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Possible dead 970 and replacement suggestions please

John24

John24

John24

Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2007
Posts
1,495
My brothers 970 has ran at stock for about 5 years but it's been showing artifacts in games and crashing to desktop unless he underclocks the memory. Enableing vsync seems to help as well. Is it kaput, if so any suggestions for a replacement? It's his birthday soon so want to get him a new one if it's had it.

I was thinking maybe a 5500 XT. He plays PUBG, iracing, apex, some lorry driving game I forget the name, warzone, stuff like that at 1080p. Would like it to last and max settings preferably low power, cool and quiet. He won't overclock so good stock speed is needed. Looks like budget would need to be around £200. Thanks.
 
4690k at stock, will be moving to ryzen at some point. Forgot to mention as well I did check the voltages on the PSU with a MM and they check out ok, it's a Seasonic SS-660XP.
 
check the gpu fans and gpu heatsink arent full of fluff/dust
might be able to replace the thermal paste on the gpu
and replace the thermal pads on the vram
 
True, so even if temps are reading fine the vram might be over heating, is it possible to check the pads without replacing or do they always get destroyed when you dismantle?
 
With regards to a replacement, personally I wouldn't be looking at a 5500XT - it isn't going to offer much of an upgrade from a 970.

It's an odd time at the minute with recent AMD release, plus Covid related price increases:
A 1650 Super is around 10% faster than a 970, but is still a £160 card 6 years on
An 8GB RX580 costs the same as a 4GB 5500XT and would be a little more future proof, despite being an older card
The 8GB 5500XT is overpriced at the minute - a GTX 1660 Super is the same price as an but is a bit of a jump faster.
A 5600XT is slightly faster still, but not worth stretching your budget for, but will likely be a great card when prices stabalise

TL;DR
1650 Super if money is tight (but is not much faster than a 970), otherwise 1660 Super probably the best choice


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,235.04 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​
 
John24 said:
True, so even if temps are reading fine the vram might be over heating, is it possible to check the pads without replacing or do they always get destroyed when you dismantle?
Click to expand...
no they dont get destroyed
they are a sort of plasticine looking/feeling material
so yeah you can check them and not have to replace them
if they seem brittle/dried out guess that would be a sign they need replacing
 
Ok thanks for the advise, it's very helpful. The old gen are better value at the moment but the higher TDP puts me off. As well as the higher running cost is presumably more heat and noise too. I just read on here nvidia and amd have new cards coming soon so as his card is still working I think it's best to wait. If it dies in the mean time can go with one of your suggestions. Will repaste and check the pads too. Thanks again.
 
John24 said:
My brothers 970 has ran at stock for about 5 years but it's been showing artifacts in games and crashing to desktop unless he underclocks the memory. Enableing vsync seems to help as well. Is it kaput, if so any suggestions for a replacement? It's his birthday soon so want to get him a new one if it's had it.

I was thinking maybe a 5500 XT. He plays PUBG, iracing, apex, some lorry driving game I forget the name, warzone, stuff like that at 1080p. Would like it to last and max settings preferably low power, cool and quiet. He won't overclock so good stock speed is needed. Looks like budget would need to be around £200. Thanks.
Click to expand...

8gb RX580 would be my choice, you won’t get a faster card for under £200 even next gen which might be 6months+ before lesser cards are released.

If you are after something with less tdp then go 1660 Super but obviously a more expensive card. 5500XT/1650S is also a choice but not much faster than 970 IMO, whereas 1660S is a fair bit faster for not much more money (£250ish).
 
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