I'm building a new pc in the Silent Base 800. I'm going to put a 970 in there because it is just what I need and right in my price range.
So the question remains:
What is the most powerful 970 on the market?
Thank you.
The best one you can get your hands on in the States is this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/mr/newegg/evga-video-card-04gp43978kr
Well overclocked a lot comes down to the silicon lottery. Out of the box - read reviews. I'd probably say the Gigabyte G1 is probably the best, you pay through the nose for it though.
I watched this syndicate video on the Zotac AMP Extreme Core. Is it really the fastest?
Also: I thought the G1 was super loud.
Ultimately the fastest one brands 970 is not going to be faster then a competitions every time. This is because each individual card is slightly different on a silicon level to every other card. The reason I recommended the card I did, is because it is the fastest card at stock you can get in the US. This means there is a better chance (theoretically at least) of it overclocking higher then the competition, but no guarantees at all. Also as a previous generation user of a windforce card, I don't think they're very loud at all. But this is with a very custom fan curve running and so forth.
Yes, but the AMP Extreme Core is pre overclocked to 1.23
This way I can avoid the silicon lottery.
What would you recommend, though?
You still could get a crap overclocker even if its stock at 1230mhz. I still prefer the Evga due to Evga's best in class customer support and step-up program.
Its hard to say with certainty which is really the best. But your best odds of getting a fast card that could overclock really well is either gonna be the Gigabyte G1 Gaming or the EVGA FTW. I would go with the EVGA GTX970 FTW just cause of EVGA's outstanding warrenty and top notch customer service. Also EVGA is the only company that uses high quality ball bearing fans where everyone else uses cheap sleeve bearing fans.