EVGA GTX 980 Ti SC+ 6 GB

[W1zzard]

Fan noise, Power Consumption, Performance Per Watt,

AMD doesn't sample their reference design, so I have no baseline numbers for comparison, I'll try to find one somewhere, or buy a card that's very close to reference

 

[revin]

Dang Brother Wiz, I'd knew it ws a PITA doing these review's, but man, that is starting to make sence as why the Ref. 980 card was listed on some also.
Thank you for clarifiying that !!

 

[RustyKats]

I notice a very large discrepancy in Wolfenstein results from TPU compared to other sites, it seems AMD performance is really bad in this game.

Does TPU benchmark with OSD, On-Screen-Displays (Afterburner or Fraps) active? It's a known bug on AMD GPUs, OSD will cripple performance in OpenGL games, often losing more than half their performance.

 

[silapakorn]

Nice to see a card with non-reference cooler not larger than reference design, while maintaining quite sound, reasonable temp. and decent OC.
Other brands should learn from EVGA. Those monstrous 3-fan coolers with extra thickness, width and length are not necessary at all.

 

[L.ccd]

Thanks for the great review W1zzard. In this test, here are the results for GTA V in 1440p with "with everything set to very high and MSAA off":

Here are the numbers from the game's performance test, with "everything to very high, full-screen, FXAA on, MSAA off":

What the heck happened ? The 970 dropped from 78 fps to a mere 45 fps. Did you use a different scene for the benchmark? In any case, the review from two months ago suggest that a 970 is good enough to hit ~70 fps, while this one shows that you need to shell out twice the cash for the same amount of performance. Where does this drastic discrepancy come from?

 

[W1zzard]

Thanks for the great review W1zzard. In this test, here are the results for GTA V in 1440p with "with everything set to very high and MSAA off":

Here are the numbers from the game's performance test, with "everything to very high, full-screen, FXAA on, MSAA off":

What the heck happened ? The 970 dropped from 78 fps to a mere 45 fps. Did you use a different scene for the benchmark? In any case, the review from two months ago suggest that a 970 is good enough to hit ~70 fps, while this one shows that you need to shell out twice the cash for the same amount of performance. Where does this drastic discrepancy come from?

The original article used the in-game benchmark. Now I'm using a normal game scene

 

[Aquinus]

The original article used the in-game benchmark. Now I'm using a normal game scene

Was there any particular motivation for that? I don't say that as an insult, I'm just curious because knowing you, there probably was a reason. If you don't mind if I make a supposition, I would asuspect that you found a scene that is more stressful than the benchmark or hammers certain parts of the CPU harder than the benchmark itself does or something along the lines of the benchmark not being an accurate representation of actual in-game performance? I'm just curious and intrigued.

 

[W1zzard]

The in-game benchmark was extremely unreliable. Runs vary more than 10%. Also I'm having some doubts about how well it represents the game.

 

[64K]

Nice card. Now I just need to see the MSI review to decide.

 

[Shrewsbury]

Hey W1zzard, great review! I just purchased this card, but I'm having slight buyers remorse. You're probably not in the business of making recommendations but since I got the EVGA card based on your comparative scores between this and the Gigabyte G1 model (9.6 vs 9.5, respectively), I was hoping you could help ease my mind and tell me if I made the right decision. Also, the MSI edition is out and I was wondering if you're going to be doing a review of that card soon. Thanks a bunch.

 

[W1zzard]

Hey W1zzard, great review! I just purchased this card, but I'm having slight buyers remorse. You're probably not in the business of making recommendations but since I got the EVGA card based on your comparative scores between this and the Gigabyte G1 model (9.6 vs 9.5, respectively), I was hoping you could help ease my mind and tell me if I made the right decision. Also, the MSI edition is out and I was wondering if you're going to be doing a review of that card soon. Thanks a bunch.

I have the MSI card on the testbench right now.

What's wrong with the EVGA you bought?

 

[Shrewsbury]

I have the MSI card on the testbench right now.

What's wrong with the EVGA you bought?

Well I'm getting it today so I haven't tested it yet, but other benchmarks show the G1 at higher FPS and overclocking potential while having lower temps as well. Full disclosure though, I'm not going to overclock any further. I'm still a relative novice and I'd like to get the max lifespan out of it. Also, I have a Gigabyte 680 Windforce now, and it's been awesome for 2 years. The reasons I went with EVGA were: 1) It was the only one available at the time (crappy reason, I know), and 2) many reviews I read were complaining about the noise (specifically, the coil whine) with the G1. Now I am not a brand fanboy at all, and will go with the best I can get, so I was mainly just wondering why you scored the EVGA slightly higher than the G1 when considering the framerates were higher and temps were lower with the G1. Were power consumption and noise what gave the EVGA a slight edge? And thanks a lot for the lightning fast response! I await your MSI review.

 

[Crookid]

EVGA may have the best customer service but their cards are not that good, except the classifieds.

What the hell are you talking about? Lol. EVGA was making awesome aftermarket cooled cards when reference was recommended and all the others sucked. This card is excellent and near silent even under loads with new drivers. At least for me it is.

Reference 6+2 vrm pcb... tsss. Next one please.

Love when people say this... The card is performing just as good as custom PCBs are and the extra power from 2 pins don't allow that much more headroom. It's a gimmick.

Want to OC to full potential? Waterblock... Period.

 

[Crookid]

Well I'm getting it today so I haven't tested it yet, but other benchmarks show the G1 at higher FPS and overclocking potential while having lower temps as well. Full disclosure though, I'm not going to overclock any further. I'm still a relative novice and I'd like to get the max lifespan out of it. Also, I have a Gigabyte 680 Windforce now, and it's been awesome for 2 years. The reasons I went with EVGA were: 1) It was the only one available at the time (crappy reason, I know), and 2) many reviews I read were complaining about the noise (specifically, the coil whine) with the G1. Now I am not a brand fanboy at all, and will go with the best I can get, so I was mainly just wondering why you scored the EVGA slightly higher than the G1 when considering the framerates were higher and temps were lower with the G1. Were power consumption and noise what gave the EVGA a slight edge? And thanks a lot for the lightning fast response! I await your MSI review.

EVGA is notorious for excellent support. I have the card and it runs very quiet. A few FPS isn't worth dealing with Gigabyte's god awful customer care. Asus Strix should be nice but will be red.

All in all, go with whichever one matches your internals besides the G1 and runs quiet. Whine from a card or any type of noise will be more annoying than you think.