What exactly is the difference between GTX 1070 Mini ITX, Windforce, TURBO, and ROG Strix?

Their specs are almost identical. Is the difference between the cheapest one and the most expensive one a considerable difference or just overkill bells and whistles stuff?

The Mini ITX version is designed to fit in an Mini ITX case, which is much smaller than regular ATX tower form factors. ITX cards are shorter than regular and don't come with as huge fan/cooling assemblies, which makes them less than ideal for overclocking but are easier to fit in a cramped case. The others I think are just different companies' brands for their cooling design or potential overclocking stuff.

Mini ITX is a form factor, the other three are brands for different manufacturers. Some brands have some boosted clock speeds and better cooling than others.

When i look up a card i look at the user reviews and company reviews about rebates/ returns etc. But yeah they are mostly the same card, some have higher clock speeds and better/worse cooling but for general purpose they should all be about the same, i would just worry about the manufacturer and reliability. For example some cards may have that annoying coil whine while others may not etc.

I usually wouldn't worry and just go for the cheapest edition/brand. Maybe check user reviews if in doubt.
If you have specific demands of your card, be it more quiet or colder or shinier or more over-clocky then start reading up on the minor differences.

I've got the ROG Strix. No coil whine but the fans are pretty loud even at 30-40% so, eh, I dunno. It's fine. Mine also crashes if I attempt any level of overclocking, though other people don't seem to have that issue.

You cant really go too wrong with any brands these days, they pretty much all pump out great and reliable hardware. So maybe have a look at what price range you are going for and aesthetics and size of the cards.

Personally i tend to skew MSI because i just like that brand in general but since their 1070 didn't fit in my newer case i went with the EVGA 1070 SC ACX version and i have been pretty happy with that. Low noise, good heat dissipation and its almost the same size as the reference/founders cards.

Look through reviews to see which has the best/quietest cooler and go from there. You don't need to worry about factory overclocked stuff cause these 10XX cards will boost themselves to silly levels anyway.

They are all basically the same. One might be a few decibels quieter than another, or one might overclock a few mhz higher than another. Not a big deal in either case. Buy whatever brand has the best deal. Though, you may want to look into their warranty service, especially if you're not in the US. They will all probably have decent warranties, but some are probably easier to deal with than others.

Good on ya the 1070 is a beast. I went with the founders edition as I was building a PC right at the time of its release

Key distinctions:

Windforce - more fans and higher noise level. Can get annoying with the ceaseless humming.

TURBO - Not really turbo. Usually a bit cheaper due to cheaper parts involved in manufacture.

STRIX - The GPU has passive fans that only kick in as activity and temperature rises. I have an MSI 1070 Strix and absolutely love this clever design choice.

My very personal opinion follows:

The three major players for this generation are Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI. All have solid cards in the latest generation, whereas service-minded EVGA came from a solid line-up in the 9xx series and delivered sub-par 10xx products. I'd rate Gigabyte below MSI and Asus, having had experience with all of them. You can't really go wrong with either a STRIX card from either Asus or MSI, but bypass the Turbo variants and aim for Armor, OC, or whatever they want to call 'em.

PS: Happy @meierthered got a good EVGA card. They had some serious issues going into this generation.

I am a MSI fanboy myself but if you stick with the big brands you'll be fine. It comes down to looks mostly. Avoid buying a card that doesn't have an aftermarket cooler because the nvidia reference cooler is loud and not really efficient. Only buy the mini ITX if you have a really small case.

I was aware of that issue when they launched, and i upgraded my firmware on it so personally have had no issues. I think people went a bit too ape shit over that whole thing. But in any case those issues have been ironed out for quite a while now.

I got an MSI Armor OC. No backplate but it's super quiet, was one of the cheapest (at launch), and the afterburner software is so easy to use. Click, overclocked. Click, faster fans. Click, back to default.

I have a 1440p monitor, and that card has only struggled to run one game at base clocks on high/ultra settings (The Division), but I clicked off two settings and boosted the core clock by 100mhz, got to a rock-solid 59 fps with drops to 57 in thick fog and fire effects. Other than that, it runs everything on high/ultra settings at 1440p/60fps (so far).

All the different models supposedly have X features which they claim make their cards better, but pretty much anything 1070 should meet 1070 specs. You should basically see the same performance no matter the brand.

I've had bad experiences with MSI, the fans for the 560 TI I got died after 2 years. The motherboard I got from them lasted 8 years.

I don't think you should get a Turbo, they are cheaper Founder's Editions basically.

They are all more or less the same but the FE or 'blower' coolers are better inside small cases, they are also better for SLI because two 'open air' cards will heat each other up.

For a single card setup inside an average PC case, an open air like the Strix will be better. FEs can cool well but require higher fan speeds, they direct all air out of the back which typically makes them better for SLI or other multi card machines like Bitcoin miners as they don't blast air at each other.

As far as I'm aware, the heating issue with EVGA's 10xx series have been corrected (which never a major issue in the first place, and anecdotally a friend was using a 1080 at 4K with no issues), and they have by far the best customer service in the industry. You don't appreciate great customer service until you have to return/exchange/repair something, and EVGA is king of the hill. I will likely never buy a non-EVGA card again, barring some horrific problem with some new card.

I was in the same boat as you couple days ago and settled for this Asus that was a great price after rebate ($362). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JHQSZ40/ref=pe_861660_138883610_fxm_4_0_n_id

Sounds like you can't go wrong with a 1070, I'll be coming from a gigabyte g1 gaming 970 which has been great so I think I agree Asus msi gigabyte is the way to go as far as brands. Then just pick the best looking for your build and price. I'm on a budget so the Asus dual for $362 was what I went with. Let us know what you get

I just choose whichever one is cheapest and doesn't have any obvious flaws. There's not really much difference between brands unless you're planning on some hardcore overclocking or something.

It's really a non issue which brand you pick, unless it's some particularly weird one.

Palit (I think PNY in the US) is a smaller brand but actually had the best 1080 for a while when it came to stock cooling and overclock.

I went with the 1070 ASUS Strix and the C24FQ70FGM Samsung curved monitor (24'' 144MHz)

Witcher 3 is running fucking amazing.

go with the brands..

EVGA and Asus cards 11/10 for recommendation.