Gigabyte geforce gtx 970 dimensions. Another review of the video card Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming

Readers of the information portal i2HARD we could already get acquainted with a very successful model GTX 970 performed by Gainward. But it is worth recognizing that the Phantom model, and indeed the products of this company, are extremely rare in the vastness of our country. In this article, we will test GTX 970 from a more famous brand gigabyte, whose products everyone can buy in the stores of their city right now.

Specification

Manufacturer: Gigabyte
Model: GV-N970WF3OC-4GD;
GPU: GM204;
Manufacturing process: 28 nm;
GPU clock: 1114 MHz (1253 MHz in GPU Boost mode);
Number of shader processors: 1664;
Video memory: 4 GB;
Video memory type: GDDR5;
Video memory bus width: 256 bits;
Video memory frequency: 1750 MHz (7.0 GHz QDR);
SLI support: yes;
HDCP support: yes;
Ports: 3 x DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D, DVI-I;
Max. number of connected monitors: 4;
Additional power connector: 8-pin + 6-pin;
Length: 295 mm.

Packaging and equipment

When it comes to Gigabyte products, the packaging remains the same, even with the division of models from AMD and nVidia. Only the accompanying inscriptions on the box and the description of key features change.

This approach helps the company to reduce costs. Here the logic is simple, if you develop a universal package size and design, then in the future a minimum of effort is spent to match the required model. In fact, only the form changes, which fixes the video card inside and protects it from damage during delivery.

The bundle is modest, here you will find a user manual and a pair of adapters with molex connectors for 8 and 6 pins for additional power supply to the video card.

The example of this model shows that the company tried to minimize production costs in order to GV-N970WF3OC-4GD got you at a better price.

Product appearance

An important parameter here is the length of 295 mm, which slightly limits fans of compact systems and owners of outdated case models from thinking about buying. When assembling a new computer, problems can be avoided, since most modern cases allow you to use video cards up to 300 mm long.

There is no plate on the back, and along with the lack of side lighting, these are the most noticeable differences from the more expensive model. GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD.

When oriented towards the motherboard, we see large slots in the sidewall, you can even say that it is almost absent.

On the other side, there are power connectors, and the casing covers the central part of the radiator more.

You will need a quality 550W or higher power supply to function properly. It is desirable to have additional power connectors for 6 and 8-pin.

It can also be noted that the heatsink is noticeably longer than the PCB.

To connect multiple displays, the video card is equipped with the latest interfaces: 3 x DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D, DVI-I.

Cooling system

Model GV-N970WF3OC-4GD Equipped with a dual-slot Windforce 3X cooling system. The manufacturer decided to sacrifice the length instead of covering the third slot. The plastic casing is a little flimsy, I strongly do not recommend holding the card by it, it can be easily damaged.

The lack of warranty seals on the screws has become a pleasant tradition, so enthusiasts will replace the thermal interface with a better one immediately after purchase.

Unlike the older model GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD, there are not four, but two heat pipes. To increase efficiency, the radiator is divided into three compartments, each of which is cooled by a personal fan.

One part is used to remove heat from power elements.

The central heatsink should cool the graphics chip using direct contact technology, where the tubes are in direct contact with the GPU. To remove heat from the memory chips, a separate plate is used, equipped with thermal pads. It is important to note that not all chips are cooled, as some of them are located on the reverse side of the board.

And the third section, which can be called auxiliary, completes the engineering thought. Here, a recess is noticeable, covering the top connectors for additional. power supply on the board.

All fans are mounted on three screws, while the design of the blades is vaguely reminiscent of Aerocool Shark fans. Such tricks increase the efficiency of the air flow.

All fans are marked PowerLogic PLD08010S12H, the impeller diameter is 75 mm.

Printed circuit board

In case of PCB differences between models GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD And GV-N970WF3OC-4GD no, which is a plus towards the latter. The layout of the elements on the board is different from the reference.

In the center is the most popular GM204 graphics chip to date, which is characterized by economical consumption and high performance.

The memory is represented by chips manufactured by Samsung, which should have a positive effect on overclocking. All chips are marked K4G41325FC-HC28. The volume of 4 GB is filled with 8 modules of 512 MB.

Unlike the reference sample with four phases of the GPU power supply, an enhanced circuit with six phases is used here.

PWM controller manufactured by ON Semiconductor marked NCP81174 controls the power phases, it is soldered with reverse side fees.

Near quartz resonator at 27 MHz there are two microcircuits marked PI3WVR12412. These are video signal switches that switch between DisplayPort and HDMI.

On the reverse side, in addition to memory chips, there are two linear stabilizers, which are distinguished by a low voltage drop across the regulating element (marking uP0104P).

Two power phases are reserved for memory. Empty landing pads can be useful to ensure that each phase gives more power and will probably be used on a more advanced model. In addition, you can see a p-channel field-effect transistor AP3310GH and linear regulator L1117LG.

