Asus Strix 980 or Normal 980?

AthlonXP

AthlonXP

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Oct 14, 2001
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Going to run 2 in SLI, just wondering which setup would you prefer and why?
 
Does your case have excellent airflow? Strix 980. Seems everyone is genuinely happy with that cooler so far.
 
I have 2 reference cards. But looking back now I know someone who has 2 Gigabyte G1 Gaming with the Windforce Coolers on them. If you have a case with awesome cooling they may be the GTX 980s to beat.

His 2 cards can each do 1600mhz alone but because of the .50 mv glitch in SLi he can't clock them both that high because since one card is under-volted it crashes at 1600mhz at 1.162v. Hopefully nvidia fixes that issue and guys like him will be able to run 1600mhz in SLi on each card. :eek::eek:

I haven't seen many GTX 980s @ 1600mhz on air. GTX 970s is different but 980s that to me is just impressive.
 
No plan to overclock them though, just want cool and quiet running cards.
 
I didn't plan to overclock, so I bought 2 reference 980s. They are dead silent and work great. In fact they resulted in a quieter system than the Crossfire MSI R9 280's that they replaced, which was already incredibly quiet.

The reference cards exhaust outside, so my top 2 case fans (Noctua 120mm) rarely even kick in. It's not a huge difference, but every little bit counts.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Cool & Quiet = Strix for sure then
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Seconded. My 970s in SLI barely break 70C under most gaming conditions with default clocks on the default fan curve, which tops out around 42%/1100 RPM at that temperature. Can't hear them at all with my case fans on the lowest setting in an (original) NZXT Phantom. The 980s might run a hair hotter than the 970s, of course.
 
Just installed them a few minutes ago. Man they are huge!

IMG_0904.jpg
 
AthlonXP said:
Just installed them a few minutes ago. Man they are huge!

IMG_0904.jpg
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If you have this much spacing, the strix would be a good option. If they are sandwiched you should go reference. But as has been mentioned, the strix will dump the hot air into your case so you'll want solid air flow
 
FRZ said:
If you have this much spacing, the strix would be a good option. If they are sandwiched you should go reference. But as has been mentioned, the strix will dump the hot air into your case so you'll want solid air flow
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Ok, so do you think this setup is better or stick with the standard cards? As you can see I have 2x 140mm case fans in the setup.
 
Your CPU is like to heat up quite a bit, I'd say +5C at least compared to using a blower.

I'm using 2x Gigabyte 970s, and even with 5x 140mm + 2x 120mm case fans, the top card still runs 10-12C hotter than the bottom card. Gigabyte's cooling is actually too effective for its own good lmao, since the bottom card simply ejects all the heat straight into the top card.

Oh and make sure you keep an eye on the PCH temp, your 980s are sitting right on top of the PCH heatsink, just like my Gigabyte 970s. After 30 minutes of gaming the PCH heatsink was already at 65C according to my IR thermometer. I can just tell it's getting roasted by the exhaust heat from the 970s.
 
Thanks, think I will go back to the stock cards then. Anyone interested in one or both of these guys then? Can't return them to Newegg.
 
AthlonXP said:
Thanks, think I will go back to the stock cards then. Anyone interested in one or both of these guys then? Can't return them to Newegg.
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I would run the Asus cards under load and see what kind of temps you get. The asus cards are supposedly higher quality so it would be a shame to let them go, especially at a loss
 
I have both and decided on the reference card. My reference card can oc as good or better than the average Strix. The reference card also uses a lot less power even at the same clocks. And even though my case has great airflow, my cpu runs 6-7 C lower on the reference model. The Strix will certainly be the quieter card though.
 
All this talk got me thinking, perhaps I should just return my Gigabyte 970s and eat the 15% restock, then buy 2 reference 980s and be done with it. I say this because the only blower style 970s are from EVGA and PNY, and we've heard enough about EVGA recently and I really don't feel comfortable enough with PNY to put down $600+.

I'm still shocked at how much heat these 970s put out. Yes the card itself runs cool because all that heat is being dumped onto other components!! Ironically because Gigabyte's cooling solution works so well, when SLI'd the bottom cards basically feeds hot air straight into the top card, so the top card ends up running at least 10C hotter (I've seen a peak delta of 14C :eek:).

Also as I mentioned earlier the PCH heats up significantly because of its location and the oversized heatsink, so I kind of fear for it in the long run.
 
