OcUK GeForce GTX 970 ‘NVIDIA 970 Cooler Edition’ Review

In the last couple of months I feel like I have reviewed almost every custom GTX970 and GTX980 available on the market. It is becoming difficult for me to take a fresh approach to every review at this stage. Regular readers will already know that most of the modified cards are great and some of them are brilliant.

So why on earth do we need a ‘reference cooled GTX970' several months later? Nvidia clearly didn't think it was important enough to release so is that all there is to say on the matter?

They say ‘variety is the spice of life' – and in the world of technology I would agree. It is true I have been very outspoken against AMD reference coolers in the past, but equally so I have complimented the Nvidia reference cards. This isn't fanboyism on my part, its just a simple fact of life – Nvidia can make very good reference coolers, AMD can't.

In fact the only capable high performance reference cooled card I can remember from AMD has been the triple fan HD7990. Well, we can add the R9 295X2 to this list I guess – but it is is liquid cooled so we aren't quite sure it counts.

Andrew ‘Gibbo' Gibson at Overclockers UK felt that a high grade reference style GTX970 would be worth creating, even if Nvidia didn't. We have to commend him and his team for their attention to detail, and for taking a risk. For all intents and purposes it is a perfect copy and it overclocks like a mofo. We increased the core by a staggering 22 percent before we encountered instability. We can't say they will all overclock as well as this one but Gibbo said he didn't hand pick it, so if you believe him, it looks promising.

If you are pondering the point of a ‘custom' reference GTX970 then this card really isn't for you. This is targeting a specific audience of enthusiast users – the hardcore Nvidia lovers who simply adore the appearance of these cards. They get pride of place – exposed in a windowed case, backlit and perhaps running in SLi with the green ‘Geforce GTX' lighting on full display. We see these reference style systems built all the time on our Facebook page.

Is the OcUK GeForce GTX 970 ‘NVIDIA 970 Cooler Edition' a KitGuru ‘Must Have' award winning card?

For the audience who always want Nvidia reference cards for aesthetic reasons then it makes a lot of sense, but in the grand scheme of things and considering the pricing, we feel it worthy of our ‘Worth Buying' award. The bulk of the main audience will be better served buying something like the MSI GTX970 Gaming Edition, which is not only clocked higher, but runs cooler and makes even less noise. It is also £30 cheaper at Overclockers UK.

To be fair the OCUK GTX970 card is using a GTX980 PCB and has received special attention to deal with potential coil related issues. OCUK won't be able to match the same production run as ASUS or MSI worldwide, so prices have to rise a little.

If you want one of this limited run of ‘Nvidia 970 Cooler Edition' cards and are concerned about coil related issues then this certainly deserves your attention. Gibbo has worked hard with the factory to reduce coil whine as far as possible. The inductors are in different containers, and the PCB is GTX980 grade for added peace of mind.

Its a specialist card, for a very specific audience. We like it, a lot.

You can ONLY buy direct from Overclockers UK for £319.99 inc vat.

Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.

Pros:

• Nvidia reference cooler has a dedicated, cult following.
• built to the highest standards.
• techniques in place to reduce coil whine.
• overclocks like a mofo.
• GTX980 PCB using all genuine parts.
• lowest power consumption of any GTX970 we have tested.

Cons:

• It is expensive.
• A little overclock ‘out of the box' wouldn't have hurt, right?
• leading third party cooling systems from Nvidia partners are quieter and run cooler.

Kitguru says: Nvidia reference cooling fans will rejoice. The rest of you will wonder what all the fuss is about.

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