16.3.2015

I'm happy with the performance of this card and glad I didn't splash out on a 980. 4K gaming is nascent rather than actual for most of us, and in future games will have more detail to render in ultra-high resolution which neither card will be able to do on ultra settings anyway. So the 980 seemed overkill considering the cost-benefit ratio, and it's not exactly future-proofing either. The money saved with the 970 today can go towards a next-gen card somewhere down the road. I would guess that you'd lose less money second hand too. The "0.5 GB" issue didn't put me off buying -- the card performs the same. Certainly if you want the best,the 980 is for you if you value it as highly as the retail price and don't have a wife rolling her eyes at your lifestyle choices...I've tested the Asus Strix GTX 970 on Crysis 3, Battlefield 4, FarCry 4 and Assassin's Creed IV, and I'm getting really good frame rates and smooth play on ultra settings, and vsynch works fine where applicable. I've used GeForce Experience to optimize the settings. It seems FC4 was processed in 4k anyway and Battlefield in 2.5K, before being downscaled for my standard HD monitor. Maybe that explains why FC4 was using 3GB onboard RAM while Battlefield used 2GB (as did Crysis3 in standard HD). Other games in standard HD used 1.5 GB or less, all on very high and ultra settings. It seems to me that if you set standard HD processing for everything and overclocked the card, you'd be gaming away with new titles on high settings happily for a few years.I haven't overclocked this card and don't yet see the need, and while it's sold as 1253 Mhz boost clock, the GPU Tweak software shows I've been getting 1342 MHz on Crysis 3, out of the box.Temperature: depends on your system, and I have voltage-controlled Noctua fans front and rear plus a Noctua CPU tower cooler on PWM (horizontal orientation). When not gaming I get 41-43 C on this card, GPU fans off. When gaming heavily I get about 72 C, fans at about 50%. You could of course set the fans how you like to bring down temperatures at whatever load.Noise: Since I've been after a near-silent PC this was important (in addition to the Noctua fans I use a semi-passive Corsair PSU whose fans rarely come on, and a Samsung 850 Pro SSD as main drive rather than one that's spinning all the while). When not under load the GPU fans are off and silent. At 45% it sounds like a very quiet twin-prop plane climbing lazily after take-off (somehow you can hear a stereo low rumble from both fans). I think the fans are quieter at 55% due to the higher pitch. Anyway, as we all know, when gaming it's headphones on or speakers on full, and in this case the fans aren't so loud as to be disturbing. Even so, for all the advertising I expected the fans to be quieter. As for coil whine, you can make the card do it by running the Windows Experience Index, and yes it sounds like the fast dentist's drill, but it's actually very quiet and I haven't really been able to discern it since, in gaming or when idle. When I turn the speakers off and put my head next to the case of my quiet PC, I can just about make it out. I get as much electrical noise from my mouse charger.Extras: None to speak of! I don't care because I have 6+2 cables with my modular PSU already and didn't need an adapter. There's a disk with drivers and the GPU Tweak software, which you can get online regardless. The Strix 970 only requires 1 cable of the 8 variety anyway, so it tidied my tower a little. So, it was a slight disappointment that the foot-long, inch thick rectangular box inside the bigger box was more or less empty, despite gold letters reading "In Search of Incredible" -- in this respect, I'm still searching. A case badge would have been nice. Still, the card was well protected in the packaging.So in summary, you have most of what the GTX 980 does here in practical terms at the moment, at a price which is so significantly lower to make it the preferred option as a top-end card for most gamers -- stocks and sales figures bear that out. And that's before you start overclocking. My experience of the Asus Strix GTX 970, with its metal chassis and back plate, is of a cool and quiet card of good build quality, which certainly delivers the goods and in fact performs better in terms of boost clock than claimed (MSI claims 1279 MHz on its GTX 970 Gaming edition, which my card exceeded out of the box). While the Strix doesn't have a flashy LED logo, I feel I've made the right decision over the MSI and Gigabyte, or at worst I haven't made a 'wrong' decision. I'm happy with this card in all respects, with the tiny niggle that a trinket of some sort didn't come with it -- but maybe Asus put all the money into the card!

