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[NJDEN]

I'm not understanding the drastic price difference between the basic Zotac 970 & their Omega edition.

Its a 50 dollar price difference... And putting the Omega edition at a higher cost than the Gigabyte 970, yet the Gigabyte has higher clock speeds & a better warranty.

The Omega edition would be an attractive card if it was $339.99 or $349.99. Is their something about this card I'm missing? Why is it so expensive... or is it just supply & demand?

 

[Mupod]

Asked this in the I need a PC thread but I'll ask here too.

I'm trying to overclock my EVGA 970 SC ACX 2.0 card and I'm not seeing good results right off the bat. This is my first time overclocking a card and I'm using this guide, just with 3Dmark instead of heaven for stress testing.

First time out of the gate, I increase my core clockspeed by 10mhz from 1165 to 1175. I start up 3D Mark. I get some artifacting during the demo. The guide says once you get artificating you can increase your voltage by 10mV at a time or so. I increase my 10mV and keep the 10mhz overclock and it still gets artificating. Am I just unable to overclock this card or am I doing something wrong?

Looking at Afterburner, do I have to increase power level percentage in addition to increasing core voltage for it to affect anything?

that seems really strange. My asus 970 is happilly running at 1475 with no extra voltage, just changed the power limit to 120.

 

[Seanspeed]

Are you talking about the rog swift because that's always sold out

Maybe, but its worth waiting til you can get one rather than spending $600 on a 1080p display.

 

[derExperte]

I like the Asus Strix 970 more than the MSI 970 that I had to exchange because of fan issues, it has less coil whine (still noticeable when doing heavy benchmarking) and the (smaller) fans are even more silent when running despite the cooler itself being potentially worse. Gets a little bit hotter but not much and has a backplate so the card doesn't bend quite as much.

 

[Grief.exe]

that seems really strange. My asus 970 is happilly running at 1475 with no extra voltage, just changed the power limit to 120.

1475 boost or base?

 

[Seanspeed]

1475 boost or base?

He wouldn't be the first to be running ~1500Mhz base clock. People are doing that on air with their 970's.

 

[NJDEN]

Can anyone link me to the site where they compare all 970s?

I put this together the other night when I had some spare time...


It might prove useful to other people? I don't know.

 

[Grief.exe]

He wouldn't be the first to be running ~1500Mhz base clock. People are doing that on air with their 970's.

That's impressive.

My Gigabyte 970 won't go over a +100 Mhz clock, with or without voltage. I'm sitting at 1278 base at stock voltage right now, though I haven't played around with it too much.

 

[Mupod]

1475 boost or base?

1400 is as high as the slider on gpu tweak goes, it goes to 1475 under load.

Haven't had time to fiddle with other utilities yet

edit: tried another +90mhz or so with afterburner, even adding 30mv I crashed instantly on fire strike. I'll stick with what I got for now. I'd also like to note the card *never* goes over 60 degrees. My old 8800GT used to idle for way more than that.

 

[CloudyTuba]

Hey so isnt the MSI 970 supposed to come with a mouse pad?

My first one did that I returned. Got another one a couple days ago but now I realize that this one didn't and I dont see any mention of it on the box anywhere.

 

[derExperte]

I'd also like to note the card *never* goes over 60 degrees.

Wait, are you sure? Because the Asus 970 Strix usually doesn't even turn on the fans until it hits that and then goes higher under load according to reviews and my experience. Do you have some insane case ventilation going on? Or did you tweak the fan thresholds?

 

[Hixx]

Hey so isnt the MSI 970 supposed to come with a mouse pad?

My first one did that I returned. Got another one a couple days ago but now I realize that this one didn't and I dont see any mention of it on the box anywhere.

Mine never. Could've done with a new mousepad for free as well. Booo.

 

[brotkasten]

Sorry for the late response. Was at work and gaf is blocked at the network. Anyways. Nothing wrong with the brand. Its just that I see these kind of things as an investment and he could possibly be attahced to the card for years. Might as well wait a little for the card he really wanted to be back in stock. Those MSI's and Gigabytes will be in stock soon.. I can feel it. Was just instock recently here in US, just monitor r/buildapcsales and that link i posted.

