Sunday, September 14th 2014

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Reference Board Pictured

Sep 14th, 2014 21:20 Discuss (49 Comments)

Here are the first pictures of the reference-design GeForce GTX 980 graphics card. This gorgeous looking board is something to get used to, as it could be a while before we see non-reference boards for the GTX 980. Its smaller sibling, the GTX 970, could launch with non-reference design boards right off the bat. Outwardly, the GTX 980 looks exactly like a GeForce GTX 780 reference board, with NVIDIA's space-age cooling shroud.

The only difference here is a metal backplate decking up the card. This backplate isn't cooling anything, and traces reveal that the card is indeed holding just 8 memory chips, confirming its 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The GeForce GTX 980 is based on NVIDIA's new GM204 silicon, a derivative of the company's new "Maxwell" architecture, which made its debut with the GeForce GTX 750 Ti. The package of GM204 looks roughly as big as a GK104. The card draws power from a pair of 6-pin PCIe power connectors, and uses a 4+1 phase VRM to condition power.

Source: VideoCardz

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49 Comments on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Reference Board Pictured

#26

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

buildzoidI see another TITAN coming because this card is simply not pushing any 28nm manufacturing limits. There's still 38% more power draw available before hitting the 250W TDP so a maxwell card with a 384bit bus and 2300+ cores is very possible.

Or a 980ti. Definitely agree but they'll push that out when AMD out their high end competitor.

#27

1d10t

btarunrI meant that the cooling solutions of the two cards look identical. Hence, "outwardly."

Oh yes..progressive :p

MxPhenom 216Id make that judgement when we actually see what the power consumption is out of the box. Until then its speculation, unless you know something we don't, and I hate speculation.

AnimalpakConsidering the better and improved power delivery system i think we will see a dual GTX 980 for summer 2015.

I think you two missed the point.Better control doesn't translate to better power delivery,and better power delivery doesn't not effect power consumption.If you confused,take a look at my post.
And now take a look at this graphs...

290X had far better VRM design yet 780Ti trailing close in power consumption.Oh yes it does more efficient, 2W is BIG for some :roll:
To make it more simple,nVidia will be efficient,but not because they make better VRM design,they want to control power delivery more precisely.And likely we wouldn't see I2C OnSemi NCP same as 780Ti/Titan had in this unit,they might upgrade or change to another.

#28

ISI300

I really hope high quality reference design coolers become the norm. I really hate when people fork huge extra gulps of cash for non reference stuff when reference ones are so cool and good looking.
I mean it's not like these cards are gtx 480 levels of noise or heat, and you can easily cool those with these coolers.
Backplate is nice too, hope this trend catches on, even if they're not functional. AMD used to do backplate on their high end GPU s with the 5870s and 6900s, but they've abandoned that for some reason since the 7900s.

#29

Mathragh

Seems like the chip is roughly as big as big kepler. The distance between the metal and chip is bigger, but the metal strip looks smaller, in the end giving the impression of a smaller chip when it isn't.

Wouldn't suprise me though, a chip which performs equal to another chip of the same size while consuming less power would still be an improvement and worth selling/buying.

#30

BorisDG

Let's see which memory vendor they will use. I hope it's not Elpida.

#31

buildzoid

BorisDGLet's see which memory vendor they will use. I hope it's not Elpida.

That depends on the AIB but if the specs say 7Ghz memory it can't be Elpida because Elpida doesn't have those kinds of ICs.

#32

ISI300

According to my shady and not in any way accurate pixel counting, the new chip clocks in at 35.47 percent smaller than GK110 (surface area).
That would mean the new die is roughly 335 mm².

#33

Sony Xperia S

MathraghSeems like the chip is roughly as big as big kepler. The distance between the metal and chip is bigger, but the metal strip looks smaller, in the end giving the impression of a smaller chip when it isn't.

Wouldn't suprise me though, a chip which performs equal to another chip of the same size while consuming less power would still be an improvement and worth selling/buying.

No, I think your (to both of you) observations are incorrect. The chip is estimated to be around 400-420 mm^2.

ISI300According to my shady and not in any way accurate pixel counting, the new chip clocks in at 35.47 percent smaller than GK110 (surface area).
That would mean the new die is roughly 335 mm².

#34

BorisDG

buildzoidThat depends on the AIB but if the specs say 7Ghz memory it can't be Elpida because Elpida doesn't have those kinds of ICs.

Of course they have. :)

#35

buildzoid

BorisDGOf course they have. :)

Ok sorry I've just don't remember seeing so I assumed they don't exist.

#36

bubbleawsome

That's a sad power delivery system. Maybe it'll work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#37

buildzoid

bubbleawsomeThat's a sad power delivery system. Maybe it'll work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I completely agree it's worse than what you can find on the reference R9 270X cards and those have a lower TDP.

#38

ISI300

Can someone please explain the technical reason when they say sucky power delivery? I don't know a lot about power delivery circuitry of these things. Do they use cheap Chinese knock-off components?

#39

buildzoid

ISI300Can someone please explain the technical reason when they say sucky power delivery? I don't know a lot about power delivery circuitry of these things. Do they use cheap Chinese knock-off components?

it's 4 phases and basically made of cheap knock of components.

#40

MusH14GameR

Welcome GTX 980 !!!!!!!!! :) U r gonna tested soon......... Bye Bye GTX 780 ti
Say Hello to Hardcore Gamers :D

#41

freaksavior

To infinity ... and beyond!

And now it's time to go SLI on my 770's

#42

radrok

MxPhenom 216Have you ever heard of non reference designs. It is why they are there.

Yeah I've seen a lot of non reference Titan designs last year ^^

Oh wait.

Doesn't apply for this SKU, but still.

#43

GhostRyder

I doubt we are going to see a 980ti or a Titan anytime soon (Or for that matter I doubt the 980ti will exist). Based on what is released it sounds like they are doing the two top cards as the 980 and 970 (Possibly even another chopped down chip the 960) and instead will wait for Titans and "TI" variants of their top end skus being that this is not the top and instead this is GM 204. While its hard to tell based on history since this is not a common thing, I would doubt this would come to fruition. Its possible and we will know once the card is released (Especially if there are some locked shaders on the 980) but at this point I would more bet to see Titan II and then the next named series (For top SKU's not lower).

I see this back plate has become a hot topic...

#44

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

I agree @GhostRyder, until the top end chip (GM210) is released, we are unlikely to see any higher than the 980.

#45

Recus

#46

GhostRyder

Recus

Now that is what I want to see on a card, 3 Display Ports!

#47

xorbe

If the back plate is standard, that means it's gonna cost more than it needs to.

#48

Sony Xperia S

This graph with 290 uber and quiet is quite interesting. Why is the quiet mode showing higher power consumption?

#49

heky

Sony Xperia SThis graph with 290 uber and quiet is quite interesting. Why is the quiet mode showing higher power consumption?

The temperature is the reason for that. In quiet mode, the fan spins slower and the card runs at 94°C most of the time(under full load). In über mode, the fan spins faster and the temperature is lower. The higher the temperature, the higher the power draw.

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