Next to the GTX 980 STRIX, ASUS is also launching the GTX 970 STRIX graphics card today. As usual the GTX 970 is the smaller brother of the GTX 980 and it comes with a more attractive price but therefore offers a little less performance. There is also a custom design PCB as well as - apparently - ASUS STRIX cooler and overall this should be a rather punchy card.
ASUS is amongst the first Nvidia add-in-card (AIC) partners that have
decided to introduce a new custom GTX 970 graphics card that will use NVIDIAs
latest GM204 chip. Like with the GTX 970 STRIX you get a custom PCB as well as a
custom cooler, which in this case is the so called STRIX model and on the back
of the card, there is a good looking backplate.
As always before the launch of a new chip generation from NVIDIA there have been
loads of rumors on the specs before the launch. Browsing the specifications of
this card we find 1664 CUDA cores, 104 TMUs and 64 ROPs. For comparison reasons,
the GTX 770 features 1536 CUDA cores, 128 TMUs and 32 ROPs. This means that
NVIDIA cut down the TMU count, but increased the number of CUDA cores as well as
ROPs. Looking for reference clocks we find 1'051 MHz core clock and 1'178 MHz
boost clock.
As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshot below, ASUS decided to use a decent factory-overclock on the new GTX
970 STRIX. While the reference GTX
970 with GM204 GPU is set to work at 1'051 MHz for the base clock and 1'178 MHz
for the GPU Boost clock, the ASUS GTX 970 STRIX runs at
1'114 MHz core clock and 1'253 MHz boost clock.
When it comes to memory clock speeds we see a tiny, 12 MHz frequency boost,
which makes the chips run at 7'012 MHz. Combine this with a 256 Bit memory
interface and you end up with a total of 224 Gigabyte of memory bandwidth.
While the typical boost clock is set at 1'253 MHz, the maximum boost of 1'265 MHz
was achieved quite easily and the GTX 970 STRIX held that clock most of
the load time due to the capable STRIX cooler as well as good TDP target
(nVidia's Boost technology being power-based and not temperature-based on this
card). At this point we also run Furmark to see how high the card overclocks,
when the GPU is under full load. This way we can determine a worst case scenario
regarding maximum boost clock. With this card we see clocks speeds of 999 MHz
at 1.012v, which is substantially less.
ASUS decided to equip the GeForce GTX 970 STRIX with a new version
of their famous DirectCU II cooler. In case of this card there are three heatpipes, two
eight millimeter and one with ten millimeter diameter. Soldered to the heatpipes you find the fin stack which is being
provided with fresh air via two fans. The fans on the new STRIX series are
designed to spin only when GPU temprature reaches 65 degrees, which means that in
2D
mode they are completeley off. Also, under low loads the fans don't start to
spin. Under high-load the noise level is still silent, subjectively
speaking.
Overclocking
Overclocking this card we actually had quite
some fun, since you can push this little beast quite high. The highest stable
clocks we reached were 1'450 MHz on the GPU and 2'000 MHz on the memory
(effective 8'000 MHz). The screenshot below shows you what kind you of score you
can get running 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme at these clocks. In order to make the
GPU run stably, we had to apply 1.25 volt.
A closer look at the PCB shows that ASUS equipped this card with a six phase
digital power design. The GPU gets its current from five phases and the one
phase left, takes care of the 4GB GDDR5 memory. Once more, ASUS is using high
quality super alloy chokes. On the backside of the GPU you can find dedicated
SAP CAPs to maximize overclocking headroom.
The memory chips on the GTX 970 STRIX come from
Samsung and carry the model number K4G41325FC-HC28. They are specified to run
at 1'750 MHz (7'000 MHz effective).
The graphics card ships well bolstered in a foam made mold. Bundled with it there is a user guide, a driver CD that includes the GPU Tweak overclocking tool, an SLI bridge and a power converter (2x6-Pin-PCIe to 1x8-Pin-PCIe).
If you are looking for game vouchers or something like that you will be
disappointed, since there is absolutely nothing like this in the
box.
For the noise level results, we measured the noise
level using a decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) located at 1 meter away from the
graphics card.
