# MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4 GB



## W1zzard (Dec 16, 2014)

MSI's GTX 970 Gaming is probably the best GTX 970 on the market. It comes overclocked out of the box, with an amazing noise-less cooler for light gaming, one that is also extremely quiet with even the most demanding titles. Temperatures are great, too, so you should definitely consider this card if you are in the market for a GTX 970.

*Show full review*


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## Fluffmeister (Dec 17, 2014)

Thanks for the review, I personally couldn't be happier with my card, hell it cost less than the GTX 670 I upgraded from, steal!


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## El_Mayo (Dec 17, 2014)

I have this card and I only read the review to feel even better about buying it. It is a very good card


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## FreedomEclipse (Dec 17, 2014)

I thought this card was reviewed a good few months ago????

Anyway.... There is a typo in the conclusion @W1zzard



> MSI's new TwinFrozr cooler is identical to the *once* used on their GTX 980 Gaming.


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## XL-R8R (Dec 17, 2014)

I'm happy I got this card lol

Thanks for the review.


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## CounterZeus (Dec 17, 2014)

I got this card the first week, had twice an issue with fan(s) stuck at 100%, but with a custom fan curve in afterburner I fixed it and luckily haven't got this issue again.
Some people fixed it with a modded bios, newer drivers, burning in the fans for a while... Other people had less luck and had to RMA it.

This is problably the most bugged 970 card out there, but if the fans work, it's a beast


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## Delta6326 (Dec 17, 2014)

Nice review W1zz! 

MSI's Gaming platform really is a good bunch of products. MSI really has brought up their "A" game.


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## RCoon (Dec 17, 2014)

FreedomEclipse said:


> I thought this card was reviewed a good few months ago????



Only the 980 version was reviewed, the Asus Strix was the prime time toy for the 970 range.

Could have got a 10 if they just added a backplate like everybody else...


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## W1zzard (Dec 17, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Could have got a 10 if they just added a backplate like everybody else...


yup


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## Fluffmeister (Dec 17, 2014)

9.9 will just have to do!


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## erixx (Dec 17, 2014)

Can this be SLI'ed with a GTX 980?
thx

 :^)


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## W1zzard (Dec 18, 2014)

erixx said:


> Can this be SLI'ed with a GTX 980?


No. NVIDIA only allows SLI with same model numbers, but from different mfgrs is ok


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## claylomax (Dec 18, 2014)

You added some new games ... Nice.


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## damric (Dec 18, 2014)

Glad to see 16x9 aspect ratios are now standard.


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## Nabarun (Dec 18, 2014)

@W1zzard Typo in the intro page: 


> MSI's GTX *980* Gaming is a fully customized variant of the GTX *980*....


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## THU31 (Dec 18, 2014)

Why do reviews never mention coil whine?

I had to sell my MSI 970, because it was really annoying. It was there even at 60 Hz with Vsync.


Most, if not all 970s/980s have coil whine. I am waiting to see how it is when the 960 comes out.


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## Calebe Costa (Dec 18, 2014)

So World of Warcraft have an enormous influence on processor. Is there any build optimized for WoW?

My actual pc set

i7 860 @2.80Ghz
MB: Asrock H55M-LE
Memory: 2x2GB Kingston 1333Mhz
GPU: MSI R5770 Hawk 1GB dedicated 128bits
HDD: Seagate 500GB
PSU: Thermaltake 550
Case: Thermaltake M7
Default CPU Cooling
Win 8.1 Pro - Original

My plans are for buying the 2x4GB CL9 Memory @ end of December and a H55 for OC. After that a 840 EVO. And later and last a GPU. 

I believe that with the H55 i can oc to 3.6 or even 4.2Ghz (The maximum allowed for my moBo)

I really want to buy the gtx 970, but i think i'll have to go with 750Ti. I don't go for AMD for wattage reasons.


