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Spec me a 970 with 0dB fan mode

Zoom7000

Zoom7000

Zoom7000

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I've just bought myself a 4K Samsung TV (UE40JU6400) and will be doubling it up to act as my Windows monitor as well. I'd like to buy a GeForce 970 to get my resolution up to 4K and do a bit of gaming. Can someone please spec me a GPU with 0dB fan mode as I will be using it primarily in the living room and 0dB fan would be fantastic and will definitely get the Mrs to stop nagging about the noise! :p

I've seen this card already, but just wondered if there were any other suitable (or cheaper!) alternatives.
 
Pretty much every non reference 970 has 0db mode. In fact, I can extend that to almost every Maxwell.

As for the Strix, it's a superb card that's astoundingly quiet. Even though I have 980 tis, I'm always jealous of how quiet my brother's system is even while gaming hard with that card.

I hope your gaming demands are not too great though, 4k is brutal, especially for modern games.
 
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I've got the https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga...s-graphics-card-04g-p4-3975-kr-gx-269-ea.html £10 cheaper than Strix

0Db until 60c, boosts to 1380MHz-but even then the stock fan profile is aimed at low noise and sits about 24% on full gaming, cheaper than the strix with peace of mind that you get UK based Evga warranty returns.

Msi gaming has 0DB too, but the Strix I believe is one of the shorter pcbs (if that matters).
 
as much of a fan as i am on Nvidia i would say at 4k you will get better bang for buck with a R9 390 but forget it being as quiet as a 970 in game they simply cannot compete with the power frugal 900 series cards.

a 970 really is not a good choice at 4k due to the Vram limits 3.5gb saga. 4k is the only res i would say its going to make a noticeable impact. i would either suggest a 980ti (money) or you will have to run 2k on the 4k monitor. It will still look good but a 970 simply cant handle 4k
 
Randall8686 said:
as much of a fan as i am on Nvidia i would say at 4k you will get better bang for buck with a R9 390 but forget it being as quiet as a 970 in game they simply cannot compete with the power frugal 900 series cards.

a 970 really is not a good choice at 4k due to the Vram limits 3.5gb saga. 4k is the only res i would say its going to make a noticeable impact. i would either suggest a 980ti (money) or you will have to run 2k on the 4k monitor. It will still look good but a 970 simply cant handle 4k
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I would agree with this, the 970 is not a good idea for 1440P let alone 4K.

The 390 is better and more capable especially at 4K, but what you really need is a 980TI.
 
Modern titles at 4K will bring a 970 to its knees. 2160p is extremely demanding, if you want to play newish games at higher settings with decent frame rate you need to go multi GPU ideally, which can bring its own problems.
 
humbug said:
I can't run Star Citizen @ Very high '''''1080P''''' without it going over 3.5GB and borking all over the shop, wouldn't even attempt it at 1440P.
Click to expand...

Ok that might be the only game. New Assassin's Creed, GTA V,Project Cars just to name a few that run very well for me. I don't run into a 3.5 wall either.
 
lets face it people will be fast to blame the Vram issues on a 970 as it was so public, However having owned one in the real world its not that big of a problem. 970 @ 1440p will be ok there might be the "odd" tittle that it does not like but 90% of tittles will be fine.

Nvidia have optimised the drivers very well to take the 3.5gb vram .5gb vram into consideration. However this does not mean its the right card i would still vote the 390 even though mine has been a driver nightmare and there is no shadow of a doubt AMD drivers are still behind Nvidia.

a 980ti would be the perfect solution followed by a 980 then a 390 then a 970 go for what your budget allows but in all honesty the 970 is the worst of the bunch at 4k it just does not like anything higher than 1440p but at that res and 1080 its still an awesome card that i would choose over the 390 @ 1080lp due to heat and drivers but that my choice others simply do not care for heat or buggering about with drivers. Each to their own that's what makes this hobby great.
 
I'd disagree holeheartdly on the amd/nvidia drivers part having been amd for years then back to nvidia last may.

Maybe just different titles=bad luck?

Idk, but without going into specifics, imo ymmv.




Op didn't mention high iq@4K or anything but most titles if not all will still play@4K on realistic settings.
 
I won't be gaming at 4K, I don't have the processing power all round for it. I just want a reasonably high gaming card in the price point of a 970. At best, I'll probably keep my gaming at 1080p, but would like to run Windows at 4K and at 0dB on idle mode when I'm just surfing or working with Office apps.
 
TheRealDeal said:
As above the 970 is not a great card for 4k.

This 390 has 0 db mode and is a better fit for 4k although no single card is great at 4k if you want all the bells and whistles. It will produce more heat but I doubt it will be noticeably louder.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-radeon-r9-390-dc3-oc-strix-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-374-as.html
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The Asus 390 is nice but cooling wise I would recommend the Sapphire Nitro since that is better at keeping temps low with a low fan speed thus giving more headroom for overclocking.

As for 970 vs 390, the 390 would last longer due to it's 8GB and full hardware DX12 Async Shaders, etc. The 970 is limited by Nvidia drivers to only use 3.5GB so will start to struggle with games that need more for ultra settings.

Already the 390 is coming close to the 980 in the latest games such as SW:Battlefront.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1096-star-wars-battlefront-benchmarks/
 
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humbug said:
I would agree with this, the 970 is not a good idea for 1440P let alone 4K.

The 390 is better and more capable especially at 4K, but what you really need is a 980TI.
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Agreed - the 970 is a terrible GPU to power a 4K TV.

The Radeon 390 series have over double! the VRAM of the 970, are generally faster and are cheaper! It's the far better option for your scenario.
 
fs123 said:
The Asus 390 is nice but cooling wise I would recommend the Sapphire Nitro since that is better at keeping temps low with a low fan speed thus giving more headroom for overclocking.

As for 970 vs 390, the 390 would last longer due to it's 8GB and full hardware DX12 Async Shaders, etc. The 970 is limited by Nvidia drivers to only use 3.5GB so will start to struggle with games that need more for ultra settings.

Already the 390 is coming close to the 980 in the latest games such as SW:Battlefront.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1096-star-wars-battlefront-benchmarks/
Click to expand...

While I agree he wants 0 db mode which the Asus has and I don't think the Sapphire does.
 
Luckily for me, my brother had a Gigabyte 970 that he didn't want to use anymore, so I've "borrowed" it for the time being! It seems reasonably quiet and the system is a LOT quieter than with my 560Ti which is good and pleases the Mrs!

I'll see how that goes for now. I've got the PC up and running on the TV running 4K @ 30Hz. I've updated the latest drivers and I can now do 60Hz without the terrible flickering I was getting, however, I need to tweak the settings a little more as the text seems to have a horrible glow effect around it when running at 60Hz.
 
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