Thanks again. Your reasoning makes perfect sense, yes. I guess I should've followed his posts better.

That Zotac cooler is probably better than the PNY, plus that 5 year warranty in the UK with UK based CS. I am only considering it because I only have Amazon voucher but I would much rather wait for a tried and tested card MSI, Gigabyte and the likes. If I had to buy the cheap 970s I would go for the Zotac for the warranty alone and the fact that they don't use the single fan cheap old style reference coolers helps. I don't know how the warranty is outside the UK.

I found the card for 308€ "in stock" (ships within 1-3 days) and started looking into it. The only real con I could find on the small Zotac is the cooling performance. Some users are reporting decent temps (55-60°C), others are talking about 80°C and throttling. So it doesn't really seem any better or worse than the cheap blower type fan on the Palit, Gainward or Galaxy. It could be easier to cool with the air flow in the case, though, because the cooler relatively open.

e: In other news, AMD apparently slashed the prices.
http://wccftech.com/amd-initiates-wave-price-cuts-radeon-r9-290-299-radeon-r9-290x-399/

 

[Sir Abacus]

I got this power supply (first one was wrong) - is that suffice? Does it have the connectors?

http://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/249

PCI-E 6+2 pin (GPU) - 2

You're fine.

 

[pestul]

e: In other news, AMD apparently slashed the prices.
http://wccftech.com/amd-initiates-wave-price-cuts-radeon-r9-290-299-radeon-r9-290x-399/

Not nearly enough.. the GTX 970 is a lot better than the $30 in difference. Especially with a decent overclock in comparison. The power draw difference is crazy.
Does Nvidia give you any free games or promotions with the 970/980?

 

[brotkasten]

Not nearly enough.. the GTX 970 is a lot better than the $30 in difference. Especially with a decent overclock in comparison. The power draw difference is crazy.
Does Nvidia give you any free games or promotions with the 970/980?

If I compare the cheapest cards available right now it's 259€ for the R9 290 and 304€ for the GTX 970. According to reviews, both cards are pretty much on par. Except that the 290 draws something like twice as much power for the same or similar performance. Now some people care and others don't care about that. At least the user has a choice again. AMD's throwing Alien: Isolation in as well, but their other offers aren't that noteworthy, imo. Nvidia might be offering Arkham Origins soon, but I could be wrong about that.

 

[Mupod]

Wait, are you sure? Because the Asus 970 Strix usually doesn't even turn on the fans until it hits that and then goes higher under load according to reviews and my experience. Do you have some insane case ventilation going on? Or did you tweak the fan thresholds?

of course I tweaked the fan thresholds. I just have them turn on around 45, but even at full load they never need to go past 55% or so. Pretty nice that it idles at 30-ish with no fans on.

 

[Rhaknar]

Force it on through the nvidia control panel, set it on in the default tab, this way it wil apply on every game by default. This way you don't have to enable it in game.

what sorcery is this?

 

[garath]

of course I tweaked the fan thresholds. I just have them turn on around 45, but even at full load they never need to go past 55% or so. Pretty nice that it idles at 30-ish with no fans on.

I have an Asus Strix coming this week. I like that you can adjust the fan threshold down like that. I wasn't a big fan of the 60c mark for the fan turn on. 45 sounds like a great low point.

 

[Kevyt]

I just noticed that in game debate's website they have a "review" for the GTX 980 Ti and even a comparisons tool that lets you compare it to other cards. This is interesting since they are basing their "review" on rumors and speculation but they say the 980 Ti will release in December. I don't know how credible this can be...

I love this line:

The GTX 980 Ti has not been released yet, so any comparisons on this page are likely to be unreliable.

lol

 

[Rhaknar]

so whats the word on gigabyte 970 coil whine? is it that bad?

I might not be able to get asus afterall and have to get gigabyte, and I really dont want to wait until whenever they get asus here when the rest of my rig is ready to be assembled (just waiting on the gpus and the case)

the case im getting has sound dampening and shit I believe (fractal design R4), would that help? I also use headphones all the time

 

[Josman]

I'm leaning towards the Asus Strix, I've read about too many issues with EVGA, GB and MSI, besides it's not that expensive.