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## revin (Dec 18, 2014)

Damnit I knew this was a steal at $329 the other morning ! So often OOS !!
 I keep looking at these and the 290X's, now hitting under $300 !
Now the 970's are getting some price breaks TD had some great deals yesterday


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## jesso2k (Dec 18, 2014)

Hey W1zzard, can we get a roundup feature after you've gone through the Gigabyte G1? I'd love a single source to put all of the misconceptions to bed.


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## Air (Dec 18, 2014)

The "0 dB" in the fan noise graph is bit misleading. You should list the background noise, unless you are deducting the background noise value from the other cards measurements.


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## apoe (Dec 18, 2014)

Harry Lloyd said:


> Why do reviews never mention coil whine?
> 
> I had to sell my MSI 970, because it was really annoying. It was there even at 60 Hz with Vsync.
> 
> Most, if not all 970s/980s have coil whine. I am waiting to see how it is when the 960 comes out.



My Asus 970 has no coil whine even at 2000+ FPS (in some game menus with uncapped frame rate). This is with my ear next to the case and with good hearing. I think reduction in coil whine was even mentioned in the marketing for the card.

My previous MSI 760 had coil whine once game fps went above 140 or so. But it almost completely disappeared after the first month of use.

Probably just luck of the draw. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if manufacturers specifically tested review samples for coil whine and only sent out the ones that passed.


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## Fluffmeister (Dec 19, 2014)

My MSI 970 has zero coil whine too, TechReport reviewed both this card and the ASUS STRIX and reported no issues as well:



			
				TechReport said:
			
		

> One more thing: I've heard reports of problems with "coil whine" from some GeForce GTX 970 cards. I'm happy to say that neither of these two cards has any problems on this front. I didn't notice anything unusual, and any really egregious noises would show up on our sound level meter readings. Obviously, that didn't happen, since these cards were among the quietest we've tested.



Source: http://techreport.com/review/27203/geforce-gtx-970-cards-from-msi-and-asus-reviewed/5


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## msamelis (Dec 19, 2014)

Harry Lloyd said:


> Why do reviews never mention coil whine?
> 
> I had to sell my MSI 970, because it was really annoying. It was there even at 60 Hz with Vsync.
> 
> ...


I have the Gigabyte G1 and haven't experienced any problems, although a friend of mine bought the Strix which did whine.


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## claylomax (Dec 19, 2014)

Harry Lloyd said:


> Why do reviews never mention coil whine?
> 
> I had to sell my MSI 970, because it was really annoying. It was there even at 60 Hz with Vsync.
> 
> ...



Coil whine also depends on the psu you're using; some psu's have capacitors on the PCI-E cables that help reducing the whine.


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## W1zzard (Dec 19, 2014)

claylomax said:


> some psu's have capacitors on the PCI-E cables that help reducing the whine.


do you have any data on that? just switching psu can mitigate coil whine, so it's not a valid test to compare 1 psu with caps vs 1 without.


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## GhostRyder (Dec 19, 2014)

MSI really steps up their game with the recent twin frozr coolers and the gaming edition cards especially when you consider the value of these.  Love the look of the card and the new cooler as it just screams gaming in a nice cool package.  Great review of the card!!!

You know what impresses me the most about the GTX 970 and GTX 980, its the overclocking potential and not so much the core as it is the VRAM.  I mean 2000mhz as being a central average I see on the top end is impressive beyond belief to me as it is nice to be able to really push those clocks higher especially if your someone wanting to do some serious resolutions!  The core clocks go high as well on these cards which is also beyond impressive but I am more happy to see that the ram is much more flexible in overclocking on these cards (This is just my opinion)!


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## W1zzard (Dec 19, 2014)

Not sure if stating the obvious, but high memory clocks are also an effect of a well designed memory controller inside the GPU, not only good mem chips. 

and mem OC can be affected by signal routing of the memory chips on custom PCB designs, too.

