GTX970 different brands?

[zepheniahmann]

There are a lot of variants of the GTX970 video cards, such as:
MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G
Asus Strix GTX970
EVGA GTX970 ACX2.0
Gigabyte GTX970 Gaming G1
I would love to know the pros and cons of each card.

 

[Gam3r01]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1516121/gtx-970-comparison-strix-vs-msi-gaming-vs-gigabyte-g1

 

[hamzahfelix]

These are all very decent, the difference between them performance wise will not be noticeable unless you benchmark everything. I would just grab whichever one's cheapest or aesthetics that I like, and be good.

 

[rcald2000]

I loved my MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G Gamer card, but it's the only 970 that I've ever owned. Everyone has their favorites =>

 

[ingtar33]

There are a lot of variants of the GTX970 video cards, such as:
MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G
Asus Strix GTX970
EVGA GTX970 ACX2.0
Gigabyte GTX970 Gaming G1
I would love to know the pros and cons of each card.

1) MSI GAMING 4G - seems to be the most popular variant, likely for a number of reasons. It is one of the quietest variants, is one of the better overclockers, seems to not suffer from the quality issues of the gigabyte versions, and generally looks pretty cool too, especially with all the black/red themed builds. doesn't really suffer from coil whine particularly much (which means it's better then many other 970's as the lineup does have some coil whine issues)

2) Asus Strix - definitely one of the best overclockers in the gtx970 lineups, apart from that does have coil whine issues from time to time. Solid cooler, pretty quiet. Definitely a competitor with the G4; you probably can't go wrong with either of them. definitely doesn't have the quality control issues of the gigabyte cards.

3) EVGA ACX2.0 - nice card, nothing seriously negative or positive about it. Many people like purchasing EVGA for their tradeup program, which is a very nice perk.

4) Gigabyte Gaming G1 - this card looks amazing on benches and in reviewer's testing. However if you check out the forums for GTX970 issues you'll quickly notice this card has a LOT more problems then any other 970 out there. Gigabyte's retail card has numerous DOA issues, countless coil whine issues, and often seem to overheat a bit implying the cooler isn't even mounted right. If there was one GTX970 for you to say away from it would be the gigabyte version. (thats not to say other cards don't have these issues as well, it's just the chances of having them on the gigabyte are far more likely then any other)


**disclaimer: I do own a MSI GAMING GTX 970 4G; and i love this card.

 

[Dunkan77]

Hello,

Everything ingtar said is true and I fully agree with them. If you will get the MSI one, get the one factory overclocked and with the backplate.
For EVGA, go for their SSC+ or FTW+ with ACX 2.0+ as they are the best this company offers and they aren't as expensive as the Gigabyte alternate. Asus is very well known for their super alloy chokes that improve overclcoking and is a competitor as well as a real option when it come to raw overclocking