What GTX 970 should I get

[flamefire999]

Right now I have a GA-970A-UD3P, FX-6300 and 8gb of RAM. The main options seem to be Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and EVGA. I have an Antec One case so only the EVGA one fits, but I don't really like my case because the cable management is tough and it looks bad.

These are my options:
1- Stay with my case, get the EVGA GPU, and get a modular PSU
2- Get the NZXT S340 and one of the other GPU's.

Which option would be better? Which GPU should I get if I get the NZXT S340?

I have a budget of $450

 

[Bossyfins]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($324.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $475.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-17 23:53 EDT-0400

That is if you OC your CPU

If you don't, look into an XFX 550 watt PSU.

 

[Karadjgne]

Cases are extremely personal. You have to look at it, live with it, tinker in it. We don't. You must decide if you want a new one or not, don't let the gpu decide as they'll all perform about the same, some a little better, some worse.

Once you decide on the case, gpu is easy. Gigabyte and Evga are the loudest, msi and Asus quietest. Gigabyte and Evga are strongest out of the box, but both the MSI and Asus will top Evga's best speed with OC, msi topping Gigabyte too. Out of box, Asus is the weakest performer, msi just under Evga and Gigabyte on top with the strongest factory OC. Pretty much the MSI is the best all around performer if you self OC, Gigabyte the best out of box performer, but the Evga fits your current case.

 

[flamefire999]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($324.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $475.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-17 23:53 EDT-0400

That is if you OC your CPU

If you don't, look into an XFX 550 watt PSU.

Right now I have an XFX 550w. I was wondering if it was worth it to get a new case, GPU and PSU and I guess you answered that.

To OC I have a Hyper 212 EVO. I just ordered it and it should be here in a couple days. I won't be ordering these parts until the end of June and even then the GPU might be more into July (I'm going to school full time and only work in the summer for minimum wage). This is going to be my last upgrade for awhile so I want to make sure that everything will be good.

Btw if anyone can recommend some good PWM fans under $15 that would be nice.

 

[photonboy]

Antec One:
I bought my dad this case and I like it. Personally I'd just keep it and get the EVGA (which I'd get either way) but it's really your choice since it's your money.

Case?
If you like a big Window that's fine but it's really personal preference. I wasn't sure what you meant by "looks bad" since the Antec One has no window. I'd just clean things up with some cable management, keep the same case and PSU.

 

[flamefire999]

Cases are extremely personal. You have to look at it, live with it, tinker in it. We don't. You must decide if you want a new one or not, don't let the gpu decide as they'll all perform about the same, some a little better, some worse.

Once you decide on the case, gpu is easy. Gigabyte and Evga are the loudest, msi and Asus quietest. Gigabyte and Evga are strongest out of the box, but both the MSI and Asus will top Evga's best speed with OC, msi topping Gigabyte too. Out of box, Asus is the weakest performer, msi just under Evga and Gigabyte on top with the strongest factory OC. Pretty much the MSI is the best all around performer if you self OC, Gigabyte the best out of box performer, but the Evga fits your current case.

My case annoys me. I like the look of the S340 and it supports all of the GPU's so that's why I was thinking of that one.

Originally I was planning on getting the MSI and OCing it a little bit. Then I realized that I couldn't fit it in my case and it was downhill from there. I'm trying to keep my system as quiet as possible, and right now with my R9 270 it's very loud. The loudest part is probably the CPU cooler, but that's already taken care of. Is Bossyfins's upgrade good or not?

 

[photonboy]

Update: PWM fans..

Don't buy any. If you're buying a new case just make sure it has two quality fans and use those. One intake and one top/rear for exhaust.

 

[flamefire999]

Update: PWM fans..

Don't buy any. If you're buying a new case just make sure it has two quality fans and use those. One intake and one top/rear for exhaust.

I was planning on replacing those fans with new ones so I can control the speed. I have a fan controller, but right now my fans are single speed. Isn't it better to have multiple fans running at low RPMs, than to have 2 fans pushing air through? For sound I mean. I don't care too much about how loud it is under load, but when it is under load, I can just turn up the front and back fans.

 

[Karadjgne]

Most motherboards have fan control capability through the headers, although Gigabyte did have some problems with 3 pin fans some years back. I'm not a fan of manual fan controllers, and the automatics just have too many sensor wires to suit my tastes. Much better to allow the motherboard to control fans through bios/software.

Before spending out on fans, I'd see what your mobo is capable of. MSI fan software isn't bad, Asus is the best, hands down, and SpeedFan is very capable software once you figure it out. Dunno about other brands.

Yes, multiple fans at slower rpm is quieter than a single fan at high rpm, to a point, after that point is reached, multiple fans get much louder. 2x low/front intakes and 2x top/rear exhausts is optimal, fans being equal or close, stronger fans on intake (or higher rpm) is better. If your cpu is aircooler, good airflow is more important than the amount of air shoved in, the opposite for a clc, as hot air from a gpu will affect cooler performance more so for an air cooled cpu.

Once you figure out just what your temps are doing, where the heat is collecting, and what you need to do to resolve that, then worry about airflow and what fans/speeds/locations you'll need to resolve that. Too many buy the wrong fans, just cuz they think they look cool, that's what a friend has, there's a hole there that needs filling etc, and the end result being they spent money to make noise as the fan(s) don't really do a damned thing useful.

 

[Kentuckytech]

GPU-wise, I'd recommend an EVGA 970. Low price but great performance, and in my experience Gigabytes and MSIs tend to malfunction easily. At 1080p there's nothing you can't currently max out and get a steady 50-60fps on with a 970.

 

[flamefire999]

Most motherboards have fan control capability through the headers, although Gigabyte did have some problems with 3 pin fans some years back. I'm not a fan of manual fan controllers, and the automatics just have too many sensor wires to suit my tastes. Much better to allow the motherboard to control fans through bios/software.

Before spending out on fans, I'd see what your mobo is capable of. MSI fan software isn't bad, Asus is the best, hands down, and SpeedFan is very capable software once you figure it out. Dunno about other brands.

Yes, multiple fans at slower rpm is quieter than a single fan at high rpm, to a point, after that point is reached, multiple fans get much louder. 2x low/front intakes and 2x top/rear exhausts is optimal, fans being equal or close, stronger fans on intake (or higher rpm) is better. If your cpu is aircooler, good airflow is more important than the amount of air shoved in, the opposite for a clc, as hot air from a gpu will affect cooler performance more so for an air cooled cpu.

Once you figure out just what your temps are doing, where the heat is collecting, and what you need to do to resolve that, then worry about airflow and what fans/speeds/locations you'll need to resolve that. Too many buy the wrong fans, just cuz they think they look cool, that's what a friend has, there's a hole there that needs filling etc, and the end result being they spent money to make noise as the fan(s) don't really do a damned thing useful.

Ok so I guess I'll just wait and see how cooling is.

Is the NZXT S340 a good case? I'm not planning on water cooling so I'm not worried about radiator support.

 

[Kentuckytech]

NZXTs are almost always great cases. Its grommets and any rubber parts are pretty flimsy, though everything else is built solid.

Case choice though is a personal preference more than anything else.

 

[flamefire999]

Is this a good PSU: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr

What about these:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-120g10650xr
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx750m

 

[flamefire999]

NZXTs are almost always great cases. Its grommets and any rubber parts are pretty flimsy, though everything else is built solid.

Case choice though is a personal preference more than anything else.

Does the S340 have a spot to hide my PSU? Or is that just a weird cable management area?