Zotac vs EVGA?

[AustinMS]

I have two graphics cards here that I cannot decide between.

Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zotac-video-card-zt9010110p
$314.99
1.08GHz

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42974kr
$344.99
1.17GHz

Which one is worth my money the most?

BACKUP YOUR RESPONCES

 

[uplink-svk]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zotac-video-card-zt9010210p

This one.

 

[GRUxTSAR]

MSI, ASUS, or Gigabyte

 

[uplink-svk]

GRUxTSAR - You positive that Asus, MSi or GA have better shots than EVGA with ACX 2.0 and Zotac with their Omega? 😉...well, You should reconsider.

 

[GRUxTSAR]

GRUxTSAR - You positive that Asus, MSi or GA have better shots than EVGA with ACX 2.0 and Zotac with their Omega? 😉...well, You should reconsider.

Yes, actually. The Strix, MSI, and G1 are far better than the ACX 2.0 and Omega

 

[phatazzbp]

I dunno man. I browse this forum daily and everyone always says ASUS, MSI, Strix, or Gigabyte, but if you go read the reviews for these cards some people have the same complaints about these cards as they do the EVGA or Zotac ones. People complained of coil whine on the EVGA ACX 2.0 cards. I got one a few days ago and honestly its the quietest card Ive ever owned due to the fans not kicking on until 60 degrees. Ive been going EVGA for about 10 years now and have never received a bad card. To me its really all personal preference. If you don't have a personal preference just read the reviews for each card and average them out. Choose which one you feel is best for you.

 

[phatazzbp]

But if I had to choose one Id choose the EVGA, only because I just bought one and love it, and EVGA has always been good to me customer service wise. Perhaps if someone who had bought a Zotac could chime in it would help also.

 

[maestro0428]

If I buy Nvidia, its always EVGA, period. That said, go with that one.

 

[AustinMS]

This is the build that I have created: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G7yxt6

@phatazzbp Everything look good?

 

[phatazzbp]

Looks pretty decent bud. Are you strict on your budget? My build is similar to yours with a few differences. Ive got the same processor but I went with the Asus Sabertooth 990fx R2.0 mobo and a Corsair H100i Water cooler for the processor. Although Ive heard the Hyper EVO is a good fan also. And I went with the Corsair Carbide 400R case. same RAM as you too I like the Ripjaws.

 

[uplink-svk]

GRUxTSAR - You positive that Asus, MSi or GA have better shots than EVGA with ACX 2.0 and Zotac with their Omega? 😉...well, You should reconsider.

Yes, actually. The Strix, MSI, and G1 are far better than the ACX 2.0 and Omega

You meant that as a late night joke, right? EVGA is leading graphics card and motherboard producer, like in the whole world, they're reputed and known as the best of the best, that's why they offer a decade long warranty. Zotacs Omega is nearly stronger than GTX 980 if not stronger, in GTX 970 version, with superior phasing of gpu and vram, and You call minors like Asus, GA and MSi better? Well, I do believe that You're only joking, or is looking for a flame.

Because there's no way in hell BMW, or Cedes will be better than Koenigsegg, Aston Martin or Rolls Royce, and the same goes for EVGA and Zotacs Omega version of GTX 970.

EVGA is different league than MSi, Asus and GA, the same as PowerColor, PNY and other brands are to MSi, Asus, and GA. EVGA is elsewhere. And Zotac most of the time produces something like Omega, and it's simply incredible. They're basic and main-stream products are mediocre, but they're high-end is a true high-end.

 

[neieus]

I recently bought the Evga super clock 970 and I haven't noticed any coil whine. From what I've read coil whine happens when you have super high frame rates but is also easily fixed. Before I went to this card I noticed my HD 7950 had coil whine when frame rates were at 2000+.

 

[AustinMS]

@phatazzbp Do you mind building me a rig? I don't need to go watercooling just yet. I don't feel like I need to anyways.

 

[Alexkaneaster]

In my experience ASUS and EVGA have the best build quality and reliability. I would be willing to go with MSI. I stay away from the others.

 

[maestro0428]

GRUxTSAR - You positive that Asus, MSi or GA have better shots than EVGA with ACX 2.0 and Zotac with their Omega? 😉...well, You should reconsider.

Yes, actually. The Strix, MSI, and G1 are far better than the ACX 2.0 and Omega

You meant that as a late night joke, right? EVGA is leading graphics card and motherboard producer, like in the whole world, they're reputed and known as the best of the best, that's why they offer a decade long warranty. Zotacs Omega is nearly stronger than GTX 980 if not stronger, in GTX 970 version, with superior phasing of gpu and vram, and You call minors like Asus, GA and MSi better? Well, I do believe that You're only joking, or is looking for a flame.