27.3.2016

With the next generation of cards coming in as per the rumor mills, my client was hesitant to purchase the GTX 970, but with Amazon offering the division code and the fact performance regardless of impending cards is still very good for the price ended up grabbing the ASUS strix GTX 970 and has been delighted thus far.The card and GTX 970 itself is a pretty well known quantity by now. This particular model is a fusion of Nvidia’s GM204 core part of the Maxwell architecture and the very good ASUS Strix cooler and a custom PCB.Packaging************The box itself is mostly black with the ASUS owl logo on the front. This is a design theme they use on the design of the cooler itself when fans are facing up.Aside from that we have the typical nomenclature adorning the box.Inside the box we get a separate black box with CD driver (I recommend you bypass this and get the latest drivers direct from Nvidia’s site) Manual and the card itself (Hopefully)Design********The card itself is average in length of this sort of card and is a solid and mostly black design with chrome accents from the heatpipes and some red on the fans side of the card which has been designed as noted to appear like an “owl” with the eyes on the two fans for example.Separate from that and a nice touch is the addition of a nice black backplate. At the time the card was released not many cards had these and since it has become a common trend to include it on the higher end cards. On the side we have the 2 SLI fingers to allow up to 3 Way SLI.Uniquely for this card it uses a single 8 pin PCI-E input. The reference design uses a pair of 6 pins, while other models can use an 8 pin and 6 pin, however this does not really cause an impact to performance we can get.Lastly the card itself has 1 Displayport (1.2), 1 HDMI (2.0), DVI-I port and a DVI-D port.Use****Setting the card up is straightforward and simply process with you just needing to hook up the single 8 Pin PCI-EYou will note the cards fan’s seemingly spin off. This is normal!!!! Another feature introduced on the GTX 970 and 980 and used on many coolers since is under low loads / idle the fans will spin off to create a quieter environment. This does result in slightly higher temperatures at idle, but it's not an issue as such. In use the card remains very cool and quiet with the fan only turning on at around 55 degrees we found, under that the fans turn off. Combined with the Dark Rock Pro 3, Corsair RMx PSU (fans spin off at low loads) we have a very silent PC which is great for browsing etc.By default the card has a base clock of 1114 Mhz and 1253 Mhz Boost. In reality the card will generally boost much higher. This is thanks to boost technology which depending on the thermals and voltage of the card provide a dynamic overclock. As the GTX 970 runs fairly cool in general and armed with the beefy strix cooler and as a result without tweaking anything we were hitting 1270 - 1280 Mhz in games. The build in question uses a 1080p panel but with 144hz, there are some scores we were reaching:Tomb Raider - Ultra settings - Average 100 fpsBattlefield 4 - Ultra - 80 fpsCrysis 3 - Very High - 70 fps3D mark Firestrike - Graphics score - 11021Most of these GPU’s overclock fairly well and our one was no different. Upping the power limit and voltages, we 1492 Mhz on the core and 8001 Mhz on the memory in games. Your mileage may vary but in all this pushed our firestrike score to a bit above 13,000Summary**********So in a nutshell, Nvidia created a lovely core which ASUS have taken away and added on a top notch cooler and design, all for a reasonable price point. The subtle aesthetics and inclusion of backplate combined with the strong performance makes this a great card for 1080p and 1440p gaming. Now at the time of writing this review, there is also a comparable card on the AMD side in the form of the R9 390 that is also worth looking at. In all highly recommend this card.

30.9.2016

well this product plays any game i throw at it . and it plays it well i use amd 9590 fx cpu rog mb its a beast in sli but more expensive than someas i got this at £330.00 and was going to buy another as i thought it was a joke at first i went to buy another and noticed a £20 price hike to £350 or so .i play arma and ark survival evolved and these are pretty demanding games on the cpu and graphics card .this card is cool i mean its not hot .the frames on ark are dependant on settings but the popular games i play are no issue to the card at all i get over 100 fps on arkand plenty on arma 3 .the software is in need of updating so go and download it .compared to the 970 this outruns it by a mileand possibly the best 980ti aircooled with no issues after a few weeks of use .this is a bargain if you cant or dont want the 1070. which runs cooler . so if your doing sli configs use 2 1070 less heat means the cards dont throttle back in bog standard air cooling versions.to get a top card in sli cooler just throw 2 arctic cooler fans in the front of the case with 2 in tandem thats doubled up one behind the other .this is how i cooled the top card and how i still cool other sli configs i build so i have 2 fan spaces one above the other with 2 in the top space in a corsair obsidian 750D case and 3 fans keep it cool ok .the 1070 is around the same performance . . just youtube it for exact temps and build advice.my card does not get hot and after 18 hours of gaming i cant complain yet .so i would buy this if you get a bargain . its about the best 980ti out there .watercooled versions are great but the cost is too high .the 980 is a good optional less expensive deal in sli or a single card .but as an upgrade i found 2 x 780ti matrix platinum gpu,s ran about the same just half the onboard memory at 3gb .so buy if you want but dont think your wasting your cash on this one as it really does a good job of producing fps and rendering well on either Amd or intel and with a 375 watts draw it needs a good power supply to support it with dual 8 pin connections needing fed it can be a pain budgeting the price in for sli a 1200 watt supply s needed . to be safe but a single card a general board nothing too fanc will gibve you a price break of a 650 to 850 in comparison so do factor this in when buying if jumping in at the deep end .the flashy white on red background led is ok it just comes and goes but who,s watching that anyway . the power lights are bright white and i mean really white. (stab u in the eye white ha ha ). so to sum it up it is a great card with potential for greatness if you mod it out with a waterblock .but just know you dont need to as it performs well for the money and it has not even flinched at me stuttered or gave me any .. oh no !!! momentsyet .but i noticed an overclock is using 405 watts so factor this into the build . good luck and enjoy it .