Idle Temperature
Temperature
Auto
50%
70%
100%
ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition
38
33
30
28
ASUS GeForce
GTX 760 DirectCU Mini OC
33
32
32
31
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
34
34
33
29
ASUS GeForce
GTX 770 DirectCU II OC
29
29
28
27
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780
32
30
29
28
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
30
29
28
28
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum
32
31
30
29
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
53
40
38
32
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC
32
31
30
29
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum
37
37
36
34
ASUS
GeForce GTX 970 STRIX
52
38
35
32
ASUS
Radeon HD 7970 Platinum
28
28
28
27
ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC
33
31
31
30
ASUS Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II TOP
28
27
26
26
ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II TOP
30
30
29
29
ASUS
Radeon R9 280X Matrix Platinum
30
30
29
29
ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC
38
36
35
34
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC
36
35
34
34
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X Platinum
37
36
35
34
ASUS ROG MARS 760
30
29
29
28
Club3D Radeon
HD 7850 royalQueen
37
36
36
35
Club3D Radeon R9 270 royalQueen
32
31
30
28
EVGA GeForce
GTX 760 SuperClocked ACX
32
32
32
31
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition
25
25
24
24
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB
30
28
28
27
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
29
27
26
26
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
30
29
28
28
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming
34
31
30
28
MSI GeForce GTX 760 HAWK
25
25
26
26
MSI GeForce
GTX 770 Lightning
27
26
26
25
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780
30
29
29
27
MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK
29
28
27
27
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition
32
31
30
29
PowerColor Radeon R9 280X TurboDuo OC
32
32
31
30
PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS
29
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X TRI-X OC Boost
36
32
33
31
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
44
40
38
35
NVIDIA Reference
32
30
29
29
Less is better
Idle, temperature is
taken after 15 minutes @ lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature under Furmark
Temperature
Auto
50%
70%
100%
ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition
58
49
48
47
ASUS GeForce
GTX 760 DirectCU Mini OC
81
80
68
59
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
73
73
73
72
ASUS GeForce
GTX 770 DirectCU II OC
80
74
62
57
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780
n/A
81
75
66
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
83
71
63
56
ASUS
GeForce GTX 970 STRIX
69
61
56
49
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum
77
77
72
68
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum
90
81
72
62
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC
90
85
73
65
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
70
66
59
54
ASUS ROG MARS 760
90
84
78
67
ASUS
Radeon HD 7970 Platinum
76
70
69
69
ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC
87
69
64
62
ASUS Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II TOP
90
70
64
63
ASUS
Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top
90
71
64
63
ASUS Radeon R9 280X Matrix Platinum
77
73
71
70
ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC
90
87
81
77
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC
89
90
85
81
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X Platinum
88
85
82
78
Club3D Radeon
HD 7850 royalQueen
75
63
59
53
Club3D Radeon R9 270 royalQueen
69
63
64
57
EVGA GeForce
GTX 760 SuperClocked ACX
77
70
66
59
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition
52
49
47
44
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB
81
65
58
55
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
90
80
73
58
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
90
83
75
63
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming
72
79
75
68
MSI GeForce GTX 760 HAWK
69
59
53
49
MSI GeForce
GTX 770 Lightning
63
55
50
46
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780
73
71
63
56
MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK
90
79
70
64
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition
80
77
72
69
PowerColor R9 290X LCS
46
PowerColor R9 280X TurboDuo OC
n/A
n/A
74
68
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X TRI-X OC Boost
76
75
69
66
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
94
85
74
67
NVIDIA Reference
90
83
76
68
Less is better
For FurMark, temperature is taken
after 15 minutes of GPU Burn test at lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
We stopped the test when the GPU temperature hit 90°C.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature and
fan speed under BattleField 3
Auto
Temperature
PowerColor R9 290X LCS (watercooled)
39
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 750Ti Black Edition
40
ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition
55
Gigabyte GeForce
GTX 980 G1 Gaming
58
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition
60
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
61
Club3D Radeon
HD 7850 royalQueen
63
MSI GeForce
GTX 770 Lightning
61
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
62
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
62
EVGA GeForce
GTX 760 SuperClocked ACX
62
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X TRI-X OC Boost
62
ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC
63
MSI GeForce GTX 760 HAWK
64
ASUS Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II TOP
64
ASUS GeForce
GTX 770 DirectCU II OC
64
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB
65
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum
66
ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum
66
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780
66
Club3D Radeon R9 270 royalQueen
66
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
67
ASUS GeForce
GTX 760 DirectCU Mini OC
68
ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC
68
ASUS Radeon R9 280X Matrix Platinum
68
ASUS
GeForceGTX 780 DirectCU II OC
69
ASUS GeForce
GTX 970 STRIX
69
ASUS
Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top
69
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC
70
MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK
70
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
70
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum
71
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X Platinum
72
PowerColor R9 280X TurboDuo OC
73
ASUS ROG MARS 760
77
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780
79
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC
79
NVIDIA Reference
79
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
80
Less is better
For BattleField 3, temperature and fan speed
values taken are the highest achieved after 1 hour gaming @ auto fan
speed.
The "Performance Index" value is calculated as the sum of all
benchmarks results divided by the amount of games (3DMark and Unigine are not
included into the calculation).
