NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Review | 118 Data compared

The MSI GTX 970 remains a surprisingly capable budget option for 1080p gaming, successfully launching and running almost every modern 2024 title tested. On the positive side, esports and well-optimized titles perform exceptionally well on medium settings; Counter-Strike 2 achieves an average of 147 FPS, Overwatch 2 climbs to 140 FPS, and FC25 maintains a locked 60 FPS. Even demanding AAA titles like Warhammer: Space Marine 2 and Helldivers 2 manage playable, smooth experiences hovering around 40 to late 50 FPS when dialed down to low settings. Furthermore, the card still looks visually appealing with its dual-fan design and receives active driver updates through GeForce Experience. However, the card’s age introduces severe hardware limitations, primarily due to its infamous 3.5GB/4GB VRAM configuration. Intense 2024 games like God of War: Ragnarok, Forza Motorsport, and Space Marine 2 trigger explicit low-VRAM error warnings, forcing the user to tank graphical presets to "Low," which strips the games of their visual shine and textures. Attempting to push these titles to medium settings results in severe lag, glitchy performance, and input delay. Stability is also...

Nvidia GTX 970 Performance Ten years after its 2014 launch, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 remains a surprisingly capable budget contender for patient gamers willing to sacrifice visual fidelity. When tested at 1080p resolution with low graphical settings, the legacy card achieved respectable frame rates across several modern titles, averaging 95 fps in Total War: Warhammer 3, 85 fps in Hitman 3, and 72 fps in Halo Infinite. It even safely managed demanding RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3, maintaining a playable 58 fps average. Furthermore, the EVGA dual-fan model demonstrated excellent thermal efficiency, consistently keeping temperatures at or below a cool 70°C under load. The card's greatest asset is its incredible secondhand value, often selling for under $50 on platforms like eBay, making it an excellent option for ultra-low-budget builds or retro gaming setups. However, the GPU hits a hard wall when facing heavy modern graphical demands and lacks the longevity features of newer hardware. It severely struggled with Cyberpunk 2077, dropping to a muddy 40 fps accompanied by substantial visual compromises. Lowering settings to achieve fluid frame rates in...

A TechSpot re-review five years post-launch reveals that the performance gap between the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 and AMD Radeon R9 290 has closed, with both cards offering viable 1080p gaming performance. The GTX 970 boasts superior power efficiency and lower temperatures, but is hindered by its infamous 3.5GB memory configuration. Conversely, the R9 290’s full 4GB VRAM and wider bus provide better longevity, though it suffers from higher power consumption and heat output.

The Trusted Reviews analysis identifies the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 as a premier graphics card for 1080p and 1440p gaming, praised for its Maxwell architecture, which offers high speed and excellent energy efficiency. Key advantages include cool, quiet operation and superior performance over the AMD Radeon R9 290 in demanding titles. Despite its strengths, the review notes the card is more expensive than its rivals and struggles to provide smooth frame rates at 4K resolution. Additionally, the card possesses a controversial, partitioned 3.5.5GB memory architecture that operates below its advertised specifications.

The MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G review by KitGuru awards the graphics card an impressive 9.5 out of 10 rating, highly praising its performance and architectural efficiency. Built on Nvidia's 28nm Maxwell architecture, this modified card features 1,664 CUDA cores and is factory overclocked to a base clock of 1,140MHz, up from the reference 1,050MHz. It includes 4GB of GDDR5 memory running across a 224 GB/s bandwidth, backed by a upgraded 6 power phase design to ensure cleaner power delivery. Reviewers and community members highlight major pros, including its striking red-and-black aesthetic, exceptional value for money, generous overclocking headroom, and a highly efficient Twin Frozr V cooler that keeps the card dead silent and running cool under load. In benchmarks, the card delivers excellent frame rates across various tested games, including 4K configurations when paired in SLI. Despite the high praise, the review and community feedback note a few specific cons and user considerations. The card requires dual PCIe power inputs (one 8-pin and one 6-pin connector), which stands out as a slight drawback compared to competing models like the...

