Reference and MSI:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/nvidia_geforce_gtx_970_and_980_reference_review,1.html

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_970_gaming_review,1.html

Thanks for the links.

I'm looking at the Twin Frozr as previous cards with that cooler were good (although I've read some bad comments about the fans starting to make noise after a few months). If only they had added a backplate... oh, well, I can't expect the whole package, right?

With that said, it's the Zotac cards (both the Vanilla one and the AMP! edition) that have picked my interest. They look really small, which would be a bonus for my as my case is not that big (my 5850 barely fits without removing the HDD cage).

Not terribly concerned about the lack of reference for the 970 seeing as how any choice will be based entirely upon a price/performance comparison between a comprehensive list of 970 cards. The reference card is really only good for bracketing performance relative to other types of cards and it looks like we can already take that it's roughly in the same bracket as the 780 or 290. 

I can understand why the 970 reviews will take a back seat to the 980 since that's the current top performer even though Nvidia is going to sell a lot more 970s.

Personally, I'm not in any big rush, so I have the luxury of waiting to read more reviews as more tests are run.

Australians can download the uncensored Left 4 Dead 2 today via DLC

Comment

The time has finally come for our fellow Australians to enjoy Left 4 Dead 2 the way it was meant to be played. Following the 180 reclassification from the Australian Classification Board a couple of weeks ago, Left 4 Dead 2 is now classed as R18+ to suit its “high impact violence, blood and gore”.

Now Valve have released a piece of DLC to the Australian Steam store to bring the game in line with everyone else in the apocalyptic world, and you can grab it right now.

Read and Comment

Heroes of the Storm enters final phase of technical alpha on Monday

Comment

Blizzard have announced a rather important milestone for their upcoming entry into the MOBA genre. Starting on Monday, Blizzard are shutting down the Heroes of the Storm store. But this is good news, as they’re also making all 29 heroes available to play while it’s offline.

But then there’s some sad news. The week after, there'll be another account wipe of any gold, level progression and unlocks. This is the last one though, they hope.

Read and Comment

Love Loadout? You can play the campaign beta on Steam for free

Comment

We loved it in our Loadout review, so we’re super excited to try out the new co-op campaign mode that’s just hit Steam. You’ll battle a menace known as the Kroad - vile aliens that pastimes include that of wiping out humanity and constructing robotic minions to do more of the same.

With a new progression system, new modes and revamped inventory management, there’s a boatload more to do in Loadout.

Read and Comment

SEGA have updated their Dreamcast collection games

- Fixed an issue where the launcher would fail to save settings.

- Added support for v-sync and FXAA.

- Now renders correctly at higher resolutions (above 720).

- Added Steam Achievements.

- Improved button prompts—now supports gamepad button prompts, and keyboard prompts are sensitive to user configurations.

- Keyboard controls can now be reconfigured.

- Implemented gamepad support across the game and launcher

Oculus Rift 'Crescent Bay' prototype unveiled, a "massive leap" over DK2

This isn't the consumer version of the Oculus Rift VR headset, but according to Oculus, it's another big step closer. This morning at Oculus Connect, company CEO Brendan Iribe revealed the Crescent Bay prototype, which he says is "a massive leap" over the currently available Oculus Rift DK2.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – Wolf Companion Revealed

Want to know why Big Boss is a badass character? Well that’s an easy one. This man has a bloody wolf as his companion (and we all love wolves). During this year’s TGS 2014, Konami revealed the wolf companion for Big Boss, called DD. It looks bloody great, so make sure to give a go at the two videos featuring it! Continue reading →

 

Video-News

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – First PC Footage – 30 Minute Live-Demo

September 20, 2014 John Papadopoulos 13 Comments

As promised, Monolith has showcased the PC version of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor during NVIDIA’s GAME24 event. Below you can find the 30-minute video, showing off the game’s Challenge mode. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor releases September 30th. Enjoy! Continue reading →

 

Video-News

Triad Wars – Gameplay Teaser Surfaces, Looks Awful

September 21, 2014 John Papadopoulos 9 Comments

United Front Games has posted the first footage from Triad Wars, and as you may have already guessed, it looks awful. Triad Wars is an upcoming PC online third-person action game set in the same universe as Sleeping Dogs. The game will be officially revealed this Monday and if this gameplay teaser is anything to go by, it will be a free-to-play game with visuals that may not even come close to the original Sleeping Dogs game! Continue reading →

News

Ultra Street Fighter IV Will Get Free DLC, Incoming Online Improvements For PC Version

September 21, 2014 John Papadopoulos 0 Comments

Capcom has announced that a new DLC will be coming to Ultra Street Fighter IV free of charge. This free DLC will offer a new mode called Omega. This free DLC will offer a new mode called Omega. Omega mode is a completely new mode in which every character has been modified and outfitted with new normal and special attacks, resulting in a refreshing take on the characters. Continue reading →

Your avatar doesn't say that

But I agree, I'm still waiting on a couple more reviews from sites I "trust", and then at least a couple more weeks to start reading consumer experiences with them.

But given that I was almost going to get a R9 290, I'll more likely get one of these 970 cards: better or more performance for the same money (as of now) and with better power consumption and heat. It's a no brainer.

League of Legends launching in Japan; world dominance almost complete

Comment

At this year's Tokyo Game Show 2014, Riot have announced that their pedigree MOBA, League of Legends, is heading to Japan. Working together with Japan’s Logitech company, Logicool, they plan to put up Japanese servers in the very near future. That is of course, after a full localization has been performed, similar to that of the Korean version of the game.

Read and Comment

NVIDIA: “Ten Million Gamers Around The World Bought Into The GTX680 Class Of GPUs”

During his GAME24 keynote, NVIDIA’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang revealed that more than ten million gamers have bought into the GTX680 class of GPUs. Now that’s a huge number, right? Well, this may not actually be what most of you expect, as Jen-Hsun presented that sales number in a way that both a) makes sense and b) sounds huge. Continue reading →

 

News

John Carmack Is Pushing Hard For Asynchronous Time Warp On The PC, Best Thing Coming From Mobiles

September 21, 2014 John Papadopoulos 16 Comments

During Oculus Connect 2014, John Carmack took the stage and talked for one hour and a half about various topics. The guru programmer talked about his relationship with Samsung, solutions for various issues present in Oculus Rift’s DK2, the ability to fully enjoy a VR experience, as well as the most important result coming from the mobile environment that is no other than the asynchronous time warp notion. Continue reading →

 

News

DirectX 11.3 Revealed, Will Support Existing DX11 GPUs, Will Be Packed With A Number Of DX12 Features

September 22, 2014 John Papadopoulos 3 Comments

During GAME24, Microsoft revealed DirectX 11.3. DX11.3 will be supported by all existing DX11 GPUs (or at least that’s the plan) and will be made available next year. DX11.3 will feature almost all features of DX12 (albeit its lower CPU Overhead benefits). This means that DX11.3 will support Ordered Rasterizer View or Rasterizer Ordered Views, Typed UAV Load, Volume Tiled Resources and Conservative Grid. Continue reading →

My GTX 970 arrived today.. a boring Palit with stock clocking for 290 € (shipping + taxes included).

More than double as fast in Dead Rising 3 than my old Gainward 580 Phantom! Now it's finally playable in native 1920x1080.