Performance/Price
Graphics Cards
Performance Index
Price (€)*
Performance/€*10
ASUS Radeon R9
290X Platinum
n/A
n/A
n/A
ASUSGeForce GTX
780 Ti Matrix Platinum
n/A
n/A
n/A
AMD Radeon HD 7790
33.44
91
3.67
AMD Radeon HD 7870
50.53
143
3.53
AMD Radeon R9 270
50.00
144
3.47
AMD Radeon HD 7850
42.39
124
3.42
AMD Radeon R9 270X
53.85
159
3.39
nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost
40.87
121
3.38
nVidia GeForce GTX 660
47.37
144
3.29
ASUS GeForce
GTX 970 STRIX OC
93.36
299
3.12
nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti
30.80
100
3.08
AMD Radeon R9 280X
68.85
241
2.86
nVidia GeForce GTX 760
56.63
199
2.85
nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti
53.55
193
2.77
AMD Radeon HD 7970
64.27
232
2.77
nVidia GeForce GTX 670
62.00
228
2.72
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
70.75
260
2.72
nVidia GeForce GTX 770
70.92
266
2.67
nVidia GeForce GTX 580
50.49
190
2.66
AMD Radeon HD 6870
31.88
126
2.53
nVidia GeForce GTX 680
68.36
291
2.35
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
59.92
288
2.08
nVidia GeForce GTX 780
81.66
415
1.97
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming
109.01
549
1.82
AMD Radeon HD 6950
36.83
205
1.80
PowerColor Radeon
R9 290X LCS
91.19
577
1.58
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
84.22
532
1.58
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti
90.53
582
1.56
AMD Radeon HD 6970
41.19
310
1.33
AMD Radeon HD 5850
30.05
260
1.16
AMD Radeon HD 5870
35.98
335
1.07
AMD Radeon HD 6990
73.44
708
1.04
nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN
85.05
832
1.02
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz
104.63
613
N/A
* 06/01/2014
More is better
Less is better
More is better
For the price we took the lowest price available on geizhals.eu.
The ASUS GTX 970 STRIX is an overall really
interesting card and the news, scaled down version of NVIDIA's GM204
Maxwell chip is surprisingly quick. Thanks to a decent factory
overclock and a the great STRIX custom cooler this is not just a fast
but also a silent graphics card.
The manufacturing quality is very good too and the backplate is definitely
a must when you are looking at a premium graphics card. Apart from that,
the GTX 970 appears to really like overclocking, meaning we were really
surprise to able to push this card all the way up to 1'450 MHz! Keeping
in mind that the reference boost clock is set to 1'178 MHz this means
there is still a lot of headroom and overclocking these cards, even
aircooled is a lot of fun and you can squeeze a really decent boost of
your card.
The only thing we would like to see improved with this particular card
is the bundle. We'd love to find a few additional goodies, since after
all this is a premium card.
- Performance
- Intelligent fan control
- Cooling
Cooling / Noise
Level
+
-
The GPU temperatures were very good at
a maximum of 69°C
under heavy FurMark load with the fans locked at 30% fan speed. From a noise level
perspective, the new STRIX series from ASUS provides 0dB while in idle
or under very low-loads, which means the fans
are completely off and they're designed to start spinning when GPU reaches
65 degress. Furthermore, the cooler is really powerful
and it keeps the card at reasonable temperatures even under heavy load.
When running Furmark
for 15 minutes the GPU temperature never passed 69 degrees, which
is way lower then what you
get with the NVIDIA's reference cooler.
-
Noise level in both
idle and load
- 0dB in idle
Performance
+
-
A closer look at overall performance shows that the
GTX 970 STRIX OC Edition is, on average almost 32 percent faster than a
reference GTX 770. The new Maxwell based graphics cards are definitely
an upgrade over the old architecture.
Taking a look at the clock speed shows that this card clocks at 1'265
MHz on average, when applying heavy 3D loads. At this point one can
really see GPU Boost 2.0 doing its job, since it always tries to get
the maximum clock speeds out of the card, without overstepping the
temperature target.
A closer look at power consumption shows, that our test system, equipped
with the GTX 970 STRIX OC Edition, burns 63 Watts under idle conditions
and 252 Watts under load. We would have expected the idle power
consumption to be closer to the results gathered with the GTX 750 Ti.
Load power consumption is really good with this card, especially if you
consider the performance level this card reaches.
-
Performance/Watt
- Power consumption under
load
Recommendation /
Price
+
-
The ASUS GTX 970 STRIX is a seriously
quick graphics card, which comes bundled with a great cooler and on top
of all that the GTX 970 offers excellent energy efficiency. At the
moment the MSRP of the GTX 970 is 299 US-Dollar, which makes the GTX 970
hit the sweet spot. We have to say for this price, the GTX 970 is a very
juicy offer.
-
Gaming
- Enthusiast
The GTX 970 STRIX
from ASUS receives 4.5 out of 5 stars.