The bit-tech review evaluates Nvidia's Maxwell-based GeForce GTX 970 through three highly-customised partner boards: the ASUS Strix, EVGA Superclocked (SC) ACX2, and MSI Gaming 4G. Priced starting at a competitive £259 inc VAT, the GTX 970 features a cut-down version of the GM204 GPU found in the flagship GTX 980. It retains a full 4GB GDDR5 frame buffer and a 256-bit bus, using advanced technologies like Delta Colour Compression to maximise its 224GB/sec memory bandwidth. Pros highlight the card's exceptional power efficiency, dropping to a low 145W TDP, and incredible overclocking potential. Custom coolers from partners deliver whisper-quiet or completely passive operation under light loads. When overclocked to frequencies exceeding 1.4GHz, these cards deliver stellar performance that rivals the much pricier GTX 980 and handily beats older flagships like the GTX 780 Ti. However, the review outlines a few notable cons and trade-offs. Because Nvidia did not produce a standard reference model, prospective buyers face high variability regarding PCB sizes, cooler performance, and out-of-the-box clock speeds among vendors. While the memory system handles bandwidth highly efficiently, the physical 224GB/sec bandwidth...

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 WindForce OC is evaluated as a highly appealing, value-focused graphics card that utilizes graphics processing units (GPUs) specifically binned for enhanced overclocking potential and lower power consumption. It features an updated, thin WindForce cooler equipped with advanced rotor blades that efficiently direct waste heat vertically away from storage drives. A major highlight is its extensive connectivity, which offers a total of six video outputs—including three DisplayPort connections, two dual-link DVI connectors, and an future-proof HDMI 2.0 port—allowing up to four displays to be used actively at once. Structurally, the dual-slot profile ensures excellent compatibility for multi-GPU SLI configurations, while an integrated backplate adds structural stability to the PCB. While the card provides suitable cooling headroom and remains relatively quiet during load, it does suffer from a few notable drawbacks. The primary drawback identified is its excessively high fan speed at idle, which stays locked at a minimum of 35 percent RPM and prevents the system from being completely silent when not gaming. Additionally, the vertically-oriented cooling fins exhaust hot air back into the PC case...

The TechPowerUp review of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 SLI highlights a compelling, high-value, multi-GPU configuration that delivers exceptional performance scaling (often exceeding 70%) in demanding titles, making 4K gaming more accessible. Priced at a combined $660 at launch, this setup outperforms flagship cards like the GTX 780 Ti, supported by an efficient 155W TDP per card that keeps power and thermal loads manageable. Key considerations include the limitation of total usable VRAM to 4 GB, which could cap performance in future memory-intensive titles, as well as dependence on SLI driver support for optimal scaling. While offering immense performance per dollar, this configuration also requires robust power supply and thermal management for the dual-card setup.

The Digital Foundry article by Richard Leadbetter re-evaluates the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 following a class-action lawsuit regarding its controversial segmented memory configuration. While advertised as a standard 4GB card, it actually features 3.5GB of high-speed GDDR5 RAM running at 196GB/s and a slower 512MB partition running at a drastically reduced 28GB/s. Testing customized models like the ultra-quiet Asus GTX 970 Strix, the review concludes that Nvidia's driver effectively manages this setup under standard conditions. The card remains highly competitive because it delivers near stock GTX 980 performance at a much lower cost, making it a highly praised market option despite the technical miscommunications. The primary pros of the GTX 970 are its excellent price-to-performance ratio, exceptional overclocking headroom to match pricier hardware, and highly effective driver optimizations that successfully hide latency through smart data scheduling. On the flip side, the major cons stem from the cut-back hardware specifications, which include a reduction to 56 ROPs and a 1.75MB L2 cache instead of the initially reported 64 ROPs and 2MB cache. Furthermore, a significant performance con occurs during extreme, unrecommended...

