Gtx 970 recommendation

[Kampfhamster]

Hello Guys,

i am searching for a Gtx970 which will run SLI in my Obsidian 350D, the system will be changed to water-cooling later this year, but it will be air-cooled at first. i was thinking about going for the asus turbo, but i am not sure if an evga ftw+ is better.

 

do you have any recommendations?

 

gz

Kampfhamster

 

edit: sorry i forgot to say i got a asus maximus board

 

[Marcus Torre DeProspero]

I recommend g1 gaming for good cooling or the evga frw edition for overclocking

[spartaman64]

msi and gigabyte are good companies to choose from

[Trav_X]

If you are water cooling later it is not a big decision which one, cause you can overclock any of them. I would just suggest ASUS, MSI, or EVGA cards personally. ASUS Strix cards are absolutely FANTASTIC, my best bet would just get a Strix card, and I know EK sells ASUS 970 Strix blocks specifically for water cooling.

[Kampfhamster]

13 minutes ago, Trav_X said:

If you are water cooling later it is not a big decision which one, cause you can overclock any of them. I would just suggest ASUS, MSI, or EVGA cards personally. ASUS Strix cards are absolutely FANTASTIC, my best bet would just get a Strix card, and I know EK sells ASUS 970 Strix blocks specifically for water cooling.

i am tending to a evga ftw+ it seems more powerful than the asus one

[Maxxtraxx]

All the major brands are quite good!

 

HOWEVER...

 

if you want to do a custom loop water cooling setup then you really should consider a 970 with a reference pcb

 

the EVGA GTX970 --- Here --- is an example of it

 

If you would like to find some other options, the EKWB compatability list is --- Here ---

 

The primary reason for this recommendation is compatability, if you buy a non-reference card it may be very difficult or impossible to find a full cover water block for the card.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Maxxtraxx

[Maxxtraxx]

However...

 

if you can afford 2 GTX970's....

 

I would Highly recommend getting 1 GTX 980ti as an alternative. You'll not have to worry about SLI compability with games, you'll have 6gb of VRam to be better suited for higher resolution future AAA games plus you'll have an upgrade path in the future instead of being maxed out with 2 cards already.

The performance is nearly identical as well while the 980ti will give you much smoother frame timing(less microstutter) due to not using SLI

[Kampfhamster]

4 hours ago, Maxxtraxx said:

 

I would Highly recommend getting 1 GTX 980ti as an alternative. You'll not have to worry about SLI compability with games, you'll have 6gb of VRam to be better suited for higher resolution future AAA games plus you'll have an upgrade path in the future instead of being maxed out with 2 cards already.

The performance is nearly identical as well while the 980ti will give you much smoother frame timing(less microstutter) due to not using SLI

 

well i don't need the SLI for gaming more for rendering if you look at the benchmark of one of the main software uses (https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Agisoft-PhotoScan-GPU-Acceleration-710/) 

 

i check the local resellers they both have a AlphaCool blocks in stock for the evga ftw+ and the asus strix. 

 

but which card is better for the air-cooling?

 

 

[Trav_X]

13 hours ago, Maxxtraxx said:

All the major brands are quite good!

 

HOWEVER...

 

if you want to do a custom loop water cooling setup then you really should consider a 970 with a reference pcb

 

the EVGA GTX970 --- Here --- is an example of it

 

If you would like to find some other options, the EKWB compatability list is --- Here ---

 

The primary reason for this recommendation is compatability, if you buy a non-reference card it may be very difficult or impossible to find a full cover water block for the card.

Agreed, reference is the best if you know that you are guaranteed to water cool. EK is doing nicer with their compatibility, I know that they at least make reference, Strix, and some other EVGA ones for the different 900 series cards.

 

13 hours ago, Kampfhamster said:

i am tending to a evga ftw+ it seems more powerful than the asus one

Yes, EVGA does also make really nice coolers and factory over clocked cards, as I mentioned. I prefer them, ASUS, and msi