Question 1

My motherboard is a few years old, and has PCI-e 2.0.  Is that a problem for this card?  Thanks!

Accepted Answer

No, a single 970 will not max out a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot, or if it does it will only take a minimal performance impact. However, if you plan to use SLI, it would be wise to switch to a processor, motherboard, and chipset that support PCI-E 3.0.

Question 2

I'm wondering what the temps, noise levels( please don't exaggerate), and avg. fps are like?

Accepted Answer

Idle temps are anywhere from 31-37 degrees depending on how hot the room is in general. The highest temp I've seen while playing games is 71 degrees.

The noise is there, I won't lie to you. It's audible, however I do have a fairly open case with other fans in it (Corsair Spec-03), so I don't know where the noise is actually coming from. I do know however that there is an occasional high pitched noise that lasts for 3-5 seconds while gaming. I'm 99% sure it's the GPU as it only happens when gaming. None of these noises are audible however, if there is another noise going on in the room. For example, if my ceiling fan is on medium settings, I cannot hear anything from the computer.

As far as FPS goes, no game has managed to take the frames lower than 100 on max settings/1080p. However, I haven't played any of those super graphic intensive games like Metro, Tomb Raider, etc.

Question 3

power supply required for this card ?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it requires a powersupply.  It has one 8 pin pci-e connector and one 6 pin connector.

Question 4

I read in an article that its recommended to have 12 GB RAM for this card.  Is 8 GB still ok for this card?

Accepted Answer

8 GB is fine; when they talk about their recommendations they typically mean at what point they think the amount of available RAM is no longer a bottleneck for the system.

Think of it this way: you could put it in a machine with 1 GB ram no problem, but how much benefit would you _really_ get from it, seeing as your computer would still be sluggish because of the available ram?

Question 5

think i could SLI this with a asus gtx 770?

Accepted Answer

No, it can only run SLI with another GTX 970 so it cannot be ran in SLI 770. Not to mention the GTX 9xx series run Maxwell GPUs and the 6xx and 7xx series have a completely different GPU architecture running Kepler.

Sorry for the bad news.

Question 6

What is the difference between a Zotac GeForce GTX 970 compared to a Nvidia  GeForce GTX 970 besides the obvious 2-fans on the Zotac, and only 1-fan on the Nvidia?

Accepted Answer

No difference as they are both reference boards.  If you aren't familiar with that term, it means that both boards contain the same technical circuitry layout.  Zotac went out of specification and tailor made their heatsink/fan unit fitted on the card.  Beware though that sometimes companies will use higher quality electronic components on their boards than others also.  I have two Zotacs (ZOTAC ZT-90101-10P GeForce GTX 970) since Sept 2014 and they have been nothing short of brilliant in Nvidia surround across 3 monitors.  These cards also really really shine on them as 144Hz monitors as well.  I recommend them.  *** I play all manner of FPS, RTS, Racing (Assetto Corsa), and Flight sims.***

Question 7

Will this card work with the AMD FX- 8320/8350 or should I switch to a intel cpu?

Accepted Answer

This card will work perfectly fine with the AMD FX-8320/8350 series of processors.  You have no worries.  These cards are amazing.  I have 2 in SLi across 3 monitors in NZVidia Surround and it's amazing!  Hope this helps.

Question 8

I have an 825w PSU, wondering if this would be able to support it? It seems like a rocking deal.

Accepted Answer

the card will run fine on a properly rated 500w psu. the only issue you would conceivably have is a low quality PSU with a misleading rating.

Question 9

Is Zotac a good brand to buy from, wont I have any problems with this card in the long run?

Accepted Answer

Zotac is a good brand. Got this card for 6 month and never had any issue with it at all. It can become loud and the default fan curve allows the card to become hotter than i'd like (80C) but nothing too bad. With a little tweak of the curve on something like MSI afterburner and the card will be able to run at around 66-67C but the downside of that is the fan ramp up faster and make some noise (not too loud)

Another thing about this card, that might have been just my card, is that it doesn't overclock well.

I hope this help.

Question 10

Where is the pin config located in computer that needs to power this (motherboard or psu) I think i need adapter my cpu is prebuilt dell?

Accepted Answer

ah sounds like you have a proprietary system, Dell, welp first things first, gather up all the info you can about your Dell;....

model numbers, serial number, revisions, BIOS version, power supply, motherboard version, that sort of stuff.....

that way we can see if your box is even compatible......

these GPU's draw their power directly from the computers power supply, 2 4 pin connectors, I figure 650+ watt power supply is about perfect......

so if you can look at your power supply and see if its at least 650 watt then all you need to look for are 2 extra 6 pin connectors, 600 watts should work if your not running a lot of peripherals, HD's, burners and so on and not gaming hard.....

if all that checks out next is your motherboard, is it compatible? your board needs one open "PCI Express 3.0 x16" slot, so when you look up your model and make of computer find the motherboard specs and see if it supports this slot and if its open, if it does then you want to be sure the BIOS is compatible, look up the NORTHBRIDGE chipset make and model#, then you will look it up at its manufacturer's website to see if it supports the GTX970.....

if all that checks out then make sure your operating system supports the GTX970, it should unless you have like windows 2000 or something real old.......

also another route instead of researching all this is to get online with a Dell customer service representative in chat and I bet he can tell you in about 2 minutes or less, most likely you're not the first person trying to upgrade the graphics unless again its a real old system.....

either way if the chat stumps you go ahead and get us all the info you can, make and model wise, everything possible... the motherboard might even have a model number on it, make sure the power supply is at the very least 600 watt and has two unused 4pin connectors, we'll go from there.....

if your motherboard checks but power doesn't you can purchase a new power supply, easy enough to install

Questions & Answers