In other news, AMD apparently slashed the prices.
http://wccftech.com/amd-initiates-wave-price-cuts-radeon-r9-290-299-radeon-r9-290x-399/

That's great, 290 is still a worse purchase than the 970, but 270x just became the best budget GPU.

Edit: On a side note: What the fuck with the comments in that link... I don't usually generalize, but AMD has such a toxic fanbase, it was the first thing I noticed when gathering info to build and get into PC gaming.

 

[Kieli]

I'm leaning towards the Asus Strix.

What's erring me away from ASUS is that their customer service is apparently not good.

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

I'm leaning towards the Asus Strix, I've read about too many issues with EVGA, GB and MSI, besides it's not that expensive.



That's great, 290 is still a worse purchase than the 970, but 270x just became the best budget GPU.

Edit: On a side note: What the fuck with the comments in that link... I don't usually generalize, but AMD has such a toxic fanbase, it was the first thing I noticed when gathering info to build and get into PC gaming.

That website's comment section is always like that.

 

[Rodpad]

So after experiencing coil whine on the MSI 970, I purchased an Asus Strix 970 and experienced the same coil whine, except this time the fan noise on the Asus is extremely unpleasant in both volume and pitch.

Therefore I've come to accept that they all feature a bit of coil whine and I'm going to send the Asus back and stick with the MSI.

Interestingly I overclocked both and the Asus was severely throttled by the low TDP of the card. The MSI overclocks so much better, but more importantly, maintains those overclocks under load.

I'm currently running my MSI 970 at around 1500Mhz Core, 4000Mhz Memory, all very stable and relatively quiet at load. Conversely the Asus would throttle it's core at around 1250Mhz and was an extremely noisy beast in comparison to both the MSI 970 and Asus' 6xx series which I currently own on another machine.

So there you have it, if you're considering going for the Asus based on how good their 6xx and 7xx have been - don't. The MSI GTX 970 4GB Gaming edition is the best 970 at the moment based on overclocks, temperature and noise.

 

[Rootbeer]

Is there anything that can be done about coil whine?

I don't own a 970 yet but I have not experienced noticable coil whine on any GPUs i've owned so far.

I am worried about it though.

Apart from the sound itself, is coil whine a sign of a potentially defective components on the card? Do cards that exhibit more coil whine than others in their series tend to fail more often?

I've also read that sometimes you can mitigate coil whine by changing your PSU... any thoughts on that? Is it BS?

 

[brotkasten]

That's great, 290 is still a worse purchase than the 970, but 270x just became the best budget GPU.

Edit: On a side note: What the fuck with the comments in that link... I don't usually generalize, but AMD has such a toxic fanbase, it was the first thing I noticed when gathering info to build and get into PC gaming.

How is it worse in anything else than the power consumption? Or are there any other glaring issues?

 

[CyanideFuse]

Is the coil whine that audible when in a case under normal type loads and not coupled with stupid frame rate spikes of 2000 (e.g. when sat at a menu screen if vsync not enabled)?

I am very sensitive to high pitch noises and can sometimes hear them coming off the TV. It is something that I just cannot put up with.

 

[Thoraxes]

That cable is a single 6 pin to 8 pin converter. A 6 pin PCI-E connector will usually have 18 AWG wiring capable of taking a couple of amps, enough for the 75W stated on the spec. The 8 pin PCI-E will usually use at least 16 AWG wire to be able to take the increased current safely (~4A per conductor or so). Sure in many cases they may overbuild the 6 pin to use a larger gauge of wire anyway and you end up fine which is why you have some jackass who chimes in with the "but I use molex to 6 pin to 8 pin on my R9 290X and it works fine". But trying to draw double the power of a spec's design is typically not a wise idea.

^ This is the actual cable. Two 6-pin inputs, one 8 pin output.

You don't want to end up like this jackass although what he did was spectacularly fucking stupid.

That works well for me then. I have 2 6-pin and 1 6+2.

