More than a year and a half ago, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 970 was the subject of a major controversy concerning its memory subsystem. Enthusiasts discovered that the graphics card, which was advertised as having 4 GB of memory, actually only had 3.5 GB of high-performance GDDR5 and a further 512 MB of performance-limited GDDR5.

There was a lot of discussion at the time about whether the two-tiered memory subsystem was actually a performance issue in games. Despite Nvidia claiming it made no difference, users who bought the GTX 970 weren't happy, and filed multiple class-action lawsuits against the company alleging false advertising and deceptive business practice.

Earlier this week, Nvidia agreed to settle a total of 15 class-action lawsuits for undisclosed terms. However, Nvidia has publicly agreed to pay $30 to every person who purchased a GTX 970, and cover $1.3 million in legal fees.

This is only a preliminary settlement, so a court still needs to approve the terms before buyers can start claiming their $30. Nvidia has indicated they will not cap the total amount they will pay to consumers.

When users can begin filing their claims, we'll be sure to let you know. It's not clear at this stage whether those who purchased a GTX 970 outside of the United States will be able claim their $30, as the lawsuits were filed and settled in California.