Question Should I get this VGA?

[LuKaWin10]

Should I get the MSI 970 GTX VGA as my main graphics card in this PC? Specs:

Motherboard: P35-DS3 rev 2.1 (with Xeon and SLIC 2.1 modded to it)

GPU: GT 730 (I want the GTX 970)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 (OC to 3.67 GHz)

RAM: G.SKILL F2-6400-CL5D 800 MHz DDR2, 5-5-5-15, 4 Gigabytes (other 4 will arrive soon)

PSU: MSI MAG A650BN, 650W PSU

Add-on Cards (PCI and PCI-E): TP-LINK TG3468 Ethernet Card, and one other PCI Ethernet card

Case: DELUX MG760 Case

 

[Lutfij]

Honestly, you might want to look into a GTX750Ti or a GTX1050Ti but your platform won't be able to leverage anything above them. You might even run into the issue of seeing a black screen since your motherboard lacks an UEFI BIOS while pretty much all GPU's have a UEFI VBIOS.

 

[stonecarver]

You will be surprised with the GTX 970. I keep GTX 970's around like tic tac's as there so user friendly with the older systems.

Your system was only 6 years old when the GTX 970 came out and your choices back than were the GTX 8800 , 9800's or the GTX 260, 280, or the 290 that all lack direct-x 12.

I don't remember if the GTX 650, 670, or the 680 has direct-x 12 ?

So that's why the GTX 970 is a go to card to keep the old PC .s simi going at least for what can be done on the older parts.

Up to 2015 games your good. Moving past than there are still many games the GTX 970 can play but your CPU will be your limiting factor, missing instructions from the CPU. AVX is one of them.
Nvidia also has drivers still for the GTX 970 for windows 10/11

What OS are you using?

 

[LuKaWin10]

You will be surprised with the GTX 970. I keep GTX 970's around like tic tac's as there so user friendly with the older systems.

Your system was only 6 years old when the GTX 970 came out and your choices back than were the GTX 8800 , 9800's or the GTX 260, 280, or the 290 that all lack direct-x 12.

I don't remember if the GTX 650, 670, or the 680 has direct-x 12 ?

So that's why the GTX 970 is a go to card to keep the old PC .s simi going at least for what can be done on the older parts.

Up to 2015 games your good. Moving past than there are still many games the GTX 970 can play but your CPU will be you limiting factor, missing instructions from the CPU. AVX is one of them.
Nvidia also has drivers still for the GTX 970 for windows 10/11

What OS are you using?

Windows 7, 8.1 and Vista. I use those OSs in a Triple boot system together. But will the GTX 970 be supported as I have Legacy CSM BIOS and I am not sure that it will support it! As Lutfij said I might run into issues!

 

[LuKaWin10]

Ohh, okay. I will try finding a video to see maybe just maybe it will be supported!

Honestly, you might want to look into a GTX750Ti or a GTX1050Ti but your platform won't be able to leverage anything above them. You might even run into the issue of seeing a black screen since your motherboard lacks an UEFI BIOS while pretty much all GPU's have a UEFI VBIOS.

 

[stonecarver]

I run all my old PC no UEFI bios. All old bios and the GTX 970 is great.

I know a different socket mine is a 1366 from 2009 running a GTX Titan Pascal on old bios. And we have GTX 970 in so many old systems from 2009-2016 all old bios.

1151 works
1155 works
1366 works

I'm tired but that's just a few off the top of my head the GTX 970 plays nice with.

 

[LuKaWin10]

I run all my old PC no UEFI bios. All old bios and the GTX 970 is great.

I know a different socket mine is a 1366 from 2009 running a GTX Titan Pascal on old bios. And we have GTX 970 in so many old systems from 2009-2016 all old bios.

1151 works
1155 works
1366 works

I'm tired but that's just a few off the top of my head the GTX 970 plays nice with.

So LGA775 is made to work well too, right? I even updated my BIOS to version F14 (newest)

 

[LuKaWin10]

Honestly, you might want to look into a GTX750Ti or a GTX1050Ti but your platform won't be able to leverage anything above them. You might even run into the issue of seeing a black screen since your motherboard lacks an UEFI BIOS while pretty much all GPU's have a UEFI VBIOS.

I think it could work! Check this video!