 

[Rodpad]

Is the coil whine that audible when in a case under normal type loads and not coupled with stupid frame rate spikes of 2000 (e.g. when sat at a menu screen if vsync not enabled)?

I am very sensitive to high pitch noises and can sometimes hear them coming off the TV. It is something that I just cannot put up with.

In some games you can notice it slightly even when capping the framerate, but it manifests as an electrical buzzing noise. Only when you uncap the framerate does it emit the high pitch screech.

I've yet to take the machine into the living room and play on the home cinema setup, but I'm positive that I would not be able to hear the buzzing in that scenario. It's just about tolerable when playing games in the office, especially with the sound up.

 

[-MD-]

The MSI GTX 970 4GB Gaming edition is the best 970 at the moment based on overclocks, temperature and noise.

Wouldn't that be the Gigabyte?

 

[derExperte]

I'm currently running my MSI 970 at around 1500Mhz Core, 4000Mhz Memory, all very stable and relatively quiet at load. Conversely the Asus would throttle it's core at around 1250Mhz and was an extremely noisy beast in comparison to both the MSI 970 and Asus' 6xx series which I currently own on another machine.

That's weird, my 970 Strix boosts to 1300 without overclocking even though the specs say 1250 boost and it stays very quiet, slightly quieter than my MSI while playing (before the fan problems started). I haven't tried overclocking yet but yours might have been a bad one.

edit: Got to 1400MHz without changing anything else, temps were 68°C max while the fan remained at 965rpm. The MSI is overall better suited for overclocking, no question about it (two power cables, a more massive cooler), but I don't think I'm hitting any tdp limits here. I also owned a very silent Asus 660 DirectCU II and so far it's comparable noise wise.

Edit: On a side note: What the fuck with the comments in that link... I don't usually generalize, but AMD has such a toxic fanbase, it was the first thing I noticed when gathering info to build and get into PC gaming.

Tbh imo they only got that way after years of dealing with more than equally nasty Nvidia fans.

 

[brotkasten]

Is the TDP of the cards written in the bios or is it entirety dependent on the temperature of the chip?

 

[CyberPunked]

What's a maximum safe amount to increase the voltage for a EVGA 980?

 

[Windom Earle]

what kind of frame rate do you guys get in the assault level? that level nukes frame rates from orbit

I am not that far yet but it's probably gonna be bad. Maybe in 10 years CPUs are strong enough for this game. XD

That being said, I recommend turning down "Water" and "Objects" to high. Those two settings are the worst for the CPU and now my framerate is mostly above 60. I am using a 3770K @ 4,4.

 

[Xpliskin]

I swear to god this is me trying to choose one to order

so, between these:

-MSI
-Asus Strix DC2 OC Super street fighter ultra giga turbo
-Inno3D N97V-1SDN-M5DSX
-Gigabyte GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD
-Gigabyte GV-N970WF3OC-4GD

which one gaf

 

[-MD-]

I swear to god this is me trying to choose one to order

so, between these:

-MSI
-Asus Strix DC2 OC Super street fighter ultra giga turbo
-Inno3D N97V-1SDN-M5DSX
-Gigabyte GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD
-Gigabyte GV-N970WF3OC-4GD

which one gaf

I went for the Gigabyte G1, where are you ordering from?

Still sitting on this 10 day old Amazon order and it hasn't updated.

 

[mugurumakensei]

How is it worse in anything else than the power consumption? Or are there any other glaring issues?

lower power consumption = lower temps = greater room for overclocks

 

[Faith]

lower power consumption = lower temps = greater room for overclocks

Not always true.

High power consumption = good cooling = lower temps.

 

[Seanspeed]

I swear to god this is me trying to choose one to order

so, between these:

-MSI
-Asus Strix DC2 OC Super street fighter ultra giga turbo
-Inno3D N97V-1SDN-M5DSX
-Gigabyte GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD
-Gigabyte GV-N970WF3OC-4GD

which one gaf

Depends on what your preferences are. And the price is slightly different between some of them as well.

 

[Xpliskin]

I went for the Gigabyte G1, where are you ordering from?

