NVIDIA GTX 970 OWNERS THREAD

[Scramz]

Did a bold overclock with my MSI 970 and run heaven again.

GPU: 1600Mhz
Mem: 4105Mhz (2052)
Fan Speed: 75%
Max Temp: 63c (In a mini ITX case)
Voltage: Stock (Max 1.2180)

I have a good clocker so I will try and fine tune the final overclock then start pushing volts to see how far this thing can go.

Spoiler

What volts you use for the 1500 boost with that temp?

My asic is only 63% :/

If I can get 1500 boost clock for 24/7 use i will be perfectly happy.

the above quote is on my MSI 970, and that was a very easy fast OC with no added volts plus hitting 8Ghz on the memory very easy.

You should hit 1500Mhz on stock volts.

 

[Ayahuasca]

The next game I'll play a lot with be FarCry4.

Is the MSI the best card to get right now?

Is there a 970 that is not released yet that will be before FC4 that's worth waiting for?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

This will be the fastest out of the box one when it arrives. EVGA website reports it will boost to 1367.

I'm not sure if others will do faster models like an MSI hawk or lightning.

 

[JamesM]

Not sure i'd pay the extra what, £40 for a card when the MSI can clock the same easily.

 

[Ayahuasca]

The only reason the MSI seems to clock better is because more people have them and more people report good overclocks. I've still seen people who can't get theirs 1500mhz stable. I wouldn't pay £40 more for the EVGA just advising that will be the best out of the box model.

Most of the 1600mhz stable ones seem to be the Gigabyte G1's probably due to being able to pull more power and keep them stable.

 

[mikeo]

As these cards are for once appearing to live up to the hype. Slightly surprised that they have not been OC'd higher out of the box! Most seem capable of hitting 1500MHz when boosting (on stock volts).

I know that manufacturers would say something like "we like to leave it to the enthusiast to see what they can get". But surely it would be a BIG selling point if one of the manufacturers offered a card with a really decent (IE. high) OC.

Just that the usual "silicon lottery" doesn't appear to apply to these cards. Can't say that I've seen many (any?) that can't boost to 1500MHz stable.

 

[Scramz]

The only reason the MSI seems to clock better is because more people have them and more people report good overclocks. I've still seen people who can't get theirs 1500mhz stable. I wouldn't pay £40 more for the EVGA just advising that will be the best out of the box model.

Most of the 1600mhz stable ones seem to be the Gigabyte G1's probably due to being able to pull more power and keep them stable.

How? The MSI and Gigabyte 970 can pull the same amount of power as they both have 8+6 pins connector?

EDIT: Hell, even the GALAX can pull the same power.

 

[Jasongam]

Well I ordered the MSI 970 as soon as I saw them come back in stock, and I already got the "Been Shipped" email. Spot on OC+1

Im upgrading from my Apu soooo no doubts I will be impressed ??

 

[JamesM]

How? The MSI and Gigabyte 970 can pull the same amount of power as they both have 8+6 pins connector?

The Gigabyte has a higher power table though according to the bios.

250 & 280 compared to MSI's 200 & 220

 

[Ayahuasca]

I know that manufacturers would say something like "we like to leave it to the enthusiast to see what they can get". But surely it would be a BIG selling point if one of the manufacturers offered a card with a really decent (IE. high) OC.

EVGA do this with certain models like the classified but the premium you pay for a cherry picked chip is rather high, sometimes £50-100 more over a reference model. Don't think it's really worth that when you may as well just buy a GTX 980 for the difference and guarentee yourself better performance.

It's usually only the top card they offer it on though like the 980 and the 980ti when/if released. Doubt we'll see any cherry picked 970's as most enthusiasts looking for the highest scores buy the top card.

How? The MSI and Gigabyte 970 can pull the same amount of power as they both have 8+6 pins connector?

As James said above the Gigabyte has a higher power target.

 

[Scramz]

As James said above the Gigabyte has a higher power target.

Oh, I see.

 

[ubersonic]

Interesting how the power limit is different for both the Gigabyte, MSI and ASUS cards.

Gigabyte
100% = 250
112% = 280

MSI
100% = 200
110% = 220

ASUS
100% = 163
120% = 196

Not sure why the ASUS is so different?

PCI-E slot: 75w
6pin: 75w
8pin: 150w

You can't exceed 225w with 2x6pin so it won't let you get close, with 8+6 you have a hard limit of 300w.

*EDIT*

Wait the ASUS have an 8pin, meh /shrug.

*EDIT 2*

Oh, instead of two 6pins, I see so that's a 225w max.

 

[JamesM]

MSI is 8 + 6 pin

 

[Ayahuasca]

He's explaining why the ASUS can't exceed 225w.

MSI's when overclocked will be pulling more than 225w. The ASUS won't be able to.

 

[JamesM]

He's explaining why the ASUS can't exceed 225w.

MSI's when overclocked will be pulling more than 225w. The ASUS won't be able to.

I understand that.. but as he edited, the ASUS has a single 8 pin and both the gigabyte and MSI have 6 + 8 Pin.

The ASUS is low because PCI + 8 pin = 225. That makes sense.

In theory, if the Gigabyte can take 280, so can the MSI

 

[P0tenc]

So my question is, when do we expect is to be possible to edit the Maxwell BIOS to change fan parameters, or will it be possible to re-flash with a BIOS from a card that supports zero rpm at idle?

I would say don't get your hopes up, if the card does not explicitly support 0RPM, modding the bios probably won't have any affect. Alternatively it might have a small affect, it might allow down to 30%.

 

[Ayahuasca]

I understand that.. but as he edited, the ASUS has a single 8 pin and both the gigabyte and MSI have 6 + 8 Pin.

The ASUS is low because PCI + 8 pin = 225. That makes sense.

In theory, if the Gigabyte can take 280, so can the MSI

It's just down to what they've allowed their card to draw then from their BIOS power tables. I think Gibbo achieved a larger core clock on the Giga than the MSI, 1640 or 1680 over the 1600 on the MSI.

 

[JamesM]

Looking forward to skyn3t's new bios tbh

 

[ubersonic]

So my question is, when do we expect is to be possible to edit the Maxwell BIOS to change fan parameters, or will it be possible to re-flash with a BIOS from a card that supports zero rpm at idle?

Yes, all you have to do is dump the BIOS, edit the fan minimum from x% to 0%, then flash it to the card. A number of ASUS users did this to RoG Poseidon/Matrix cards when the Strix launched as they wanted the feature and knew the coolers could handle it.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Someone said the BIOS are there but there's no way to flash them currently. It's going to be a risk too as these cards don't have dual BIOS and if it goes wrong your warranty is void.

 

[JamesM]

Never had an issue before. Even bios flashed my laptop GPU at the time.

Simply use the onboard GPU to flash it back if you have issues.