Thile there are certain brands that get the lion’s share of attention here in South Africa, other brands can prove to be better options. South Africans tend to be brandloyal, though, and for a make like Palit to make the kind of impact it deserves in the GPU market can be difficult. And yet it is a brand that PC gaming enthusiasts really should be paying attention to.
Right out of the box, the Palit Jetstream GTX 970 is around six percent faster than its competitors. Like other Jetstream cards, this one is among the fastest devices in its weight-class, and delivers a performance that is comparatively excellent.
That’s because it comes overclocked out of the box. Those that feel inclined can push even more performance out of it using included overclocking software, but it is such a fast-paced card as it is that only the most frame-rate hungry enthusiasts would be likely to do so.
At its core is a GTX 970 chipset, supported by a generous 4GB of GDDR5 RAM. That’s a lot of power right there, and its excellent performance demands good cooling. To this end the Jetstream employs twin smart fans with alternating rotation and a custom fin design. These fans are supported by a triple slot cooler that offers a massive cooling area, but does mean that the card is a bit larger than others, increasing the space it needs within the case.
And the card is a little power-hungry, with greater consumption than a GTX 980 reference design. Still, it should work perfectly well if you have a decent sized PSU in your PC case.
The Jetstream GTX 970 operates remarkably quietly under load, and moves into a passive operation system when under low load. That means that even though it may want more juice when running high-end graphics, it is pretty tame at other times.
Another great feature is that the card supports three DisplayPort outputs, meaning that the user can set up a flawless 4K monitor surround system, taking advantage of a wider field of view. It also features an HDMI and DVI output for those not using DisplayPort.
The Plait Jetstream GTX970 is certainly a card that should make PC enthusiasts sit up and take notice. It might not be as “in vogue” as a 980 chipset card, but its punchy, reliable performance and excellent design in terms of heat and noise are certainly factors that are worth exploring. Add to that the fact that it lands at a pretty decent price, and you may well want to swing your attention away from other, possibly more prominent brands in favour of a graphics card that is a true performer.