Which GTX 970's ?

[Gripen90]

So I have managed to sell my 2x GTX 780Ti's and my GTX Titan and now I want to get 3x GTX 970 cards since I find the performance close to GTX 980 while being much cheaper. Of cource I could get 2x GTX 980's but the power of 3x GTX 970 just appeals a lot more

However I'm in doubt what 3x GTX 970 to get ?,
the TDP on the GTX 970 should be 145watt so I assume that it doesn't get too hot.

I won't be watercooling so it's going to be all air based like in my current case with 3x 780's.
I have looked at Gainwards GTX 970 4GB cards which have that radial cooler when looks very much like the ones from reference GTX 670/680 cards.
It has a Base clock of 1050MHz and Boost of 1178MHz

However I have also looked at the EVGA GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 1.0 4GB card. Which is a bit faster with Base clock of 1165MHz and Boost of 1317MHz. But I don't know if that type of cooler will manage in 3 way SLi without overheating. I have superb airflow in my case to cool my existing 3x780's.

I must admit I'm mostly keen on the EVGA cards primarily due to their clock speeds, but perhaps they would be obtainable too with the Gainward cards and a small OC ?

 

[Gripen90]

Thank you guys for the fast replies !. I will go ahead and reserve 3x EVGA GTX 970 Superclocked ACX cards

 

[Gripen90]

You want REF blowers for three cards in tri-SLI..

I would highly recommend you buy three GTX 970 that has the titan coolers...

I normally would go for radial blowers too, but if those GTX 970's don't get that hot then I assume or hope that the ACX coolers will still be efficient?. I'd really like to get some cards that are a baster than stock 1150MHz, but I don't know if I'd be better of trying to OC those Gainward cards with radialblower to the same EVGA Superclocked speeds.

I have 1x120 side fan, 1x120mm fan on the HD cage and 1x80mm bottom mounted af where all take is fresh air.

 

[Gripen90]

In all honesty i'd look somewhere else.
Compared to Msi/Giga sku's - Evga sports lower heat dissipating capacity as well as louder cooling solution, very basic pcb, subpar volt regulator module (budget Richtek sku), cheapo overall power delivery components, prone to electric noise as noted here by Bit-tech.

Spoiler

Well problem is that MSI's new cooler design makes 3 way sli impossible with the fixed bridge, and it's cooler is so wide that it will collide with my side mounted fan.
The Gigabyte card is just too long to fit in there, and the Windforce coolers have a terrible reputation for dealing with 3 way SLi.

I really only see two options. Either the EVGA GTX 970 ACX 1.0 (which is the only one available in Denmark) or the Gainward GTX 970 with a radial blower fan.

Still then I see this picture of 3x GTX 780SC ACX based cards in 3 way SLi and wonder if it is possible ?


I'd really like to have the speed of the GTX 970 Super clocked cards and I wonder if the Gainward cards can be OC'ed from base clock 1050Mhz to at least 1165MHz per card to mach at least the Superclocked speeds.

 

[Gripen90]

Yeah these 970s generally overclock high so I would say you are good for 1200mhz and beyond.

Yea I hope so !

On the other hand I see people running 2way SLi with the EVGA ACX coolers where they are right below eachother and they seem to run fine. Hmm shouldn't it be the same with 3 then ?. The bottom card still get fresh air and the two in the middle gets air form 1x120mm on the side and 1x120mm on the HDD cage...

Arghhh I don't know what to buy I really want the Superclocked cards with the better performance.

 

[Gripen90]

Hi there

Gainward, Palit, Galax all use the same radial fan on their basic 970's.

We are getting our own 970 produced which will use Titan NVIDIA cooler, watch this space.

That sounds interesting !

Just placed my order on 3x Gainward GTX 970 with the radial blower

 

[Gripen90]

Not from OcUK then? I like the Gainward ref model, but OcUK don't stock them. I intend on buying from OcUK because of their great customer service and I'm also looking for a GTX 970 using a radial/blower type cooler. I might end up with the Palit model which looks identical to the PNY version... I don't like the colour scheme of the Galax version... Or even their new silly name lol

I was thinking of waiting for the ones with "Titan" cooler. But since I've already sold my exiting cards (sending them out monday) I can't really wait for them to get in stock.
So I decided to go for the Gainwards which were in stock at a danish retailer for £264 ea.