What GPU Should I Upgrade To?

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elmo29404

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Hello there! This is my second time asking a question on this site and it has been pretty good so far. I am planning on upgrading my GeForce GTX 660 Ti (EVGA) to a GTX 970 but I do not know what all the different versions of it are (like EVGA, Zotac, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte). My current GPU is 9.5 inches long but I do have a little more room if needed. My pcu is 1000 Wats I believe (See pictures below). I am willing to go up to 400 dollars but prefer less. My CPU is an Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.50GHz. I am looking for around 50 fps on high settings on newer games. I have two monitors (1920 x 1080 and 1680 x 1050). Here is the link to what I am looking at and am confused about: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/buy-gpu

Thank you!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By9T9DNa40d-cGlBeU5URGRQWVk/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By9T9DNa40d-RDg4YzJZTGlUUHM/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By9T9DNa40d-VE1WQlVBLWp0WnM/view?usp=sharing
 
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Here's an EVGA which ticks all the right buttons then. $340.00, has DVI-D and DVI-I which will cover the one monitor, HDMI for the other, and is factory OC'd to a goodly amount. EVGA also makes very solid cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487076
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assassin445522

assassin445522

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THIS IS NOT MY ANSWER I GOT IT FROM ANOTHER THREAD razer addiction made this answer http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2304237/gtx-970-version-buy.html


The best versions should be :

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB - Fastest, coolest GTX970, great reviews. Even tho it has 3 fans it has less noise than EVGA. Good overclocking potential.

EVGA EVGA GTX 970 4gb - Should be in the middle, however people have been complaining that it is a bit noisy. Have in mind a case with good airflow should fix this.

MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4GB - Best overall, this is what i would take personally. Faster if you overclock it , you get MSI Gaming App with it, just put it on your desktop and overclock the card before getting in a game with like 1 click.

Hope this helped.
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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Hi and welcome to Tom's Hardware! I have two 970s in SLI pushing a single 1440p monitor. These are my cards:

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-3975-KR

They are superclocked, or overclocked from the factory. That generally means better chips selected for assembly (known as "binning" the chips) and you can even overclock them more for closing in on GTX 980 performance. You also cannot go wrong with either MSI or ASUS variants.

I'm partial to EVGA due to their superior warranty and customer service compared to ASUS (never dealt with MSI). But you cannot go wrong with the ASUS "Strix" version of the 970. I would recommend against the Gigabyte version due to a lot of DOA or early death reports.

Your link is dead so I can't tell what you are specifically confused about.
 
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elmo29404

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Thank you both, I will take a look at them. I just updated the link. It is to the nvidia page showing all the different variants of the GTX 970. I was confused about which one to get and what the differences are.

Thank you again
 
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Rookie_MIB

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Well, many of the cards from a manufacturer will come in both a 'standard' version and an 'oc' version which will have a factory overclock. The OC versions will be a little bit faster, have a little more robust cooling system, and will be a little more expensive.

There are also differences in the design of the blowers on the cards. Some are 'open air' as in they have traditional fans which blow into the heatsink and will come back out into the case. In other words, it recirculates the air in the case. These are useful designs for larger cases which have a lot of airflow. Other designs will be an 'exhaust' style which take air in from the inside of the case, and push it through the heatsink and out the back of the case. These are good if you have minimal space such as a htpc build or small form factor case.

Lastly, connectors on the back. They'll have different layouts and numbers of ports split between DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI and Display Port. Since you're running two monitors, this is going to be important and when you pick a card, you're going to need to know what type of connections these monitors (since they are both different) are capable of using. The 1920x1080 sounds like a typical HD monitor and probably takes HDMI, while the other sounds like a regular monitor and might take a DVI connection. In that case, just make sure you get a card with both a DVI-I (supports both analog and digital monitors) and a HDMI output to drive both monitors.

So - what are you looking for? Stock speed? Overclocked? Exhaust style? And lastly what kind of connections do you need. Once we get that we can recommend a specific card.
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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Okay so you are questioning all the different makes and models. First, there are two different basic 970s: there are the small form factors for things like home theater cases with tight spaces, and then there are the traditional full length cards.

Then there are the manufacturers: I'd say (and this is very subjective) that EVGA, ASUS, and MSI are the top manufacturers, in that order. Since you have a generous budget for a 970, you need to get a top tier factory superclocked card. I already gave you my EVGA recommendation since I own two of them, but here are alternatives from ASUS and MSI:

(ASUS) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121899
(MSI) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121899

Long story short, each OEM card manufacturer does their own thing between the original reference design card from Nvidia and their own fan cooling designs and whatnot. Again, I would stay away from the Gigabyte, PNY, and Zotac cards.

 
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elmo29404

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You were right about the connections, a HDMI and a DVI. My case is fairly large with a good amount of room in it. So I do want an open air card. Here is a link to a picture of the case that might help: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By9T9DNa40d-SE9tYzdMcXBKTW8/view?usp=sharing
I would prefer overclocked already.
 
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Rookie_MIB

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Here's an EVGA which ticks all the right buttons then. $340.00, has DVI-D and DVI-I which will cover the one monitor, HDMI for the other, and is factory OC'd to a goodly amount. EVGA also makes very solid cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487076
 
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elmo29404

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This looks great! Thank you!
 
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10tacle

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EVGA went a little nuts with their 970s and cranking out all different kinds of versions, especially with their dual-fan "ACX" variants. Long story short:

"SC ACX 2.0" --- Superclocked (older card)

"SSC ACX 2.0"-- Super Superclocked, slightly faster than the SC out of the box (older card)

"ACX 2.0 SC+"-- Same as SSC but a newer heat pipe and fan design for cooler operation, dual bios that doesn't turn on fans unless needed, and has updated power phase management (newer card).

^^My cards are the SSC variant of the third card above (SSC 2.0+). Personally running two of these cards in SLI, I love the dual-BIOS where the cards do not turn on if I'm just using the PC for non-gaming where GPU power is not needed to keep heat and noise to a minimum. Hope this helps!
 
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elmo29404

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Ok, thank you!
 
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