Gigabyte geforce gtx 970 benchmarks. Another review of the Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming video card. UEFI and software

For a long time I was going not knowing what to write in my first review about a video card based on a chip that has been on the market for a year and a half, and has been written about not once or twice. About the model that is Steam's leader among discrete video cards. About the card, which is currently the benchmark for the middle segment of graphics accelerators. I was going for a long time, and I was going. Greetings gentlemen! GTX970. And, perhaps, the best incarnation of it is Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming!

This is not my first experience with GTX970 series cards, but all hands did not reach one of the top representatives of a well-known Taiwanese brand. But now that I have the first representative of the G1 Gaming gaming line in my hands, I propose to take a closer look at it.

Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming meets us with a box in the classic Gigabyte style, black. On the front side, we see a description of the techniques used and the technologies supported. On the back side, we are told about the advantages of the Windforce3X cooling system, the use of Flex display technology for displaying images on multiple monitors, dual BIOS (GIGABYTE DualBIOS), the use of an ultra-reliable elementary base (Ultra Durable VGA), and, attention (!!!), manual selection of chips quality for the G1 Gaming line. Those. this promises us high-quality crystals inside and a decent overclocking potential at the output ... Well, let's see!
Inside, again, there is a classic black box with a video card, under which there is a compartment with an additional kit. Which, it should be noted, is very modest for the top-end (at the time of release) card in the line. Two adapters for 6pin and 8pin, CD with drivers and manual. Why this kit did not include at least a DVI-D-Sub adapter and a sticker I personally do not understand. You are expecting something more interesting from the top gaming line of the top company!
Opening up!

Visually, the card looks very nice! Windforce3X has updated the casing since the days of the GTX 7XX series and has become so brutal, and the back plate gives out a premium product. The set of outputs is also classic for modern video adapters: 1 x DVI-I, 1 x DVI-D, 1 x HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort. Upon further consideration, the following feature is noteworthy - length. The map is very long! Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooworth! Occupying two slots in height, the length is stated within 312 mm! For comparison, the dual-GPU (!) HD7990 and GTX690 were 315mm maximum in their longest versions. On the one hand, such a card's length makes us think about the possibility of placing it inside its case, but on the other hand, it seems to indicate that the cooling of our chip will be up to par!

Separately, I would like to say about the so-called backplat, or back plate. This structural element, in its current design, carries the same brutal style as the casing of the cooling system. Moreover, in addition to the visual pleasure of contemplating such beauty in your system unit, this device has only one practical value, it does not allow the card to bend in the pci-e slot under the weight of the cooling system. There is no question of any cooling of the power supply and memory elements, since there is a decent gap between the backplate and the printed circuit board of the video card.

The fans have also undergone changes with the release of the 9th series. Now the design of the fans has been improved towards reducing air turbulence, which should lead to better cooling of the video card. I am always very careful about such statements of manufacturers, preferring to check all this in practice.

Before the start game testing(we will not have benchmarks, due to their complete uselessness for ordinary users, and they have been tested more than a dozen times already) I would like to draw your attention to the place of this video card in the GTX970 family from Gygabyte.

As you can see from the table, before the release of the Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming line, our card was the top-end in the gtx970 series from Gigabyte, now the Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming GTX 970 is ahead of it in terms of GPU frequency in nominal / boost. But everyone understands that +13 MHz in the core is purely digital superiority that will not affect the fact that in games these cards will be equal. And the actual difference between the Xtreme Gaming line is the increased number of heat pipes, reduced length and RGB lighting of the fans, which is certainly not small, but, as they say, does not affect the speed!

Now let's move on to gaming tests. And today we have a lot of them! The test is pretty straightforward. A half-hour run with measurements of the minimum, maximum and average fps and maximum temperature of the video card. We will also check how one of the fresh processors from Intel i5 6600 will work in tandem with the Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming. MSI programs Afterburner.

