The GTX 980 is for enthusiasts looking to buy the best single-GPU card on the market, while the GTX 970 is for value minded gamers who want the best bang for their buck.

The Maxwell GM204 GPU proves that high-end cards do not have to end up with a huge TDP. Nvidia’s new architecture offers exceptional performance-per-watt and the GTX 970 pumps out just 145W under load. In many tests a single GTX 970 card can outpace the old GTX 780 with a TDP of 250W. Although a single GTX 780 Ti card usually ends up faster than a single GTX 970 card, the tables are turned in SLI.

Overlocking is another interesting option. Bear in mind that we ran our tests on two factor overclocked cards. They offered smooth gaming at resolution 2560x1600, but we did not run any 4K tests. Judging by the results, the cards should have no trouble coping with 4K/UHD resolutions, either.

Nvidia's drivers worked well in SLI and there is no point in wasting time talking about Maxwell and efficiency, since we covered the matter on a number of occasions.

There is nothing holding us back from recommending a GTX 970 SLI setup, or a single card that could be upgrade at a later date. Our GTX 970 SLI tests proves that adding a second card to the mix offers a reasonable upgrade path. Relatively low power requirements also add to the value, as a GTX 970 SLI setup does not require a pricey high-end PSU.