Review: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW

Conclusion

Competition's a good thing in the tech industry. Having multiple players vying for our business not only keeps the manufacturers on their toes but it pushes innovation and keeps prices low.

The high-end graphics arena has, for a good number of years, been about as competitive as they come. But there's always a certain amount of ebb and flow, and right now, it seems as though Nvidia is able to keep AMD at arm's length when it comes to maximum single-GPU performance. With Kepler-based, 7-series cards still holding the fort, Nvidia's been in no hurry to introduce Maxwell successors into the high-end space.

That changes today with the belated introduction of the GTX 980 and GTX 970, yet as promising as both SKUs are, it's clear that Nvidia is keeping plenty in the tank. The full performance potential of the Maxwell architecture is yet to be realised, and all signs suggest there's more than enough headroom for a GTX 980 Ti, or a Titan 2, perhaps.

But right now, it's a case of Nvidia maximising returns with an efficient architecture that delivers a little more performance in a chip that's much cheaper to produce. The GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 aren't quite enough to galvanise 4K gaming, but they do muscle AMD's best-available GPUs into submission, and do so in a package that's far more energy-efficient.

The good news for you, the consumers, is that AMD is fighting back with the best weapon it has: price cuts. With the Radeon R9 290X now available for under £270, Nvidia has been forced to respond in kind and brings the GeForce GTX 970 to retail at around the £250 mark. A mighty-attractive price for a very-decent card, though expect to pay more for overclocked cards such as the FTW.

And, in something of a rarity, it seems as though GTX 970 is set for a smooth launch. We're informed that retail availability will be plentiful and there's going to be no shortage of choice when it comes to customised boards.

We'll see everything from ultra-quiet to ultra-fast, and though the GTX 970 is in its infancy, we feel confident even at this early stage in stating that we're unlikely to see any partner cards run much quicker than EVGA's FTW. Armed with a new ACX 2.0 cooler and clocked to go like the clappers, this is a fine example of how an affordable GTX 970 can be made as quick as a premium GTX 980.

The Good

Almost as fast as a GTX 980
Ships with a 1,216MHz core
Runs very cool under load
Efficient compared to last-gen cards
Powered by Nvidia's best architecture

The Bad

Not the quietest GTX 970
Only one DisplayPort output
May cost £50 more than basic models

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EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW

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A wide range of Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards are available to purchase from Scan Computers*.

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