Computer configuration:

I5 6600 + Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C + 2X Noctua NF-P12
MSI B150 Night Elf
Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming
G.Skill 16 GB 2133MHz
Sea Sonic 460W Fanless Platinum
Crucial MX200 240GB
HGST 500Gb
Fractal Design Core 1500 + Lamptron FC2

As we can see, despite its size, Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming fits perfectly into a compact system, and feels great in it!
GAMES:
Among the games we have today:

Battlefield 4,
World Of Tanks,
Witcher 3,
Fallout 4,
Assassins creed: Syndicate,
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

All games were tested at 1920x1080 resolution.

Battlefield 4

It would seem that more than one year has passed since the release of Battlefield 4, but it still loads the video card by 100%! But at maximum settings, the FPS is as playable as possible. Minimum 60, Maximum about 120. Average about 80.

World of tanks

One of the most popular online games is famous for its demands on processors, but with an HD client, the requirements for a video card are set to the highest. But, oddly enough, at maximum graphics settings, neither the processor nor the video card was fully loaded during the entire session, which means that the power of our system is more than enough for this game. Naturally, on different maps, due to the different number of objects to draw, we got different fps indicators. The minimum fps is 60, the average is 90, and the maximum is 110.

Witcher 3

The Witcher is one of the best, if not Best game, 2015, was distinguished not only by high-quality gameplay and an exciting plot, but also by the exactingness of components game system... At maximum graphics settings with high Nvidia Hairworks settings, we get at least 45 fps in the most difficult places for a video card. The average fps is 60, the maximum fps can be seen in enclosed spaces and in a cave, where it exceeds 90.

Fallout 4

One of the latest big novelties in the gaming industry was also easily submitted to Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming. Also, at maximum settings, the card gets full load only in large open spaces. And even in such conditions, we have at least 55 fps at our disposal. Average fps - 75, maximum - 95.

Assassins creed: Syndicate

But the last series of adventures of the assassin made our card capitulate at maximum settings with msaa x8 anti-aliasing. If fps did not fall below 40 indoors, then when I went outside, I saw sad numbers in the fps graph, the minimum of which was 9. I had to go back to the msaa x2 recommended by the system. In such conditions, fps did not fall below 45, on average it was 60, and did not grow above this mark.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

The last part of the famous franchise could be safely skipped, since at maximum settings the video card constantly produces the maximum 60 fps. If not for one fact: the load of video memory does not drop below 4000MB. Knowing the old scandalous problem with the gtx970 with 0.5GB of slow memory, we were right to expect any performance drops, but there are none. A 4GB card paired with 16GB of RAM can handle the game with a bang. What happens if the card has 2 GB of memory available is anyone's guess.

P.S. As a bonus, we can mention the now popular game Armored Warfare, which, at maximum settings, submitted to our map with the same constant, artificially limited by the 60 FPS system.
Overclocking + cooling system:
Not the most necessary for the average user, but nevertheless, very interesting function- overclocking!
We all remember the promise of manual selection of chips for this line, and a high asic 72,% shows us that, most likely, some sort of selection is actually underway. Previously, having in stock 2 pieces of GTX970 from other asic vendors above 63%, I have not seen. As you can see from the picture, the high asic promises good overclocking with air cooling.

After performing several (about 10) unsuccessful runs in FurMark, the memory core frequency indicators froze at the following numbers:

I want to note right away that raising the voltage on the core did not help me in this case. Above 1489 on boost, the card did not want to pass the benchmark.
Of course, 1489 is a very good result, the previous cards started at 1435 maximum, but I really wanted to overcome the 1500 mark.

At the same time, the card warmed up to a maximum of 68 degrees, the fans worked normally, and their speed did not rise above 60%, which, despite the small size of the case, did not affect the background noise in any way, and the computer continued to remain almost silent. In games, the temperature did not exceed 65 degrees and the sound background also remained comfortable.
In games, this 15% overclocking led to an approximately equal increase in the frame rate, in the same Witcher it is about + 10%, from 45 to 49 in the same conditions. Very good in my opinion.

