Thoughts on EVGA's "reference" blower heatsink?

[JM Popaleetus]

Need your opinions gentlemen as I have two EVGA 970 SC cards coming in on Monday. "Reference" blower style.

However after some Googling, I'm reading now that the blower EVGA uses is of a poor quality and had issues with the 700-series cards. Unfortunately when it comes to blower cards, EVGA and PNY were my only two options.

Should I return these and get something else? Is the information I'm reading overhyped nonsense? My reasoning for buying blower style cards to begin with is due to the close-quartered SLI configuration in my case.

Another option is an aftermarket cooler, any suggestions?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I dont like the 970 one. It reminds me of the GTX670 thats not so good. I wouldnt buy it.

The GTX980 reference blower however is no less than fantastic.

 

[Annisman*]

You are correct, for SLI the blowerstyle is what you need. Even with the very best aftermarket coolers, if it's not sending the heat outside your case it's going to get too hot in there. I say try out the cards, make your own opinion on just how bad they are and then make the call on what to do.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

I dont like the 970 one. It reminds me of the GTX670 thats not so good. I wouldnt buy it.

The GTX980 reference blower however is no less than fantastic.

I am aware of the 980's blower. Had a similar (if not the same) on my 690. Unfortunately, the OEM blower was never made available to the 970's retail lines. Might be possible to buy one in the future.

You are correct, for SLI the blowerstyle is what you need. Even with the very best aftermarket coolers, if it's not sending the heat outside your case it's going to get too hot in there. I say try out the cards, make your own opinion on just how bad they are and then make the call on what to do.

This is what I'm going to do. If my temps are fine, then no worries.

Worst case scenario, I hold on to these for a month and then return them for ASUS's STRIX cards when they're actually available. Perhaps some aftermarket blowers will become available.

 

[exar333]

My blower-style has been great. It has been running nice and cool and lowered my CPU ambients vs. my 670 custom fan model. It's a great card, especially if you are looking to SLI them down the road.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I am aware of the 980's blower. Had a similar (if not the same) on my 690. Unfortunately, the OEM blower was never made available to the 970's retail lines. Might be possible to buy one in the future.This is what I'm going to do. If my temps are fine, then no worries.

I would also like to clarify, the blower is perfectly fine. It cools as it should.

However its more a noise and feel etc thing. It is very plastic and discountish.

 

[ItsAlive]

I have the PNY GTX 970 with the blower style cooler and it has no problems keeping the card cool. I was able to hit 1450mhz (boost) / 7500mhz with a 55% fan speed.The temp stays at 73 deg. and at 55% the fan is pretty quiet.

The only problem with the card itself is that the power limit maxes out at 106%. I was able to hit 1500mhz boost with no voltage increase, although I had to significanly lower memory clocks to stay within the power limit budget.

I ultimately decided that 1500 boost was unattainable until a modded bios with higher power limit is able to be flashed.

 

[f1sherman]

There is something comforting and reassuring in reference design.
My 290 ref. cooler is arguably the worst in the GPU history PERIOD.
Yet I still kinda like it(the cooler - I SWEAR!).

For what it's worth it has AMD stamp of approval and it runs at 95 C without setting my house ablaze.
Similarly, I like NV's old reference blower.
I know this is only "reference", but I still wanted to share :ninja:

BTW if this was the Titan cooler, I'd get it sooner than any aftermarket version.

 

[hawtdawg]

I have dual reference 780's, and even at 1202mhz and 1.212v they rarely get into the 80's

 

[toyota]

I have dual reference 780's, and even at 1202mhz and 1.212v they rarely get into the 80's

well of course not as with gpu boost 2.0 your card will throttle to stay below 80.

 

[hawtdawg]

well of course not as with gpu boost 2.0 your card will throttle to stay below 80.

I have Skyn3t vbios'. Boost 2.0 is disabled, the temp throttling point is at 95C. My cards run at 1202mhz 100% of the time when they are being used.

 

[Silverforce11]

The half-PCB reference design on the 970 looks weak just like the 670, I had one, and I was not happy with it during warmer months, it would get >80% fan speed just to prevent overheating at stock clocks. Do not recommend. Pay a bit more for the full PCB, or get better case ventilation and go for custom open fan designs.

 

[Sable]

My blower-style has been great. It has been running nice and cool and lowered my CPU ambients vs. my 670 custom fan model. It's a great card, especially if you are looking to SLI them down the road.