FRZ said:
I would run the Asus cards under load and see what kind of temps you get. The asus cards are supposedly higher quality so it would be a shame to let them go, especially at a loss
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Agree with this. I wouldn't jump the gun and return them just yet. It looks to me like you have good airflow in your case. I'm assuming the front fan is intake and the back is exhaust. With a direct line-of-sight to the video cards that front fan should be doing a good job at routing the heat they're dumping into the case out the back.

With my STRIX 970s the highest temp delta I have seen so far has been 4C, with the top card running 75C and the bottom running 71C. Most of the time they both sit around 68-71C. My CPU does run slightly hotter when gaming at 51C when compared to my reference 780s (47C). Nothing that concerns me in the slightest.
 
Thanks for your data on the Strix 970 in SLI. This just further bolsters my belief that Gigabyte's Windforce cooling really is too good for its own good. Temperature delta is at least 10C between the top and bottom card, and I've seen it go upwards to 14C.

Though the absolute values still seem to be lower than yours, with the top card usually topping out atround 71C, and the bottom card 60C.
 
AthlonXP said:
Thanks, think I will go back to the stock cards then. Anyone interested in one or both of these guys then? Can't return them to Newegg.
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Interested..I have the evga GTX980 SC. It hits 1500 out the box. Let me know.:cool:
 
g1xx3r said:
Interested..I have the evga GTX980 SC. It hits 1500 out the box. Let me know.:cool:
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There is no way its hitting 1500 out of the box. That is not even their top 980 card as there are 3 models ahead of that. They sure as crap would not let a chip like that be in the 4th card from the top.
 
misterbobby said:
There is no way its hitting 1500 out of the box. That is not even their top 980 card as there are 3 models ahead of that. They sure as crap would not let a chip like that be in the 4th card from the top.
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Both of my $549.99 reference GTX 980s (evga) hit over 1500mhz out of the box. I'd say you should give it a try and see what happens.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Both of my $549.99 reference GTX 980s (evga) hit over 1500mhz out of the box. I'd say you should give it a try and see what happens.
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Out of the box means you did nothing but install the card and it goes to 1500 automatically under load? I do not believe that at all. The cards are rated at mid 1300 mhz boost and NO card has EVER automatically boosted that much higher than its rated boost. EVGA sure as hell would advertise high 1400 rating if it was boosting to 1500 out of box. And again they have THREE other models above that so it makes no sense. Especially since some of the top end cards cant even do 1500 when oced.
 
misterbobby said:
Out of the box means you did nothing but install the card and it goes to 1500 automatically under load? I do not believe that at all. The cards are rated at mid 1300 mhz boost and NO card has EVER automatically boosted that much higher than its rated boost. EVGA sure as hell would advertise high 1400 rating if it was boosting to 1500 out of box. And again they have THREE other models above that so it makes no sense. Especially since some of the top end cards cant even do 1500 when oced.
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I think he just means that the cards were able to hit 1500mhz without any mods or voltage increases
 
FRZ said:
I think he just means that the cards were able to hit 1500mhz without any mods or voltage increases
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Then people need to say that because out of the box means out of the box not overclocked. I don't know why people cant be clear when making a post.
 
misterbobby said:
Out of the box means you did nothing but install the card and it goes to 1500 automatically under load? I do not believe that at all. The cards are rated at mid 1300 mhz boost and NO card has EVER automatically boosted that much higher than its rated boost. EVGA sure as hell would advertise high 1400 rating if it was boosting to 1500 out of box. And again they have THREE other models above that so it makes no sense. Especially since some of the top end cards cant even do 1500 when oced.
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Rinse the sand out and relax. It simply (or should have obviously) meant that nothing special was done and it overclocks pretty well.
 
g1xx3r said:
Rinse the sand out and relax. It simply (or should have obviously) meant that nothing special was done and it overclocks pretty well.
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Okay fine but like a I just said be more clear next time then there wont be issues. Specifically stating "out of the box" means nothing was done.
 
I agree the wording was very ambigious and could've went either way. Best just to say out the box it overclocks to 1500.
 
misterbobby said:
Okay fine but like a I just said be more clear next time then there wont be issues. Specifically stating "out of the box" means nothing was done.
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Then it would run a the specs stated on the box. :rolleyes:

15 minutes are up.
 
g1xx3r said:
Then it would run a the specs stated on the box. :rolleyes:

15 minutes are up.
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Thats some fine logic. So you misuse a word then get an attitude with me? At least if I screwed up I would be man enough to just admit it and move on. :rolleyes:
 
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