Help! EVGA GTX 970 FTW or 980?

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ale91

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Jun 18, 2014
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Hello TH!

I was thinking about changing my GPU.I have always been an AMD guy but this time I want to try something from NVIDIA.
At the moment I am evaluating the gtx980 and 970.
After viewing some benchmarks I think that an EVGA 970 FTW would be the best since it performs similarly to the 980 and costs 200$ less.
Do you agree with me or do you guys think that I should get a 980 for future proofing(witcher 3 I'm looking at you)?
 
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JackNaylorPE
The only thing that tops a 970 at 2560 x 1600 and below is the 980 and 780 Ti

The Gigabyte and MSI boards both outperformed the FTW

EVGA FTW overclocked to 1,315MHz base clock and 1,466MHz boost, memory to 7,660MHz
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/74853-evga-geforce-gtx-970-ftw/

MSI overclocked to 1,325MHz base clock and 1,501MHz boost, memory to 8,002MHz
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_970_gaming_review,26.html

Giga overclocked to 1,328MHz base clock and 1,516MHz boost, memory to 8,002MH
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_970_g1_gaming_review,26.html

Best detailed review is on bit-tech .... really gets into the nitty-gritty...
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Because0789

Because0789

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The thing is that you could get 2 stock 970s for only $110 more than a 980 and get 60-70% improved performance at stock. Though keep in mind that while the FTW performs similarly the 980 can also be overclocked.
 
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socialassassin

socialassassin

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If you have a 1080p (or less) monitor and arent planning on upgrading it anytime soon, get the 970.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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The only thing that tops a 970 at 2560 x 1600 and below is the 980 and 780 Ti

The Gigabyte and MSI boards both outperformed the FTW

EVGA FTW overclocked to 1,315MHz base clock and 1,466MHz boost, memory to 7,660MHz
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/74853-evga-geforce-gtx-970-ftw/

MSI overclocked to 1,325MHz base clock and 1,501MHz boost, memory to 8,002MHz
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_970_gaming_review,26.html

Giga overclocked to 1,328MHz base clock and 1,516MHz boost, memory to 8,002MH
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_970_g1_gaming_review,26.html

Best detailed review is on bit-tech .... really gets into the nitty-gritty
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/1

 
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guitaristapd

guitaristapd

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I was able to oc my gtx 970 ftw to 1349 base clock

 
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Guinibee

Guinibee

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I have 2x970 gigabyte cards and I'm debating going back to just a solo 980 evga classified. Although my performance is better, sli profiles always seem sketchy and I never feel all that smooth in games compared to a solo card. Although the frames are high...it just never feels smooth.

For instance with dragon age inquisition there's a few texture flicker and fog graphic glitches with SLI right now...it'll probably get fixed, but I'm getting annoyed by all of it.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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That's 34 better than Guru3D site did but certainIy within silicon lottery variability.

I'm still anxious to find out what the differences are between the FTW and the SC series. Due to the way the SC is physically assembled, what components it uses and the lack of thermal pads I can't recommend it. Not sure how many of those the FTW improves upon.

 
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Guinibee

Guinibee

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Guinibee

Guinibee

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Yeah but who uses the stock clocks? lol I'll be OC'n those cards for sure. You really don't get the FTW (or FTW+ in this case) and not OC it at least a little. I am not sure where they got the "140mhz faster" from, but nonetheless it is a much better card.

Look at all the reviews out there about the improved SSC card...it's better than the original FTW card! Check out Jayztwocents review on the new SSC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd4SIKdIWCo
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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EVGA does. They are advertising it "as sold" and if that is the "new SC", then it's an outright lie. From the looks of things, it looks like EVGAs reference card, not the SC.


New Card
Base Clock = 1190 MHz
Boost Clock = 1342 MHz

Reference card settings
Base Clock = 1050 MHz
Boost Clock = 1178 MHz

The base clock indeed is 140 above the reference speed. Since the 5xx series the SC has rarely been anything but a stock reference card with a different cooler and when they did vary, varied very little. The VRMs have typically been the item of

EVGA's Classified is an outstanding card ..... my experience with FTW's has not been good .... half would not run at advertised clocks - in one case after 5 RMA's (incl 20 support calls over 18 months) they sent a stock next gen card after I demo'd putting in 2 Asus models in same build w/ 30% OC in SLI ..... they kept blaming PSU memory and everything else . The SC's I wouldn't go near unless they have done a lot more than change the power delivery.

 
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Guinibee

Guinibee

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But they did change the power... The new ones are 6+2 instead of 4+2 and has a plate cooling the mosfet and a majority of the memory. I also like the classified and if evga offered a classy on the 970 I'd get it, but for 700 you can get much more power out of 970 sli ftw+
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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The Classy and the Lightning are great cards ..... but with nVidia's legal and physical restraints on voltage, getting less attractive. I can't get behind the new SSC version based upon EVGAs press releases though .... will need to see a review / comparison with a complete teardown and it doesn't appear that they have sent any out to reviewers as yet.

I do have a problem though if they have finally come up to speed with the competition,\ they had some damn nerve trying to foist the previous SC on consumers at the same price.
 
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