I think 970 is the current generation 8800GT. It's built on the old node, but it's a lot cheaper than older generation while still offering comparable performance. When 8800GT came out people were thrilled because they no longer had to pay the 8800GTS/GTX premium to get the same level of performance. Same story today, we've had 970 level of performance for a year now with overclocked r9 290's and overclocked 780's/780ti's. Strictly my opinion, but the only reason people are excited now is because it's the first time in years that nVidia offered reasonably priced midrange card. Yes, it's something to be excited about, competition is good for the consumers, however to me, it's just a reminder on how much nVidia has been fleecing consumers lately. IMO.