For my system, do I go with a blower or open air GTX 970?

[IncendiaryLemon]

My case is an NZXT Guardian. I have an Intel Core i5 4690k, and I will be using either the stock cooler or a good sub $20 cooler. (I am interested in overclocking)

So, do I go with an open air cooler, like the Gigabyte Windforce OC?

Or one with a blower style cooler, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-256bit-Graphics-04G-P4-1972-KR/dp/B00NI45AUU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438959961&sr=8-2&keywords=GTX+970+reference

 

[iggy684]

if your going to SLI use the blower style cooler. The air cooler is actually preferred and that Gigabyte windforce is a good one (single card)

 

[TheUltimateNoob123]

As long as the company is good like gigabyte or msi then the cooling will be fine. The gigabyte windforce is good because it uses three fans.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... a rear blower fan ( external exhaust ) will direct the GPU Hot air out your case... other Fan types just re-cycle the air in your case, making the duty of getting the GPU hot air out with your case fans.

 

[RAZER Gamer]

For the 970 I would get the MSI version. MSI and Asus I find are the best GPU makes, EVGA and Gigabyte are also very good. But this EVGA Superclocked 970 is a rip off, £500 for a 970! A GTX 970 from MSI costs around £270, for £500 you could buy a GTX 980!

Definitely don't buy the EVGA 970 you looked at because that cooler isn't that good and it's a rip off. So I would overall recommend either a MSI or Gigabyte 970 because they are both from good and reliable brands and have great coolers. If you want silence then go for the MSI version and if you want cooler but louder and faster get the Gigabyte version.

For more information please read this long article:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1516121/gtx-970-comparison-strix-vs-msi-gaming-vs-gigabyte-g1

 

[Derza10]

Do not get the reference blower cards if you have decent case air flow, even if you plan to SLI, they will run much hotter (10-15c higher temps) and be much louder.

The MSI gaming version is one of the quietest cards and still runs cool, it is the one i'd recommend.

 

[martinch]

Can't comment on the relative merits and demerits of the cooler types, but I'll add a bit about its acoustics (as I have this card). At idle, it's reasonably quiet, being marginally louder than my HDD (WD Black). As it loads up, it's generally not overly noticeable (I don't notice it above game noise), however, at lowish loads (e.g. playing Tropico 3), it has a slight "chirrup" to the fan noise which makes it more noticeable than you'd expect for the volume (it's not coil whine, as it's capped via vsync).

But this EVGA Superclocked 970 is a rip off, £500 for a 970!

It's £285 from Scan

 

[RAZER Gamer]

Can't comment on the relative merits and demerits of the cooler types, but I'll add a bit about its acoustics (as I have this card). At idle, it's reasonably quiet, being marginally louder than my HDD (WD Black). As it loads up, it's generally not overly noticeable (I don't notice it above game noise), however, at lowish loads (e.g. playing Tropico 3), it has a slight "chirrup" to the fan noise which makes it more noticeable than you'd expect for the volume (it's not coil whine, as it's capped via vsync).

But this EVGA Superclocked 970 is a rip off, £500 for a 970!

It's £285 from Scan

Yeah but I was commenting on the card he listed from that link he listed. I wanted to make sure he didn't waste his money buying that card off Amazon.

 

[martinch]

Yeah but I was commenting on the card he listed from that link he listed. I wanted to make sure he didn't waste his money buying that card off Amazon.

Ah, I guess you were referring to the FTW+ that was one of the options on the Amazon page then? I was just looking at the blower-style EVGA SC in the Amazon link (which is the one I have). Crossed wires, I guess.