Still sitting on this 10 day old Amazon order and it hasn't updated.

LLDC.com , they ship everywhere in europe and their prices are awesome.
1 day shipping if it's in stock among cool other stuff.

The one called "OC" has lower OC'd speed than the "G1" one.
That's why I don't even bother figuring out why, it's better to ask.

I think I'll follow that choice before there's no more stock left.

 

[Soodanim]

Found some useful reviews on Amazon UK for the MSI 970 on sale for £19,999.

so whats the word on gigabyte 970 coil whine? is it that bad?

I might not be able to get asus afterall and have to get gigabyte, and I really dont want to wait until whenever they get asus here when the rest of my rig is ready to be assembled (just waiting on the gpus and the case)

the case im getting has sound dampening and shit I believe (fractal design R4), would that help? I also use headphones all the time

I'm looking for an answer to this too, but I'm not sure how likely we are to get one. I tried googling and just found your post in this thread.

 

[Josman]

How is it worse in anything else than the power consumption? Or are there any other glaring issues?

Well the power consumption difference is huge and that is very important for me, energy is more than twice as expensive here, other than that better performance with over clocking, lower temperatures and noise levels, features like SLI VR and DSR and generally less driver issues, the price difference seems worth it in my opinion.

 

[Kezen]

Found some useful reviews on Amazon UK for the MSI 970 on sale for £19,999.

I'm looking for an answer to this too, but I'm not sure how likely we are to get one. I tried googling and just found your post in this thread.

OH

MY

GOD

 

[pestul]

The power consumption difference is what tipped it over the edge so that my wife was pretty okay with the purchase. Thanks Nvidia.

 

[Soodanim]

I have questions related to coil whine.

1. People have had success by enabling v-sync to keep frames at 60fps. That's all well and fine, but if you're playing a game where you get dips below 60, what then - suffer jumps between 30 and 60? Can you set set v-sync on a per-game basis, or perhaps instead of v-sync setting a limit of 60fps?

2. I've never followed a GPU this closely. Is this a vocal minority thing, or is it a widespread issue? Are other GPUs like this? I had barely heard of it before the 970.

 

[Arkadios]

If you could hold out a little while longer, I will have the stock Zotac installed in my rig within the week. I'm going to test it out extensively. I love that it's such a small card. I'm not too worried about heat as my case (Antec 902) has excellent airflow. Hopefully I get a good board for overclocking.

Just a friendly reminder that I'm interest in your reports about that card as well. Particularly about noise, temps and overclocking.

 

[xXxDieselxXx]

Not sure if posted

http://www.evga.com/articles/00876/EVGAs-Got-Your-Back/

For a limited time only, simply register your select EVGA GeForce GTX 970 graphics card, sign up below, and we'll send an EVGA backplate directly to you for FREE! A backplate acts like a backbone on your card, boosting rigidity by providing extra support to the PCB, protecting critical components, and most of all, it looks cool! Only while supplies last! Get yours today!

Backplates will start shipping approximately mid-November.

 

[Zafir]

so whats the word on gigabyte 970 coil whine? is it that bad?

I might not be able to get asus afterall and have to get gigabyte, and I really dont want to wait until whenever they get asus here when the rest of my rig is ready to be assembled (just waiting on the gpus and the case)

the case im getting has sound dampening and shit I believe (fractal design R4), would that help? I also use headphones all the time

Honestly, if you're wearing headphones you probably won't notice it under normal use. I hear it with my headphones off over the case/cpu fans. However, if I put them on I don't notice it. It's particularly important to note my headphones are open back too, so they don't cut noise out very well at all.

That said, when the game is rendering silly FPS numbers I do notice it even with headphones on.

(Note, this is my experience with the MSI coil whine. I've no idea whether the gigabyte one has it worse. I doubt it considering it isn't a manufacturer specific problem.)

 

[Guy LeDouche]

Not sure if posted

http://www.evga.com/articles/00876/EVGAs-Got-Your-Back/

good on them, but things like this is why I'm waiting a couple months. Factory overclock, ACX 2.0 cooling, and backplate (like the one Anandtech got for review)