NVIDIA GTX 970 in 2021 Revisit: Benchmarks vs. 1080, 2060, 3070, 5700 XT, & More

We're revisiting the NVIDIA GTX 970 "4GB" card in 2021, with benchmarks vs. the new RTX 3080, 3070, 3060 Ti, AMD RX 6800 & XT, and updated tests against the GTX 10 series for used GPUs.

In this review of the NVIDIA GTX 970, we're using EVGA's GTX 970 SSC from an age past to see how it compares to today's newer releases. We have a lot of cards in these benchmarks, like the RTX 30 cards from NVIDIA and RX 6800 cards from AMD, but it may be the older stuff that proves most valuable in the comparison. Tests of the GTX 1080, RTX 2060, 2070, 2080, and RX 5700 XT cards may prove most useful as potential upgrade pathways for people buying used video cards in 2021. Until inventory and supply stabilizes, these are some of the most readily available, and so we have them on the charts for comparisons.



TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - History of the GTX 970
04:39 - Tomb Raider GTX 970 GPU Benchmarks (1080p, 1440p, 4K)
07:45 - Three Kingdoms GPU Benchmarks (1080p, 1440p, 4K) 970
09:14 - GTA V GTX 970 in 2021 (1080p, 1440p, 4K) Benchmarks
11:49 - Rainbow Six: Siege GPU Benchmarks - GTX 970
14:16 - Horizon Zero Dawn GPU Benchmarks
15:36 - Red Dead Redemption 2 GTX 970 Benchmarks
16:35 - Cyberpunk 2077 GTX 970 Benchmarks
17:22 - Power Consumption of GTX 970
18:11 - Conclusion

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Editorial, Testing, Host: Steve Burke
Additional Testing: Mike Gaglione
Video: Keegan Gallick, Andrew Coleman

[hyperfine]

i'm gonna be honest it just makes me happy to see the 970 on a chart again, it reminds me of when building a computer wasnt as much of a desolate wasteland

[pwrangr]

Can we have a moment of silence for my gtx 970 that just died this last Christmas... 6 years for loyal service

[washinours]

2020: GPU perfomance revolution!
2021: so eh, since there's nothing to buy out there here's some 970 benchmarks guys.
(I got one btw, still runs very well)

[edh]

Here with a 970 wanting to upgrade, shame the actual market is a mess...

[sebadg]

$330 dollars back then, those were the days

[zipper]

We were just discussing this after looking at the Steam hardware survey. Still an extremely popular card.

[Yaxez]

There's nothing to buy, that makes my choice as a 970 owner easy.

[guymorad]

Currently still running a 970 with a 1440p monitor, planning on finally building a new PC after almost 8 years. This card is surprisingly resilient.

[vldy]

I just hope my 970 doesn't die cuz it would be impossible to replace for a decent price right now

[einstien]

"80 fps is a respectable frame rate"
Me playing at 30fps: Yea

[degeneratenegativechad]

“NVIDIA Will never make the mistake of making a card so good for so cheap”

[MrRager]

The GTX 970.. The card that I got into PC gaming with! Rocking a 2070 Super now and absolutely love it, but this card will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my first.

[SparkY]

The GTX 970 launched at $330.
The GTX 980 launched at $550.

Also, It was sad to hear Steve say about the 1080 ti that Nvidia would never "make the mistake" of launching a card at a decent value again.

[gd__]

13:02 You didn't have to call me out like that Steve :(

[alcarajoasd]

Had one since 2015, never failed me and managed to play almost everything I threw at it. Upgraded last month to a 3070 and sold the old pc to a friend that wanna get started into pc gaming with a cheap pc, so its in good hands :)

[TheGerudan]

I think they should stop writing "Stock" in the diagrams and go with "out of Stock" instead.

[KKovacsUSN]

GN: im tired of benchmarking gpus. Also GN: lets benchmark GPUs from 6 years ago.

[lucasg]

That was my card before i just upgraded to a 3070. Great card, got it on launch week and it never came close to dying.

[coreytbay]

When you could get a strix card for 330

[MerkinMuffly]

I still have a 98 Camry and 2001 Corolla and they run perfectly. GPU and cars maybe not be the best comparison.