Output:

The conclusion is simple. With the GTX970 G1 Gaming, Gigabyte has launched one of the best and most balanced video cards for gaming in FullHD resolution at maximum graphics settings. Highest level factory overclocking, efficient and quiet cooling system, the possibility of high manual overclocking, excellent performance in games, all with it.
From what is in this card may not suit end user is the length. Of course, 312 mm is a lot for modern video cards, especially in non-top series, but the cooling system justifies every centimeter of length with its quiet and efficient operation. In our example, you could also see that cards with this length can be placed in compact gaming systems.
Also in our review, we could see what's fresh, but not top Intel processor Skylake i5 6600 was more than enough to fully load our card where it was needed.
In total, even though Gigabyte has released a new game line XtremeGaming and new card the GTX970 series in it, the Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming also remains in the top segment of this series, and the lack of fan illumination that is not necessary for everyone and the absence of additional heat pipes make its retail price more attractive in relation to the new product.

If new motherboards for the Socket AM3 + platform is released, so someone needs it? We even know exactly who wants them to be. For a segment of medium entry level AMD has great deals. How do you like an 8-core for $ 130 or a CPU with four cores for $ 75? Manufacturers of motherboards undertake to modernize the binding of the age platform. Per recent times the companies presented a whole handful of new models. Let's take a closer look at one of the versions with a gaming bias. Today we are testing the GIGABYTE GA-970-Gaming under $ 100.

Late last year, GIGABYTE announced an update lineup devices for Socket AM3 +. The manufacturer presented a number of models, among which one of the most affordable is the GIGABYTE GA-970-Gaming board based on the AMD 970 chipset.

The list of supported processors includes all models for Socket AM3 / AM3 + platforms, with the exception of the FX-9xxx series chips with a TDP of 220 watts. The latter are specific CPUs that require motherboards with a very powerful power subsystem, as a rule, these are top-end devices based on AMD 990X / 990FX.

Contents of delivery

The board is offered in a medium-sized box, which is decorated in the already familiar style for the latest models of the G1 Gaming series.

The set with the device comes with a manual, instructions for quick installation and warranty documentation, CD with drivers, 4 SATA interface cables, as well as a G-Connector adapter for connecting system buttons and indicators. Those wishing to indicate the use of a gaming line board will come in handy with a round sticker with the G1 Gaming series logo.

Design and layout

GIGABYTE GA-970-Gaming conforms to the ATX format, having classic dimensions for this form factor - 305 × 244 mm. Externally, the board is designed in the spirit of the game version models. Black base, heatsinks and most interface connectors. Some of the connectors are colored red. Such a reception

The PCB has an eye-catching matte finish that hides copper tracks very well. On boards of this level, as a rule, the conductors are clearly visible through the thickness of the varnish. In the case of the GA-970-Gaming, a coating is applied, which is often used for more expensive models. Of course, for a motherboard, appearance is definitely not the most important attribute, which significantly affects the choice of a particular model. But the neat stylish design of the device has never been superfluous.

The power unit is made according to a 5-phase scheme (4 + 1). The Richtek RT8868 controller is used to control the VRM parameters. In this configuration, the power regulator module can rather be called sufficient for using the system in normal mode and moderate "walking" overclocking. Obviously, for a record boost, more equipped platforms with an increased power reserve will be needed.

For additional cooling The MOSFET assemblies use an aluminum heat sink. The block is not very large, although due to the complex shape of the profile, the manufacturer tried to increase the scattering area. The radiator is pressed very tightly; a screw fastening is used for fixing.

There are 4 slots for installing memory modules on the board. Supports DDR3 bars with an effective operating frequency of up to 2133 MHz. The maximum amount of RAM is 32 GB. The connectors have a double-sided module locking mechanism. In this case, such a mounting design will not interfere with the control of the brackets with the video card installed. Color-coded connectors make it easier for novice users to navigate when setting up dual-channel memory operation. The board supports X.M.P. profiles, which also facilitates the selection of parameters.

An 8-pin 12V connector is provided for connecting additional power.

