The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Review: Featuring EVGA
by Ryan Smith on September 26, 2014 10:00 AM ESTBattlefield 4
Our latest addition to our benchmark suite and our current major multiplayer action game of our benchmark suite is Battlefield 4, DICE’s 2013 multiplayer military shooter. After a rocky start, Battlefield 4 has finally reached a point where it’s stable enough for benchmark use, giving us the ability to profile one of the most popular and strenuous shooters out there. As these benchmarks are from single player mode, based on our experiences our rule of thumb here is that multiplayer framerates will dip to half our single player framerates, which means a card needs to be able to average at least 60fps if it’s to be able to hold up in multiplayer.
In Battlefield 4 resolution makes all the difference. AMD’s 4K advantage is in full force here, while that solid lead errodes and the GTX 970 catches up for 1440p and 1080p..
Looking at just the NVIDIA lineup for a second, while not even GTX 980 was able to cross 60fps at 1440p, it does prove that its 17% performance advantage counts for something by being able to push framerates in the high 50s, all while GTX 970 can’t even crack 50fps. EVGA’s FTW overclock will get you there though, and for that matter it can even cross the 60fps mark at 4K.
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dibbademevos - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
hidibbademevos - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
hi
SkyBill40 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Having always been an MSI guy, I've not really considered going with another vendor... until now. This looks like a nice card which also happens to conveniently match my color scheme whereas the red coloring of the MSI Gaming line sadly does not. Still, the overclocks are pretty much a wash and the only real differences seem to be in the cooling solution. The ACX 2.0 seems to be on par with the MSI, so I suppose I could go either way.Oxford Guy - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
Is it the case that the ACX card uses only 4 power phases which is why overclocking it beyond the factory setting isn't going to work very well? There is no mention of power phases in your article.Kanuj5678 - Sunday, October 5, 2014 - link
GTX 970 beats the shit out of everything and that too in style with lowest TDPCheers
Kanuj
ambientblue - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
Enthusiasts dont care about TDP that much. The 290x is held back by HSF cooling (Uber mode is actually stock advertised speeds) while the GTX 970 is not. Water-cool the 290x and OC it to 1200mhz and it will match a 980, surpassing it at 4K resolution easily.igyb - Tuesday, October 7, 2014 - link
Is the gtx 970 just an underclocked 980? i might just get that because i cant really afford a 980.Kimtastic - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
Dear Ryan,I had a MSI GTX 970 and found that under heavy load the core clock was fluctuating and causing FPS drops. After having read this article, I now understand that its due to the TDP limit. Is this something that will/can be fixed or something permanent?
I would be grateful for your advice. Many thanks.
hoohoo - Thursday, October 23, 2014 - link
Thank you for including an HD7970 in the test!Shoiti2 - Monday, November 3, 2014 - link
Those price are damn cheap. I would say, buying a gtx980 in the U.S wouldnt even buy a gtx 970 in Brazil. I'm living in Brazil right now and ordered an evga gtx 970 sc. Ok, how much did i pay for the gtx 970!! Nothing less than $750USD.the Gtx 970 at $750USD still very cheap for us Brazilian, the world's most expensive country.
The evga gtx 980 is costing around $1100USD, not kidding, check for yourself.