GTX 970/980 owners thread

[5150Joker]

no backplate for a 980 GTX?

are you serious?

MSI is skimping on the backplate to their high end card?
That to me does not sound right... its the flagship card.
A backplate saves them a few dollars, but was the card cheaper then the others?

There are many things wrong with a 980 GTX not coming with a backplate.
Its mounting pressure on things like VRMS.
The 980 GTX is a longer PCB vs a 970, it has more VRMS which need active cooling, and hence should ALWAYS have a backplate so the heat sink can get a firm mounting pressure contact with these delicate things.

Is the card reference design?
If it is, and it has no backplate, that would seriously peeve me, especially on a 980 GTX.



@cmdrdredd
You were so right about the new drivers... i sort of like it....
So far no issues, fixed a lot of things the old one did.
I still crash silly in DA:I once ram gets over 2.4gb.... i guess its exactly as you said, a memory leak error with the game itself.

My 980s don't have a backplate and they don't sag at all.

 

[TahoeDust]

Nipping on the heels of those 980s with my old Sandy Bridge...

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3834841

 

[Anubis]

memtest checks out fine for me, i did a full win reinstall (was planning on this anyway) we shall see if the driver crashes happen again


the random monitor going black does still happen, im beginning to think its the active DP->DL-DVI adapter. its not the monitor as i swapped which cable went where and it followed the adapter

might be a moot point as my LG34UM95 comes next week and ill no longer be using it

 

[skipsneeky2]

So torn between the $342 Asus Strix 970 and the $360 G1 Gaming 970.

Biggest difference is the Asus having only a single 8 pin which i guess still is good for up to 225w while the G1 has both a 6 and 8 pin and the Asus also has the zero fan function.

I love how the Asus looks,the zero fan function and something about the single 8 pin just makes it seem like its more fit as coming from a 6+8 pin 770.

Is the Asus going to be seriously gimped for moderate overclocking?I may go for what seems like a typical 150+ 37mv core with 7600mhz memory.A overclock like that should be cake on the Asus no?

 

[DrBoss]

I've been downsampling Deus Ex: HR the last few days at 4k. The aesthetic really holds up well 4 years later, especially with the super crisp image at a locked 60.

Setting your own custom downsampling res seems to provide better image quality than using the build in Nvidia DSR tech...

 

[Face2Face]

So torn between the $342 Asus Strix 970 and the $360 G1 Gaming 970.

Biggest difference is the Asus having only a single 8 pin which i guess still is good for up to 225w while the G1 has both a 6 and 8 pin and the Asus also has the zero fan function.

I love how the Asus looks,the zero fan function and something about the single 8 pin just makes it seem like its more fit as coming from a 6+8 pin 770.

Is the Asus going to be seriously gimped for moderate overclocking?I may go for what seems like a typical 150+ 37mv core with 7600mhz memory.A overclock like that should be cake on the Asus no?

I wouldn't worry much about the PEG connector configuration. ATX spec, isn't absolute; I would however, jump on the more robust Gigabyte model.

 

[EduCat]

I'm sure it's in here somewhere, but what ever happened to the MSI 980 reference design? Seems as though it is somewhat more rare to find now. I do see the one with the nasty black cover now, why the change? There is someone on ebay trying to get a full stack for one. I bought mine for $549 when it came out.

 

[RussianSensation]

So torn between the $342 Asus Strix 970 and the $360 G1 Gaming 970.

Biggest difference is the Asus having only a single 8 pin which i guess still is good for up to 225w while the G1 has both a 6 and 8 pin and the Asus also has the zero fan function.

I love how the Asus looks,the zero fan function and something about the single 8 pin just makes it seem like its more fit as coming from a 6+8 pin 770.

Is the Asus going to be seriously gimped for moderate overclocking?I may go for what seems like a typical 150+ 37mv core with 7600mhz memory.A overclock like that should be cake on the Asus no?

Given Asus' horrible RMA practices in North America, MSI Gaming delivers the zero fan function, quieter noise levels than the Asus Strix or Gigabyte G1 and similar amazing overclocking as the G1, but for $350.

I don't think you can go wrong with the MSI Gaming 970:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/14

If you don't care for overclocking, just want fast out of the box performance, the G1 Gaming 970 is a good choice. I personally can't imagine paying $350 for a 970 when Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 with 6% less performance is $260 or even better when a PowerColor R9 290X that's only 1% slower than a G1 Gaming 970 is $252.

If you are set on a 970 though, the Strix, Gaming and G1 are all solid.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Given Asus' horrible RMA practices in North America, MSI Gaming delivers the zero fan function, quieter noise levels than the Asus Strix or Gigabyte G1 and similar amazing overclocking as the G1, but for $350.

I don't think you can go wrong with the MSI Gaming 970:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/14

If you don't care for overclocking, just want fast out of the box performance, the G1 Gaming 970 is a good choice. I personally can't imagine paying $350 for a 970 when Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 with 6% less performance is $260 or even better when a PowerColor R9 290X that's only 1% slower than a G1 Gaming 970 is $252.