Test bench configuration

Processor: (4000 MHz);
Motherboard: , BIOS version 1304;
Cooler: Corsair H-110;
Thermal interface: Arctic Cooling MX-2;
Memory: , 2 x 8 GB DDR3 2400;
Video card: Gigabyte GTX 970 (1114 / 7000 MHz (core/memory));
SSD storage: Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB;
Fan speed controller: Schyte Kaze Q-12;
Power supply: Corsair AX860, 860 watts;
Chassis: NZXT Switch 810;
Monitor: VIEWSONIC VP2770-LED;
Operating system: Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1;
Drivers: GeForce 344.75

As CPU Intel Core i7-4790K was installed, while the processor frequency was nominal. HyperThreading and TurboBoost were enabled during testing. Used as a system platform motherboard SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1 (BIOS version 1304). Factory thermal interface on graphics chip was replaced by the Arctic Cooling MX-2.

From analogues Gigabyte GV-N970WF3OC-4GD features a proprietary triple-fan cooling system, modest factory GPU overclocking, and a modified PCB.

Synthetic tests

Synthetic performance was measured using Valley Benchmark, Heaven Benchmark, 3DMark11, 3DMark Vantage, and 3DMark13.

Game tests

Let's move on to gaming applications and dwell on the testing methodology. FPS was measured using the FRAPS utility, the resolution in all games was set to 2560x1440 pixels. The following options are manually disabled:

VSync (vertical sync)

All other settings in the games were set to the maximum possible.

shadow play

Perhaps ShadowPlay is the most useful additional option implemented by the driver. With this function, you will not miss an important game moment, just press hot key and everything will be written to the specified location. Thus, you no longer need to buy separate devices for recording, because with ShadowPlay there is no longer a drop in performance of the recorded application, as, for example, happened with FRAPS.

Activating this option is easy, first go to GeForce Experience and make sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements.

Then go to the settings and in the upper right corner, after activation, you can change all the necessary settings.

It can be seen that nVidia tried to take into account all the wishes of the players and make the recording process itself as comfortable and convenient as possible. You can choose the manual recording mode, which is unlimited in time, or you can resort to the help of automation and set the required time interval. In the quality tab, recording is available with support for resolutions up to 4K, and as a soundtrack, you can record the sound from the game and provide it with your own comments. Using ShadowPlay as an example, you get a great tool for creating videos like Let's Play.

I will give an example of shooting gameplay using this technology, while FRAPS is launched for informational purposes and you can compare the FPS level with that indicated earlier in the tests.

Temperature and overclocking

The utility was used for overclocking MSI Afterburner, acceleration was carried out with a voltage increase:

The GPU frequency was increased by 190 MHz, which in the final version was 1304 MHz. At the same time, the value of the dynamic frequency reached 1443 MHz.
The memory frequency was increased by 465 MHz and the value was 1985 MHz (7.94 GHz QDR).

Despite the factory overclocking of the graphics core by 64 MHz, in the course of manually changing the parameters, we managed to achieve much more impressive results. Such a significant increase in the frequency of the GPU and MEM will have a noticeable impact on the level of performance.

Testing took place in an open case at room temperature of 26 degrees. In idle mode, the frequency of the GPU and memory is reduced to 135/324 MHz, this directly affects energy efficiency and improves thermal performance.

The cooling system copes with its direct task perfectly and even under load the temperature does not exceed 62 degrees, this is simply an excellent indicator even taking into account the low consumption of the chip.

The fan speed varies depending on the workload of the video card (from 1529 to 1927 rpm.). Despite the seemingly high tachometer readings, the fans are very quiet both at idle and under load. In this case there is no compromise, low temperature under load and at the same time quiet operation cooling system causes only positive emotions.

Conclusion

For example GV-N970WF3OC-4GD Gigabyte has turned out to be a very successful product, which is devoid of any noticeable disadvantages. The only drawback is the length of the video card, which introduces some limitations on compatibility with compact or outdated cases. Otherwise, we only observe positive sides: good system cooling, impressive manual overclocking results, low operating temperature, low chip consumption and support for a number of proprietary technologies from nVidia.

Some are tormented by the question of choice, buy GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD or GV-N970WF3OC-4GD. Does it make sense to overpay for a more expensive model? The answer will be this: there are no significant differences between the video cards, and it is up to you to decide whether it is worth paying extra for two additional heat pipes, a backplate and a backlight.

Pros:

Efficient WINDFORCE 3X cooling system;
Quiet even under load
Good GPU and memory overclocking results;
Low consumption;
Support for TXAA, GPU Boost, Adaptive V-Sync, ShadowPlay;
Excellent performance.

Minuses:

According to the editors, taking into account all the pros and cons, Gigabyte GTX 970 (GV-N970WF3OC-4GD) receives the Gold award.

