upgraded to a asus gtx 970 and ive gotten it in the case but its defiantly a tight fit.

The graphics card has a metal handle that sticks out and is pushing into the cases protection for the fan.
I have a cooler master haf x full tower. Also when putting the card in, the lock when inserting the graphics card doesn't actually clip in like my old card. Should i go about finding a new wider case? Or just stick with it. I managed to get the siding on but it def's tight.

If the card works...then you should be OK. I can't imagine any vid card being a tight fit in a HAF X case though.

Maybe provide us with a pic of the inside of the case?

Looks like your card is 11" long? My R9 280X is the same length and sits pretty tightly in my 5 year old Rosewill mid ATX tower. You should be fine, as long as the card isn't actually pushing into anything vital or causing damage.

Post a picture if you can.

hmm, it should fit... that case isn't tiny or anything..
you should definitely try to reseat the GPU too, cos it should "click" as well.

take pic