View: https://youtu.be/LJVXhwTv3RU?si=tufTysbYX7LP3X9v

 

[stonecarver]

So LGA775 is made to work well too, right? I even updated my BIOS to version F14 (newest)

We still have one LGA775 motherboard from an old Gateway gaming PC that yes the GTX 970 played nice with.

 

[LuKaWin10]

We still have one LGA775 motherboard from an old Gateway gaming PC that yes the GTX 970 played nice with.

Great, I am gonna try begging my parents to buy me a used one from EBay (wish me luck)

 

[LuKaWin10]

We still have one LGA775 motherboard from an old Gateway gaming PC that yes the GTX 970 played nice with.

Can I get a GTX 970 the MSI Afterburner edition one, it is from MSI but is it the same in performance then?

 

[stonecarver]

https://offerup.com/item/detail/0c2065c1-19aa-3e99-8cce-d986edf40087?q=gtx+970


https://offerup.com/item/detail/48f969bc-6951-355a-82d2-83fdfc19d656?q=gtx+970


https://offerup.com/item/detail/9d592fc1-f566-37af-99bb-86e91115c80b?q=gtx+970

These are the three models I have used, with the top link I have the most of that model. Never an issue and always have worked. YMMV

 

[LuKaWin10]

https://offerup.com/item/detail/0c2065c1-19aa-3e99-8cce-d986edf40087?q=gtx+970


https://offerup.com/item/detail/48f969bc-6951-355a-82d2-83fdfc19d656?q=gtx+970


https://offerup.com/item/detail/9d592fc1-f566-37af-99bb-86e91115c80b?q=gtx+970

These are the three models I have used, with the top link I have the most of that model. Never an issue and always have worked. YMMV

Oh crap, I cant open that. I am from Croatia (Europe lol) and I cannot see it. Maybe provide a screenshot?

 

[stonecarver]

Just google Nvidia's GTX 970 founders edition. There just the black cover with the blower style one fan cooler. Never had an issue with any of the used ones I bought. Never a fan issue except dusting here and there. We have about 6 or 7 of these.

One of the other two were the EVGA duel fan ACX 2.0 I bought cheap as it needed a new fan. Still working well with new fan. Replaced the fan about 5 years ago.

And the ASUS Strix DirectCU ll also bought for 20 bucks or something still going strong.

 

[Eximo]

See if you can manage to get a GTX 980 as well. A bit faster, but more importantly has all of the memory properly connected the GPU.

Over 3.5GB and the GTX970 has to use an extra clock cycle to access the remaining memory. It can cause stuttering in games with no apparent cause.

 

[LinuxDevice]

Just some comments, I don't know if you will find this useful or not, it isn't really an answer.

The GTX 970 no longer has driver updates. If you were to get something like a 1050 with the same performance spec (I don't know if they are equivalent or not, this is just a contrived situation for comparison), then the newer 1050 would probably still have driver updates since it is a newer generation. What is also more certain is that if you use Windows, and if you depend on a DirectX release of a some version, then the 1000 series would be capable of using a somewhat newer DirectX release. Performance similarities or not, you would find the 970 not able to use certain software which the next gen could use. There are a lot of compatibility reasons why you would want at least one generation newer design (and you might be able to get that at the same price).

Also, I don't know about this particular 970, but there are a lot of older video cards from that era which don't have native HDMI support, and a newer generation (such as the 1050, which is still old, but a full generation newer than a 970) would support HDMI.

 

[LuKaWin10]

Just google Nvidia's GTX 970 founders edition. There just the black cover with the blower style one fan cooler. Never had an issue with any of the used ones I bought. Never a fan issue except dusting here and there. We have about 6 or 7 of these.

One of the other two were the EVGA duel fan ACX 2.0 I bought cheap as it needed a new fan. Still working well with new fan. Replaced the fan about 5 years ago.

And the ASUS Strix DirectCU ll also bought for 20 bucks or something still going strong.

Great then. So it does not matter which one I take, I can take whichever one (MSI, EVGA, Asus, FE and so on)

 

[LuKaWin10]

See if you can manage to get a GTX 980 as well. A bit faster, but more importantly has all of the memory properly connected the GPU.

Over 3.5GB and the GTX970 has to use an extra clock cycle to access the remaining memory. It can cause stuttering in games with no apparent cause.

Thanks Eximo. I will try seeing if I can get it for a fair price... times have been tough lately but I will try and update you!

 

[LuKaWin10]

Just some comments, I don't know if you will find this useful or not, it isn't really an answer.