The board has 6 expansion slots. Two full-length PCI Express x16, a pair of PCI Express x1 and the same number of PCI. The first PCI-E x16 slot always operates in full speed mode. For the second, 4 bus lines are allocated (x4 mode). The board supports CrossFire mode, but does not provide for the operation of two video cards in an SLI bundle. The slots are copied in such a way that even after installing a pair of graphics cards with dual-slot coolers, one PCI-E x1 and one PCI are available. Recall that PCI support is native here. Chipsets for AM3 + still have a built-in controller for this bus, which suits the owners of the corresponding peripherals. Of course, equipment manufacturers have not been guided by this standard for a long time, but owners of high-quality sound cards with such an interface are hardly worried about it.

Note that both PCI Express x16 slots have a metal frame that enhances the strength of the connectors.

Splitting connectors under the weight of adapters is rather an exception, inaccurate manipulations with the adapter during installation / removal of video cards can lead to such consequences. An additional casing should just protect the connectors from such incidents.

There are no additional system controls or auxiliary indicators on the board. The model is positioned by the manufacturer as a basis for gaming platform, and not an overclocker stand, because there is no corresponding body kit here.

From what we have, these are two BIOS chips for firmware redundancy. Duplicate microcode comes in handy even if you are not actively overclocking. No one is safe from power outages during a BIOS update (after all, you use an uninterruptible power supply when flashing, right?), And DualBIOS is very useful in this case.

To connect fans, the board provides a pair of 4-pin connectors and two 3-pin connectors. Speed control is provided only for fans connected to 4-pin connectors. 12 V is supplied to 3-pin, and you will need to control the speed using additional adapters or potentiometers.

Of the interesting features of the board, we note that the panel for connecting buttons and indicators is located in the central part next to the ATX power connector. The connectors are color-coded, but when connecting cables, it is more convenient to use the supplied G-Connector adapter, having previously assembled all the elements on it, and then connected to the board in one fell swoop. There is also a two-pin connector next to the panel, closing which clears the CMOS memory.

To connect drives, the board has six SATA 6 Gb / s ports. All connectors are positioned perpendicular to the PCB plane and are located in the lower right corner. Taking into account the fact that the model is full-format with classic dimensions, the corner is securely fixed with a screw, so the PCB will not bend when connecting interface cables. The SATA ports are placed in such a way that even using a second video card with a dual-slot cooling system, access to the connectors will not be difficult.

The M.2 port is a gimmick for Socket AM3 + motherboards. It is not yet an essential attribute, but the popularity of drives of this format is growing, so even potentially being able to connect a high-speed SSD is a useful bonus. In this case, two PCI Express 2.0 lanes are allocated for the needs of M.2, and the port bandwidth is 10 Gb / s. The board allows the use of M.2 SSDs in lengths of 42, 60 and 80 mm. At the same time, both SATA drives and PCI Express (NVMe) are supported. In the first case, one of the six available SATA channels will be used, in the second, half of the lanes allocated for PCI Express x4. Overall, 10 Gb / s is not too much bandwidth. Some high-speed SSDs can offer higher transfers, in this case, their data transfer rate will be limited to 1-1.2 GB / s. But, this is in any case above 550 MB / s, which are available for traditional SATA drives.

AMD's Socket AM3 + chipsets do not have built-in USB 3.0 support. In such a situation, additional chips come to the rescue. third party manufacturers... To implement USB 3.0 on the GIGABYTE GA-970-Gaming, the VIA VL805 controller is used, which provides support for 4 ports of the corresponding bus. Two of them are placed on the interface panel, and for a couple there is an internal connector on the PCB. It is often used to bring ports to the front panel or case wall.

While USB 3.0 did not initially have any issues on boards with AM3 +, the emergence of support for USB 3.1 with double the bandwidth is the "goodies" of new wave boards that are only now appearing on sale. The high-speed bus in this case is realized thanks to the ASMedia ASM1143 controller. The chip provides two USB port 3.1, which are located on the interface panel. Moreover, one of them is made in the classic USB Typa-A format, the second - in the form of a compact symmetrical USB Type-C. This is the best combination.

Closing the topic with USB ports, we note that a pair of connectors on the interface panel have increased resistance to possible supply voltage drops when connecting resource-intensive peripherals. Additional stabilizers provide a stable 5 V. Ports with isolated power supply, for which the USB DAC-UP technology is implemented, are marked with yellow inserts. It is these connectors that the manufacturer recommends to use to connect external DACs or other peripherals that are sensitive even to small power drops.

