Which GTX 970 is best overclocking?

[ytre443]

So soon I plan buy a GTX 970 and eventually overclock my first gpu once I do enough research and there is a need for it. I've been googling around and cant seem to find an answer to one question though before I throw down $300+ a gpu. So I'm looking at 3 cards all EVGA, all 970s, none factory overclocked. I know the only difference is their clock speeds and price. Question is, will the higher priced cards overclock better relative to their initial speeds vs the lower priced ones? Should I just buy the cheapest one if I plan on upgrading in a year or two?

One more thing. I have an AMD FX6300 OC'd to 4.4ghz there should be zero issues with bottle-necking for gaming?

AMD FX6300
ASrock 990FX
Gskill 1866mhz
Corsair 650W PSU
Corsair H60 WC
Samsung 840 EVO
WB Blue

Comparison link : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%2050001312%2050001402%2050001314%2050001315%20600536049&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx%20970&bop=And&CompareItemList=48%7C14-487-077%5E14-487-077-TS%2C14-487-071%5E14-487-071-TS%2C14-487-075%5E14-487-075-TS&percm=14-487-077%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-487-071%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-487-075%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-487-076%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24

 

[delellod123]

those are all over clocked except for the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487075

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/specifications

 

[delellod123]

generally, the better cooler will over clock better, though there are so many variables, it is impossible to say which will over clock best. all chips are different.

If I were you, and I was set on EVGA, i would go for the cheap one. both the 329 and the 369 have the same ACX 2.0 cooler. You are paying the extra 40 for a factory over clock

 

[atmos929]

you might want to research about gtx970 with acx 2.0... I've read complains that it is noisy on high load. 🙁

 

[Calotron]

Not trying to be "that guy" this is just food for thought

http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/heatpipe.jpg

Heat pipe obviously, also notice thermal paste only touching 2/3 pipes. This is an EVGA GTX 970. I went with GIGABYTES 970.