Gigabyte G1 970s > EVGA SSC 970s

[TahoeDust]

I had some issues with my EVGA SSC 970s and Newegg was cool enough to let me exchange them for a different make/model. I followed some recommendations and went with the Gigabyte G1 Gaming cards. I just got done doing some quick and dirty testing with my two new G1s. All I can say is that the hype is true. These cards are monster overclockers. With my EVGA SSCs I could never get them to hold over 1480MHz. They always throttled down. Installed the G1s and immediately went to overclocking and benching. I started with them at 1500MHz and stock voltage just too see what happened. Much to my surprise they ran through Firestrike/Unigene Valley and much to my pleasure they held steady as a rock and NO throttling. So, I kept cranking them up. I got to 1550MHz before I had to start adding a little voltage. The last benches I made were at 1590MHz and only adding 20mV...and still NO throttling. Just rock solid unwavering speed. The only downside is that I cannot clock the RAM as high as I could with the EVGAs without getting artifacts. I know Core is King when it comes to OCing, so I am OK with that.

EVGA SSC Firstrike:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3707960

Gigabyte G1 Firstrike:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3797501

EVGA SSC Valley:

Gigabyte G1 Valley:

 

[jhatfie]

Congrats on the great OC! Do you have any issues with one of your cards undervolting? I had MSI Gaming 970's for a bit, but I could not get SLI 100% stable because one of my cards was always running to low of voltage when in SLI. But they sure performed amazing when they were not crashing.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3232749

 

[TahoeDust]

I have not had that issue, but I have heard of others having it. That is a killer FS score.

 

[tuan2195]

You would expect a card with such a gigantic cooler overclock well Judging by the core speed you're at, this card must have a raised TDP doesn't it? I have trouble overclocking my PNY GTX 970 past 1550, it always throttle down around that point due to lack of TDP.