GTX 980/970 Club

[RCoon]

How are you finding the MSI card? According to Ebuyer they are due some in this week. I may ring up and switch, as this 3850 is killing me on Elite Dangerous. Beta 2 out tomorrow as well!

Don't think I've bought anything MSI since I had a super socket 7 aladdin 5 motherboard off them.

MSI have become my new go-to brand these days. Usually it's Asus, but their motherboards have come in at great prices, and this GPU is nice and quiet, has the extra 8pin for overclocking, and just seems to be built rather well. It's also blindingly good in terms of cost. I have yet to find a game besides SC that brings it to its knees on 1440P.

 

[rodneyhchef]

Cancelled my order for the EVGA card. Am I right in thinking you get a 3 year warranty with the MSI card? I'd want it to last that long.

 

[RCoon]

Cancelled my order for the EVGA card. Am I right in thinking you get a 3 year warranty with the MSI card? I'd want it to last that long.

Quick google says 3 year warranty. I usually upgrade a little earlier, but it depends on what the future brings to the table.

 

[rodneyhchef]

Placed my order for the MSI card. Hope it comes this week!

 

[RCoon]

Placed my order for the MSI card. Hope it comes this week!

I got a free mousemat, apparently there are none left, but I haven't even bothered looking at it. Lots of unhappy people on OCUK who didn't get one

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I was going to get the EVGA GTX 970 that W1zard reviewed but I've changed my mind. I read some other reviews and one site showed the cooler has 3 heat pipes but only two touch the GPU. I'm no engineer and I don't know if all the heat pipes should touch the GPU but it just doesn't look right to me. Another thing is there are complaints by customers about coil whine and that EVGA built this card using cheap components. I decided to go with either the Asus Strix or the MSI Gaming card instead. I'm usually a big fan of EVGA with ACX coolers but just checking if you've seen the things I'm saying about this card.

Edit: Here is where I was reading about the cooler issue and W1zard did say the card was too noisy.

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html

I heard about this, Apparently EVGA tried to save some dosh by using a cooler that was originally designed for different card with a bigger die size (Yes.... I am captain of the obvious) Though I also heard that even though temps do run a little higher, its less then what people make it out to be and generally no cause for concern - Cooler still works and does a good or decent enough job.

 

[rodneyhchef]

Haven't used a moustmat for years!

I heard about this, Apparently EVGA tried to save some dosh by using a cooler that was originally designed for different card with a bigger die size (Yes.... I am captain of the obvious) Though I also heard that even though temps do run a little higher, its less then what people make it out to be and generally no cause for concern - Cooler still works and does a good or decent enough job.

I found a comparison photo earlier - the PCB is recycled from the GTX 760 as well.

970

760

3rd heatpipe doesn't cover the GPU on the 760 either. The other comment I saw was the 3rd heat pipe is open at the end - therefore doesn't work as a heatpipe? I don't really understand that part of the technology.

 

[RCoon]

I found a comparison photo earlier - the PCB is recycled from the GTX 760 as well.

970

760

3rd heatpipe doesn't cover the GPU on the 760 either. The other comment I saw was the 3rd heat pipe is open at the end - therefore doesn't work as a heatpipe? I don't really understand that part of the technology.

That is rather interesting. That's not to say that its poor quality though, just that they're making the most of what's already available. I'd be interested to see if it's the same case with other 970's on the market.

 

[JethroBodine]

I was going to get the EVGA GTX 970 that W1zard reviewed but I've changed my mind. I read some other reviews and one site showed the cooler has 3 heat pipes but only two touch the GPU. I'm no engineer and I don't know if all the heat pipes should touch the GPU but it just doesn't look right to me. Another thing is there are complaints by customers about coil whine and that EVGA built this card using cheap components. I decided to go with either the Asus Strix or the MSI Gaming card instead. I'm usually a big fan of EVGA with ACX coolers but just checking if you've seen the things I'm saying about this card.

Edit: Here is where I was reading about the cooler issue and W1zard did say the card was too noisy.

