GTX 970: Attempting to grasp benchmark outcomes...
GTX 970: Attempting to grasp benchmark outcomes...
Hi,
I began experimenting with GPU overclocking a few days back. Last night, I completed some benchmarks and noticed my 970 was running better at default settings.
The variations appear to be minimal so far; at this pace, is it worth pushing it further?
I understand the offsets I’ve tried are less than what many have used, and others have combined higher numbers for both GPU cores and memory clocks.
By the way, I was expecting the GTX 970 prices to drop significantly now, as the 1070 and 1080 models are capturing more market share. I bought my 970 about a year and a half ago for $309 on newegg.com, but it’s now $499 on amazon.com!
If it had fallen below $300, I would have added another unit and connected them in SLI mode.
My setup:
Windows 10 (home 64 bit)
i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz
RAM: 16 GB (Adata MI64C1D1629Z1 2x8GB)
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-M Pro
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC Gaming ACX 2.0+ (04G-P4-3975-KR)
Power Supply: Corsair CX750M
Storage: SSD 1 – Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB, SSD 2 – Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
Case: Fractal Design ARC Mini R2
Cards adjust their speed according to power and temperature. Overclocking doesn't guarantee better results.
When using SLI, keep in mind that not all games perform well. You won't usually see significant gains.
Each card operates with its own VRAM separately, so in SLI you still have about 3.5 GB of usable high-performance VRAM. This is sufficient for most tasks but may cause issues if you aim to boost settings.
It's better to choose a single GTX 1070 than two GTX 970 cards in SLI. The performance will be more stable, frame rates will be higher, and you'll have 8 GB of effective VRAM.
Your GTX 970 is named "SSC" or "supersuperclocked" because of this. EVGA ensures the card is optimized to its limits, and exceeding those boundaries can lead to heat and power issues. GTX 970 prices are rising since NVIDIA and its partners no longer manufacture them. It's better to wait for the Pascal generation (11-series cards) and upgrade to a 1170 1 or similar in about two years, rather than purchasing another GTX 970, as newer games have SLI compatibility problems. Alternatively, you might consider buying an AMD GPU like the Vega RX 490.
Cards adjust their speed according to power and temperature. Overclocking doesn't guarantee better results.
When using SLI, keep in mind that not all games perform well. You won't usually see significant gains.
Each card operates with its own VRAM separately, so in SLI you still have about 3.5 GB of usable high-performance VRAM. This is sufficient for most tasks but may cause issues if you aim to boost settings.
It's better to choose a single GTX 1070 than two GTX 970 cards in SLI. The performance will be more stable, frame rates will be higher, and you'll have 8 GB of effective VRAM.