How to find the best gpu?

[Cooper Norman]

I'm looking to buy a GTX 970, and I was wondering, what makes a graphics card great? Is it how many cuda cores it has, core clock, memory clock, what should I look for trying to find the best GTX 970 for performance? Also, if anyone does know of a GTX 970 that stands out from the rest, please tell me which one. Thanks.

 

[N3rdR4ge]

if you are looking for the most popular, best reviewed one with the highest oc potential here it is

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-Gaming-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B00NH5T1MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434441240&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+970+gigabyte+g1

i used to own one. they are nice. upgraded to 980 ti.

 

[guanyu210379]

Basically, I do not care bout how many CUDA cores the GPU has, how fast the VRAM, etc.
I only care about the price I have to pay and the fps I will get with the GPU.
There 2 GPUs which are considered as best buy in my opinion.
Those are GTX970 and GTX980Ti.
Choosing between them is depending on your budget and your usage plan.
If you play on on 1080p or up to 1440p, GTX970 is perhaps the best option. (1440p is somehow the limit of a single GTX970)
For 1440p or higher, you might want to consider GTX980Ti instead, or 2 GTX970s.

GTX970 is the better best buy for the price compared to GTX980Ti, if someone ask me about the better buy between those 2.

Good GTX970s are:
- Galax/KFA2 GTX970 EXOC <-- I own this and considering to get a second one to have them on SLI
- ASUS GTX970 Strix
- MSI GTX970 4G
- Gigabyte GTX970 Gaming G1
- eVGA GTX970 SC ACX2.0

 

[yeskay]

I'm looking to buy a GTX 970, and I was wondering, what makes a graphics card great? Is it how many cuda cores it has, core clock, memory clock, what should I look for trying to find the best GTX 970 for performance? Also, if anyone does know of a GTX 970 that stands out from the rest, please tell me which one. Thanks.

When you choose a graphics card, there are several technical features you may need to consider, if you really want to dig deep into this matter. For example, consider the following cards:

GTX 960 2GB VRAM 128-bit Memory Interface
GTX 750 Ti 2GB VRAM 128-bit Memory Interface

On first look, both may seem to have the same config, but still the GTX 960 is a better card. How?

Its because the GTX 960 has:

- Higher clock speed
- Higher effective memory clock speed
- Higher pixel rate
- Better floating-point performance
- More render output processors
- Higher turbo clock speed
- Higher memory clock speed
- More shading units
- More texture mapping units

It's far better than 750 Ti. So in the end, cards that have same VRAM and Memory Interface doesn't mean they are equal. You've to consider the above factors that will separate one from the other.

In fact, the GTX 960 2GB VRAM 128-bit Memory interface, manages to beat the AMD mid-range heavy weight R9 280 3GB VRAM 384-bit Memory interface in gaming.

With regard to GTX 970, it a pretty good 1080/1440p graphics card. Consider MSI GTX 970 4G Gaming, which is one of the best GTX 970s, that comes with Twin Frozr V cooling tech, for near silent operation coupled with performance and durable military class components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($341.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $341.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-16 06:07 EDT-0400

Why MSI Graphics cards?

Major Motherboard and Graphics Card Manufacturers RMA Ratings

Read the full article here - Reliability report: Gigabyte top for motherboards, MSI for graphics

Cheers!

 

[Cooper Norman]

I'm looking to buy a GTX 970, and I was wondering, what makes a graphics card great? Is it how many cuda cores it has, core clock, memory clock, what should I look for trying to find the best GTX 970 for performance? Also, if anyone does know of a GTX 970 that stands out from the rest, please tell me which one. Thanks.

When you choose a graphics card, there are several technical features you may need to consider, if you really want to dig deep into this matter. For example, consider the following cards:

GTX 960 2GB VRAM 128-bit Memory Interface
GTX 750 Ti 2GB VRAM 128-bit Memory Interface

On first look, both may seem to have the same config, but still the GTX 960 is a better card. How?

Its because the GTX 960 has:

- Higher clock speed
- Higher effective memory clock speed
- Higher pixel rate
- Better floating-point performance
- More render output processors
- Higher turbo clock speed
- Higher memory clock speed
- More shading units
- More texture mapping units

It's far better than 750 Ti. So in the end, cards that have same VRAM and Memory Interface doesn't mean they are equal. You've to consider the above factors that will separate one from the other.

In fact, the GTX 960 2GB VRAM 128-bit Memory interface, manages to beat the AMD mid-range heavy weight R9 280 3GB VRAM 384-bit Memory interface in gaming.

With regard to GTX 970, it a pretty good 1080/1440p graphics card. Consider MSI GTX 970 4G Gaming, which is one of the best GTX 970s, that comes with Twin Frozr V cooling tech, for near silent operation coupled with performance and durable military class components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($341.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $341.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-16 06:07 EDT-0400

Why MSI Graphics cards?

Major Motherboard and Graphics Card Manufacturers RMA Ratings

Read the full article here - Reliability report: Gigabyte top for motherboards, MSI for graphics

Cheers!

Thank you so much for all of your help, but I have one last question. You recommended the MSI 4G and I was wondering, what about this GPU? http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-Gaming-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B00NH5T1MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434441240&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+970+gigabyte+g1 Would that be better than the MSI one? If not, why? Thanks again.