MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition Yellow Dragon Graphics Card Finishing Unboxing

The GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition, which made its debut at the MSI Beat IT 2014 Global Gaming Finals in early November 2014, features an all-copper thermal module including heatpipes and fins, making it a must-have card for Dragon collectors even after nine years. Even after nine years, it is still a must-have graphics card for collectors. However, being a Golden Dragon, it still can't resist the erosion of time brought about by the years, and the all-copper cooling module will oxidize in many places due to humidity and so on, but it can still go back to the dazzling posture of the old days after a little tidying up.

 

MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition Specifications:

Display Core: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
PCI Express: 3.0 x16
CUDA: 1664
GPU Clock: 1317 MHz (OC Mode) / 1279 MHz (Gaming Mode) / 1178 MHz (Silent Mode)
Memory Size: 4 GB GDDR5
Memory Clock: 7010 MHz
Memory Interface: 256-bit
Dimensions: 267 x 137 x 43 mm
Occupied Slot: 2 Slot
Power Supply Interface: 1x PCIe 8+6 Pin
Recommended Power Wattage: 500W
DirectX: 12
OpenGL: 4.4
Display output: HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.2, DVI-I, DVI-D
Multi-screen output limit: 4
SLI graphics card cascading: 4-way SLI

 

MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition Golden Dragon Graphics Card Unboxing

In early November 2014, at the MSI Beat IT 2014 Global Global Gaming Finals held at the Show Box on the 7th floor of ATT 4 FUN in Taipei's Xinyi District, MSI revealed for the first time the GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition graphics card (a.k.a. the Golden Dragon/Bronze Dragon), and the pre-order for this model of graphics card was opened at the event. At the event, MSI also opened the pre-order for this model of graphics card. The pre-order price of MSI GTX 970 Golden Edition was NT$13,990, and MSI informed that only 500 copies of this model would be sold in Taiwan.

The first time I saw this graphics card was in a video on the Youtuber Huan channel in 2018. At that time, my mind was dominated by the GTX 10 series Red Dragon cards, and I was actually okay with the Gold Limited Edition (because I thought the GTX 10 GAMING series design was better looking), and then I started to collect them after joining the PC DIY community. This year, I've started to add more graphics cards to my collection, such as the one I've posted an unboxing of.Unboxing of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition 11G Graphics Card, the Dream Card of the Year.、Dragon's Tomb Bones‧Venom Dragon MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME Green Dragon Graphics Card UnboxingThe MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Quick Silver 8G, which was acquired but not unboxed, and so on.

The GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition was also purchased immediately after seeing it for sale on the internet, and this time the purchase price was NT$3500 (I can only say that the price of collector's cards is very dead), last time the GTX 970 GREEN DRAGON was $1,500, which is quite reasonable in 2023, and the GTX 970 YELLOW DRAGON was about $2,000 at most, but this time it came fully boxed and I haven't seen it on the secondary market for a long time, so...I considered it a happy purchase. The accepted price in my mind is probably around $2000 at most, but this time there is a complete boxed set and I haven't seen it in the used market for a long time, so... I'll just take it as money for pleasure (I'm not in a very beautiful mood lately), and continue to be a collector's platter for the MSI Dragon fans!

The ∆ boxed set is also fully lacquered in gold.

∆ 4 GB GDDR5, PCI-E 3.0 x16, DirectX 12.

∆ Product Features.

∆ JUST GAME!

 

The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition is also available for sale at the original price house, which is the same price as the pre-order price at the venue, which is NT$13,900.

The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition uses the 28nm Maxwell-based GM204 graphics core, which is overclocked to 1,317 MHz in OC Mode, with 1664 CUDA cores and 256-bit 4096MB GDDR5 graphics memory. The card is equipped with 256-bit 4096MB GDDR5 graphics memory with a total bandwidth of 224.4GB/s at 7Gbps, and supports 3D Vision Surround, SLI, 3D Vision, PhysX, Adaptive VSync, GPU Boost 2.0, 4K resolution screen output and G-SYNC.

The card utilizes the Twin Frozr V fifth generation cooling system, which consists of two Ø100 mm TORX fans, SuperSU heat pipe architecture, Smart Stop fan, Airflow Direction Technology and more.

The ∆ graphics card measures 267 x 137 x 43 mm in length, width and height and utilizes two Ø100 mm TORX fans on the front.

∆ Full-copper thermal module, MSI logo white light board, 8+6 Pin power supply slots, 500W power supply recommended.

The reinforced back panel of the ∆ graphics card, which was manufactured in November 2014 and sold at its original price on November 15, 2014, has also been color-coordinated and features the LIMITED EDITION limited edition lettering.

The ∆ thickness is 43 mm using the 2 Slot PCIe mounting position and the card weighs 1170 g. This is heavier than the original 814 g. The ∆ thickness is 43 mm using the 2 Slot PCIe mounting position.

 

This card supports up to four video outputs, one each of HDMI 2.0, DP 1.2, DVI-D, and DVI-I, but some of the dust plugs have been lost by a previous user and one looks like it was chewed by a pet?

∆ Dual-slot baffle and quad-screen output connector.

 

MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition Graphics Organizer Cleanup

In fact, I could guess from the photos that the card was not in good condition, and the seller also wanted to let those who could accept it come back to buy it again, but the distance was too far and the card was just for my collection, so it wasn't really that bad. When I actually got the card and opened the box, the condition of the whole card was not very good: oxidization of the all-copper cooling module, rusting of the card baffle plate, moisture and rusting of the screws and the reinforced back plate. The author guessed that the previous user should live in the mountainous area or seaside, these areas often have the problem of heavy humidity and fog, and the color of the whole graphics card can be deduced from the fact that the environment is more humid, but I can accept all these problems, so it doesn't matter, let's move on to the organizing section!

