Galax GTX 970 Hall of Fame (HOF)

Galax GTX 970 Hall of Fame (HOF) Review – This is one very expensive GTX 970 when compared to the cheaper versions produced by the likes of Gainward. Heck, even Galaxy has a cheaper version which goes for just $449. So why has the same company released another version of the same GPU for a whopping 31% extra? It’s all about the overclocking baby…

This has to be one of the most striking graphics cards we’ve seen of late. The stunning white design of the cooler sits over the custom-designed PCB, which is equipped with an 8+2 phase power system. Twin 80mm fans sit either side of a single 90mm fan, delivering plenty of airflow to keep the GPU cool. A myriad of features are aimed at serious overclockers, from the ten-layer PCB to the premium Digital PWM controllers to the claimed Aerospace-grade power inductors. There’s even a voltage modding tool released by the community to get around the strict power limits NVIDIA imposes o its products.

A large button on the mounting plate enables HyperBoost, which ramps the fan up to an incredibly loud 68dB, while also increasing voltage Even without HyperBoost enabled, Galax has increased the GPU speed considerably. The base speed jumps 17% to 1228MHz, while the Boost speed increases by 17% to 1380MHz, making it the fastest GTX 970 on the market.

At these speeds it handily beat AMD’s new R9 390X in our game benchmarks, a product which costs $100 more. If you’re after better value for money, cheaper GTX 970 products should be almost as fast as the HOF, but if you want the best 970 on the market, this is the one to buy, especially if you’re into extreme overclocking.

Pros

• Crazily overbuilt
• Superb overclocker
• Beautiful design

Cons

• Very Expensive ($589)
• HyperBoost fan noise is obnocious

Galax GTX 970 Hall of Fame (HOF) Specifications

• GPU Engine Specs:
  CUDA Cores 1664
  Base Clock (MHz) 1228
  Boost Clock (MHz) 1380
• Memory Specs:
  Memory Speed 3505 (7010 ) Mhz
  Standard Memory Config 4096MB
  Memory Interface Width 256-bit GDDR5
  Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) 224
• Feature Support:
  OpenGL 4.4
  Bus Support PCI-E 3.0
  Certified for Windows 8 Yes
  Supported Technologies DirectX 12
  SLI Options 4-WAY
• Display Support:
  Multi Monitor Four displays
  Maximum Digital Resolution 4096×2160
  Maximum VGA Resolution 2048×1536
  HDCP Yes
  HDMI Yes
  Standard Display Connectors Dual Link DVI x1, HDMI x1, DisplayPort 1.2 x3
  Audio Input for HDMI Internal
  Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:
  Length 308 mm
  Height 129.1 mm
  Width 49 mm
• Power Specs:
  Maximum Graphics Card Power (W) 165W
  Minimum System Power Requirement (W) 500W
  Supplementary Power Connectors Two 8-pin
• Product Page : http://galax.net/KFA2/970hof.html