MSI Launches The GTX 980 Ti GAMING 6G

KickAssCop said:
First ofcourse the images.

http://i.imgur.com/Z9gd3lQ.jpg

Card is very sturdy and weighs more than my 970 Gaming cards. The cooler fans look fantastic and the backplate is awesome. Also the dragon LED looks cool and stuff. It is one massive card and gave me a hard on when I held it for the first time.

http://i.imgur.com/zSSZ9iq.jpg

Here it is compared to my 970 GTX Gaming cards.

Following is the test setup given that I am still only using H80 cooler and didn't get a chance to install the H110i that I have sitting around.

Test setup

Windows 7 Pro X64
Geforce 353.30 graphics driver
5930K @ 4.2 GHz
DDR4 2666 15-15-15-35-1T
GTX 970 G1 Gaming SLi @ 1504/7600 core/memory
GTX 980 Ti Gaming @ 1439/7400 core/memory

Benchmarks

3dmark 11 - P24521 - 970 SLi
3dmark 11 - P22073 - 980 Ti

3dmark Firestrike - 18914 - 970 SLi
3dmark Firestrike - 17108 - 980 Ti

3dmark Firestrike Extreme - 9949 - 970 SLi
3dmark Firestrike Extreme - 8653 - 980 Ti

3dmark Firestrike Ultra - 5423 - 970 SLi
3dmark Firestrike Ultra - 4685 - 980 Ti

Heaven 4.0 Max details 1080P - 101.2 fps - 970 SLi
Heaven 4.0 Max details 1080P - 96.8 fps - 980 Ti

Valley Max details 1080P - 103.5 fps - 970 SLi
Valley Max details 1080P - 96.6 fps - 980 Ti

Mordor 1080P Max details - 133.7 fps - 970 SLi
Mordor 1080P Max details - 123.5 fps - 980 Ti

Mordor 4K Max details - 47.2 fps - 970 SLi
Mordor 4K Max details - 45.3 fps - 980 Ti

Batman Arkham Knight 1080P Max details - 59 fps - 970 SLi (no vsync)
Batman Arkham Knight 1080P Max details - 83 fps - 980 Ti (no vsync)

Heat and noise

Card goes maximum at 80 C with 80% fan speed. At 70% fan speed or higher the card is quite audible. The maximum temperature is only achieved in benchmarks. In game benchmarks the card hovers around 70-75C and usually fan speed throttles accordingly. Less than 70 C the fan remains below 70% and the card has normal sound of air movement. It is not silent for me since I run my monitor at 144 Hz hence, the card is always in 3D mode.

Overclocking

Overall, this is where my disappointment starts. The card is able to hit 1450 MHz for quite a bit but throttles to 1439 MHz most of the time. This is the maximum overclock I have achieved that is game stable. It is quite a pity that I did not hit the 1500 MHz target that I had.

Card defaults to 1140 MHz and boosts to about 1292 with no change in power limit. Increasing power limit to 109% (max allowable) gives a boost of about ~1340 which is quite decent.

Overclock settings that I used were:
+135 on the core
+200 on memory
+87 mv
+109 power limit
91 C temp target

With these settings the card was pegged to 1439/7400 for all benchmarks posted above.

I can't wait to see what the Classified will be capable of. With MSI gaming, I may flash the bios to review bios to achieve a higher overclock but for that to happen the card is starved for both power and voltage. A first for me since my previous cards had little to no impact of increasing power target or voltage in terms of overclocking.

Stay tuned for more. :).
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You could run those clocks on stock voltage.
 
misterbobby said:
:confused:
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I think he was replying to this, but forgot to quote it:

kasakka said:
Voxata, did you actually mount the Kraken G10 on top of the backplate? So that the normal MSI backplate is on and then the G10 backplate on top of that?

Got a G10 sitting next to me and waiting for MSI and Corsair H55 to arrive.
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I installed the NZXT Kraken G10 + x41 AIO cooler onto my MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G recently also and will second Voxata's comment above.
 
Yeah don't remove the msi back plate or ram/vrm sink. My pictured before show I peeled the foam off the G10 backplate. Just don't over tighten and of fits perfect. With a fan on it at 1450Mhz I was at 54C loads. The vrmsink plate temp also dropped significantly as it was untouchable before.
 
KickAssCop said:
What clocks are you getting. Which bios to use to get better results?
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I have not touched the BIOS but I can run 1452/7800 on stock voltage and that was the highest I tried. It starts out at 1465 at 1.99 then of course makes that first drop at 65 C down to 1452 and 1.174 and thats is where clocks stays if under full load in a game or bench that does not hit the power limit. I have seen a max boost speed of 1561 when cranking voltage and turning up the fan but of course in demanding games under full load that will throttle down to 1518 or so. Metro LL bench and Firestrike will make a few more quick throttles than that in parts of the bench.

I just run 1421/7200 for my everyday oc at stock voltage. So that manes it always starts out 1434 at 1.99 then goes to 1421 at 1.174 when exceeding 65 C and that is where the clocks and voltage stay as I never even get close to 80 C.
 
misterbobby said:
I have not touched the BIOS but I can run 1452/7800 on stock voltage and that was the highest I tried. It starts out at 1465 at 1.99 then of course makes that first drop at 65 C down to 1452 and 1.174 and thats is where clocks stays if under full load in a game or bench that does not hit the power limit. I have seen a max boost speed of 1561 when cranking voltage and turning up the fan but of course in demanding games under full load that will throttle down to 1518 or so. Metro LL bench and Firestrike will make a few more quick throttles than that in parts of the bench.