The microcircuit of the south bridge SB950 is covered with a medium-sized radiator. During the operation of the system, the unit warmed up to 42–45 degrees.

The Killer E2201 gigabit controller, which is hidden on the board behind a metal shielding casing, is responsible for connecting to a wired network. A feature of the solutions in this series, for the development of which Rivet Networks is now responsible, is the ability to automatically redistribute the priority of traffic. In the case of heterogeneous network load, this allows you to reduce possible latency, for example, for online games or streaming video.

Another option that enhances the gaming capabilities of the board is an improved sound subsystem. The audio section is, as expected, separated from the general PCB array, but this is no surprise. To begin with, it uses the Realtek ALC1150 codec, which in itself is a rarity for full-format boards costing about $ 100. The chip is also hidden under a metal frame. The chain uses specialized Japanese containers. Perhaps it was unexpected to see on a board of this level the ability to change the operational amplifier at its discretion. Initially, the removable panel is occupied by a TI Burr Brown NE5532 chip.

This is an entry-level amplifier, but it fits seamlessly into the composition as a whole. The board also provides a block of DIP switches for changing the signal gain (2.5x and 6x).

And yes, of course, the border track of the audio subsystem is highlighted with red LEDs. Without this, there is almost nothing. The contours of the audio path are not marked very intensively.

The illumination can be controlled from the BIOS or by using the Ambient LED utility. Supported modes of constant glow, pulsation and backlight to the beat of the music.

On software setting better not to count too much. The proposed uluchshayzers to achieve something better than the standard mode is unlikely to succeed.

On the whole, I liked the possibilities of the built-in sound. There is a good headroom for driving high-impedance headphones. The sound is balanced, with pronounced high frequencies. For those who initially focused on discrete sound card, "Inline" will not become a full-fledged replacement, but for moderately demanding, but not too picky users, such a solution will save money.

The bottom edge of the board doesn't have a lot of heaps of connectors. It houses an internal audio port, two-pin S / PDIF, COM, three internal USB 2.0, which together can provide up to six corresponding ports and one USB 3.0 for two ports. As we already mentioned, the SATA ports are located in the lower right corner.

On the other side printed circuit board minimum of elements. As you can see, the heatsinks on the MOSFET and the southbridge are fastened with screws, while the cooler on the northbridge is held down by plastic clips.

With the equipment of the interface panel, complete order. In addition to the combined PS / 2, there are six USB 2.0 ports, a pair of USB 3.0 and two USB 3.1 connectors. The latter are presented in the form of USB Type-A and USB Type-C connectors. There is also an Ethernet socket on the panel. To connect acoustics, there are 5 audio jacks 3.5 mm and optical S / PDIF.

It is already somewhat unusual to see motherboards without video outputs, but this feature is not specific model, and in general, the Socket AM3 + platforms. Chips for this connector do not have integrated graphics, therefore a discrete graphics card is required for operation. The only exceptions are still available, but very rare models based on the AMD 760G chipset. In this case, the integrated graphics, modest in their capabilities, are contained in the north bridge microcircuit.

UEFI and software

The UEFI graphical shell has a familiar classic design for GIGABYTE boards... The distinctive placement and grouping of options has become a specific feature of the manufacturer's devices. The number of available parameters on boards for the AMD platform is traditionally less than in the case of models for Intel chips... There is no large scattering of bookmarks and parameters, nevertheless, the available set is quite enough in case you want to deviate from the normal operating mode of the system.

The supply voltage on the x86 cores can be adjusted incrementally, from -0.275 V to +0.620 V. (step -0.025 ... + 0.02 V), on the north bridge chip from -0.175 V to +0.460 V. within 1.25-2.0 V in 0.01 V steps.

GIGABYTE APP Center offers a set of utilities to manage your system from the OS. The EasyTune application traditionally offers profiles for the auto-overclocking of the processor, which we tested for the FX-8320. This CPU has a frequency formula of 3.5 / 4.0 GHz by default.