Cooling is a minor factor, for which I've never found solid evidence, but I feel sometimes that cards could have better mem OC with better mem cooling (just a small heatsink will be fine)


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## GhostRyder (Dec 19, 2014)

W1zzard said:


> Not sure if stating the obvious, but high memory clocks are also an effect of a well designed memory controller inside the GPU, not only good mem chips.
> 
> and mem OC can be affected by signal routing of the memory chips on custom PCB designs, too.
> 
> Cooling is a minor factor, for which I've never found solid evidence, but I feel sometimes that cards could have better mem OC with better mem cooling (just a small heatsink will be fine)


Yes, that is what I was referring to not only the binning process and the fact they have improved chips over the years.  There are a lot of factors including (as you said) the new memory controller is a lot better than it has been in the past which is apparent by the results!

I agree with you, the cooling may not be too necessary on the memory to really gain huge overclocks and as you said there have not really been any tests nor is there a real easy way to test a theory like that (Its possible just time consuming and carrying a lot of variables).  But with even basic desktop ram heatspreaders have been talked in the same way that help keep temps down on ram and achieve better stability at higher clocks.  But I prefer when there is great cooling because the better that is the less likely there are for variables causing issues with things like overclocking.


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## CounterZeus (Dec 19, 2014)

Harry Lloyd said:


> Why do reviews never mention coil whine?
> 
> I had to sell my MSI 970, because it was really annoying. It was there even at 60 Hz with Vsync.
> 
> ...



I have zero coil whine.


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## xBruce88x (Dec 21, 2014)

SOO glad i got this card  Nice review!


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## rooivalk (Dec 23, 2014)

I wonder what people thought about this card versus Gigabyte GTX970 G1.


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## GhostRyder (Dec 23, 2014)

rooivalk said:


> I wonder what people thought about this card versus Gigabyte GTX970 G1.


As far as the cooler goes I think its more of a toss up because both are great.  But the thing that makes the GI better in my book is the selection of outputs on the Gigabyte G1's which are similar to the GTX 980s in having the 3 DP's available.


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## rooivalk (Dec 24, 2014)

GhostRyder said:


> As far as the cooler goes I think its more of a toss up because both are great.  But the thing that makes the GI better in my book is the selection of outputs on the Gigabyte G1's which are similar to the GTX 980s in having the 3 DP's available.


I know both are great and have their own pro/cons.
But G1 as far as I know has better cooler (performance wise not noise), theoritically better outputs like you said, has backplate, slightly higher stock clock, boring but not as tacky look/color at the cost of slightly higher price and larger built.

That sounds like a better deal to me, yet people seem to love/recognize MSI more almost everywhere. That's the part I wonder. What I miss?


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## Cistron (Jan 1, 2015)

Hullo guys,

Love techpowerup reviews. Just registered for a quick question.

Does anyone know the minimum fan speed of the MSI 4G GTX970? Any ideas how it sounds by comparison to the Asus STRIX version (which apparently sounds a bit rough according to SPCR).

Thanks!

Toddles-pip and happy new year,
Mike


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## S3th (Jan 23, 2015)

rooivalk said:


> I know both are great and have their own pro/cons.
> But G1 as far as I know has better cooler (performance wise not noise), theoritically better outputs like you said, has backplate, slightly higher stock clock, boring but not as tacky look/color at the cost of slightly higher price and larger built.
> 
> That sounds like a better deal to me, yet people seem to love/recognize MSI more almost everywhere. That's the part I wonder. What I miss?


I was wondering the exact same thing, I am torn between MSI and GBT and while my first choice was GBT G1 everyone I asked seems to be recommending MSI.
I know the cards will probably perform the same, but I like the backplate and cooling on the G1, plus the additional outputs.
Both cards are reported to have coil whine, so like you said, what am I missing?


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## Cistron (Jan 24, 2015)

S3th said:


> what am I missing?


Silence during low loads and at idle? From the top of my head, the Gigabyte card also is a bit longer.