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 is a highly capable graphics card, delivering robust performance for the vast majority of mainstream gaming setups. The underlying GM204 Maxwell architecture gives the card exceptional power efficiency, requiring only 145W during demanding gameplay. Third-party variations like the Asus STRIX and Zotac AMP! Extreme offer aggressive factory overclocks that easily drive demanding games like Tomb Raider and Metro: Last Light at ultra settings over 40-80 frames per second at 1080p, while comfortably handling 1440p and entry-level 4K gaming if settings are tweaked. Furthermore, unique compact models like the 170mm Asus GTX 970 DC Mini provide uncompromising performance for space-restricted Mini-ITX and home theatre systems. However, the card's release was marred by a specification error regarding its memory allocation. Instead of a fully functioning 4GB pool, one of its memory controllers is only partially enabled, segmenting the VRAM into a fast 3.5GB portion and a significantly slower 512MB portion, which can hamper performance once the first 3.5GB is filled up. Additionally, pricing remains a major hurdle across individual cards; premium custom variations like the three-fan Zotac...

The TechPowerUp review of the EVGA GTX 970 SuperClocked ACX highlights a fast, factory-overclocked card based on NVIDIA’s efficient Maxwell architecture, capable of high-performance gaming at resolutions up to 2560x1600. Key pros include high power efficiency, significant overclocking headroom, and versatile display output options. Conversely, the review notes significant cons, primarily high fan noise under load and the lack of a pre-installed backplate, making it louder than competitors. While operating temperatures are adequate at 73°C, the cooling profile is not optimized for silence.

The TechPowerUp review of the ASUS GTX 970 Strix OC highlights a highly efficient, factory-overclocked card offering excellent 1440p gaming value at $350. Key pros include the silent, semi-passive DirectCU II cooler, a robust backplate, and HDMI 2.0 support. Cons include a lack of factory-overclocked memory and a modest 2% performance gain over reference cards, with power consumption close to a stock GTX 980. While competing custom cards may offer higher stock speeds, the Strix is commended for its overall performance and features.

The TechPowerUp review highlights the MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming as a highly efficient, factory-overclocked card, delivering exceptional 1080p/1440p performance and superior energy efficiency. Its standout TwinFrozr cooler offers nearly silent operation through a passive fan profile, alongside excellent manual overclocking capabilities. Key cons include the lack of a protective backplate, a modest 3% factory core boost, and stock-speed memory, resulting in minimal performance gains over reference models. Furthermore, the voltage controller lacks I2C support for advanced monitoring.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 and 970 review introduces the performance-oriented 28nm "GM204" Maxwell architecture, scaling up the historic energy efficiency seen in previous entry-level cards to enthusiast-grade gaming rigs. The flagship GTX 980 features 2,048 CUDA cores, 64 ROPs, and a 165W TDP, while the highly cost-effective GTX 970 delivers 1,664 CUDA cores at an even lower 145W TDP. Architecturally, Nvidia combats a reduced 256-bit memory bus bandwidth through a highly efficient third-generation delta color compression engine, alongside an upgraded third-generation PolyMorph engine that boosts high-factor tessellation performance by up to 50%. Both cards also modernise display connectivity by introducing the world's first support for HDMI 2.0 alongside an upgraded H.265 (HEVC) video encoder capable of processing 4K ShadowPlay video at 60 FPS. The primary advantages of these cards lie in their groundbreaking performance-per-watt efficiency, allowing the GTX 980 to heavily compete with and occasionally beat the power-hungry GTX 780 Ti despite pulling roughly 100 Watts less under load. The GTX 970 establishes an incredible price-to-performance value proposition, and both cards boast massive architectural fill rate leads at high...

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 is described as a "genuine game-changer" that disrupted the high-end GPU market by offering exceptional performance at a mid-range price of £260. Based on the Maxwell architecture, it delivers a high performance-per-pound ratio, rendering competing cards like AMD’s R9 290 and 290X—and even Nvidia’s own GTX 780—effectively obsolete due to its superior efficiency and power. In testing, the card excels at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, often matching or exceeding the performance of the much more expensive GTX 780 Ti. Furthermore, its overclocking potential is significant, allowing it to claw back nearly all performance deficits to compete directly with Nvidia’s flagship GTX 980. However, the review highlights several drawbacks, most notably a marketing controversy regarding incorrectly advertised specifications that eventually led to a lawsuit. While the card features 4GB of GDDR5 memory, the bandwidth is split unevenly, with 3.5GB running at high speeds and the remaining 512MB at a much lower rate. Additionally, despite its strength at lower resolutions, the GTX 970 struggles at 4K, typically maintaining only 30fps even with reduced quality settings. The card...