Errr

EVGA GTX 970 SC

I don't think that's a blower.

 

[toyota]

Errr

EVGA GTX 970 SC

I don't think that's a blower.

yes they make blower version

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...070&cm_re=gtx_970_evga-_-14-487-070-_-Product

 

[Pia]

It would be really nice to be able to pay a small premium for a better blower 970. It's such an attractive chip for SLI and for really compact builds, and a blower is a natural match for both scenarios.

It's weird that Nvidia is segmenting their product offering in this way. You'd think they would want to encourage people to go SLI and give them more money. Not many single 970 owners are going to upgrade to any single card any time soon, but 970 SLI is an attractive upgrade, and the barrier of entry to that would be a lot lower if their first card was a blower. Even if one never exercises their option for an easy SLI upgrade, having the option makes the card more attractive to begin with.

Also, if Nvidia isn't going to allow reference cooler 970s later, now would be a great time for a card manufacturer to come up with their own deluxe blower for a unique selling point.

On the other hand, I have to say the segmentation does make the 980 more attractive than it otherwise would be. Not only is the 980 the only way to get a good blower, but for some reason the card manufacturers have also neglected to put the new 3x Displayport configuration on 970s. (With the exception of Gigabyte, whose card has an "anti-blower" design and doesn't even try to exhaust anything outside the case.)

 

[exar333]

It would be really nice to be able to pay a small premium for a better blower 970. It's such an attractive chip for SLI and for really compact builds, and a blower is a natural match for both scenarios.

It's weird that Nvidia is segmenting their product offering in this way. You'd think they would want to encourage people to go SLI and give them more money. Not many single 970 owners are going to upgrade to any single card any time soon, but 970 SLI is an attractive upgrade, and the barrier of entry to that would be a lot lower if their first card was a blower. Even if one never exercises their option for an easy SLI upgrade, having the option makes the card more attractive to begin with.

Also, if Nvidia isn't going to allow reference cooler 970s later, now would be a great time for a card manufacturer to come up with their own deluxe blower for a unique selling point.

On the other hand, I have to say the segmentation does make the 980 more attractive than it otherwise would be. Not only is the 980 the only way to get a good blower, but for some reason the card manufacturers have also neglected to put the new 3x Displayport configuration on 970s. (With the exception of Gigabyte, whose card has an "anti-blower" design and doesn't even try to exhaust anything outside the case.)

This. Was hoping for a 'FTW' edition from EVGA with a copy of the Titan cooler installed. I would pay extra for that...

 

[toyota]

This. Was hoping for a 'FTW' edition from EVGA with a copy of the Titan cooler installed. I would pay extra for that...

I assume you mean the 980 cooler which is not actually the same color as the Titan cooler. There is no way to put the Titan cooler on the 970 due to cost.

 

[exar333]

I assume you mean the 980 cooler which is not actually the same color as the Titan cooler. There is no way to put the Titan cooler on the 970 due to cost.

Why not? The parts cannot be more than $30. Mark-up the price $50-60 and I would still pay it.

 

[toyota]

Why not? The parts cannot be more than $30. Mark-up the price $50-60 and I would still pay it.

well maybe so but my main point was to make sure you didn't think that the 980 cooler was actually the Titans cooler.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

Got the cards in today, #1 is running at 39C and #2 is running at 30C. Seems about right. I'll see how they sound when gaming, but right now at 30% fan speeds they're quieter than my CPU fans...and I still have my case's insulated side panel off.

If these cards don't pan out, I'll look into these: http://www.techpowerup.com/205439/msi-announces-geforce-gtx-980-and-gtx-970-ocv1-series.html

Or a 540 Air and the Windforce cards.

 

[Rvenger]

This. Was hoping for a 'FTW' edition from EVGA with a copy of the Titan cooler installed. I would pay extra for that...

The 670 FTW had the 680 reference cooler. I was hoping to see that as well. 980 reference PCB but 970 chip. If the 670 could do it, why not the 970? The GTX 670 was one of my favorite Kepler cards of all time.

 

[Sable]

yes they make blower version

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-070-_-Product

Ah, didn;t realise thay did an SC blower.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

Apparently, if there is enough interest, EVGA will consider an NVTTM design: http://forums.evga.com/Evga-970-Titan-Reference-Cooler-m2218173.aspx