∆ The all-copper heatpipe is heavily oxidized, but at least it's not rusted.

The ∆ cooling fins also have moisture oxidation spots and the SLI gold fingers have green oxidation marks but I don't use them so it's not bad.

∆ Rusty screw.

 

After removing all the screws on the back of the graphics card, you can separate the reinforced backplate, PCB, and thermal module.

∆ The graphics card backplane and the graphics card memory on the back of the PCB do not have any thermal pads to help dissipate heat, only the power supply related chips are used.

The back of the ∆ PCB is visibly dusty.

∆ is almost equivalent to a reinforced backsheet which is only used to reinforce physical strength.

 

The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition is nine years old, so before I disassembled it, I tested the cooling performance, and of course, the temperature was quite high, so I'll provide you with the test temperature later, so I still need to replace the cooling paste.

After disassembling the GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition, I would like to take a look at the composition of the cooling module, because I was curious whether the better cooling performance of the GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition was due to the use of nickel-free copper, or whether there were special enhancements in the cooling module (e.g., an extra heat-pipe, or a thicker heat-pipe).

After the actual disassembly, I compared it to the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME that I had previously disassembled, and both models use four heatpipes, and the heat sink module and PCB are identical, but I don't know if the heatpipes have been thickened up, but visually, it seems to be the same thickness.

The ∆ cooling module is the same as the GTX 970 GAMING 100ME, with four heatpipes and an even plate setup, with the only difference being the use of bare copper.

∆ The thermal balm has dried up, much like my real-life expectations of being able to get a girlfriend.

∆ End of the line for bare copper heat sink modules: green oxide spots.

∆ Full copper heating plate.

 

Next, you need to separate the cooling fan from the cooling fins in order to clean the cooling fins from oxidization. In fact, you just need to remove the 6+4 screws underneath the fan to separate them without touching the screws on the side of the graphics card.

As for the oxidized copper cooling fins, after collecting a little information, we can use copper plating or sulfuric acid to restore the oxidized copper surface color, but the author did a little bit of Google and saw that there are a lot of bloggers sharing that you can use baking soda or vinegar to soak to restore the copper surface color, so the author also tried it and concluded that: soaking baking soda or vinegar is no good at all.

Therefore, the author later polished the external heatpipes a bit to bring back the luster, and gave up on the internal cooling fins because the gaps were too small and difficult to brush in.

∆ Remove the screws under the fan to separate the fan from the cooling fins.

∆ Remember to break the fan cable retaining clips first.

∆ Reapply thermal paste, clean all dusty areas, and roughly sand the heat pipes.

 

Thermal Performance Comparison

The next screenshot shows the temperature performance of the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition card before and after the thermal paste change, and also takes out the Green Dragon MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME for testing to see if the pure copper cooling module is really more powerful.

∆ MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition.

 

Testing Platform

Processor: Intel Core i9 13900K(QS)
Cooler: LIAN LI Galahad II LCD 360 (full speed)
Water-cooled fan: LIAN LI UNI FAN P28 x3
Motherboard: MSI MEG Z690I UNIFY (BIOS version: 7D29v1D)
Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5 RGB 6000 MT/s 16GB x2
Graphics: MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition & MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME
Operating System: Windows 11 Professional 21H2
System Drive: WD BLUE 3D NAND SATA M.2 2280 SSD 500GB
Gaming Disk: Intel 670P 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe SSD (Solidigm)
Case: STREACOM BC1 Benchtable V2
Power Supply: MONTECH TITAN GOLD 1200W
Graphics driver: GeForce Game Ready 537.42

 

Before replacing the thermal paste on the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition, the FurMark test was up to 92°C. Even though I expected the thermal paste to be dry, I was surprised that the temperature would be so high, and in case it was an accident, the author tested it twice on two different days and the temperature was still 92°C. Originally, I was very worried that it might be a faulty heat pipe. I was worried that there might be a problem with the heat pipe.

∆ MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition up to 92 °C when the thermal paste has not been replaced.

 

After replacing the Cooler Master Ice Fusion V2 thermal paste, the maximum temperature dropped from 92 °C to 64 °C, which is about 28 °C lower.

∆ Replacement of the thermal paste reduces the temperature by 28 °C and the maximum temperature is only 64 °C.

 

Is the cooling performance better than the original MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING graphics card model? However, I only have the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME on hand for comparison, and I used MX-4 thermal paste when I organized the GTX 970 GAMING 100ME before.

Also using FurMark for stress testing, the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME peaked at 69 °C, 5 °C higher than the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition.

∆ MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME Maximum temperature 69 °C.

 

Conclusion

I paid 3500 for a used MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G Golden Edition graphics card purely for my collection. Honestly speaking, paying this price for a GTX 970 in 2023 is a bit of a handicap, and I don't recommend you to spend this much money on a graphics card that's about to turn 9 years old, but I do recommend you to include this Golden Limited Edition in your collection! After that, I'm only missing the GTX 1080 Ti LIGHTNING Z and the RTX 2080 Ti LIGHTNING Z, and I've got all the models I want!

The all-copper cooling module is indeed better in terms of cooling performance, but this conclusion is based on a comparison with the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME, as well as confirming that the number of heatpipes is the same, but not sure whether the heatpipes are thicker or not, and the summary and information is provided as a reference for you.