Test bench and software

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Configuration

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VII Hero (BIOS v 0904);
Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K 3800 MHz (100x38, 1.132 V) or 800 MHz when measuring the noise of the cooling system;
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Archon (Thermalright TY-140 fan, 140 mm, 500 rpm);
RAM: Kingston PC3-17000 (DDR3-2133, 9-10-10-27, 2x4 GB, dual channel);
Hard drive: OCZ Vertex 4, 128 GB;
Power Supply: ETG Premium, 1200 Watts;
Case: Cooler Master HAF 922.

Software

Operating system: Windows 7 x64 Ultimate;
Video card driver: Nvidia ForceWare WHQL 344.48;
Auxiliary utilities:

GPU-zv. 0.8.0;
Heaven Benchmark 4.0;
MSI Afterburner v4.0.0 Final;
MSI Kombustor 2.5
Evga PrecisionX 16 v5.2.4.

Testing tools and methodology

For overclocking video cards, as well as monitoring temperatures and fan speeds, the proprietary utility MSI Afterburner v4.0.0 Final was used.

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The stability of the accelerators during overclocking was checked using the MSI Kombustor 2.5 utility (GPU Burn-in mode, 1920 x 1080). The obtained frequencies were additionally verified by running the Heaven Benchmark v 4.0 test with an extreme level of tessellation and graphics tests from the 3DMark 2013, 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Vantage packages.

For check temperature regime graphics cards in conditions close to everyday, Heaven BenchMark v4.0 (quality: ultra, tessellation: extreme, AA8x, 1920 x 1080) was used.

The noise level was measured using a TM-102 digital sound level meter with a measurement error of no more than 0.5 dB. The measurements were taken from a distance of 0.5 m. The background noise level in the room was no more than 28 dB. All system fans, including those installed in the power supply, were turned off. The air temperature in the room was 26 degrees Celsius.

Standard frequencies and overclocking

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming video card, in addition to a high-quality cooling system, received another indisputable plus - factory overclocking. So, the frequency of the graphics processor was increased from 1050 MHz for the core to 1178 MHz, in Boost mode it is 1329 MHz at a voltage of 1.218 V. The memory frequency remained unchanged - 1753 MHz.

Without load, these values are reduced to the reference 135 / 162 MHz. In this state, the model runs quietly, despite the fact that the fan speed is approximately 1630 rpm (40% of the maximum), and the temperature drops to 32°C. If in terms of noise you do not believe me, then at least believe the device, the indicators of which were entered in the final graph. But once again, one might wonder why 1600 rpm was chosen for idle time, and not, say, 1000 rpm?

In gaming applications, thanks to the GPU Boost 2.0 algorithm, the clock frequency of the video core increases up to 1392 MHz. This is an excellent indicator, some models cannot achieve this even after overclocking.

The applied cooling system did not allow the GPU to warm up above 63°C, which is an excellent result. The developers did not invent anything, and set the fan speed as a percentage equal to the same temperature indicator, but in degrees. From here we get 63°C at 63%. The noise level was comfortable for extended work.

Smoothly we pass to dispersal. It would be more correct to use the official Gigabyte Guru OC utility, but from my point of view, its interface is not very friendly, and the functionality does not differ from third-party programs.

Therefore, the more interesting Evga PrecisionX 16 was used to increase the frequencies.

Let's start with overclocking without increasing the voltage. With the reference 1.218 V, it was possible to increase the clock frequencies of the core and video memory to 1310 MHz and 2028 MHz, respectively. The aggressive behavior of GPU Boost 2.0 showed itself here too: in gaming applications, the maximum frequency was 1518 MHz! A result that is not yet achievable for models from other manufacturers.

It is worth noting that the cooling system did not increase the fan speed, but GPU only warmed up to 65°C.

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Gigabyte announces selected GPUs for its line of graphics cards. Who knows if this is a marketing move or it really is, but we continued to overclock the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming, and she, in turn, continued to please.

Increasing the voltage by 87 mV led to an early overheating and reset of the video driver. After a dozen trial and error, I had to fix the speed of rotation of the impellers at 2300 rpm, and then things moved. After selecting the necessary values, I managed to overcome the 1.6 GHz bar on the core using standard air cooling.

The results are impressive, the processor temperature is only 62°C, although there was little time left before the local overheating of the power subsystem.

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Study of the potential of the cooling system

First of all, a study of the possibilities of SO was carried out in automatic mode work with the removal of temperature and noise indicators. The graphs contain the results of all GeForce GTX 970 video cards tested earlier by this method. Over time, the list of models presented on it will be expanded.

Idle temperature.

idle temperature

Standard Settings
°C

The temperature values of the MSI graphics card should not scare you, since it works in passive mode.

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Rotation speed of the fan impellers (in all cases, percentages of the maximum according to program monitoring data are indicated in brackets).

Fan speed

Standard Settings
rpm