980Ti, but which one?

V

Violator

Gawd
2FA
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
831
As the title goes, I'm after a 980Ti. Bear in mind two things, 1) I'm in the UK, so prices are horrendous and 2)I haven't had an NVidia card in over 15 years, so go easy with me.

I appear to have a choice of

MSI GTX 980TI Gaming Graphics Card £559
EVGA 06G-P4-4995-KR GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked £564
Gigabyte Geforce GTX 980 TI £539
Asus STRIX-GTX980TI-DC3OC-6GD5 £639
Palit NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti £537
Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti Strix £577

I don't mind paying fairly top cash for a better card, but there seems to be a fair difference in prices here (I'm guessing factory OC and better cooling being the reason), but what should I be aiming for?
 
Other things you want to keep in mind are;

Are you
planning to OC
Put under water block/hybrid
And if you want a "gauranteed" pre-OC

If neither of those, get the cheapest 980ti with the cooler you like.
Also, if your case has decent airflow, temps shouldnt be a problem. Even reference can hold its own, temp wise, in a well ventilated case.

I normally buy classifieds, but considering how the 980ti series OCs, i grabbed x2 ssc+ cause the price was right at the time of purchase.
I can game around 1475mhz (oc'd of course)

Oh, another thing to keep in mind is company warranty and how well it works out at your location.
 
I sent back an MSI Thermal 2x (the white and black one) to newegg on Friday because it throttled itself at stock settings and wouldn't stay below 80 even with the fan at 100%

After my return is processed I'm buying a hybrid from EVGA, their support (at least here in the states) is top notch and stays under 50c at load, so that's a win for me.
 
I'm a fan of the Asus STRIX-GTX980TI-DC3OC-6GD5. I got one in my mini-itx gaming rig and it flies. I've pushed the card to +110Mhz on the core and +120Mhz on the memory, and that's on top of the factory overclock.

Which one to get basically boils down to if you want a factory OC'ed card, how good the cooler is, if you plan on trying to overclock the card on top of the factory overclock too, and how large of a card you can fit in your case. I helped a good friend of mine build an updated system and I got an MSI Thermal Armor 2X 980ti. He's not into overclocking and at default settings the card is plenty fast for him and works like a champ.

Pretty much any 980ti you get is going to be ridiculously fast. I happened to get a good deal on the Asus card which is why I went with it. Only thing I didn't realize that almost came back to bite me is that the Asus Strix is a LONG card. When I say it barely fits into my Corsair 380 mini ITX case, I mean I had to remove one of the fingers that holds on the front panel and after that I can literally just slide a piece of paper between the case and the back of the video card. :D Thankfully there's six plastic fingers that hold on the front so the loss of one isn't an issue. Depending on your case the situation will obviously be different.
 
Whichever is cheapest. You can research which if any also have cooling on the VRMs which I would consider fairly important. I use an auxiliary fan on my card just to ensure I have good airflow over all the components.
 
If you can get one, I would get a EVGA 980Ti FTW. I have one that I purchased 2 weeks ago and have been very happy with it since I got it.
 
I'd grab an EVGA ACX or MSI TF depending on which is cheaper. If you're interested in heavy overclocking, EVGA Classified hands down. The Kingpin and MSI Lightning are a waste of money with this card unless you're LN2 cooling.
 
Cheers gents, appreciate the feedback :)

I'm not bothered too much about heavy clocking the card, a mild OC if needed would be fine. I'd prefer a quieter card (I don't think I can justify a WC version though), as the 290 is a monster when it gets hot.
 
Violator said:
Cheers gents, appreciate the feedback :)

I'm not bothered too much about heavy clocking the card, a mild OC if needed would be fine. I'd prefer a quieter card (I don't think I can justify a WC version though), as the 290 is a monster when it gets hot.
Click to expand...

The MSI cooler is excellent and extremely quiet. Been very happy with it on the 970.
 
