MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4 GB

[W1zzard]

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.

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[Fluffmeister]

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!

 

[El_Mayo]

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

 

[FreedomEclipse]

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.

 

[XL-R8R]

I'm happy I got this card lol

Thanks for the review.

 

[CounterZeus]

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

 

[Delta6326]

Nice review W1zz!

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

 

[RCoon]

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...

 

[W1zzard]

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

yup

 

[Fluffmeister]

9.9 will just have to do!

 

[erixx]

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

:^)

 

[W1zzard]

Can this be SLI'ed with a GTX 980?

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

 

[claylomax]

You added some new games ... Nice.

 

[damric]

Glad to see 16x9 aspect ratios are now standard.

 

[Nabarun]

@W1zzard Typo in the intro page:

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

 

[THU31]

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.

 

[Calebe Costa]

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.

 

[revin]

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

 

[jesso2k]

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.

 

[Air]

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.

 

[apoe]

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.

 

[Fluffmeister]

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

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

 

[msamelis]

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.

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

 

[claylomax]

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.

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.

 

[W1zzard]

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.