If you are set on a 970 though, the Strix, Gaming and G1 are all solid.

Wish i was buying today,a $281 290x before MIR would win my heart surely but sale ends tomorrow and i'm buying next week.:'( Would it even work with a 650w Corsair anyways?I think i have 54A on the 12v.Need to check my orders for confirmation on that part, its discontinued i think.

Had a MSI 7850 TF3,one of the fans started to go out before it went poof and i have had a excellent experience with Asus motherboards so i rather save $6 over the Msi,get a back plate and try a brand that has worked well for me.

That Bit tech review pretty much told me any card would work in my case,all 3 did 150+ core which is what i want.The G1 i may get but perhaps some deal may pop up next week and bam i jump on that.

Not all that sure on the Power Cooler brand,are they similar to Zotac in quality ?Not the best but good enough but don't expect record breaking overclocks with it?

 

[stahlhart]

Given Asus' horrible RMA practices in North America, MSI Gaming delivers the zero fan function, quieter noise levels than the Asus Strix or Gigabyte G1 and similar amazing overclocking as the G1, but for $350.

I don't think you can go wrong with the MSI Gaming 970:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/14

If you don't care for overclocking, just want fast out of the box performance, the G1 Gaming 970 is a good choice. I personally can't imagine paying $350 for a 970 when Sapphire Tri-X R9 290 with 6% less performance is $260 or even better when a PowerColor R9 290X that's only 1% slower than a G1 Gaming 970 is $252.

If you are set on a 970 though, the Strix, Gaming and G1 are all solid.

Promoting the sale of AMD GPU-based graphics cards is NOT on topic in this thread.

-- stahlhart

 

[guskline]

I own both R9 290s AND the Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gamer. The G1 is an EXCELLENT card.

 

[stahlhart]

Post 'em if you got 'em! This thread is to share owner experiences with the new 970 and 980 cards. Overlocking, benchmarking, cooling, etc.

The OP, and subject of discussion.
-- stahlhart

 

[Tech_Greek]

Back on topic...went to a GTX 980 today. Gave the misses my GTX 970 since I was tired of looking over and seeing her FPS at 10-30 with the 770 in ESO (because she refused to turn down the quality saying she was used to playing like that). Reasons to upgrade? Accomplished!

I actually went with reference design this time around for ease of water cooling in the future (not having to deal with custom PCB designs and water block fitment, etc).

 

[guskline]

Back on topic...went to a GTX 980 today. Gave the misses my GTX 970 since I was tired of looking over and seeing her FPS at 10-30 with the 770 in ESO (because she refused to turn down the quality saying she was used to playing like that). Reasons to upgrade? Accomplished!

I actually went with reference design this time around for ease of water cooling in the future (not having to deal with custom PCB designs and water block fitment, etc).

Do you notice a big difference between the GTX 970 and the GTX 980?

 

[xthetenth]

I own both R9 290s AND the Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gamer. The G1 is an EXCELLENT card.

I'm really fond of the output set on the G1 as well as the performance and cooling, it's a very nice selection of ports in useful configurations. The drivers have been giving me hell recently though, which is a bit annoying.

 

[skipsneeky2]

How does the G1 970 handle itself without a fan curve?

First time yesterday i decided to see how my Zotac 770 handles the heat under its own control without a fan curve.Low of 33% is stock fan,it loads upwards of 76cel with the fans hitting 65%.Card is stock with no Oc.

Can't really hear my 770 till i get to 70%.

 

[deanx0r]

A few thoughts about NVIDIA and the 970 G1 after about 4 months of ownership.

-When it comes to noise level, I think it depends of the type of enclosure you have and the type of games you play. I couldn't hear the G1 when I had it in my Define R4, under my desk no matter what game I played. I now have the GTX970 G1 in a relatively open mini ITX enclosure, sitting about 2 feet away from me on my desk. While it is not completely silent at load, it is relatively quiet overall depending of the game played.(set up below)

-GeForce Experience doesn't work well. If you installed the whole drivers package from version 344.48 or 344.75, GFE would be unable to optimize any games, even if you (individually) update it to the latest version later on. You would need to do a full DDU uninstall and download a more recent drivers package to have it working again. It's been fixed now, but this lack of quality control left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially when it comes to a feature that NVIDIA boasted as hassle free.

-G-Sync monitor selection is really disappointing and commands a $200+ premium over regular monitors. I don't really care about ultra fast monitors (144Hz) or 4K resolution as I only run a single card. All I want is 1440p or 1080p, IPS, and reasonable prices. I hope we see better choices with Free-Sync on the horizon.

