in your face. 

yeah yeah I know

I'm going with the evga one

 

ty everyone

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

yeah yeah I know

I'm going with the evga one

 

ty everyone

 

Its a good choice, you'll probably be pleased with that card.

[Majestic]

EVGA has good aftersales, the fans are very durable and (if you get the correct one) has some advantages over the MSI version in terms of interconnect.

 

@Sir Tophat V, Look out though, some EVGA 970's ship with dual DVI, one DP and one HDMI, while other ship with 3x DP 1x HDMI and 1x DVI. 

[rasesh]

EVGA has good aftersales, the fans are very durable and (if you get the correct one) has some advantages over the MSI version in terms of interconnect.

 

@Sir Tophat V, Look out though, some EVGA 970's ship with dual DVI, one DP and one HDMI, while other ship with 3x DP 1x HDMI and 1x DVI. 

 

1)Majestic what do you think about the new gigabyte gtx 970 xtreme that came out 1 month ago?

The thing is matching stock gtx 980 benchmarks.  It beats the gtx 970 g1 gaming aswell.

 

2)But when you compare it using the word "future proof", don't you think the msi r9 390 or 390x win's due to it's vram?

Here is my reasoning behind it, you can tell me if I'm wrong I don't mind.

Let just take "2 years down the road" example.  So, lets say 2 years down the road someone upgrades to either a 1440p or a 4k monitor.

Now, the performance we saw of the 970 & r9 390 or 390X would be the same in 1080p approx & also maybe even in 1440p.

But the problem occurs when you hit 1440p+ because the r9 390 will be able to main the exact same performance just like the gtx 970 but for a longer period of time as it has room due to it's vram.  The gpu will still stay the same, I'm just saying it has potential to perform the exact same it does @ 1080p just like the gtx 970 but for better resolution only due to it's vram while the gtx 970 will maintain same or better performance but not when you cross a certain resolution.  Now if the gtx 970 has 8gb vram it would be a clear winner.

 

What you think?