In Light mode, the operating frequency has been increased by 100 MHz (3.6 / 4.1 GHz). Medium assumes overclocking to 200 MHz, and Extreme adds 300 MHz to the original values. In this case, you will not get a large increase in performance, but these are quite acceptable conditions for safe forcing. It is curious that in this case the Energy Saving and Auto Tuning modes were not available. If you want more, you still have to delve into the settings in more detail. In general, this can be done here in EasyTune by going to the Advanced CPU OC tab or directly in the BIOS.

V manual mode clock frequency the processor managed to be increased to 4.4 GHz under the load on all computing units. To do this, it was also necessary to increase the supply voltage by 0.08 V. With a significant overclocking of the processor, one should take into account the seriously increasing load on the power elements of the VRM. The heatsink attached to the MOSFET warmed up to 75–80 C under load under such conditions. The mode is acceptable, but additional airflow in this case would not hurt. Of course, temperature regime here it will be very individual and largely depend on the processor cooler. When using tower-type models, due attention should be paid to the power unit.

DDR3-2133 memory modules worked without problems in normal mode. X.M.P.support greatly simplifies parameter setting.

The System Information Viewer is used to configure the cooling system and monitor various system parameters(voltage, temperature, fan speed). In the System Alerts section, you can set the criteria for reaching which notifications will appear on the screen when the temperatures or rotation speeds exceed the set limits.

The general set of auxiliary applications includes the V-Tuner utility, which allows you to experiment with overclocking a video card. Of course, for serious tuning, specialized software is more likely to be needed, but the supplied utility is also useful for express tuning.

We have already published, but later another video card was delivered to our test lab - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming. It is aimed at high performance, which is why the video card is equipped with a powerful WindForce cooler capable of dissipating up to 450W of heat. In our review, we'll see if Gigabyte's new product can be called the fastest video card, how efficiently the cooling system works, and whether the GPU efficiency has been lost due to overclocking.

Gigabyte now offers three GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards. In addition to the standard GeForce GTX 970 WindForce 3X, it is also available for purchase, which Gigabyte is targeting for compact chassis. We tested the GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming with the highest clock speeds.

NVIDIA partners for video cards based on GPU Maxwell received a fairly decent headroom in frequencies, which made it possible to present models with significant factory overclocking. In theory, the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming is one of the fastest graphics cards out there. In our article, we will see if this is enough to provide performance leadership in practice.

Architecture Information

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming (GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD)
Retail price	about 20.3 thousand rubles in Russia from 360 euros in Europe
Products webpage	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming Official Page
Technical information
GPU	Maxwell (GM204)
Technical process	28 nm
Number of transistors	5.2 billion
GPU clock speed (base)	1.178 MHz
GPU clock speed (Boost)	1.329 MHz
Memory frequency	1.750 MHz
Memory type	GDDR5
Memory	4.096 MB
Memory bus width	256 bit
Memory bandwidth	224.4 GB / s
DirectX version	12
Stream Processors	1.664
Texture blocks	104
Raster Operations Pipelines (ROP)	64
Pixel fill rate	75.4 Gpixel / s
SLI / CrossFire	SLI

For the reference video card GeForce GTX 970, NVIDIA set the base frequency to 1.050 MHz. Gigabyte has increased it to 1.178 MHz. The Boost frequency has been increased from 1.178 MHz to 1.329 MHz. That is, Gigabyte for the GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming set the base frequency at a level that corresponds to the minimum Boost bar of the reference video card. We got almost 13 percent overclocking. Gigabyte decided not to change the memory frequency, which runs at the previous 1.750 MHz.

Typically for a GeForce GTX 970, we get a memory configuration of 4.096 MB, it is connected over a 256-bit bus and runs at 1.750 MHz. Like everyone else GeForce video cards GTX 970, we get 1,664 stream processors, 104 texture units and 64 RIP pipelines.

GPU-Z screenshot confirms technical specifications, and also allows you to find out additional characteristics of the video card.

