Upgrades

[Spikes]

Is there any benefit to buying the reference card over one with a manufacturer's aftermarket cooler?

I've always had terrible luck with loud fans with reference cards I've bought (5770, 6870).

[214thCavalier]

I have Gigabyte G1 970 SLI, the pair of them are quieter than my old single GTX680 reference.
Advantages, much cooler and quieter than ref boards.
There are other advantages if you like overclocking your stuff, like 8 pin power cables for more oomph.
 
May as well throw one away when playing AH though as FPS is faster with one.

Such a shame I am playing AH more than anything else atm.

Still I am future proofed for quite a while (I hope)

[guncrasher]

OTOH it means not having to upgrade as frequently (and depending on WHAT upgrades, arguably cheaper in the long run).

saxman there's other components that will perform just as good than the ones you selected for a lot less money.  and trust me on this in 6 months or a year your computer will be obsolete with better components selling for a lot less.

for example my evga770 that I just got in January.  the 970 is selling for less now and it is faster.  go figure.


semp