Despite being six years old, MSI 970 Gaming GTX series cards are still relevant in the gaming market.
This is because various assembly companies have done amazing work to improve the reference card, extending its useful life and enabling it to run existing games with more than the acceptable competition.
Details of MSI GeForce GTX MSI 970 gaming graphics card.
These MSI GeForce GTX 970 gaming 4GB GDDR5 card models have great tools like TwinFraser V and SLI and overlock compatibility.
It is currently capable of playing modern games at 1080p with ultra-textured and acceptable frame rates.
Power characteristics
3.5GB GDDR5 and 500MB GDDR4 VRAM memory.
GDDR5 Memory Clock 7000 MHz + 500MHz (Overclock)
Bandwidth: 224 Gb / s
256-bit interface
GPU: GM204.
1140MHz + 136MHz Home clock (over clock)
Maximum resolution: 2048 x 1536 (2k) (local)
Physical characteristics
Consumption: 148 W.
Power 1 × 6 pin + 1 × 8 pin.
2 x 10 cm torque fans.
Slot connector: 2 type PCI express.
Size: 27cm (length) x 12cm (height) x 3.5cm (width)
Connector: Display port 1.2 local, HDMI two DVI, one DVI-L and one DVI-D.
Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 4GB Overview.
Let’s take a closer look at the features of the MSI GeForce GTX 970 gaming graphics card.
This graphics card has twin turquoise V technology, which allows the card to be very quiet during low graphic loads.
When the GPU temperature does not reach 80 in the most demanding moments, 100cm fans are activated automatically.
It is also possible to overclock, arranging to squeeze extra frames for much-needed games.
Since this card can be connected in 2V SLI mode, it is possible to get a lot of power. However, modern cards with the same price will perform better overall.
Therefore, it is not currently recommended to use this feature on MSI GeForce GTX 970 gaming.
Performance
Although MSI’s GTX 970 is currently considered an older graphics card, it performs better with larger competitive games.
Current (CS GO, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Overwatch) is crossing the 120-200 FPS barrier on average for many of them due to their high graphics settings.
On the other hand, when we talk about titles that demand ultra or more graphics like Battlefield 5, AC Wallah, Metro Exit, these graphic games average at 28-40 fps. It runs in between.
It should be noted that these conditions take into account that we are not facing any problem with our processor or motherboard.
Technical limitations.
Obviously, due to the lack of a “top-of-the-range” GPU, this MSI GeForce GTX 970 gaming card will not normally implement 4K resolution with ultra or high graphics in most games of the last 3 or 4 years.
However, what it pushes is that it allows you to run on 4k resolution screens like Forza Horizon 3, Batman Arkham Knight or Frightened Crisis 3 graphics, using the right settings.
Usually, with the 2020 and 2021 games, this GPU struggles with terrible environmental impact. We mean fog, smoke and shadows. And usually when many objects or particles are displayed on the screen.
However, this card can show ultra-quality textures in recently released games (such as Cyberpunk 2077) as long as we adjust the resolution options and environmental effects well.
Is the GeForce GTX 970 gaming card still worth it?
This version of the GTX 970 could be a great entry point for a budget PC that will survive for a few more years.
Older games, such as BioShock 1 and 2 or Dead Space, will show up well with the maximum power. However, there are cheaper alternatives.
Alternative
Both of AMD’s rivals, the RX 5600 series and the advanced NVIDIA GTX 1060, were released two years later in 2016, which will perform better in almost all playable and compatibility aspects.
All this for less than $ 300, even in the Super and TI versions.
That MSI GeForce GTX 970 can exceed this price in gaming retail.
MSI 970 Gaming Video Card
Before trying out the MSI GeForce GTX970 Gaming 4G, I tested almost all high-end AMD video cards, starting at the bottom. Before testing this video card, I just finished testing the R9 280X Dual-X. Before R9 280X, I had tried and tested the R9 270X task. You may be wondering why I’m telling you this.
The reason is simple, after many years of testing and almost exclusively testing AMD video cards exclusively, this GeForce has literally stunned me, and I’m not just referring to performance but many other reasons. Based on what we’ll see later in this review.
As mentioned earlier, AMD video card testing and testing almost ex exclusively, this review was greatly delayed. The MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G, if I remember correctly, came out in September 2014. This video card uses Maxwell chip architecture where the manufacturer NVIDIA has managed to improve the performance of each CUDA core by 35% compared to the cards. Videos
But beyond the performance, there is much more to this video card that has made it a success.
- NVIDIA Geforce GTX 970 graphics engine.
- Standard PCI Express x16 3.0 bus.
- Memory type GDDR5.
- Memory size (MB) 4096
- Memory interface 256 bits
- Core Clock Speed (MHz) 1140MHz Core (Boost Clock: 1279MHz) (OC Mode) – 1114MHz Core (Boost Clock: 1253MHz) – (Gaming Mode) 1051MHz Core (Boost Clock: 1178MHz) (Silent Mode)
- Memory clock speed (MHz) 7010.
- DVI 2 Output (Dual-Link DVI-I, Dual-Link DVI-D), Maximum Resolution: 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz.
- Maximum screen 4.
- HDMI 1 output (version 1.4a / 2.0) Maximum resolution: 4096 × 2160 @ 24 Hz (1.4a), 3840 × 2160 @ 60 Hz (2.0)
- Display port 1 (version 1.2) Maximum resolution: 4096 × 2160 @ 60 Hz.