24.4.2015

I have already reviewed the 2GB version of the Asus GTX960 and my review can be found here > (Asus Nvidia Gtx 960 PCI-E Graphics Card), i finally managed to get hold of the 4GB version for a customer build, considering it was the first 4GB version of the gtx960 i've had a hold of, i decided to test it out on a few games and compare it to the 2GB version.Design wise the card looks identical to the 2GB version and even the specifications are the same on paper. I was hoping for the memory bus to be wider than 128-bit although it is fair to say that Nvidia do use compression technology so in real world testing it performs better than how you would think at first glance.Literally the only difference between the 2GB and 4GB versions are the extra two Gigabytes, so how does this impact gaming at 1080p, not forgetting that the 960 was designed for 1080p gaming?Truth be told there weren't massive frame per second increases when using the 4gb version over the 2gb one. It quickly became clear that the extra 2GB of memory did allow graphics settings such as texture quality and Anti Aliasing to be ramped up especially in games such as GTA5. Also when i tested the card out on a 1440p monitor the games held up considerably better frame wise compared to the 2gb version. Don't go thinking you can use multiple displays at 1440p, i started to get stability issues once i connected a second display at that resolution but if you want to game @1440p using 1 monitor then this card should just about do it, JUST!I recommend you go and read my 2gb gtx960 review, for most people gaming at 1080p resolution that card will be more than ample, the 4GB card comes into its own when you what to turn up the filters and improve the image quality, the bonus is it does give you a few added frames per second. If you specifically want to game at 1440p and use multiple monitors then you need to be looking at either the Nvidia gtx970 or 980.Verdict: The 4GB GTX960 is a great 1080p gaming card and is DirectX-12 ready. The 2gb version is the one to go for if you're not over fussy about higher end texture quality but if you are and want to turn those settings up higher then the 4GB card is the one to pick. It is clear after speaking with friends who have a better knowledge of graphics card architecture beyond what I have that the main bottleneck with the 4GB version is the bandwidth, both of my friends said that if this card had a 256-bit bus rather than the 128-bit it has then there would be a bigger performance boost over the 2GB version. So my final verdict on the 4GB version is unless you plan on playing games such as Skyrim and GTA with high texture settings and "higher "MSAA" then the 2GB version is the best one to go for, my one and only main concern with the 4GB 960 is it is bordering on GTX970 prices in some cases. Just make sure you don't pay over the odds!

11.8.2016

I recently purchased this graphics card as an upgrade to the gtx 750Ti which had served me well but felt like it wasn't quite up to the standards of gaming I required. The salesperson was extremely helpful and actually made me feel very comfortable about buying this product with peace of mind. Anyway, the build that I put this card into is a small form factor tower (Fusion case in white to be exact) and has an overclocked to 4.1ghz pentium g3258 anniversary edition inside it along with an 80 plus certified 500w power supply and an Asus b85m-g motherboard. The card States that it requires a 400w minimum power supply and I have had no problems at all in powering it. The card was easy to install and fits nicely in my case,

25.3.2015

*Confession - I didn't buy the card from Amazon (as they ran out at the time). But some of the reviews here are so ridiculous I felt compelled to have a say.Maximum score for this cutting edge Maxwell-based GPU from Nvidia. Absolutely fantastic. I have no reservations about recommending this to anyone running a 1080p setup (if you intend to go 4k resolution, pick the 980 over this).+ Dual over-sized fans and heat-pipe setup is extremely quiet, and has the new zero-rpm mode for super-quiet operation when not under load.+ Fantastic Power Consumption. If like me you're upgrading from a previous gen Nvidia card (I came from GTX 590), you will probably not need to upgrade your PSU.

21.10.2016

Having decided it was high time to upgrade my ageing GTX 650, I initially bought a RX 470. However, it didn't last long due to driver issues and was returned, and I returned to the NVIDIA fold. However, I wasn't prepared to pay a premium for the 1060 let alone a 1070 so I picked up this beauty. Of course, then I heard about the 1050 so I possibly should have waited.This card is an absolute monster. I had thought the RX 470 was large, but this card is even bigger. I have an Antec 900 case with a Sabertooth 990FX board, two platter disk drives and 3 SSD's. The PSU is on the bottom of the case. The platter drives were seated on the same alignment as the graphics card and the new card simply wouldn't go in with them there.