-Coming from an HD6970, I was under the impression that NVIDIA drivers are rock solid. Skyrim or Diablo 3 wouldn't even run with the launch drivers unless you uninstalled GFE. StarCraft 2 suffers from totally random blackscreen crashes. I could be playing for hours without a hitch, and the next second it would crash randomly. It's an issue well documented on Blizzard's forums that have been affecting NVIDIA gpus for years. Still no fix. It's maddening.

-My card overclocks decently. I have had it around 1490MHz, but most tests to determine its stability are inconclusive as it would crash randomly in some games. In the end, I was tired trying to tweak it and let it run stock. I was really hard pressed to tell the difference in game between stock and OC speeds.

Buying the G1 970, I thought I would be getting an GSync monitor and keep this card for the next 2-3 years at least. But now that honeymoon is over, I am really contemplating jumping back to AMD if NVIDIA doesnt resolve their drivers issues.

 

[RussianSensation]

Had a MSI 7850 TF3,one of the fans started to go out before it went poof and i have had a excellent experience with Asus motherboards so i rather save $6 over the Msi,get a back plate and try a brand that has worked well for me.

Gigabyte warranty starts from the date the card is manufactured while MSI's from the date of the invoice. MSI turns the fans off up to 60C and below. I would say because of this feature, the fans on the MSI should last longer. Since there are 2 instead of 3 of them, it's also more likely that one of the 3 could develop a rattle. Either way, you can't go wrong with either of those. I would probably skip Asus though as in this case I don't see what's better about it other than slightly lower power usage.

 

[xthetenth]

Buying the G1 970, I thought I would be getting an GSync monitor and keep this card for the next 2-3 years at least. But now that honeymoon is over, I am really contemplating jumping back to AMD if NVIDIA doesnt resolve their drivers issues.

I'm having driver crashes that'll even restart my computer if I don't restart whenever I turn my computer back on, and it's driving me nuts. Between that and the price premium for GSync, I'm strongly considering going with AMD sooner than expected, which kind of sucks because I like the card itself, it's very nice and other than problems with the most recent drivers and potential ecosystem badness it's working great. I'm not liking the way the ecosystem stuff is shaping up though.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'm having driver crashes that'll even restart my computer if I don't restart whenever I turn my computer back on, and it's driving me nuts. Between that and the price premium for GSync, I'm strongly considering going with AMD sooner than expected, which kind of sucks because I like the card itself, it's very nice and other than problems with the most recent drivers and potential ecosystem badness it's working great. I'm not liking the way the ecosystem stuff is shaping up though.

Just because the driver crashes doesn't mean the hardware is not at fault. Very often you will see video driver crashes because the card itself is no good.

 

[xthetenth]

I generally find that when I download a driver version and then driver problems start immediately after it the drivers are acting up. I just need to make time to reinstall drivers and then try a rollback and see whether it starts working right again.

 

[Tech_Greek]

Do you notice a big difference between the GTX 970 and the GTX 980?

Honestly, it depends on the game. ESO for example, is more limited by the CPU in the city areas so it didn't matter what I threw in there. AC Unity and all the bugs it has did indeed run faster (less drop outs of adaptive v sync).

Pretty much every game I've played is able to pushed just a little bit further. Benchmarks are up for sure! I applied a small overclock to the card and it took it without an issue.

As far as driver support goes, I haven't had any of the above issues. I've had an issue with GeForce Experience not being able to optimize games if I had not launched them yet to allow the game to make the config file for GeForce Experience to actually change yet.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Gigabyte warranty starts from the date the card is manufactured while MSI's from the date of the invoice. MSI turns the fans off up to 60C and below. I would say because of this feature, the fans on the MSI should last longer. Since there are 2 instead of 3 of them, it's also more likely that one of the 3 could develop a rattle. Either way, you can't go wrong with either of those. I would probably skip Asus though as in this case I don't see what's better about it other than slightly lower power usage.

Was looking at this image from the Xbitlabs review of the MSI Gaming which they tested in a comparable pc case to what i have.I think Guru3d and most others use a open bench?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?sr...orce-gtx-970-gaming/34_msi97-oc_tauto_big.png

That image,their 46% fan speed that gets pretty much cools off that card 11 cel cooler that what my Zotac 770 does with a 2070rpm or 65%.I have tried curves,bios managed,also maxed my case fans which does zero as its good enough i guess.I could max every fan on my case and pull a 3k rpm 100% fan on the 770 and pretty much only get 68 cel.

Wish Xbits did a G1 review,finding closed pc case reviews showing true rpm/noise/temp information can be a pain.I got my 770 dialed in for the noise but between the G1/MSI 970 its just like damn.

 

[Tech_Greek]

The MSI 970 Card will not drop temps even with 3 SP120 High Performance fans blowing air directly on it. It runs cool enough though, never had an issue with cooling.

I have a temperature probe hooked up next to the GPU die that signals the fans in the front of my case on whether to even and past that what RPM. I had it matched to the auto off function of the MSI fans on that card; reference is a bit different however.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Anyone need a evga 970 backplate?