Here’s a first look at one of the non-reference GeForce GTX 970 graphics card – the Asus STRIX GTX 970 OC Edition (STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5). The STRIX GTX 970 features a factory overclock settings and the company’s 0dB fan technology. In terms of aesthetics or looks, there’s nothing really new about this card. It looks the same with the STRIX GTX 780 and STRIX R9 280X. Check out more details below.
UPDATE: The Asus Strix GTX 970 OC is now available and is currently one of the best selling GTX 970 graphics card today. Currently it has a retail price of around $359.99 USD. Buy a Strix GTX 970 now and get a free game here. Promo is valid until Dec 15, 2014.
Asus STRIX GTX 970 OC Edition Coming Up
The Asus STRIX GTX 970 OC Edition, despite having that owlish looking shroud design, underneath it is still the same DirectCU II cooler design. It probably has three heatpipes that directly contacts with the GPU and distributes the heat to the large aluminum fins.
From this angle, I can’t tell if the STRIX GTX 970 OC has a backplate. But the reference one does have a backplate. So I think it would be uncool if this one wouldn’t feature a backplate support. Just like Asus’ other STRIX graphics card, the fans will not turn on, not unless GPU temperature reaches 65 degrees Celsius. Once it hits 65 degrees, the fans will start to turn. So depending on your actual usage, you may or may not enjoy the 0dB gaming experience.
Another thing that I noticed is that Asus opted to have two DVI ports, one HDMI port and one DisplayPort. The reference one, which is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 has five display output: 1x DVI port, 1x HDMI port and 3x DisplayPort. That’s somewhat backwards thinking even if a user doesn’t really need all those ports.
I don’t have the exact specifications on the STRIX GTX 970 yet, but the reference GeForce GTX 970 features 1664 CUDA Cores, 4GB GDDR5 memory running on a 256-bit memory interface, 1750MHz memory clock speed (7GHz effective), 224.5 GB/s memory bandwidth, and has a thermal design power (TDP) of 148W, drawing power from two 6-pin PCIE power connector. The reference GTX 970 has a GPU clock speed of 1051MHz with a boost clock of 1178MHz. Since the STRIX GTX 970 OC comes with a factory overclock settings, expect that the clock speed will be a couple of 100MHz higher. I just hope they won’t be too conservative on their settings.
Price for the Asus STRIX GTX 970 OC 4GB is currently unknown, but according to reports, the reference GTX 970 will have a retail price of around $299. If the information is correct, probably the STRIX GTX 970 OC will probably be priced at around $349 more or less. The Asus GTX 980 and GTX 970 are expected to be announced this coming September 19.
Source: VideoCardz.com
