GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

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GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby I Hate Mondays on Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:26 am

So in the following two weeks I will be getting a new GPU. The card I am going for is no wonder a GTX 970, as I have a 1080p monitor and the 980 would be too much ( I have no plans on changing my monitor for the near future).
As I am no expert in this area, I would really be thankful for you guys to give me some tips on choosing the right brand for the GTX 970.
The first brand I came across was ofcourse the Gigabyte ( GTX 970 G1 Gaming). It had all the positive reviews and all. The thing is, if I want to buy this GPU brand, I would have to change my current power source and PC case, which is a little bit of a headache.
I was getting used to the ideea with no problems, when I came across the GTX 970 Phantom from Gainward. It was the perfect size for my current PC case, my power source can handle it with no problems. I was really happy with the fact I could've avoided the update on my PC case and the power source. The thing is...the GTX 970 from Gainward had some negative reviews with no explanation and it was a little bit cheaper in comparison with the Gigabyte one. The money is not a problem, but I would prefer not to go through the process of changing the PC case and the power source if I can avoid it. Yet, the cheaper price and the random negative thumbs down seen on the second brand made me skeptical.

Whatever GPU I get, I want it to last a little bit long term. Like 3 years from now.( that's when I think the new console generation will debut). I do not want to run games at low settings just for the sake of running the game, I want to run them on Ultra ( I could eventually disable some crazy gameworks which are bad optimized anyway).

So my question is, will the GTX 970 Phantom from Gainward and the G1 Gaming from Gigabyte run games with the same average fps ? Or are the better price and the positive reviews a real factor and the G1 can run games at better average fps in comparison with the Gainward one ? Or should I get a different brand than those two ( I know there are like 3 more on the market) ? Thank you in advance !
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby Andrew on Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:54 am

I have no complaints about the performance of my 4 GB GTX 970 from Gainward so far. It's hard to put too much stock into negative reviews that don't elaborate with actual reasons as to why they're disappointed. They could just as easily be trolling fanboys, or users who didn't do the research about power requirements and so forth. I mean, we're in an age where a video of a guy dressing up as Spider-Man for his terminally ill nephew gets Dislikes on YouTube, people will thumb down anything for any reason.
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby I Hate Mondays on Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:02 am

Oh that's so nice to know you own the Gainward one, Andrew. So can you run any game on Ultra ? ( I know the most demanding ones are the Witcher 3, Crysis 3 )
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby Andrew on Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:08 am

I don't have either of those games so I can't offer confirmation there, but so far I'm running everything at Ultra - as far as I'm aware - with NBA 2K16 and Fallout 4 being the most recent titles I own.

If there's a direct comparison and/or some detailed reviews, that might help you make up your mind. I am sceptical about any negative reviews that don't elaborate, though. As I said, you don't know whether there's an ulterior motive, or someone hasn't done the proper research, and so on.
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby I Hate Mondays on Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:17 am

That's allright, if you can run Fallout 4 on Ultra, I have a good feeling about this. Think I am going for the Gainward too. Thanks for your help !
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby Andrew on Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:23 am

No worries, hope it works as well for you as it has been for me. It also sounds like the more convenient option, without the hassle of getting a new case and PSU when the current ones are doing just fine.
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby formx on Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:17 pm

I have the Gigabyte 970. It's a really good GPU although I wouldn't go through the hassle of getting a new PSU and case if I was in your situation myself also. You'll be fine.

Are these reviews customer reviews by any chance?
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby I Hate Mondays on Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:23 pm

formx wrote:I have the Gigabyte 970. It's a really good GPU although I wouldn't go through the hassle of getting a new PSU and case if I was in your situation myself also. You'll be fine.

Are these reviews customer reviews by any chance?



Yup. There can be customers reviews or critics reviews, but they are considered to be even. The only one customer that gave an explanation said that the GPU looked "cheap". That's it
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby Patr1ck on Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:58 am

If you want this gpu to last 3 years, consider a 980 or 980 ti. Having overkill at 1080p from a 980 is what you want, especially if you want it to last that long and are buying it right now. The 2016 graphics cards will be showing up later this year, and with the 970, you will already be behind by 3 tiers. It's a great bang for buck card, with some compromises on ram, but who really knows what "Ultra" will look like next year or the year after that.

This past summer and holiday season I held off on buying a new card until I really needed one. I saw a 970 for $270 US, and a 980 for $400 US! I didn't buy either one, but I bit the bullet eventually since my videocard fan died, and got a free SSD with my 980. I recommend spending the extra money needed, especially since it is a 3 year investment.
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby I Hate Mondays on Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:01 am

Pdub wrote:If you want this gpu to last 3 years, consider a 980 or 980 ti. Having overkill at 1080p from a 980 is what you want, especially if you want it to last that long and are buying it right now. The 2016 graphics cards will be showing up later this year, and with the 970, you will already be behind by 3 tiers. It's a great bang for buck card, with some compromises on ram, but who really knows what "Ultra" will look like next year or the year after that.

This past summer and holiday season I held off on buying a new card until I really needed one. I saw a 970 for $270 US, and a 980 for $400 US! I didn't buy either one, but I bit the bullet eventually since my videocard fan died, and got a free SSD with my 980. I recommend spending the extra money needed, especially since it is a 3 year investment.



Now you made me go into a whole new meditation mode. I will really think about it, thanks for the tip

P.S. What are those two better tiers ? The first one is ofcourse the GTX 980. I hope you are not refering to the 780 as the second one. Theoretically, 780 is better. Practically, too many would say the 970 is better.

If you talk about the Titan X or the AMD Radeon R9 295X2, that's allright. There are in the "car" category for me, those aren't some simple GPUs.
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Re: GTX 970 Gigabyte vs Gainward ?

Postby Patr1ck on Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:34 am

I go by this hierarchy list- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu ... ,4388.html
And the recommendation for upgrading is no less than 3 tiers, from what I have read. I agree with your take in the enthusiast cards.
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