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For the review today we are using the latest Nvidia Forceware 344.07 and AMD Catalyst 14.7 beta drivers. All of the AMD and Nvidia hardware in our reviews today used these drivers – tested this week before launch.
We are using one of our brand new test rigs supplied by DINOPC and built to our specifications. If you want to read more about this, or are interested in buying the same Kitguru Test Rig, check out our article with links on this page. We are using an Asus PB287Q 4k and Apple 30 inch Cinema HD monitor for this review today.
Comparison cards:
Asus GTX780 Ti Direct CU II OC (954mhz core / 1750 mhz memory)
Sapphire R9 290X Tri-X OC (1040 mhz core / 1300 mhz memory)
Nvidia GTX980 (1127 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory)
Palit GTX780 6GB (902 mhz core / 1502mhz memory)
Asus R9 290 Direct CU II OC (1000 mhz core / 1260 mhz memory)
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
3DMark
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Games:
Grid AutoSport
Tomb Raider
Metro Last Light Redux
Thief 2014
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.
Game descriptions edited with courtesy from Wikipedia.
Have been in the market for a R9 280x for the past several months…
After reading this review, whelp, I’m sold; Asus 970 Strix it is.
Dude no go for the MSI 4G it performs better and is £20 cheaper in the UK been doing a ton of research this morning. Also be have managed overclocks of 1502 ON THE BASE CLOCK. Without much effort. 1400 WITHOUT ADJUSTING VOLTAGES o_o
The MSI is 2fps faster, sorry but i’d rather have a better cooler who stays silent until the card reaches 60° and oc it myself if i need to. Even a 50mhz boost, which is nothing, is more than enough to get more than those 2fps. MSI solutions remains fantastic though, you can’t really go wrong with both of them.
True but the MSI one also stays incredibly cool, some reviewers go tit to 1567 with no voltage increase and does not go above 65c. That is damn impressive. The MSI cooler is also really well designed to be fair.
MSI disable fans under 50C as well…
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/msi-gtx-970-gaming-4g-review/22/
Link?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-msi-gtx-970-gaming-twin-frozr-5-pcie-30-%28×16%29-7010-mhz-gddr5-gpu-1140-mhz-cores-1664-dp-dvi-hdmi
I actually got mine £5 cheaper from them, they just upped their price.
Hello people Kitguru, you have an error in the selection list, says MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G
instead of ASUS Strix GTX 970. Please fix that, thanks!
Thanks!
Hey Kitguru, I am wondering what your opinion on the different partner cooling solutions is. TwinFrozr (MSI), Windforce (Gigabyte), ACX (eVGA), and Strix (?, ASUS) – all seem to be formidable choices. I am personally a fan of the Gigabyte Windforce one, but what about the other selections? How do they compare?
So just to be sure, I should definitely look into MSI cards if I want to build a silent system right?
Not really ASUS are also silent, but this MSI card is insanely silent I am amazed and it is cheaper. to it with a bit of an OC max temp of 70 and it is silent. Nothign wrong with ASUS. I like them a lot but MSI are also solid, and this is £20 cheaper so no brainer for me.
Gotcha. What if I wanted to buy a relatively silent gpu in the $150-200 range? Would you recommend ASUS and MSI for their silence (even at the price range)?
Hard one would need to do your research on that front. Thing is the 900 Series seems to be the quietest of them all due to the lower power consumptions fans turning off below 60c etc. Silence in that range may not be achievable. Would have to look back at the 700 series to try and find a quiet solution.
I wonder If this type of system fan doesnt die through the years, all those constant changes from 0 to X rpms makes me wonder, thats my only concern about this card. Even if MSI is faster and more silent I wouldnt go with them. Asus has better quality components all the way. Comes to my mind the cheap ass mosfets that MSI use in their 970 Gaming mobos, so NO MSI. This is a must have as Kit Guru says. Bad thing is al re-sellers here in Latín America are gonna raise the price of this model for a while. Greedy basterds…