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Nvidia 980 Ti non reference cooling comparison *w/pics*

B

BlueSaber80

Gawd
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
680
ASUS STRIX 980Ti with new Direct CU III

Changes/upgrades/Upside: Active VRM cooling now added. 3 80mm fans instead of 2 100mm fans. Solderless PCB printing, no sharp points. Glowing logo. 2x 8pin power

Downsides: Still no active cooling or even passive heatsink cooling on memory modules. Direct heat pipe on GPU, no head spreader plate still. Fan housing now plastic, not metal. 90mm fans produce more noise possibly


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MSI Gaming 980Ti Twin Frozr V

Changes/upgrades/Upside: Large 100 twin fans. Passive heatsink/plate cooling on VRM and memory modules. Backplate finally added. Glowing logo. 2x 8pin power

Downsides: No active cooling on memory or VRM. Plastic fan housing

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Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980Ti Windforce 600watt

Changes/upgrades/Upsides: Triple 80mm fan cooling. HUGE heatsink platform actively cools GPU, memory and VRM heatsinks. All metal fan housing. LED color control. 2x 8pin power. Dual DVI

Downsides: Heavy and long, possibly resulting in more GPU sag. 90mm fans produce more noise.


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EVGA GTX 980Ti Superclocked ACX 2.0+

Upgrades/changes/upsides: Included backplate with this model. Passive cooling on VRM and memory. Ball bearing fans. 100m sized fans

Downsides: Only 1x 8pin 1x6pin power connections, will limit overclocking. Reference PCB board design. Cooling not the greatest. Plastic fan housing

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Thermal testing done by HardwareCanucks http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...gtx-980-ti-superclocked-acx-2-0-review-4.html

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Disappointed with the STRIX now that we see it taken apart, but I do like that there is a heatspreader connected to the heatsink for the VRMs. Looks like MSi and Gigabyte are still the best options.
 
I really liked the build and looks of my STRIX 980 and was holding out for the STRIX 980Ti. Ended up going with the Gigabyte G1. Looks and feels really premium and I thought the STRIX lost some of its looks and got cheaper with the plastic shroud. The MSI was a runner up for me but the Gigabyte nudged it out. I think the Gigabyte and MSI are the two best Ti non refs out right now. JMO.

Nice summary BlueSaber80. :cool:
 
Great thread! Very good for comparison. I think you could add the EVGA Hybrid in there as well with it's AIO watercooling.

The G1 does not sag in my experience, the backplate takes care of that and the cooler itself is rather rigid.

I don't think metal vs plastic fan shroud is either a plus or minus. At least the one on the G1 felt like it might bend, it is rather thin and no better than the plastic equivalent found on the cheaper 970 Windforce 3X OC I had.

I think a lot is also up to the fans in question and how the BIOS is configured. For example the Gigabyte 980 Ti G1 at 100% runs the fans at a whopping 4200 RPM, with the sound of a jet engine emerging. Normally the fans run around 60% on load which is something like 3000 RPM - still loud. By comparison the MSI 980 Ti seems to run the fans under 2000 rpm making it the much quieter card. I tried replicating that behavior on my Gigabyte G1 by running the fans at around 45% (which resulted in roughly 1900 RPM) but ended up with temps climbing to 80 degrees (that's where the card starts throttling) eventually my test game, GTA V crashing. Either my cooler was mounted poorly or MSI's just does a better job.

I'm now torn whether I should get the MSI or EVGA Hybrid - all I want is a 980 Ti that overclocks well while still keeping fan noise at reasonable levels on load.
 
kasakka said:
Great thread! Very good for comparison. I think you could add the EVGA Hybrid in there as well with it's AIO watercooling.

The G1 does not sag in my experience, the backplate takes care of that and the cooler itself is rather rigid.

I don't think metal vs plastic fan shroud is either a plus or minus. At least the one on the G1 felt like it might bend, it is rather thin and no better than the plastic equivalent found on the cheaper 970 Windforce 3X OC I had.

.
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Haven't seen it taken apart yet, but i'll add when google/bing is able to net me results and some reviews
 
BlueSaber80 said:
Haven't seen it taken apart yet, but i'll add when google/bing is able to net me results and some reviews
Click to expand...

