Is now a good time to buy a gtx 970?

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hdmark

hdmark

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I currently have a gtx 960 and im having issues maintaining ultra settings on WoW (I leave off AA completely) at 1080.

Im looking to jump up to the 970 because the whole point of my new computer was to max out WoW.

Right now NCIXUS has a deal where I can get a evga 970 FTW for 335. or on amazon and other places I can pick up a gtx 970 SSC for 330.

Is NCIXUS a good site? or is it worth it to monitor newegg and amazons prices to see if the FTW will drop below 330? or should I just grab the ssc for 330 now?

neither have backplates , but the FTW does has 2 DVI slots (dvi-d and dvi-I) which I believe both work the same? My monitors (acer h236hl bid) have DVI-D ports. Would there be any benefit to the FTW just in that aspect? using 2 DVI cables instead of an hdmi on one of them?
Can I use a DVI D cable in the DVI I slot?
 
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KKAW
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KKAW

KKAW

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NCIXUS is an excellent site to purchase hardware.
Also i would definitely recommend you to purchase the FTW, for an additional $5 i would grab it.

Snippet of my upcoming guide...
GTX 970
Author's Recommendation:
Galax GeForce GTX 970 Hall Of Fame
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW+
Bang For Buck Recommendation: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC

Tier 1

Galax GeForce GTX 970 Hall Of Fame
Backplate: Yes / Base Clock: 1228 Mhz / Cooling: Triple Force

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW+
Backplate: Yes / Base Clock: 1216 Mhz / Cooling: ACX 2.0+
Note: Slightly Better Overclocking Than Amp! Extreme Core, Memory MOSFET Cooling Plate's Are Great Quality.

Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Amp! Extreme
Backplate: Yes / Base Clock: 1203 Mhz / Cooling: Triple-fan IceStorm w/ Carbon ExoArmor
Note: Maximum Overclocking Is As Good Or Better Than The Amp! Extreme Core, This Is Recommended If The Price Of The Amp! Extreme < Amp! Extreme Core

Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Amp! Extreme Core
Backplate: Yes / Base Clock: 1228 Mhz / Cooling: Triple-fan IceStorm w/ Carbon ExoArmor
Note: Maximum Overclock Is Not As Good As Hall Of Fame, Most Likely Because Component's Used Are Not As Excellent As The Hall Of Fame & The PCB Was Not As Top Quality As The Hall Of Fame

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW
Backplate: N/A / Base Clock: 1216 Mhz / Cooling: ACX 2.0
Note: Does Not Overclock As Well As The FTW+, Slightly Louder Than Other Models, However It Is Still Very Quiet.

Tier 2

EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC
Backplate: N/A / Base Clock: 1190 Mhz / Cooling: ACX 2.0+
Note: Overclock's GPU Memory Much Better Than FTW, Almost Identical Quality To FTW+. Maximum Boost Clock Is Lower Than FTW.

Galax GeForce GTX 970 EXOC
Backplate: Yes / Base Clock: 1164 Mhz / Cooling: Silence Extreme
Note: Slightly Better Gaming Performance Compared To G1 Gaming Before Both Are Overclocked. Great Cooling.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming
Backplate: Yes / Base Clock: 1208 Mhz / Cooling: WindForce 3X
Note: Excellent Cooling
 
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hdmark

hdmark

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OK wait though, why the FTW if the SSC has the memory cooling plate? and barely a higher clock?

It looks like the SSC has a 3 series part number that is newer than the 2 series part number of the FTW (the FTW+ has the 3 series)

Does this mean the 3 series fixed problems in the 2 series? and that the newer SSC would actually be better?
 
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KKAW

KKAW

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Even though the SSC does better than the FTW when it comes to memory cooling, thus usually resulting in better scores, the FTW also does an excellent job at memory overclocking and the in game core clock boost for the FTW is higher than the SSC and this will usually give better performance. Also that is why the SSC is recommended as the best bang for fuck. If the FTW was more than +$10 compared to the SSC i would have recommended the SSC , however FTW is the higher tier model out of EVGA's hierarchy.
 
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hdmark

hdmark

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Okay, and just to make sure then, the increase in performance doesn't come at the cost of longevity of the memory?


THank you very much for the help btw! found the evga FTW for 320 on newegg after rebate
 
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KKAW

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The longevity is not affected unless voltages are increased. Even if you overclock your GPU and Memory with common overclocking tools like MSI Afterburner it won't affect the longevity. So you are completely safe.
 
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KKAW

KKAW

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Glad to help! Enjoy your FTW 970, you will have a fantastic experience on 1080P and if you ever decide to overclock it you will get even better performance without having to sacrifice longevity.

Safe GPU Overclocking Guide 2015
 
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