- Multi GPU SLI technology, 3rd.
- HDCP support Yes.
- Energy Consumption (W) 145.
- HDMI support, yes.
- Recommended power supply (W) 500 watts.
- Dual-Link DVI Yes.
- Power connector 1x eight-pin, 1x six pin.
- Accessories 1x eight-pin power cable, 1x DVI to VGA dongle.
- Ram DAC 400.
- Supports DirectX version 12.
- OpenGL supports version 4.4.
- SLI support, yes.
- 3rd SLI Yes.
- Card dimensions (mm) 269 x 141 x 35.
- Weight 814.
Features of MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G
The MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G is considered the ultimate mid-range video card compared to other NVIDIA video cards that came out soon. In the range of advanced AMD video cards, we can easily compare them to the R9 390. This AMD video card is actually “slightly” faster than the MSI GeForce GTX 970, but only a few FPS.
If we consider consumption and temperature, I would not think twice about choosing the MSI GeForce GTX 970 between the two. Gpuboss is an online video card comparison service. The R9 390X gives it a score of 8, while the MSI GeForce GTX 970 gives it a good score of 9.7.
Gpuboss considers not only performance but also all factors: power consumption, different standards, structural mapping units, improved floating-point performance, framerate with Crisis 3 and much more. The MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G wins many tests, although the R9 390X is slightly faster than a few FPS on just a few games.
MSI 970 gaming Resolutions
The MSI GeForce GTX 970 has many benchmarks and many different tests on the net, all saying the same thing for good or bad. MSI GeForce GTX 970 flares fast! And even two years after its release, with virtually all new PC game titles, there’s no hesitation in working at extremely high resolutions in all the details.
As you can see, this is the MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition, but keep in mind that there is also an OC model that comes with a higher stock clock rate. MSI has developed a custom card that differs from the reference design. We have the eight-pin connection for the power supply for some overclocking margin and another six-pin connection.
The board with the included cooler is 27 cm long. The base GPU frequency is 1140 MHz clock with a boost frequency of 1279 MHz. However, this video card has less shader processor than 980. The memory is kept at 7.0 GHz while its memory is just 4 GB GDDR5 with 256-bit memory.
Overall, MSI has a beautiful black and red design with MSI’s dragon logo. The radiator design is also very good.
Cooling system.
An important aspect of the MSI gaming series is its high-performance cooling system. Combined with power, frequency, load and thermal limits, MSI will try to force the video card’s performance to a maximum of 60/65 degrees. The video card is based on a dual-slot solution.
The cooling system is Twin Turquoise V revision, featuring these fans to stop rotating when they are below 60 below C to reduce noise and increase the fans’ lifetime. MSI was the first manufacturer in the high-end market to create graphics cards with zero noise, thanks to fans that stop in low-temperature conditions.
The two fans are 10 cm each, and the advantage is that the heat sink fan covers 90% of the diameter of the fan blade, thus increasing the heat dissipation capacity. The heat pipes used are 2x8mm superpipe and 2x6mm. The top of the card is an LED logo. A bright LED from MSI Gaming shows the dragon.
Power Connectors
At the top of the board, you can see the connections of the 8 and 6 pin power connectors.
Video cards have SLI connectors so that you can create 2-, 3- and 4-way SLI solutions even if it is advisable to resize and install a maximum of two for maximum driver issues.
As you can see from the picture above, the fan blades are designed and built to offer maximum performance. The Twin Turquoise V system makes this video card extremely quiet, even with high resolution and high resolution. Even in the heavier parts of gaming with more details.
In vain, the silence of this video card is the best solution when you use the game alternately using your computer, for example, watching a movie. The video card will not hear any disturbing sound as the fans will stop below 60 degrees.
A highly intelligent cooling system. Even above 60 degrees, it is not certain that both fans will start at the same time. Only one GPU fan or just one fan can start cooling to cool GDDR5 memories. Also, in this case, you will benefit in terms of noise as one fan still makes less than two noises. In my opinion, the cooling system of MSI TwinFrozr V is unique.
MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G is extremely quiet. The graph shows 36 DBa, which is very low, but it should be kept in mind that they are useless. Completely, we reach a maximum of 39 DBa. This measurement is made from a distance of less than half a meter and without noise from the side door of the case.
In practice, it is extremely quiet even at maximum speeds, and it should still be borne in mind that fans below 60 degrees should stop bringing the DBa of the video card to zero. In this case, we can only hear the noise of the other fans.
Energy consumption of MSI 970 gaming
The GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce 980 Maxwell are based on the latest iteration of GPU architecture, using the card GM204 revision A1. Maxwell is an innovative design featuring 5.2 billion transistors hidden in the S-FCBGA chip. The GeForce GTX 970 has a 1664 CUDA shader core, while the GeForce GTX 980 has a 2048 shader processor.
The biggest difference is the change in the number of shaders with the number of ROPs and TMUs of this video card. You may be wondering what all this talk about Maxwell GPU means. This means that this GPU has very low power consumption and, therefore, low temperature in addition to power.
The maximum TDP is actually around 165 watts with a minimum power draw of only 10 watts. TDP as a whole is the highest, and on average, this GPU will never use that much power.
Conclusion
I hope this review of MSI 970 Gaming will boost your gaming style and you will take quick action to buy it ASAP.