Looks about like this (it's Titan X but they're the same cooler for 980, 980 Ti and TX)
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Basically it's the reference cooler but with the shroud and GPU heatsink removed and replaced with EVGA shroud and Asetek waterblock+pump. Pros seem to be low GPU temps and noise, cons 6+8 pin power and also possibility of pump noise.
 
The Strix design looks terrible. Only 3 of the 5 heat pipes touch the chip!
 
Cyph said:
The Strix design looks terrible. Only 3 of the 5 heat pipes touch the chip!
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EVGA did the same with the 970 last year and people threw a shit fit on reddit and Evga finally gave in as they lied about "recycling" the old 700 series heatsink design on the 900 series, including "nerfing'' one of the heatpipes so it was basically useless.

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The strix is using the 980 matrix pcb, which in short is awesome. Should do great with volts under water.
 
Can you put up classified when you see them. I am now worried about getting classified over MSI gaming. The MSI gaming card seems to be best all around in terms of cooling and overclocking performance.

Gigabyte cooler is possibly best (theoretically) in terms of OC potential due to copper but the coil whine reports are a big deterrent for me.
 
KickAssCop said:
Can you put up classified when you see them. I am now worried about getting classified over MSI gaming. The MSI gaming card seems to be best all around in terms of cooling and overclocking performance.

Gigabyte cooler is possibly best (theoretically) in terms of OC potential due to copper but the coil whine reports are a big deterrent for me.
Click to expand...

The MSI is also copper, it's just nickel plated. It appears the Gigabyte is cooler under stress but the fans are louder. It could be that its fans just run harder under stress vs the MSI. If I were to bet, since the MSI is cooler at idle, with both fans at the same RPM/noise level, the MSI will be the cooler card.
 
Cyph said:
The MSI is also copper, it's just nickel plated. It appears the Gigabyte is cooler under stress but the fans are louder. It could be that its fans just run harder under stress vs the MSI. If I were to bet, since the MSI is cooler at idle, with both fans at the same RPM/noise level, the MSI will be the cooler card.
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The MSI uses 100mm fans vs gigabytes 80mm
 
BlueSaber80 said:
The MSI uses 100mm fans vs gigabytes 80mm
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Right, it gives better airflow at the same RPM over a wider area. If both fans are running at the same RPM, I believe the MSI card runs both cooler and quieter. I really like the use of the 100m fans, better air flow, quieter, and a larger heat sink dedicated to cooling the GPU.
 
Fans on the classified are also 100 mm. One of the reasons I am keeping my amazon order to get those cards.
Didn't know MSI was copper.
 
Cyph said:
Right, it gives better airflow at the same RPM over a wider area. If both fans are running at the same RPM, I believe the MSI card runs both cooler and quieter. I really like the use of the 100m fans, better air flow, quieter, and a larger heat sink dedicated to cooling the GPU.
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The Gigabyte actually has a far larger heatsink if you look at the pics
 
I am curious whether reference is the way to go vs. the EVGA GTX 980Ti Superclocked ACX 2.0+

I currently have 2 980s reference and I have ample airflow with cards never going above 80 which I cant even hear.

I am leaning towards reference vs the ACX cooler.
Thoughts?
 
I have the EVGA hybrid coolers on my TitanX's, I can't recommend those enough to people who have the room. My cards don't break 45c.
 
THUMPer1 said:
Man, EVGA sucks
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LOL maybe they're just trying to emulate their chip designer by milking future products until 16nm gets here. ;)

At least that's what I'd like to believe because there is no way in hell they would have done that thinking they wouldn't get caught. Even despite the recent coil whine issues, loud ACX 2.0 fan, and sloppy heatsink I would find it very difficult to switch from EVGA after being a loyal customer for 6 years and recently having to go through the RMA process. That kind of experience allows them to get away with a lot when it comes to me.

Great thread though OP. Hopefully this can be the start of some kind of tradition.
 
Liger88 said:
LOL maybe they're just trying to emulate their chip designer by milking future products until 16nm gets here. ;)

At least that's what I'd like to believe because there is no way in hell they would have done that thinking they wouldn't get caught. Even despite the recent coil whine issues, loud ACX 2.0 fan, and sloppy heatsink I would find it very difficult to switch from EVGA after being a loyal customer for 6 years and recently having to go through the RMA process. That kind of experience allows them to get away with a lot when it comes to me.

