ASUS STRIX GTX 980 OC 4 GB

[W1zzard]

The ASUS GTX 980 STRIX OC is the company's latest flagship, featuring a completely passive operation in idle and light load and an extremely quiet cooler during full-on gaming. The GTX 980 STRIX also impresses with its power consumption - lower than the NVIDIA reference design, it still has the card deliver more performance.

Show full review

 

[Fluffmeister]

Another superb GTX 9X0 card, nVidia and their partners are really on a roll at the moment.

 

[GreiverBlade]

raaaaahhh temptation temptation temptation .... glad we have @W1zzard reviews to make our choices ... noooww 970 strix 980 strix ... well the choice narrowed (just a little wait time till my retailer restock them ... duh)
top review W1zz thanks!

 

[Jack1n]

A 10.0 for a 580$ that has a backplate but no cooling on the memory?! the MSI 980 which got a 9.9 is better than this card in every way (according to your own tests) apart from a higher power draw at load (idle power draw is better than the Asus),it really seems that you are quite biased towards Asus products...

 

[GreiverBlade]

A 10.0 for a 580$ that has a backplate but no cooling on the memory?! the MSI 980 which got a 9.9 is better than this card in every way (according to your own tests) apart from a higher power draw at load (idle power draw is better than the Asus),it really seems that are quite biased towards Asus products...

not really personally i find the Strix series (all gpu mixed ) a bit above other cooler, tho i agree on the no HS on the mem chips

and after re reading the review i think it will be 2*970 Strix since they only need 1*8pin opposed to 1*6+1*8pin on the 980

 

[Jack1n]

not really personally i find the Strix series (all gpu mixed ) a bit above other cooler, tho i agree on the no HS on the mem chips

and after re reading the review i think it will be 2*970 Strix since they only need 1*8pin opposed to 1*6+1*8pin on the 980

The MSI card was 11c cooler in idle and 1db more silent at load (fans on the asus need to spin faster to get same load temp as the MSI) and thats without tweaking the fan curve where the it would be more obvious that the MSI cooler is superior.

 

[z1tu]

I'm really curious now to see the review for the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980, as other websites put it above every other model out there.

 

[W1zzard]

and 1db more silent at load

fixed the asus graphs, both cards have exactly the same noise levels

The MSI card was 11c cooler in idle

which matters how?

Either card is fantastic, and an awesome buy.

 

[dj-electric]

There we go! this is what i waited to see. A mere perfect graphics card.

 

[RCoon]

has a backplate but no cooling on the memory?!

I doubt the memory even needs cooling beyond the airflow they get from the fans as is. My MSI card only covers half the memory chips and that stops the fans at idle. No issues with memory cooling.

 

[W1zzard]

Yeah it's not needed, I'm just guessing that the MSI's higher memory OC could be explained by the cooling. For normal operation the ASUS cooler puts direct airflow onto the chips.

 

[Jack1n]

fixed the asus graphs, both cards have exactly the same noise levels


which matters how?

Either card is fantastic, and an awesome buy.

Just shows that the cooler itself is better and when you put load on the card the MSI cards temp will take longer to reach the peak.

 

[Vaux]

which matters how?

Either card is fantastic, and an awesome buy.

It matter when you put 9.9/10 at the msi and 10/10 at the asus

Also no test for the msi 970?

 

[W1zzard]

lso no test for the msi 970?

soon

 

[kaellar]

I'm really surpised to see 10/10 for Asus 980 as well. From what I see and know, MSI cooler is better a bit.

 

[W1zzard]

I'm really surpised to see 10/10 for Asus 980 as well. From what I see and know, MSI cooler is better a bit.

The MSI cooler might be a bit better, but the ASUS card has other things going for it.

What do you need a better cooler for ? OC is apparently not heat constrained on either card, with like +1°C from overclocking. And noise is low already. MSI has higher power draw = more heat = better cooler needed

 

[Jack1n]

Because they probably gave it more voltage than Asus did to allow for better overclocking, and yes i saw that the Asus card overclocked better but these are review samples so its not a good example for that.

 

[RCoon]

Because they probably gave it more voltage than Asus did to allow for better overclocking, and yes i saw that the Asus card overclocked better but these are review samples so its not a good example for that.

W1z may need to correct me on this, but I don't think reviewers get review samples any more. I thought it was a gentlemen's agreement that suppliers send retail-grade GPUs.

 

[Vaux]

The MSI cooler might be a bit better, but the ASUS card has other things going for it.

Like what?
Backplate? The purpose of a backplate is to help the cooling but the MSI have a better one
Powerdraw? It's already low and if it's really a problem just downclock the msi at the same frequencies than the Asus

Because they probably gave it more voltage than Asus did to allow for better overclocking, and yes i saw that the Asus card overclocked better but these are review samples so its not a good example for that.

If i remember nvidia have prohibit the factory voltage increase on their gpu

 

[kaellar]

The MSI cooler might be a bit better, but the ASUS card has other things going for it.
What do you need a better cooler for ? OC is apparently not heat constrained on either card, with like +1°C from overclocking. And noise is low already. MSI has higher power draw = more heat = better cooler needed

I'd be absolutely happy if there were some fan noise numbers for overclocked cards. +1C can't come without fan speed increase. That's what a better cooler is needed for.

 

[Rowsol]

The price/performance of the 970 is 50% higher than this. Even SLI has a better price/performance ratio, and it's faster.

 

[W1zzard]

I'd be absolutely happy if there were some fan noise numbers for overclocked cards. +1C can't come without fan speed increase. That's what a better cooler is needed for.

+1°C = same fan noise, unless you hit some kind of fan speed setting boundary, which would be negated by random temperature differences in your room.

The purpose of a backplate is to help the cooling

Sorry, no. Not on any card, unless it has memory chips on the back, and then you still need the backplate to make contact with the memory chips, which usually doesn't happen either.

W1z may need to correct me on this, but I don't think reviewers get review samples any more. I thought it was a gentlemen's agreement that suppliers send retail-grade GPUs.

Impossible to say. But I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sort of cherry picking going on everywhere, at least for the bigger review sites.

Because they probably gave it more voltage

Check the graph on page 29

 

[the54thvoid]

I'm loving seeing people with nothing better to do nit-pick W1zz's ratings. If you think it's so much fun and such a casually awarded score, go do the god damned work yourself.

ooh, look, it's scored higher than the one i like, I'm going to moan like a frickin' 4 yr old girl. Am I getting old or is it getting brain crushingly dull reading piss ants complain about W1zzard's reviews.

Keep up the good work W1zzard. I've read a shit load of review sites and this is still the greatest spread of titles and the most neutral.

I would ask that the OC score get's moved to BF4 mind, as others have. Maybe you answered that already.

But yeah, a 10 for this card....ooohh. I'm just pissed that it makes water cooling redundant. I like my loops.

 

[W1zzard]

I would ask that the OC score get's moved to BF4

i've got the testing routine down very well for bf3, switching to bf4 = whole new learning experience. and testing max oc takes ages anyway. but i'll look into it.

 

[RCoon]

i've got the testing routine down very well for bf3, switching to bf4 = whole new learning experience. and testing max oc takes ages anyway. but i'll look into it.

I feel his pain when it comes to benchmarking now, and I do a tiny fraction compared to what W1z does, and it still takes me almost 2 hours.