8.9.2016

I built my sons PC at Christmas and after seven months decided that it was time for a graphical upgrade. I decided after much deliberation to purchase this bad boy from Amazon.This card is huge and I fully agree on this fact like mentioned in previous reviews so make sure your case can accommodate and motherboard can accommodate .I am now trying games that were previously too much to ask for my old 750ti (comparison picture provided) and with this monster they run beautifully,(even Ark). I personally wonder what the games would look like with two of these hitting them?In all the games played so far, the graphics card has lived up to the silent promises and this is even when the temperatures are starting to rise.I have included quite a few pictures that show that a lot of time,

3.11.2015

I read through a lot of reviews around the 3 best recommended 980Ti's, this one, the MSi one and the Gigabyte one, on most of the results this card came out top, I've always been an Asus fan and since I've always enjoyed their high quality made products with amazing cooling (Direct CUIII now!) it was a no brainer to go with this card! I've just switched from an Asus 7970 Direct CUII OC Top 3Gb which was fine and I had no issues with, but stepping upto this was a far larger upgrade than I'd imagined! The DSR feature is brilliant and well worth taking time to optimise games thought the nVidia Experience for! At 1080p most games will run over 150fps (HoTS which I play a lot bounces off 195fps in game play)

26.5.2015

Got this to replace an EVGA GTX 660 which struggled a little with elite dangerous at 2560*1440 while bounty hunting RES unless I dialed down the detail.With this card I am getting 90 to 100fps with settings on ultra. About double the GTX 660 was getting on medium-ish settings.I haven't tested elite thoroughly. I have another 660 based rig, so at some point may update with a side by side comparison.I have not done a thorough test of elite due to spending almost the whole weekend with The Witcher 3. It made my 660 cry. Struggling to get near 30fps on low settings (still looks good though).With the 970 I have it averaging 60fps, occasionally dropping to 50fps in busy areas with settings set to high.

10.12.2015

This is a add-on review after the coil whine issue on 2 cards I have now sat down and put it on a bench and its actually the power supply that is causing the coil whine (Corsair Builder Series CXM 750W) and having searched the internet its a common issue with this power supply, I have now rated the graphics card 5* as its actually whisper quiet, check your power supply if you have coil whine when playing games as from the side of the PC the whine sounds as though its coming from the graphics card but its actually for me coming from the power supply.===========================================================================================================I've only recently just purchased this and the graphical quality of games is great I play most games on Ultra settings,

14.1.2016

Obviously this card is very fast and can run everything on Ultra settings with no problem. I could not try 4K gaming but it is supposed to be able to do that as well. My screen is 2560 x 1600. The box claims 0dB gaming which I don't completely agree with. Yes it is true that until the card reached 60 Celsius the fans will stay off and the card is silent. However, once you start playing a modern 3D game the card will reach that temperature quickly and it will go up all the way to 73-80 Celsius and that is without extreme over-clocking. The result is fans running at high RPM that is everything but silent and still not being able to cool it below 71-73 Celsius.

10.2.2017

My homebrew system is used for a lot of image work- astronomy and terrestrial photography through a Predator XB271HDU 27" monitor. It displays at 2560x1440 using this gtx 960. I am not a gamer but I can say the improvement in resolution over my previous radon graphics card outputting 1920x1080 is, indeed. Astronomic. Being at the 60+ end of the computer user spectrum ( yes...I graduated to one of those after the ZX81) the improved resolution is fundamental to me enjoying online magazines and reading with ease. Conversely, smaller lettering at higher resolution is so much easy to read.The only down side to this silent card, which I have yet to provoke into switching on its fans,

4.3.2016

let me preface this by saying i dont 4K game.. and resolution matters a lot.i currently run my pc through a 42" tv and play games in 1920x1080. and i believe thats around the maximum youlle get from this if you play demanding games on highest settings.i have an i5-23k processor and 16gb of hyperfuryX 1333MHz RAM (old foxconn motherboard)with that said: the card has been an absolute peach so far, brilliant. i tested a couple games just to benchmark it myself.Tomb Raider - all settings on Ultra no frame drops at allBlack Desert Online - all settings high/very high with extra draw distance 50~fps which drops to 30 when you first enter the viscinity of a capital city (while it loads all the structures,

11.8.2015

My Son the gamer is generally impressed by this card.It runs most games that he's got "perfectly", on a single 22 inch monitor on DVI at 1080p full screen at 60+ FPS.That's on an intel i5 3470 3.20 GHz with 8 Gb 1600 MHz, which is getting on a bit now and relatively under spec'ed.It replaced an Nvidia 650 and is noticeably an improvement on that in every game with both better frame rates and higher settings.The next upgrade will be a full processor/motherboard/ram swap which this 960 graphics card will probably survive.The 960 runs on one six pin power cable which is a standard lead coming off the loom from the power supply so no extra lead required.The 960 is a double width card so occupies

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