Great thread though OP. Hopefully this can be the start of some kind of tradition.
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I was an Evga loyalists going back to the gtx280 but hey, times change. I went Asus 980 strix last time and Gigabyte 980ti gaming g1 this time. I go with what I feel is the best card at the moment. Evga started resting on their laurels with the 7 series. Gotta step their game back up.
 
g1xx3r said:
Evga started resting on their laurels with the 7 series. Gotta step their game back up.
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Classified series says hi. Anything below that from evga is either reference or custom coolers on reference pcbs.
 
What's wrong with the eVGA besides the reference PCB and coil whine reports?

Genuinely curious as it seems to be thoroughly reviewed without many negatives reported (besides useless backplate).

The cooler is inferior to the other non-reference ones in cooling capacity by laws of physics, but it's also the only one that will fit into any case that can fit the reference cards -- and the thermal/acoustic performance is good within those limitations.
 
Nothing to be honest. Their coolers are not on par with gigabyte, msi, and asus, but not terrible either.

Evga's classified series however tend to always be good (780 and above). Overbuilt pcbs, voltage control, etc..
 
I was going to say people ragging on the EVGA are missing the fact that it's just a reference card with a non-reference cooler. The other cards are all custom builds.

Further, don't forget that EVGA is the *only* GPU company left that has a decent warranty program in the US offering next-day advanced RMA.
 
Mchart said:
Further, don't forget that EVGA is the *only* GPU company left that has a decent warranty program in the US offering next-day advanced RMA.
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And because of that it makes people feel safe if they ever have a problem with the card. I remember the Asus horror stories right here on these forums when the 700 Series came out. One of the [H] users had such a disgusting run in with the RMA department posting the experience here that I will never buy an Asus GPU even if they are the only Nvidia manufacturer. MOBO's is another story for me, but they're a conglomerate so you never know what you're going to get product to product.

Not often you hear many bad things about MSI/Gigabyte though. EVGA is just such a monster on the Nvidia side it makes sense they're going to have more issues brought to light.
 
Liger88 said:
And because of that it makes people feel safe if they ever have a problem with the card. I remember the Asus horror stories right here on these forums when the 700 Series came out. One of the [H] users had such a disgusting run in with the RMA department posting the experience here that I will never buy an Asus GPU even if they are the only Nvidia manufacturer. MOBO's is another story for me, but they're a conglomerate so you never know what you're going to get product to product.

Not often you hear many bad things about MSI/Gigabyte though. EVGA is just such a monster on the Nvidia side it makes sense they're going to have more issues brought to light.
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They're all horrible. The only other GPU company that had a half-way decent warranty was BFG before they went under and XFX before they got bought out by shitty Pine years back. I actually used to live a mile from XFX headquarters and once got a same day replacement because I walked in with my bad card. Funnily enough I lived only 20 minutes away from BFG headquarters as well.
 
Kor said:
By all accounts the MSI and the G1 are near silent under load (MSI is basically inaudible).

There is a comparison with the stock cooler and the G1 at around 7 mins here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2-gCXscH04
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I don't know what kind of golden gem they sent to that review but based on the samples from YouTube videos and other audio and my own experience the G1 is anything but silent. It's actually reasonably quiet as long as you only run at stock speeds. When overclocking the fans easily go higher and that's when it starts to have annoying noise. I previously ran 2x Gigabyte 970s in SLI at high overclocks and the fans were never unreasonably loud. That's why I was severely disappointed by the G1's performance as I expected it would be the same just with a beefier heatsink.


The cooler on the MSI and Gigabyte might not be all that different in size - the MSI is taller but the Gigabyte is longer. In any case the MSI seems to have fans that run at much lower RPM at any situation. Tried using similar RPMs on my G1 and temps shot up to 80 and crashed the card eventually. So MSI seems to be able to have the golden combination of reasonable noise and temps.

I'm seriously considering just buying the MSI card and putting an AIO cooler on it for the best of both worlds as the 980 Ti runs a lot hotter than the 970 or 980. Unlike the G1, the MSI has a passive heatsink for VRM and memory so it's better for building your own hybrid cooler setup. The VRM heatsink on the G1 is connected to the GPU heatsink.
 
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