Because there's no way in hell BMW, or Cedes will be better than Koenigsegg, Aston Martin or Rolls Royce, and the same goes for EVGA and Zotacs Omega version of GTX 970.

EVGA is different league than MSi, Asus and GA, the same as PowerColor, PNY and other brands are to MSi, Asus, and GA. EVGA is elsewhere. And Zotac most of the time produces something like Omega, and it's simply incredible. They're basic and main-stream products are mediocre, but they're high-end is a true high-end.

Actually ASUS is number one, then Gigabyte, then ASRock, and EVGA is later down the line. They make great GPUS, but I think their motherboards BIoS are premature when their boards come out. Now, Im not taking from personal experience, I have not owned an EVGA motherboard. I have read a lot about them though and tend to steer clear.

Both are good gpus, I have owned Zotacs in the past, but like I said, if I go Nvidia, its EVGA.

 

[maestro0428]

This is the build that I have created: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G7yxt6

@phatazzbp Everything look good?

I know this wasnt to me, but yeah, its looks good. Can't see new builds without SSDs though. See if you can squeeze in even a budget one, you won't be sorry!

 

[AustinMS]

@maestro0428 Thanks for your response! Could you please explain to me why you feel it is good? Everyone keeps trying to tell me it cannot be upgraded, it's terrible, etc.

 

[GRUxTSAR]

GRUxTSAR - You positive that Asus, MSi or GA have better shots than EVGA with ACX 2.0 and Zotac with their Omega? 😉...well, You should reconsider.

Yes, actually. The Strix, MSI, and G1 are far better than the ACX 2.0 and Omega

You meant that as a late night joke, right? EVGA is leading graphics card and motherboard producer, like in the whole world, they're reputed and known as the best of the best, that's why they offer a decade long warranty. Zotacs Omega is nearly stronger than GTX 980 if not stronger, in GTX 970 version, with superior phasing of gpu and vram, and You call minors like Asus, GA and MSi better? Well, I do believe that You're only joking, or is looking for a flame.

Because there's no way in hell BMW, or Cedes will be better than Koenigsegg, Aston Martin or Rolls Royce, and the same goes for EVGA and Zotacs Omega version of GTX 970.

EVGA is different league than MSi, Asus and GA, the same as PowerColor, PNY and other brands are to MSi, Asus, and GA. EVGA is elsewhere. And Zotac most of the time produces something like Omega, and it's simply incredible. They're basic and main-stream products are mediocre, but they're high-end is a true high-end.

EVGA's reputation as a leading manufacturer is irrelevant. I actually believe ASUS or MSI have a larger market than EVGA, but I could be wrong. The Omega 970 is NOWHERE NEAR as good as a 980 at stock. Did you really just call ASUS and MSI "minors" in the graphics card market but Zotac is seemingly up there with the rest of them? Yeah... Ok

It's more than possible for a BMW (i8) or Mercedes (SLS AMG) to be better than an Aston Martin (Vantage) or Rolls-Royce (Ghost). EXTREMELY poor comparison

Again, EVGA is NOT in a different league than MSI, ASUS, and Gigabyte. They only make half as many cards (EVGA does not make AMD cards). Zotac has never made anything truly amazing either (I'll admit that their 970 Extreme looks great).

You must be a huge Nvidia fanboy

 

[maestro0428]

You have solid choices. Although, I don't go AMD at this time, they can be a good value. That cpu will run hot, but your heatsink choice is excellent as I have recommended it countless times and build many PCs with it. Gigabyte and GSKill are both great companies as is EVGA, Corsiar, etc. Everyone has different opinions on what they like and trust, but in the end, most of the stuff out there on the market right now is good. Just stick with well known manufacturers and its hard not to build a good PC these days and for a great price. An SSD will make a huge difference and not just in boot/launch times. Really try and squeeze one in if you can. I have six of them in my workstation right now. Trying to rid myself of spinners completely, lol.

 

[phatazzbp]

I agree with Maestro. You're build looks pretty solid man but like him, Id definitely recommend an SSD for your main hard drive. Even a small one like a 250 GB for your operating system will make your PC run a lot smoother. A regular 1TB hard drive will be good for your games and media and such.

 

[arzbhatia]

The G1 is probably the most powerful 970 out there. However, I personally recommend Asus - Their cards are solid and scream quality. I don't trust Zotac yet - I've used their cards, they're great but I still don't trust them just as much as the big boys.

 

[uplink-svk]

GTX 970 from Asus [Strix] are weakest among all GTX 970. Weakest clocks and poorest life span [statistics from my local resellers RMA]. I purchased around 20 pieces, and more than 15 suffer from coil whine, and they really have the weakest memory/gpu clocks among all of them.

Highest memory clocks are on Zotac Omega atm.