Noob seeks help in buying new Nvidia GPU

phlave

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Dec 10, 2014
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Hi everyone, a friend suggested me to come and ask for help here. I'm going to apologize immediately with you, because of my total ignorance (and quirky english).

I'm going to have to buy soon a new gpu, as I've been playing on my Gainward 9800GT since 2007.
It still runs pretty decently, but with the next generation incoming, it's not enough anymore.

I have a budget of around 300€ (I'd like to buy in America, but I'm afraid I'd have to wait for ages, and that additional taxed and expedition to Italy would make me spend the same anyway), and I was thinking about the Nvidia GTX970.

they pointed me to this model, although there's another one that to me looks like the exact same, that costs 30€ more. Why is that? All I see, is a three letter difference in the name...

I was looking at this one, too, but the 2 star review kinda puts me off.

tl;dr: Can you suggest me what's the best Nvidia 970 I can buy with a budget of around 300€?

MY STATS ARE:

Videocard: NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT 1GB
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 @2850MH
Mainboard: Asus P6T SE
Memory: 3x2048 DDR3-SDRAM Corsair
PSU: Tecnoware FAL651WHC14

Thank you in advance for your time!
 
Solution
The more expensive of the two EVGA GTX970 cards is a FTW version which is a bit faster with a factory overclock.

I don't much like the multi fan coolers as in the msi unit. The heat goes into your case where case cooling has to deal with it.
The evga units have at least some rear exhaust capability.
 

phlave

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Dec 10, 2014
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Thanks, geofelt and atmos929!
I had no idea what an FTW version was, and was indeed dubious about the multiple fans. I think I'll opt for the rear exaust models, as I have a standard case, with standard cooling (which is: not much)

I'll go ahead and check for the dimensions, too. What about this one?

 
Solution

phlave

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Dec 10, 2014
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I think you are absolutely right, although I rarely buy something this expensive, and I'd like it to last for the longest time possible, so I aim at quality.

I also saw that Gainward (it was the first I looked at), but for experience, I hate boxes: the more the dissipator is covered, the harder it is to clean the dust from it. And I'm always afraid that the air flow designed with the box may be disrupted without it...