Having done a lot of reading up, the best bet for clocks/noise and cost was the MSI (now £544) :)

Other than uninstalling AMD drivers, replace cards, install nVidia drivers, is there anything else to have going? I already use MSI Afterburner/Riva Tuner for clocking and locking FPS for example.
 
Last edited:
Love my quiet MSI model but EVGA is tempting with its warranty and step up program.
 
Violator said:
Having done a lot of reading up, the best bet for clocks/noise and cost was the MSI (now £544) :)

Other than uninstalling AMD drivers, replace cards, install nVidia drivers, is there anything else to have going? I already use MSI Afterburner/Riva Tuner for clocking and locking FPS for example.
Click to expand...

Just uninstall your drivers with DDU
 
eVGA or Strix OC

If money is no object and they're available in your locale, add the MSI Lighting into the hat.
 
EVGA I'd only buy for Classified for Kingpin cards, or if you really like their warranty. Their ACX cards have worse cooling compared to the competition, and also use a ref PCB. I could bitch about their cheap packaging as well but I think you get the point. :p
 
n=1 said:
EVGA I'd only buy for Classified for Kingpin cards, or if you really like their warranty. Their ACX cards have worse cooling compared to the competition, and also use a ref PCB. I could bitch about their cheap packaging as well but I think you get the point. :p
Click to expand...

I get the point that you have a personal opinion that I found to be wrong. I own a EVGA 980 Ti FTW and it boosts to 1391 which is faster than the advertised 1291. It is quite fast, very quiet and fits in my case, unlike the other cards that look nice but do not perform any better. That's cool though, you keep right on with that opinion of yours well I enjoy what I have.
 
Glad you enjoy your card, and yes your 980 Ti FTW does use a non-ref 8+2 phase design. But what I said about cooling and packaging can be backed up by reviews, so it's not just an uninformed opinion.
 
n=1 said:
Glad you enjoy your card, and yes your 980 Ti FTW does use a non-ref 8+2 phase design. But what I said about cooling and packaging can be backed up by reviews, so it's not just an uninformed opinion.
Click to expand...

This x 10. Hell even if the card has a worse cooler it still has an amazing Warranty. I do not think n1 was trying to knock EVGA, he was just telling it like it is.
 
And the journey to the Dark Side is complete

20151229_124643.jpg
 
Considering nvidia is green it is journey to the light. Also hold on to your panties.
 
Violator said:
True :) but nVidia is usually made out to be the 'baddies'.
Click to expand...

Only by those with an inferiority complex augmented by a paranoid delusion in regards to purchase justification by opting against choosing superior competitive products. (this happens with fanbois of any brand...)

Enjoy the MSI 6G! It was on my short list when I put it to a [H] vote in a thread I made a while back. It'll serve you very well, I'm sure. :cool:
 
DejaWiz said:
Only by those with an inferiority complex augmented by a paranoid delusion in regards to purchase justification by opting against choosing superior competitive products. (this happens with fanbois of any brand...)

Enjoy the MSI 6G! It was on my short list when I put it to a [H] vote in a thread I made a while back. It'll serve you very well, I'm sure. :cool:
Click to expand...

'Tis true, looking forward to installing this bad-boy in a bit. Witcher 3 primed to go!
 
{NG}Fidel said:
This x 10. Hell even if the card has a worse cooler it still has an amazing Warranty. I do not think n1 was trying to knock EVGA, he was just telling it like it is.
Click to expand...

Bashing or not, the unit does not have a terrible cooler at all. I have no issue with the card boosting to 1392 out of the box with about another 50 Mhz of overclocking still to go without a voltage increase. Also, it is completely silent when at idle and not loud at all when at full load.

These cards do not need a triple slot cooler and besides, unless you have a full ATX case, none of the other cards are going to fit. (Unless you can remove hard drive cages.) My Define R3 case fits this card easily well the MSI one was too big. That and EVGA was able to answer my questions quickly and I was able to get through to them quickly.

