gtx 970 comparison

7/23/2019 GTX 970 Comparison

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GTX 970 Feature Showdown: ASUS STRIX vs MSIGaming vs Gigabte G!

Released on the 19th of September 2014, Nvidia's GTX 970 has been flin! off the shelves for ever boardpartner" The p#rpose of this thread is to ta$e a loo$ at a %omparison bet&een &hat seem to be the three

most pop#lar aftermar$et %hoi%es of the GTX 970 The (S)S GTX 970 STR*X, +S* GTX 970 Gamin! 4G, andGi!abte GTX 970 Gamin! G1" The %omparison &ill ta$e a loo$ at ea%h %ards stren!ths and &ea$nesses if

the GTX 970 reall has an to spea$ of -, and attempt to sho& &hi%h %ard offers the best val#e, feat#res,

and performan%e &itho#t ta$in! .rd part modifi%ations into a%%o#nt" (s most of the professional revie&shave %overed !eneral !ame performan%e, feat#re pi%t#res, and temperat#res * &ill not be !oin! into depth

on these s#b/e%ts" #st a !eneral %omment before &e %ontin#e, an senten%e&ordphrase mar$ed &ith an &ill have a note%omment in the notes and %omment se%tion !oin! into a bit more detail e3plainin! &h" ir

let's ta$e a 5#i%$ loo$ at a s#mmar of ea%h %ards feat#res and pros%ons"

Features and "ros#$ons $om%arison

MSI GTX 970 Gaming

6 ase %ore %lo%$ of 1081mh &boost 117:mh silent mode- 1114mh &boost 128.mh !amin!mode- 1140mh &boost 1279mh ;< mode-= these sele%tions appl to +S*'s !amin! app, other&ise the

defa#lt %ore %lo%$ is 1114mh &boost 128.mh

6 +emor %lo%$ of 178.mh 7010mh effe%tive-= Sams#n! *


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6 +emor %lo%$ of 178.mh 7010mh effe%tive-= Sams#n! *


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Sim%&e 'ios Ana&sis and Sntheti( G"U Testing )orGenera& "er)orman(e $om%arison

irst off &e ta$e a loo$ at ea%h %ards bios po&er tables in FT in order to see &hat defa#lt T@??o&er Eimitthe board partners have allo&ed for ea%h %ard"

*n the above pi%t#re the bios po&er tables sho&n from left to ri!ht are respe%tivel (S)S, +S*, Gi!abte"The red bo3 denotes the ma3 allo&able po&er dra&po&er limit on the sto%$ bios i"e" &ith the po&er limit

slider set to its ma3 in (?re%isionXG?)t&ea$-" The bo3 /#st above the mar$ed one is the ma3 allo&ablepo&er dra&po&er limit &itho#t modifin! the po&er slider in an !p# tool pro!rams 100-" The (S)S

STR*X %ard allo&s for C1>.& &ith the 100 po&er limit and C19>& &ith the po&er limit set to 120" The+S* Gamin! %ard allo&s for 200& &ith the 100 po&er limit and 220& &ith the po&er limit set to 110"

The Gi!abte G1 %ard allo&s for 280& &ith the 100 po&er limit and 2:0& &ith the po&er limit set to112" Hhat %an o# dra& from thisI or both Fepler and +a3&ell, the G?)s JoostJ feat#re &ill limit ho&

hi!h the %ore &ill %lo%$ itself for m#ltiple reasons= one bein! the %ard e3%eeds it's po&er limit, t&o bein! the%ard e3%eeds it's temperat#re limit, and three bein! a volta!e restri%tion" Hhen onl ta$in! the po&er limit

into %onsideration &ith these %ards the first %ard to most li$el do&n%lo%$ d#e to a po&er limit is the (S)SSTR*X, follo&ed b the +S* Gamin!, and lastl the Gi!abte G1" Note that on the sto%$ bios the Gi!abte G

sho#ld e3perien%e no throttlin! d#e to the po&er limit" *n %on%l#sion the Gi!abte %ard theoreti%all &ill allofor the hi!hest over%lo%$s on the sto%$ bios in re!ards to po&er limits stri%tl spea$in!= this does not in%l#de

volta!es or the fa%t that one %hip ma /#st be a better %lo%$er than another" These po&er limits &ill helpe3plain the follo&in! over%lo%$ed performan%e %omparisons bet&een these three %ards"

Ne3t #p is a %omparison of the three %ards over%lo%$ed to hit a boost %lo%$ of 1801mh and 1980mh on the

memor for all three %ards" *n order to isolate and best represent the performan%e of onl the G?)'s, onlthe G?) s%ore for irestri$e and irestri$e K3treme &ill be reported" The follo&in! !raphs sho& an avera!e oa 8 bat%h r#n for ea%h %ard at 18011980 for S and SK"


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Hith all the %ards at 18011980, the perform almost identi%all ho&ever, the +S* and (S)S %ards doe3perien%e some throttlin!" *n order to ta$e a %loser loo$ at that, belo& is a oomed in !raph of the s%ores

for S and SK &ith a f#rther analsis follo&in!"

