Along with the GTX 980, NVIDIA's GTX 970 has shaken the graphics card market to its very foundation. While the GTX 980 is a relatively expensive (albeit still well priced) high end GPU, the GTX 970's price of just $330 makes it a surefire hit for anyone who is looking for affordability and excellent performance metrics.

The GTX 970 has been launched in so-called ?virtual? form which means there isn't any reference design per se. Rather, NVIDIA has given their board partners a set of specifications that need to be followed for minimum base / boost frequencies, cooling capabilities and current capacity. Past those metrics the cards are being freely engineered and the amount of variety available from day one has been nothing short of incredible. Unfortunately, this hasn't necessarily led to widespread availability and the GTX 970 is still nearly impossible to find at retailers. Expect that situation to change in the next few days and weeks as China's Golden Week Holiday is finished and cards will start shipping from manufacturers again.

Even with limited stocks, an SLI setup with a pair of GTX 970 cards has actually become the de facto standard for anyone who wants optimal performance without a huge outlay of money. As a matter of fact, provided you can find two of these cards without an atrocious markup attached to them, two GTX 970's will cost less than a most single GTX 780 Ti's did not three weeks ago. That's an incredible value when you consider the amount of future-proofing packed into this setup. Dual GTX 980's provide awe inspiring performance but cost significantly more as well.