The GTX 970 no longer has driver updates. If you were to get something like a 1050 with the same performance spec (I don't know if they are equivalent or not, this is just a contrived situation for comparison), then the newer 1050 would probably still have driver updates since it is a newer generation. What is also more certain is that if you use Windows, and if you depend on a DirectX release of a some version, then the 1000 series would be capable of using a somewhat newer DirectX release. Performance similarities or not, you would find the 970 not able to use certain software which the next gen could use. There are a lot of compatibility reasons why you would want at least one generation newer design (and you might be able to get that at the same price).

Also, I don't know about this particular 970, but there are a lot of older video cards from that era which don't have native HDMI support, and a newer generation (such as the 1050, which is still old, but a full generation newer than a 970) would support HDMI.

Well, I agree with this (this information for my standard is useful) but I am only gonna put this card into my old PC as I am just gonna play old games on it (Geometry Dash, Minecraft, GTA SA, IV, and Portal 1 and 2). For me driver updates do not really matter... and I do have a DVI to VGA adapter and a HDMI to VGA one, so, I think I can have it compatible. But ur explanation is reasonable too as you do think of reusing the card under certain circumstances because of support and DirectX if I think of it.

 

[stonecarver]

This is the last driver for the GTX 1070 for Windows 7/8.1 32 bit.

Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 8.1 32-bit | Windows 8 32-bit
GeForce Game Ready Driver
What is a Game Ready Driver?
If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers.

Driver Version:391.35

Release Date:Tue Mar 27, 2018

File Size:345.1 MB

No Vista drivers. OP runs Vista as well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drivers for the GTX 970

Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 8.1 32-bit | Windows 8 32-bit
GeForce Game Ready Driver
What is a Game Ready Driver?
If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers.

Driver Version:391.35

Release Date:Tue Mar 27, 2018

File Size:345.1 MB

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vista Drivers for the GTX 970

Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 8.1 32-bit | Windows 8 32-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit
GeForce Game Ready Driver
What is a Game Ready Driver?
If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers.

Driver Version:365.19

Release Date:Fri May 13, 2016

File Size:282.59 MB


And yes the GTX 970 has HDMI

 

[LuKaWin10]

This is the last driver for the GTX 1070 for Windows 7/8.1 32 bit.

Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 8.1 32-bit | Windows 8 32-bit
GeForce Game Ready Driver
What is a Game Ready Driver?
If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers.

Driver Version:391.35

Release Date:Tue Mar 27, 2018

File Size:345.1 MB

No Vista drivers. OP runs Vista as well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drivers for the GTX 970

Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 8.1 32-bit | Windows 8 32-bit
GeForce Game Ready Driver
What is a Game Ready Driver?
If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers.

Driver Version:391.35

Release Date:Tue Mar 27, 2018

File Size:345.1 MB

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vista Drivers for the GTX 970

Windows 7 32-bit | Windows 8.1 32-bit | Windows 8 32-bit | Windows Vista 32-bit
GeForce Game Ready Driver
What is a Game Ready Driver?
If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers.

Driver Version:365.19

Release Date:Fri May 13, 2016

File Size:282.59 MB

And it natively supports XP aswell! Also up to 11. So, it is enough for me 😎. Well I do run 3 Operating Systems but it is just because of vibing and retro fitting with the older/better times

 

[stonecarver]

And it natively supports XP aswell!

Ok now time to back the truck up and roll up your sleaves on that one.

There are drivers out there for the GTX 970 to work with Windows XP BUT they are custom made from a guy who run's/ ran a website doing driver workarounds and he stopped at the GTX 970 as his last work of art.

It's been about 6 years since I looked into his site and I can't even remember the page.

 

[LuKaWin10]

Ok now time to back the truck up and roll up your sleaves on that one.

There are drivers out there for the GTX 970 to work with Windows XP BUT they are custom made from a guy who run's/ ran a website doing driver workarounds and he stopped at the GTX 970 as his last work of art.

It's been about 6 years since I looked into his site and I can't even remember the page.

Ohhh, okay then. Understood! XP unfortunately no then... but I will try finding them maybe just maybe someone archived it... but I really don't need XP lol, it isn't the fastest, and it is sluggish

 

[stonecarver]

See if you can manage to get a GTX 980 as well. A bit faster, but more importantly has all of the memory properly connected the GPU.

 

[LuKaWin10]

I will try. The only thing that could be an issue is pricing!!