NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Offers Great Linux Performance

Included with the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked 4GB (04G-2974-KR) was all the usual documentation and accessories frequently bundled with enthusiast graphics cards. The EVGA material also talked up their ACX 2.0 cooler that claims to be 26% cooler, 36% quieter, 250% lower fan power, and 400% longer lifespan. These benefits from completely redesigning the fan's motor and improving the overall quality.

NVIDIA didn't produce a reference design for the GTX 970 but left everything up to their add-in-board partners. The EVGA GTX 970 SC cooler spans the entire graphics card PCB with its two fans and aluminum heatsink.

EVGA's GeForce GTX 970 has two DVI connectors (one dual-link DVI), one HDMI, and one DisplayPort. The remainder of the two expansion slots is taken up by ventilation for the graphics card's cooler.

The GeForce GTX 970 requires two external PCI Express 6-pin power connectors for feeding the graphics card. The TDP of the GTX 970 is just 145 Watts compared to 165 Watts of the GTX 980. A minimum of a 500 Watt PSU is recommended for the GTX 970.

The GDDR5 memory chips used by the EVGA GTX 970 SC are made by Samsung and labeled K4G41325FC-HC28.