Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Waterforce Xtreme Gaming 6 GB

[lanq8]

Apologies if I missed it in the review but how effective is the waterblock cooling on the VRM compared to an air cooled card as well the hybrid cooling cards from EVGA and MSI / Corsair?

 

[altermere]

I wonder if they will cover component damage from a water leak. Gigabyte doesn't have a forum so I don't know where to ask this.
EVGA will, for example.
http://forums.evga.com/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-980-HYBRID-warranty-question-m2314070.aspx

Also, I noticed a typo in the spec table, it says GTX 980 Waterforce instead of 980 Ti.

 

[iO]

Bit too pricey but nice card.
And the baseplate is definitely not a vapor chamber..

 

[W1zzard]

And the baseplate is definitely not a vapor chamber..

I took another look, you seem to be right, it's just a thick copper plate

 

[henrickd]

I took another look, you seem to be right, it's just a thick copper plate

Hey W1zzard if you do not mind, can you please answer a question I had while reading this review? I was wondering, is the 970 SLI really that much better than reference 980 Ti, and basically equal to this highly factory overclocked 980 Ti? Since the reference 970 is so rare, I see here that you are using some non-reference 970s that you set at stock to simulate a reference card (assuming it's still the same cards 1+ years later). But since they are non-reference blower-style cooler, I assume they give more leeway for GPU boost 2.0 to increase clock speeds. So my assumption is that they are boosting much higher than the 970's boost clock of 1178 while the reference 980 Ti is much closer to its boost clock of 1075. So maybe the 970s are actually running much closer to their max OC than the 980 Ti?

I'm asking because I was thinking of switching to a 980 Ti from SLI 970 but your result shows a very significant advantage for the SLI 970. While I was ready to give up some performance for single-card convenience, I certainly didn't think the difference would be that big, but if you told me that your 970s are around 1300 while the 980 Ti is around 1100 it would explain everything. And your reviews are basically the only place I can get this kind of info from, few sites have 970 SLI vs 980 Ti scores.

 

[trog100]

Hey W1zzard if you do not mind, can you please answer a question I had while reading this review? I was wondering, is the 970 SLI really that much better than reference 980 Ti, and basically equal to this highly factory overclocked 980 Ti? Since the reference 970 is so rare, I see here that you are using some non-reference 970s that you set at stock to simulate a reference card (assuming it's still the same cards 1+ years later). But since they are non-reference blower-style cooler, I assume they give more leeway for GPU boost 2.0 to increase clock speeds. So my assumption is that they are boosting much higher than the 970's boost clock of 1178 while the reference 980 Ti is much closer to its boost clock of 1075. So maybe the 970s are actually running much closer to their max OC than the 980 Ti?

I'm asking because I was thinking of switching to a 980 Ti from SLI 970 but your result shows a very significant advantage for the SLI 970. While I was ready to give up some performance for single-card convenience, I certainly didn't think the difference would be that big, but if you told me that your 970s are around 1300 while the 980 Ti is around 1100 it would explain everything. And your reviews are basically the only place I can get this kind of info from, few sites have 970 SLI vs 980 Ti scores.

i moved from a pair of evga sc 970 cards to a pair of palit jetstream 980 ti cards.. the 970 cards in sli out perform a single 980 ti by maybe 10 or 15 percent..

but the 980 ti has more memory and dosnt need good game sli optimization.. at anything less than 4 K both options are more than adequate..

my air cooled super jetstreams run around 65 C with a more aggressive fan profile.. at stock they are set up more for silent running than maximum cooling.. you take your pick between a little more noise or a little more cooling..

i think in most cases AIO water cooling is more a fashion fad than a necessity.. i didnt consider a single 980 ti card an upgrade which is why i bought two of the bloody things.. in the real world its hard to tell the difference between 970 sli and a single 980 TI without running benchmarks.. but for real 4 K gaming which i dont think is here for real yet a pair of 980 ti cards are needed..

unless you are thinking about adding a second 980 ti card later on there really is no point in ditching your 970 cards for a single 980 ti.. absolutely none..

i run 1084 at 144 hrz.. my second 980 ti card is (mostly) switched off.. its there if i need it but as yet i dont need it..

having spare performance in hand gives me a nice comfy feeling.. he he..

trog

 

[HumanSmoke]

Looks like Asetek will be putting this card on their hit list if it is using the same CM cooler as the Fury X

 

[Figus]

I've got some question.... TW3 benchmark...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_Fury_Tri-X_OC/23.html
Why in this review at 1440p Fury is near 60 fps (and that is the real performance, got just one at home) and in the 980Ti review is at 35 fps?? What happened? They changed something?

 

[speedy_3014]

Would be quite interested in this, but I already have my 980's so I won't bother.

 

[ReHWolution]

Hey W1zz! I was wondering: why there's no R9 Nano in the charts? I was curious to see the performance increases driver after driver of that tiny card, now that it got its price sliced...

 

[ZeroFM]

where 980Ti SLI , titan x SLI review ?

 

[mcraygsx]

Question when the Author said "An interesting side effect of watercooling is that power efficiency has gone way up. Because the GPU never reaches temperatures above 50°C, it will run at much better efficiency".

Does this mean this GPU requires and will run at lower voltage/lower TDP for same Clock then compare to cards using on Air cooled heatsink?

I am trying to decide if this is worth it over air cooled version aka GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980Ti 6GB XTREME GAMING OC EDITION.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=gigabyte_980_ti-_-14-125-837-_-Product