Btw. from what a user recently reported on the SPCR forums, the MSI fans are quieter and can dial down lower than the Asus fans (which is to answer my own question).


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## THU31 (Jan 24, 2015)

MSI is ultra quiet, even when overclocking, but you have to create your own fan profile. The default one wants to keep the temperature around 70 degress, which causes the fans to spin even at 1500 RPM in the most demanding games, and that is very audible. I set my profile to a maximum of 1150 RPM, and it rarely reaches 75 degrees or goes over 1000 RPM, but it is winter now.

And I can now confirm that coil whine is related to the PSU. It is the cards that whine, but the PSU affects it. I replaced my OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W with a Corsair RM650, and now my card pretty much only whines in benchmarks without Vsync, and the noise is quieter anyway. With Vsync on, I can hear a very quiet noise if I really listen for it in a silent room, but it is low frequency. With the OCZ PSU the whine was unbearable even with Vsync on.


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## Tibor Hazafi (Apr 11, 2015)

Why does GPU-Z show only directX 11.2 support? :O


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## Caring1 (Apr 11, 2015)

Tibor Hazafi said:


> Why does GPU-Z show only directX 11.2 support? :O


If you are using the card in your W7 system it will never support DX12.
DX12 will only be supported in W10.


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## Tibor Hazafi (Apr 11, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> If you are using the card in your W7 system it will never support DX12.
> DX12 will only be supported in W10.



Thanks for the qucik answer, it really makes sense.


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## Troy210 (May 3, 2015)

Since nGate is confirmed to have been a real 'thing' and all, would that knowledge had it been known at the time have affected the review score?


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## Tibor Hazafi (Jun 15, 2015)

There is one memory chip which is *NOT* under the metal plating. Will this cause any VRM or other overheating issues like with the MSI R9 280X Gaming?


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## E-one (Oct 7, 2015)

Hi all! I'm having a hard time deciding whether I need to upgrade from two of my Club 3D Radeon HD 7870XT jokerCards (Tahiti LE) in CrossFire and watercooled. Apart from getting PhysX effects in games optimized for Nvidia cards will I get any more benefits from getting this card?


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## CounterZeus (Oct 12, 2015)

E-one said:


> Hi all! I'm having a hard time deciding whether I need to upgrade from two of my Club 3D Radeon HD 7870XT jokerCards (Tahiti LE) in CrossFire and watercooled. Apart from getting PhysX effects in games optimized for Nvidia cards will I get any more benefits from getting this card?



A GTX970 offers almost twice the performance of one of your cards. Crossfire doesn't scale 100% so you'll be getting increased performance and more memory available, less electricity needed (so less strain on PSU) and less heat. Generally better driver support as you will only have one card. Some games will also use Nvidia Flex (Killing floor 2 for example). This might be a gimped tech.

Be warned though, a lot of the gtx 970's have coil whine when under stress.


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## SergeantStevie (Nov 15, 2015)

What is the physical length of this card from the start of the Circuit board at the L bracket to the heatsink and cowling at the other end of the card?

I currently own an MSI GTX470 Twin FrozR II, and while MSI say it is 243mm it actually measures around 26cm to the end of the heatsink and cowling. So I don't trust the MSI Website to be correct with it's sizes. And as my case can only fit a card that's 28cm max without having to modify the HDD bay to fit any extra length in I want to make sure it fits before I buy one.

So I would appreciate it if someone could measure their card for me and tell me the actual overall size (not including the L bracket).

Many thanks


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## ASOT (May 4, 2016)

Happy with *GEFORCE®  GTX 970 GAMING 4G LE*


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## RCoon (May 4, 2016)

ASOT said:


> Happy with *GEFORCE®  GTX 970 GAMING 4G LE*



Was this post in a 6 month old thread really necessary?


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## ASOT (May 4, 2016)

for me,yes ..


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## FreedomEclipse (May 4, 2016)

RCoon said:


> Was this post in a 6 month old thread really necessary?



Let the boy shout it to the moon and stars


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