Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming 6 GB

[Animalpak]

Still 71 degress full load with that big heatsink ?? No no no ...

I expected much more cooler like 64 degrees during gaming...

 

[Zero3606]

Great review!! I'm very impressed with the FPS of this card. I'm currently running a Titan X overclocked and would love to see a comparison of the two cards.

Still 71 degress full load with that big heatsink ?? No no no ...

I expected much more cooler like 64 degrees during gaming...

That's very odd, even with my Titan X overclocked I get between 65 and 67 degrees max!!

 

[nickbaldwin86]

but why?

CX line of PSUs are junk... read a review... 500w is just enough, like just enough, but have fun smoking that CX500. I wouldn't put a CX500 in a friend I didn't like computer

 

[Sah7d]

That will be my next card.

What about the coil whine that some cards do when gaming?
Is this card making some noise beyond FANs at high RPM ?


I did not want to buy the reference 980Ti for the temps.
Great Review!!

 

[newtekie1]

but why?

Because, while the CX500 is a good budget PSU, it is just stupid to put a $650+ graphics card in a computer with that low-end of a PSU.

The CX500 is only good for 458w, this card uses 300w, that's only 158w for the rest of the system. Plus, that rating is only has 30°C, which the unit probably won't stay under.

CX line of PSUs are junk... read a review... 500w is just enough, like just enough, but have fun smoking that CX500. I wouldn't put a CX500 in a friend I didn't like computer

They aren't junk, they're just not great. They are find for budget computers and even good for reasonable loads. Just don't expect to max them out in a warm computer case and not have them shut down.

As for your suggestion to look at reviews, I have, and I think I like this quote the best:

some units they make are world class. Others just get the job done. Exactly zero are pure crap. They're all decent. You disagree? Well, perhaps you should re-acquaint yourselves with what I consider to be pure crap. Take a look at this LPSW 350W unit. If that doesn't do it for you, check out this Bestec. Or this Hercules, still easily the worst unit I've ever personally tested. Ace Power anyone? What about the Coolmax ZX-500? You see what I mean? Every Corsair unit I've seen so far can either handle everything I throw at it or gracefully shuts down and bows out when it can't. Not one has died. Not. One. Ever. Crap units don't do that. Crap units fry your computer and/or burn your house down while you're sleeping in the next room.

 

[W1zzard]

What about the coil whine that some cards do when gaming?

On my sample, installed in my test system I couldn't hear any coil noise, not even at 500 FPS.

 

[mroofie]

On my sample, installed in my test system I couldn't hear any coil noise, not even at 500 FPS.

lol 500 fps

 

[haswrong]

a very impressive performance.. almost 2x faster than the 970. still not quite suitable for confident 4k, but getting there slowly..

id like to see the difference in performance between this and the evga hybrid aio watercooled 980ti..

 

[HABO]

I'll have to make some changes to the testbench with Windows 10 and Skylake, which could also be an opportunity for a different OC test. I don't have time to include multiple titles though. Title needs to be sensitive to overclocking instabilities, not have huge loading time, and be part of our regular bench suite

OC performance in FullHD with this card from morning was heavy cpu limited... it is much better now

 

[SmokingCrop]

On my sample, installed in my test system I couldn't hear any coil noise, not even at 500 FPS.

Even at like 1500-2000 FPS? (Yes, that FPS does occur -> Starting up Fifa without fps cap)

 

[1337]

Nice review. Would be interesting to see an SLI setup thrown in to the comparisons (I know you have the data around somewhere). Like a 970 SLI setup. And, of course, the card you're reviewing would be interesting in SLI. Hardcore gamers want to know these things.

 

[Dextar]

I was waiting to see what AMD had in store or possibly the EVGA Hybrid to come in stock but I said screw it and splurged on this. I wish the power was under control a bit more but whatever. I just hope Gigabyte has decent customer service if I do have issues.

Everyone is waiting for the MSI, EVGA Classy/Kingpin, or some other card but I'm done waiting. I'm ready to GAME. I don't need dual bios as I will never flash the bios of my card to something not from the manufacturer and this keeps the card plenty cool.

 

[N3M3515]

Wow, with such a high overclocking potential (30%), fury is going to be in trouble

 

[terroralpha]

not impressed. both of my EVGA GTX 980 Ti ACX overclock to 1500 MHz core. i haven't pushed them further because they are already faster than anything else in the world by a long shot. a GTX 980 Ti OCed yo 1500MHz is faster in everything than an R9 295x2, which doesn't really overclock at all without BIOS mods.

the gigabyte card should have at least came closer to 1500 MHz, especially since this was most likely a cherry picked review board.

CX line of PSUs are junk... read a review... 500w is just enough, like just enough, but have fun smoking that CX500. I wouldn't put a CX500 in a friend I didn't like computer

both CX and CS series of PSUs are trash. I can't believe Corsair still sells those things.

 

[N3M3515]

not impressed. both of my EVGA GTX 980 Ti ACX overclock to 1500 MHz core. i haven't pushed them further because they are already faster than anything else in the world by a long shot. a GTX 980 Ti OCed yo 1500MHz is faster in everything than an R9 295x2, which doesn't really overclock at all without BIOS mods.

the gigabyte card should have at least came closer to 1500 MHz, especially since this was most likely a cherry picked review board.

Maybe later they will, and also charge some additional $300+ for it

 

[W1zzard]

Nice review. Would be interesting to see an SLI setup thrown in to the comparisons (I know you have the data around somewhere). Like a 970 SLI setup. And, of course, the card you're reviewing would be interesting in SLI. Hardcore gamers want to know these things.

I will have SLI 970 in the future, but didn't have time for it for this review.

 

[LockeandStock]

You mentioned in the article you were testing quieter 980 Ti's. What other 980 Ti models are you testing and is there anywhere to buy the inno3d models in the US?

 

[W1zzard]

You mentioned in the article you were testing quieter 980 Ti's. What other 980 Ti models are you testing and is there anywhere to buy the inno3d models in the US?

I'm testing EVGA and ZOTAC, MSI is on its way. ASUS card is not ready yet I hear. I don't have any contact with Inno3D, so I seriously doubt I'll review their 980 Ti.

 

[LockeandStock]

That was a very quick reply, thanks! I'm a really big fan of the reviews on this site

 

[SASBehrooz]

Awesome Card . Crazy OC potential.

 

[CounterSpell]

does an Antec EA-550 Platinum 550 Power Supply can handle this baby with a intel 2500k? (both air overclocked?)

specs at profile.

 

[Kotomirage]

I'll have to make some changes to the testbench with Windows 10 and Skylake, which could also be an opportunity for a different OC test. I don't have time to include multiple titles though. Title needs to be sensitive to overclocking instabilities, not have huge loading time, and be part of our regular bench suite

Witcher 3 for sure! Crashes right after loading if the OC isn't mildly stable.

 

[Ikaruga]

not impressed. both of my EVGA GTX 980 Ti ACX overclock to 1500 MHz core. i haven't pushed them further because they are already faster than anything else in the world by a long shot. a GTX 980 Ti OCed yo 1500MHz is faster in everything than an R9 295x2, which doesn't really overclock at all without BIOS mods.

the gigabyte card should have at least came closer to 1500 MHz, especially since this was most likely a cherry picked review board.

W1zzard definitely doesn't get "cherry picked" review boards for sure. (Almost) every time I try a card he reviews I get bigger overclocks by a huge margin.