*oomed in gra%h )or thrott&ing ana&sis+


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Hhen &e anale the res#lts from the oomed in !raph in the above spoiler, it is %lear the dire%tl %orrelate

to the allo&able tdppo&er limit set for ea%h %ard" The Gi!abte G1 e3perien%es ero throttlin! in both Sand SK, onl hittin! a ma3 po&er limit of 92, &ell belo& even the defa#lt 100 limit, and the G1 %ard

also s%ores the hi!hest of the three as a res#lt" oth the (S)S and +S* %ards e3perien%e mild throttlin! andalso e3%eed their defa#lt and ma3 po&er limit settin!s" (s a res#lt both %ards s%ore less, ho&ever it is a ver

minor differen%e" ;#t of the three %ards the (S)S %ard e3perien%es the most throttlin! at these %lo%$settin!s, &hi%h is #nderstandable as the (S)S %ard also has the lo&est ma3 po&er limit of the three %ards

C19>&-" (s the +S* and (S)S %ards approa%h %lo%$ speeds hi!her than 1801mh, the &ill %ontin#e tothrottle d#e to the po&er limit even if volta!e and temperat#re re5#irements are still met safel" The

Gi!abte %ard &ill ho&ever not e3perien%e the same iss#e d#e to havin! a m#%h hi!her po&er limit availableand as e3plained in the bios analsis"

,otes and $omments

1- *n re!ards to the pro%on %omments abo#t memor *< pla%ements" The Gi!abte and +S* %ards have 4

*


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2- *n re!ards to the po&er %onne%tion %onfi!#rations of the %ards" The 228& (S)S- and .00&

Gi!abte+S*- rated po&er dra&s listed are based on spe%ifi%ations onl, as far as * $no& it is possible todra& more than &hat is rated" The p%i6e slo& allo&s for 78&, the spe%ifi%ations list a >pin (TX po&er

%onne%tor at 78& and an :pin (TX po&er %onne%tor at 180&"

.- *n re!ards to pro%on %omments abo#t the T@?po&er limit for ea%h %ard" +ost of this &as e3plained inthe bios and performan%e %omparison se%tion b#t /#st to re6iterate (S)S 6 ma3 19>&, +S* 6 ma3 220&,

Gi!abte 6 ma3 2:0&

4- *n re!ards to the pro%on %omments abo#t AR+ %oolin!" oth the +S* and (S)S %ards have a smallse%ondar heatsin$ %overin! the AR+ se%tion for the %ard" @#e to the fa%t both these %ards also have a d#al

fan desi!n there is little dire%t airflo& in the area of the AR+S d#e to fan pla%ement" *n m opinion this is&here Gi!abte s%ores a bi! &in, the a%t#all inte!rated their AR+ %oolin! into the main BS" This allo&s fo

m#%h more s#rfa%e area to distrib#te the heat from the AR+s to, and as this %ard is also a triple fan desi!nthere is also better airflo& over the AR+ se%tion of the %ard d#e to fan pla%ement" * personall do not $no&

the rated spe%ifi%ations for the AR+ desi!ns of these %ards so * %annot sa &hat their optimal operatin!

temperat#re is ho&ever, as temperat#res in%rease effi%ien% !oes do&n and this %an affe%t stabilit" The endres#lt bein! that on air, if AR+ temps be%ome a problem, the Gi!abte %ard &ill provide the best over%lo%$in

res#lts on%e a!ainL There is also no available soft&are that reads AR+ temperat#res for the GTX 970 series

as of et, and there most li$el &ill not be in the f#t#re" ( temperat#re !#n &o#ld be the onl &a to $no&for s#re, or thermal readin!s provided in some of the professional revie&s &hi%h do sho& the Gi!abte %ard

had a si!nifi%antl %ooler AR+ se%tion b C20%-" *'ll add a pi%t#re belo& that ill#strates and hi!hli!hts the%oolin! for ea%h %ards AR+ se%tion"

-RM $oo&ing "hotos


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$on(&usion

;verall the best %ard &hen it %omes do&n to performan%e and over%lo%$in! is definitel Gi!abte GTX 970

Gamin! G1" rom its s#perior 2:0& ma3 sto%$ po&er limit, to it's %oolin! and displa %onne%tivit" The %ard

ver &ell ro#nded in terms of both feat#res and performan%e, and ta$es the lead in pros !oin! for the %ard"

This does not ma$e the (S)S or +S* %ards bad %hoi%es tho#!hL *f o#'re loo$in! for a %ool and 5#iet %ard m

re%ommendation &o#ld be the +S* GTX 970 Gamin! G4, as it is on avera!e %ooler than the (S)S %ard, has

hi!her ma3 po&er limit for the sto%$ bios, and also has the better idle fan sh#t off feat#reboth thresholds

are C>0%" (ll in all ea%h %ard has its %aveats, &hether it be silen%e, a ni%e ba%$plate, or serio#s %oolin!,

ea%h %ard still performs e3%eptionall" +a +a3&ell be &ith o#

gtx 970 comparison

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