Which add-in-board (AIB) to choose for GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card?

[dklompar]

I'm very excited for Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1070! I want to wait to buy a lower priced AIBs rather than buy the expensive Founder's Edition. There are so many companies making AIBs of the 1070 (e.g. Asus, EVGA, MSI, lots more). From what I can understand, there seems to be little difference between them based on the vendor websites. They all have "better" and "quieter" cooling with vague percentages and no solid numbers.

How can I assess which AIB is the best? What is the most important factor for you?

Personally, the only compelling argument I've seen is Asus' approach, which has fan headers on the board, allowing you to tie your case fan speed to the GPU temperature rather than the motherboard temperature. This makes sense to me, since my GPU will likely be generating the most heat of all. I'm interested to hear other people's opinions, so I can get the best AIB available.

 

[17seconds]

The pricing is kind of strange for the GTX 1080, which I assume will be similar for the 1070. Basically, the EVGA cards are much cheaper than others, on Newegg at least. The EVGA ACX Gaming, their basic model with the upgraded ACX cooler is only $619. Meanwhile, the MSI Gaming is $100 more at $719.

With the exception of the EVGA cards and the Asus Strix, all the other cards are at least $699 or more. If that pattern holds, be sure to look for the cheapest EVGA ACX card, which should be about $389 or $399.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20601201888#close

 

[dklompar]

Price aside, are there any performance characteristics you like about a particular AIB over another?

 

[17seconds]

Price aside, are there any performance characteristics you like about a particular AIB over another?

One thing that has come out in the reviews of custom cards is that there is a limit to how high they can clock. In fact, Founder's Edition, MSI Gaming, etc. all seem to get just about the same maximum overclock, ~2050 MHz give or take. So the quality components, enhanced power phases, etc. don't seem to give a big advantage due to the built-in power and voltage limits. A custom cooler is pretty much mandatory, though, in order to maintain consistent Turbo Boost clocks.

So my recommendation is for the cheapest card with a factory overclock and a custom cooler. You don't need to shoot the moon with the absolute best, most expensive. Look for cards that specialize in low noise levels instead, since that's one variable that definitely will vary from card to card. Unfortunately, there aren't many reviews out yet of custom cards to make the comparison. If I were buying, I would be looking at the usual suspects: EVGA ACX SC or FTW, Asus Strix, MSI Gaming X, or Gigabyte G1. Pick the cheapest of the bunch.

I guess if I had to pick, Asus Strix.

 

[sshortguy1]

the 1070s are 500 and the 1080s are 800 if you already have the founders edition keep it I went from founders to after market 1 twin frozr and was 50 more and not much of a change between the cards

 

[Guest]

I was planning to buy gtx 1070 too.But i can't decide which brand i should take.I was thinking of Asus Strix.Does all brands have the same performance or i will lose some fps (10-15) from one card to another?

 

[17seconds]

You will lose or gain performance in relation to the gain or loss in base factory overclock speeds.

 

[sshortguy1]

as of right now the twin frozr from msi is the best 1 for clock speeds as of them so far

 

[17seconds]

The MSI Gaming is also the most expensive by quite a bit.

 

[Math Geek]

if you want to compare specs in a nice list check here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3047729/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1000-series-megathread-faq-resources.html#17902598 any known reviews are here as well, which there are very few for 1070 cards so far.

all the models and released specs for them. keep it open while skimming prices could be an easy way to get the price v specs to a happy medium. as 17seconds says, the high end cards may not be worth it this time around. i'm thinking one of the cheaper custom cards with solid cooling and quiet fans are the way to go. of course looks is important and that varies wildly.

 

[EasilyAroused]

Price aside, are there any performance characteristics you like about a particular AIB over another?

One thing that has come out in the reviews of custom cards is that there is a limit to how high they can clock. In fact, Founder's Edition, MSI Gaming, etc. all seem to get just about the same maximum overclock, ~2050 MHz give or take. So the quality components, enhanced power phases, etc. don't seem to give a big advantage due to the built-in power and voltage limits. A custom cooler is pretty much mandatory, though, in order to maintain consistent Turbo Boost clocks.

So my recommendation is for the cheapest card with a factory overclock and a custom cooler. You don't need to shoot the moon with the absolute best, most expensive. Look for cards that specialize in low noise levels instead, since that's one variable that definitely will vary from card to card. Unfortunately, there aren't many reviews out yet of custom cards to make the comparison. If I were buying, I would be looking at the usual suspects: EVGA ACX SC or FTW, Asus Strix, MSI Gaming X, or Gigabyte G1. Pick the cheapest of the bunch.

I guess if I had to pick, Asus Strix.

"my recommendation is for the cheapest card with a factory overclock"

Is there actually any benefit to getting a factory overclocked card? I plan on overclocking myself.

 

[Math Geek]

you want a custom card with a custom pcb for best overclock. you can see what the specs are for FE. get one with better specs out of the box. more phases, an extra power connector and so on. these will generally be oc'ed out of the box some but will allow for better oc. the FE reference cards (even ones with custom fans) will still have the same issues as FE cards do since they are based on the same pcb.

that's why we say get an oc'ed card that's cheaper than an FE but better than a different looking reference design.

 

[sshortguy1]

math as of right now the after market cards are higher than the reference cards

 

[Math Geek]

gonna be that way for a while. depends on where you are at and supply and whatnot. they are just very hard to come by right now so prices reflect that. some models will be more than an FE and many will be lower. the evga cards are all lower than FE, even the FTW edition. here in the US anyway. outside the US, prices are all over the map and probably always will be.

get whatever you can find so long as you understand the limitations of the FE cards. you state you want o oc the card and we have explained why the custom cards are worth it for that purpose. in the end, the decision is yours

 

[sshortguy1]

I got the gtx 108- msi frozr 4 2 fan card it pretty matches the rest of the overclocked cards including the hybrid