Having some trouble deciding between EVGA's 970 FTW+ and ASUS's 970 Strix

[n7plus1]

i know, #whitepeopleproblems, right?

With all of the shenanigans going on with EVGA's coolers being used on the GTX970 which is scattered all over the interwebs i was becoming a bit turned off with sticking with them for my upgrade. Even after their explanation of why they did what they did...i was still feeling uneasy and it just seems like a money saving thing.

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html

Finally, Jacob, over at EVGA forums posted up a pic of the ACTUAL FTW+ cooler...

http://forums.evga.com/evga-acx-cooler-defect-eteknixcom-thinks-so-m2220546-p6.aspx

ACX2.0 fans seem to be the highest of quality. The cooler shroud, though, seems to be lacking a bit to the eye. Plastic, chintzy and cheap looking.

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/74853-evga-geforce-gtx-970-ftw/?page=2





This picture kind've relaxes me a bit with any doubts I had. I really like my EVGA cards I have now. Their step-up program is great and known good customer service. I havent had any issues with my 670's..but I had their $450 GeForce 5950 Ultra die on me after a year and half from back in the day...My trust back in EVGA has been gained.


Then comes along the ASUS Strix...great looking card - fan shroud is all metal, great cooler, great brand (Im a little bit of an ASUS ***** which doesnt help). Customer service seems to be iffy...I hear plenty of BAD and GOOD reviews about it. They have no Step-Up program. Their 0dB fan programming is a great idea.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ews/67488-asus-gtx-970-strix-oc-review-2.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/2



Both cards offer a 3 year warranty. I prefer the overall looks of the ASUS card...especially @ $20 cheaper. They would go great in my system as far as a theme goes. ECGA uses 2, 6-pin connectors, while ASUS uses a single 8-pin connector.

Any feedback?

 

[Woomack]

ASUS is better designed but both cards will probably overclock almost the same. I wouldn't buy EVGA from these new series just because they didn't even try to modify standard PCB and improve power section. ASUS has more power phases and also looks like they are using better components ( I can be wrong here as I don't know details ).

I can only say that I ordered Gigabyte GTX970 Gaming ( should arrive tomorrow ) as I think it will be best of all. I mean better PCB/power section, 6+8 power connectors for 300W max, good cooler and so far one of the best OC results in reviews.

 

[n7plus1]

ive never owned anything from Gigabyte...dont know why. I have this pre-determined thing in my head that they are a lesser brand and group them in with asrock, zotac, etc, etc...

I know im probably way off with that...i dont know why i thought/think that way? lol

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I'm not sure why you'd put ASRock or Gigabyte in a "lesser" category.
They are both anything but lesser.

 

[n7plus1]

yeah, i dont know...i guess b/c they were newer to the scene when i first got into building...

 

[Woomack]

ASRock was manufacturing cheaper series for longer and they switched ~4 years ago to high end stuff. Now they make higher quality boards than most other manufacturers. Gigabyte was always in the top. Even if not all their boards/gfx cards were best then the same we can say about ASUS or MSI. Gigabyte had usually lower prices than other brands so their hardware was always popular.
But Zotac for me is a cheaper brand. Except couple of higher gfx card series they make pretty average hardware. Their AMP or Extreme cards are good and often are based on better chips than standard series. I can say they make better job than MSI with binning. Most Lightning cards were overclocking worse than reference

 

[n7plus1]

thanks for the feedback, sir.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Thus far, the Gigabyte is the best but also somewhat more expensive.

 

[stainlineho]

I'd stay away from EVGA for the 900 series cards. I bought a 970 Gigabyte G1 Gaming.

 

[ratbuddy]

yeah, i dont know...i guess b/c they were newer to the scene when i first got into building...

Funny how that works.. To me, EVGA is a crap brand because they screwed me over once, but also because I first saw them in magazine ads for crummy bargin-bin premade systems from ibuypower or cyberpowerpc that came in cases that looked like a stormtrooper head or something.

 

[ninjacore]

i know, #whitepeopleproblems, right?

Any feedback?

#unintentionallyracist