Not sure what is meant my packaging. The box it comes in? It is a box and is not better or worse than any other box. If something else was meant, I sure do not know what. :confused:

That said, OP, enjoy, I went from a 290x to a 980 Ti 2 weeks ago and doubled my FPS in some games at 4k. :D Enjoy but, I am sure you will. :)
 
Last edited:
I said it had worse cooling compared to the competition based on the findings of TechReport and Hardwarecanucks. I didn't say it had a terrible cooler, just it's not quite as good as what the competition offers. If you have specific case restrictions and it was the only GPU that could fit that's a perfectly valid reason. And like I also said if you like EVGA's warranty that's another great reason to buy their GPUs.

By packaging I meant EVGA is the only company to use a plastic clamshell instead of full foam protective packaging for cheaper SKUs, and foam is only used on their most expensive variants (Classified, Hybrid, Hydro Copper, Kingpin).

EVGA 980 Ti FTW - notice the plastic clamshell the GPU comes in? Now compare to other manufacturers.

Asus 980 Ti Strix
Gigabyte 980 Ti G1
MSi 980 Ti Gaming - guy even comments on EVGA's packaging
Zotac 980 Ti AMP! Extreme
 
n=1 said:
I said it had worse cooling compared to the competition based on the findings of TechReport and Hardwarecanucks. I didn't say it had a terrible cooler, just it's not quite as good as what the competition offers. If you have specific case restrictions and it was the only GPU that could fit that's a perfectly valid reason. And like I also said if you like EVGA's warranty that's another great reason to buy their GPUs.

By packaging I meant EVGA is the only company to use a plastic clamshell instead of full foam protective packaging for cheaper SKUs, and foam is only used on their most expensive variants (Classified, Hybrid, Hydro Copper, Kingpin).

EVGA 980 Ti FTW - notice the plastic clamshell the GPU comes in? Now compare to other manufacturers.

Asus 980 Ti Strix
Gigabyte 980 Ti G1
MSi 980 Ti Gaming - guy even comments on EVGA's packaging
Zotac 980 Ti AMP! Extreme
Click to expand...

I guess I am trying to figure out where solid plastic is somehow cheap? I guess we should start shipping all CPU's in foam packaging now as well? The card was solidly and firmly packed and without fear of it being damaged or falling out. I would say that the foam is more likely to have an object go right through it before the plastic breaks.

Oh well, I guess that is more an matter of perspective than anything else. I have never really cared one way or the other as long as my card makes it to me undamaged. XFX uses cardboard in my instances but I have never had an issue with them either. I will give you the not as good as the others but, it can come across as saying the EVGA one sucks. (It can be interpreted that way but, in that case, it is not what you said, not a problem. :) )
 
I've got to say, initial impressions are very good.

Smooth. That's a good word. Holds up to pretty much a constant 60FPS in most games I play (bear in mind I hate tearing, so vsync on), the difference now is I can whack the details up to Ultra/Extreme or whatever :D

Noise is considerably less than the 290 as well, which has got to be a good thing!
 
Last edited:
ManofGod said:
I guess I am trying to figure out where solid plastic is somehow cheap? I guess we should start shipping all CPU's in foam packaging now as well? The card was solidly and firmly packed and without fear of it being damaged or falling out. I would say that the foam is more likely to have an object go right through it before the plastic breaks.

Oh well, I guess that is more an matter of perspective than anything else. I have never really cared one way or the other as long as my card makes it to me undamaged. XFX uses cardboard in my instances but I have never had an issue with them either. I will give you the not as good as the others but, it can come across as saying the EVGA one sucks. (It can be interpreted that way but, in that case, it is not what you said, not a problem. :) )
Click to expand...

Yeah no hard feelings. My main point was if you're the type that doesn't really care about warranty and want to maximize the hardware you get for your money, then look around because EVGA isn't the default champ. If you value warranty above everything else then EVGA wins by default.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top