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html

From the looks of those photos, you could have two pipes fully covered with one gap, or one pipe fully covered, two partially covered, two gaps. This might actually have more contact, would be interesting to see the difference if it were centered.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

The lesser efficiency of the EVGA cooler has nothing to do with the actual contact area of the HS. The two 8mm pipes are centered right over the chip if you look closely at the TIM imprint left behind in the photo of that "defective cooler" article.

It's more to do with the HS/fan assembly itself, which was never even designed for that chip. The deceiving bit, which was in EVGA's official response on their forum, was their claiming that cooler is "overbuilt for the 970".

 

[Vario]

Interestingly the part # and rev is different between the 760 and 970, clearly the same board though. Differences seem to be in power delivery. Less ram pads. 2x3 pin pci-e.

 

[Jam0r]

That is rather interesting. That's not to say that its poor quality though, just that they're making the most of what's already available. I'd be interested to see if it's the same case with other 970's on the market.

The MSI 970 is the same as the MSI 760 near enough

http://www.vortez.net/articles_file/22995_msi_gtx_760_twin_frozr_gaming_naked.jpg
http://cdn4.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MSI-GeForce-GTX-970-Gaming-4-GB-PCB.png

 

[RCoon]

The MSI 970 is the same as the MSI 760 near enough

http://www.vortez.net/articles_file/22995_msi_gtx_760_twin_frozr_gaming_naked.jpg
http://cdn4.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MSI-GeForce-GTX-970-Gaming-4-GB-PCB.png

That's rather odd. My MSI 970 has 2 x 8pins.

 

[droopyRO]

I have orderd this http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=953 any users here ? what are the load temps ? thanks.

 

[Jam0r]

That's rather odd. My MSI 970 has 2 x 8pins.

You sure??? Mine has 6 and 8

 

[RCoon]

You sure??? Mine has 6 and 8

Yeah, when I plugged it in on launch day I was slightly confused, but just assumed it was a different revision of board. Now I'm paranoid, everywhere I look they are 8+6. Did I win?

 

[Shou Miko]

Yeah, when I plugged it in on launch day I was slightly confused, but just assumed it was a different revision of board. Now I'm paranoid, everywhere I look they are 8+6. Did I win?

maybe u get an unofficial Rev. 1 or something like that bcs mine has a 8+6pin aswell

or yours is a GTX 980 that's failed the test and they laser cutted it down to a GTX 970 instead...

 

[RCoon]

maybe u get an unofficial Rev. 1 or something like that bcs mine has a 8+6pin aswell

or yours is a GTX 980 that's failed the test and they laser cutted it down to a GTX 970 instead...

Mine was literally the first batch to ship to the UK, walked down and bought it the morning of launch. I'm curious, I'll whack it out and check the revision and serial tonight.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Yeah, when I plugged it in on launch day I was slightly confused, but just assumed it was a different revision of board. Now I'm paranoid, everywhere I look they are 8+6. Did I win?

Not unusual, most 280X's come wit an 8 + 6, mine comes with an 8 + 8, moar powerz! You should actually find they will work quite happily with an 8 pin and a 6 pin plugged in only.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Yeah, when I plugged it in on launch day I was slightly confused, but just assumed it was a different revision of board. Now I'm paranoid, everywhere I look they are 8+6. Did I win?

I wonder if you'll be able to get more extreme overclocking out of it?

 

[Jam0r]

Lucky sod.

I want one

 

[64K]

I wonder if you'll be able to get more extreme overclocking out of it?

Right now I don't think so. The review I read said that this card has a power limiter of 110%. The reviewer felt that he could push the clocks much higher if not for that. He did get the memory up to 8 Ghz. This MSI GTX 970 Gaming is amazing. I got one on back order.

 

[Jam0r]

Have an edited bios already, just waiting for nvflash to work.

Boosted the 110% to 125% (220 - 250 TDP) for my MSI gaming

 

[Shou Miko]

just saw my card boost to 1328mhz on the core this evening while having aion running.

 

[largon]

Received a Palit GTX970 vanilla today.
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Aaand looks like it's dead on arrival...