Boost frequency of 1.329 MHz is only Gigabyte's minimum bar, if temperature and power consumption allow, the frequency in practice will be even higher. As our tests have shown, the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming has a frequency of 1.418 MHz in practice, which is much higher than the minimum bar. This is partly due to the very low temperature of the GPU, which did not get hotter than 56 ° C. At least in our test configuration, the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1.Gaming was able to unleash its potential.

Separately, I would like to say about the so-called backplat, or back plate. This structural element, in its current design, carries the same brutal style as the casing of the cooling system. Moreover, in addition to the visual pleasure of contemplating such beauty in its system unit, this device has only one practical value, it does not allow the card to bend in the pci-e slot under the weight of the cooling system. There is no question of any cooling of the power supply and memory elements, since there is a decent gap between the backplate and the printed circuit board of the video card.

Before starting gaming testing (we will not have benchmarks, due to their complete uselessness for ordinary users, and they have been tested more than a dozen times), I would like to draw your attention to the place of this video card in the GTX970 family from Gygabyte.

Now let's move on to gaming tests. And today we have a lot of them! The test is pretty straightforward. A half-hour run with measurements of the minimum, maximum and average fps and maximum temperature of the video card. We will also check how one of the latest processors from Intel i5 6600 will work in tandem with the Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming. The measurements will be made using the MSI Afterburner program.

Computer configuration:

I5 6600 + Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C + 2X Noctua NF-P12
MSI B150 Night Elf
Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming
G.Skill 16 GB 2133MHz
Sea Sonic 460W Fanless Platinum
Crucial MX200 240GB
HGST 500Gb
Fractal Design Core 1500 + Lamptron FC2

As we can see, despite its size, Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming fits perfectly into a compact system, and feels great in it!
GAMES:
Among the games we have today:

Battlefield 4,
World Of Tanks,
Witcher 3,
Fallout 4,
Assassins creed: Syndicate,
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

All games were tested at 1920x1080 resolution.

Battlefield 4

World of tanks

Witcher 3

The Witcher is one of the best, if not the best game of 2015, distinguished not only by high-quality gameplay and an exciting plot, but also by its exactingness to the components of the game system. At maximum graphics settings with high Nvidia Hairworks settings, we get at least 45 fps in the most difficult places for a video card. The average fps is 60, the maximum fps can be seen in enclosed spaces and in a cave, where it exceeds 90.

Fallout 4

Assassins creed: Syndicate

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

P.S. As a bonus, we can mention the now popular game Armored Warfare, which, at maximum settings, submitted to our map with the same constant, artificially limited by the 60 FPS system.
Overclocking + cooling system:
Not the most necessary for the average user, but nevertheless, a very interesting function - overclocking!
We all remember the promise of manual selection of chips for this line, and a high asic 72,% shows us that, most likely, some sort of selection is actually underway. Previously, having in stock 2 pieces of GTX970 from other asic vendors above 63%, I have not seen. As you can see from the picture, the high asic promises good overclocking with air cooling.

After performing several (about 10) unsuccessful runs in FurMark, the memory core frequency indicators froze at the following numbers:

Output:

The conclusion is simple. With the GTX970 G1 Gaming, Gigabyte has launched one of the best and most balanced video cards for gaming in FullHD resolution at maximum graphics settings. The highest level of factory overclocking, a productive and quiet cooling system, the possibility of high manual overclocking, excellent performance in games, all with it.
From the fact that in this map the end user may not be satisfied - this is the length. Of course, 312 mm is a lot for modern video cards, especially in non-top series, but the cooling system justifies every centimeter of length with its quiet and efficient operation. In our example, you could also see that cards with this length can be placed in compact gaming systems.
Also in our review we could see that the fresh, but not the top-end Intel Skylake i5 6600 processor was more than enough to fully load our card where it was needed.
So, even though Gigabyte has released a new XtremeGaming gaming line and a new GTX970 series card in it, Gigabyte GTX970 G1 Gaming also remains in the top segment of this series, and the lack of fan illumination and the absence of additional heat pipes make its price in retail more attractive in relation to the new product.