Which GTX970 to get?

[mfenn]

You're talking about different Xeons. The W series Xeons are binned the same as I7's. X series are not.. Maybe you can explain the price & memory capacity difference .. W3680 is also Westmere-EP but has only 1 QPI link..

http://ark.intel.com/products/47917/Intel-Xeon-Processor-W3680-12M-Cache-3_33-GHz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI

http://ark.intel.com/products/47916/Intel-Xeon-Processor-X5680-12M-Cache-3_33-GHz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI

You said "Xeons are binned better than i7's", not "X56XX series Xeons". I was pointing out that that overly broad statement is factually incorrect because "Xeon" covers a huge range of processors. Thank you for refining your statement to one that is correct.

 

[ithehappy]

So I am making the move for the X5675, now the thing is should I wait until next month or get the 970 already? And if I am to get a 970 which one to get? I am seeing that the three fan Gigabyte edition (don't remember the exact model or name) has a lot of love from users but at the same time it has some VRAM issues or something like that? I don't have any budget restriction for the GPU.

One more thing, if I add another 2 GB RAM, would that make any difference in gaming?

Yes. X58 SaberTooth is one of the best. It's what I use

Thanks boss, there's nothing to worry about it then

 

[Chocu1a]

So I am making the move for the X5675, now the thing is should I wait until next month or get the 970 already? And if I am to get a 970 which one to get? I am seeing that the three fan Gigabyte edition (don't remember the exact model or name) has a lot of love from users but at the same time it has some VRAM issues or something like that? I don't have any budget restriction for the GPU.

One more thing, if I add another 2 GB RAM, would that make any difference in gaming?

I have a Gigabyte G1 GTX 970. Currently using an i7 930. Just bought a x5670.
The 970 is a beast. It is the 3 fan one and has 4 heatpipes instead of 2.

 

[Venoom]

I got this one: http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-3975-KR
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0+

it's very quiet and fan has yet to go above 35% ingame (and I tested it on Shadow of Mordor, every option set to ultra, 1920x1200 resolution, also Sleeping Dogs with HighRes Pack)
no coil whine.
if you're not gaming, the fan is not even running.

I had a fairly nice experience with EVGA's support on my motherboard issue so decided to go with them for my GPU.

no experience with Gigabyte.

if you buy it from EVGA, check their website first, to see where you can buy it so you get a free Witchers 3 download code.
or you can buy directly from their website, they deliver also in Europe (eu.evga.com)

 

[ithehappy]

Okay thanks for the suggestions guys. I live EVGA too, I mean I have never owned a EVGA product but heard good things about them. I am just going to get whichever will give me the best performance, run cool and won't suck power like monster that's all, if that's EVGA then EVGA, if that is something else, then that

I need to see the card will fit my cabinet first, LOL, when I had purchased the 580 I couldn't even enter it inside the cabinet straight. Damn cheap cabinet, I mean small, not really cheap.

 

[Venoom]

if you get EVGA, get the model I showed you, it has their latest cooler revision. (ACX 2.0+)
or the FTW+, but there is no reason to pay more for a small overclock.

I hear good things about the Asus Strix as well.

how many RAM modules do you have?

 

[MongGrel]

Yes. X58 SaberTooth is one of the best. It's what I use

I wish I had had a SaberTooth before, I wouldn't pay for one these days for what they selling for I guess.

But I'm using the X5680 awhile at 4.5 on a ASUS P6T7, it does run hotter than a X5675.

Still get close to 4.5 on air pretty easily.

Just for tuning up an old system I-7 related, the X56XX are good, still have a X5650 I haven't put in another computer P6T deluxe V2.

I must have missed something, why looking at a I-7 970 if getting a X5675 ?

 

[ithehappy]

if you get EVGA, get the model I showed you, it has their latest cooler revision. (ACX 2.0+)
or the FTW+, but there is no reason to pay more for a small overclock.

I hear good things about the Asus Strix as well.

how many RAM modules do you have?

I have four kits mate, 2 GB each. Total six slots I have on my MoBo and two are empty.

Taken the suggestion on the EVGA card.

PS: Looks like people really like this Sabertooth board, yet there was a time I lost at least two or three night's sleep because of this damn board, both the board and I are lucky actually, cause I have thought about breaking it beyond repairing several times.

 

[mfenn]

I must have missed something, why looking at a I-7 970 if getting a X5675 ?

The OP is referring to the GTX 970 as a GPU upgrade, not the i7 970.

 

[Venoom]

I have four kits mate, 2 GB each. Total six slots I have on my MoBo and two are empty.

I would not add another 2GB stick.
If you only use 3 sticks and place them properly (read your user manual), you get triple channel.
You can also get dual channel if you use 4 sticks and place them on the right sockets.
but 5 sticks would give you neither.
so I'd either keep it as it is or I'd add 2 more sticks, or replace everything with 3 or 4 4GB sticks.

 

[ithehappy]

Okay. I think I have them placed at right slots, I mean there are only two coloured slots, one blue and the other black, so out of six slots three are blue and three are black.

I have three sticks placed in blue slots and the other one in black.

Will I gain anything say if I add two more kits? For gaming mainly? Don't really want to invest needlessly unless there's a noticeable difference as the CPU/Motherboard aren't going to be used for very long anyway (as soon as Broadwell hits market I suppose and DDR4 cools down a bit).

 

[mfenn]

Okay. I think I have them placed at right slots, I mean there are only two coloured slots, one blue and the other black, so out of six slots three are blue and three are black.

I have three sticks placed in blue slots and the other one in black.

Will I gain anything say if I add two more kits? For gaming mainly? Don't really want to invest needlessly unless there's a noticeable difference as the CPU/Motherboard aren't going to be used for very long anyway (as soon as Broadwell hits market I suppose and DDR4 cools down a bit).

A "kit" typically refers to multiple DIMMs sold together. What you have are 4 DIMMs, and could possibly add 2 more DIMMs.

Anyway, your DIMMs are installed correctly for a 4 module configuration. The first 6GB of your memory is running in triple-channel mode, and the last 2GB is running in single-channel mode. That means the last 2GB is slower than the first 6GB (similar to the GTX 970).

Having a slow memory segment might matter if you regularly use memory bandwidth intensive applications, but otherwise you won't notice a difference. For gaming, your total memory capacity of 8GB is plenty.

 

[ithehappy]

Oh okay thanks, then there's no point in upgrading behind an old technology.

So which GTX970 to get? Like that user said the EVGA one or the Gigabyte one or the Asus Strix?

 

[stahlhart]

Bumping thread moved here from General Hardware.
-- stahlhart

 

[snorge]

Oh okay thanks, then there's no point in upgrading behind an old technology.

So which GTX970 to get? Like that user said the EVGA one or the Gigabyte one or the Asus Strix?

Don't forget about MSI those are meant to be great as well. I'm probably going with the EVGA myself because I like the idea of the fans turning off below 60C.

 

[Leyawiin]

I still think the forums need a 12-step program for hardware addiction.

Yeah, I have this bad habit of buying video cards just to see what they're like and then selling them one to three months later after I get bored of them. Since this time last year between my two PCs I've gone through a GTX 770, HD 7950, R9 290, GTX 750 Ti, GTX 660, GTX 970, GTX 780 and GTX 960 - and really didn't need any of them. God I'm a stupid SOB.

 

[ithehappy]

Okay so my options are EVGA FTW edition, Gigabyte G1, MSI and Asus Strix. Which one out of these?