I just run 1421/7200 for my everyday oc at stock voltage. So that manes it always starts out 1434 at 1.99 then goes to 1421 at 1.174 when exceeding 65 C and that is where the clocks and voltage stay as I never even get close to 80 C.
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I see, I just flashed to the review bios. Possibly my card clocks like crap because of 63.1% ASIC lol.
Going to be testing how far I can push now that I have 120% power limit.
 
KickAssCop said:
I see, I just flashed to the review bios. Possibly my card clocks like crap because of 63.1% ASIC lol.
Going to be testing how far I can push now that I have 120% power limit.
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It is not going to make any difference with the 120% review BIOS as I already mentioned. The review BIOS with the 120% has a TDP of 250 watts. The retail BIOS with a 109% has a TDP of 275. That means either one ends up at 300 watts max.

The likely reason the retail cards did that was so out of the box the card will not throttle because the base TDP is higher. You accomplish nothing at all by flashing that review BIOS.
 
Is the 250 watts TDP confirmed?
Anyways, flashed to review bios. Card is now punching another 20+ MHz and I can run 1455+ MHz so not bad. Also now defaults to 1178 on the core and 120% power limit. My ASIC is so bad that nothing can be done about it.

A slightly improved firestrike extreme run. 8755

Some final thoughts on the bios flash for MSI gaming.
I noticed that fan is quite audible at even 60% with the review bios since the RPMs are higher. Not sure what that is about. With the retail bios my fan would become audible at 70% fan speed.
Also, there is virtually no difference in performance. The 20 or so MHz increase is something I can manage on the retail bios as well. Card boosting is also pretty similar (1305 retail vs. 1342 review).
I do agree that the 120% power limit offers nothing and is a futile exercise. I lost the lotto and hence, with my ASIC the card is best suited for a 1440/7400 overclock which is not bad but also not stellar either. Some guys are unable to hit even 1400 on their cards so at least I am not that guy lol.

The card is quite silent when playing games and stays cool (under 75 C) which is what I was looking for. The card offers that and it is good enough for me. :)
 
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KickAssCop said:
Is the 250 watts TDP confirmed?
Anyways, flashed to review bios. Card is now punching another 20+ MHz and I can run 1455+ MHz so not bad. Also now defaults to 1178 on the core and 120% power limit. My ASIC is so bad that nothing can be done about it.

A slightly improved firestrike extreme run. 8755
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It makes perfect sense as the reference 980 Ti TDP was 250 so they probably just let it have the higher power limit to get the card to reviewers and 250 is listed on their site still. I know the retail cards have 275 TDP as confirmed from someone who modded it. It makes perfect sense to have 120% on a 250 TDP and 109% on a 275 TDP as they both get you 300 watts. Cant you just look in that review card BIOS and find the TDP?
 
Yeah, that ASIC is sad potatoes. I thought these non-reference cards were supposed to be higher binned chips. You'd think they'd have generally higher ASIC ratings.
 
Darksword said:
Yeah, that ASIC is sad potatoes. I thought these non-reference cards were supposed to be higher binned chips. You'd think they'd have generally higher ASIC ratings.
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I have never had a real good ASIC card. My reference 980 Ti was only 59% and this MSI Gaming card is 73%.
 
misterbobby said:
I have never had a real good ASIC card. My reference 980 Ti was only 59% and this MSI Gaming card is 73%.
Click to expand...

Maybe that could be a new service in itself, AIB makers selling pre-screened cards guaranteed for over 80% ASIC or whatever. :D
 
Darksword said:
Yeah, that ASIC is sad potatoes. I thought these non-reference cards were supposed to be higher binned chips. You'd think they'd have generally higher ASIC ratings.
Click to expand...
They are not higher binned. They just come with a fancy cooler and stock overclocks. Chance of getting higher ASIC is as good as reference.

Anyways, I flashed back to retail bios due to better acoustics. I think 1440/7400 is my stable overclock. Pretty sure I can push memory to about 7800 or something but gains are virtually negligible so no point overheating my card.
Now waiting on my classified. If that is better than will order another classified and sell this MSI card.
 
My asus reference is 72.3% and only worked up to 1473mhz boost. Anything higher and it would artifact/crash.

My 2nd evga reference is 63.4% asic and i was horrified upon seeing it. But it overclocks better then the asus with 1493mhz boost (that was at stock voltage btw). So asic is not all that it seems.

http://i.imgur.com/RfB9pI8.jpg
 
At least for my card the voltage does nothing except increase temperatures by 2-3C.
 
My ASIC is 72.7%. :)

Anyway, I've been gaming this weekend to push the card to its limits. I've been getting a lot of crashing with COD:AW. DX errors and nvlddmkm crashing and recovering. I wanted to make sure it wasn't instability on part of the actual card, so I used MSI Kombustor to stress the card to max...and it didn't crash at all over the course of 9 hours. So I'm chalking it up to crappy COD:AW.

I fired up Crysis 3, put all settings to max @ 2560x1600, and gamed for 3 hours straight with no crashes. Card reaches 1300/3500 (or so) and 83C. No higher.
 
ajm786 said:
My ASIC is 72.7%. :)

Anyway, I've been gaming this weekend to push the card to its limits. I've been getting a lot of crashing with COD:AW. DX errors and nvlddmkm crashing and recovering. I wanted to make sure it wasn't instability on part of the actual card, so I used MSI Kombustor to stress the card to max...and it didn't crash at all over the course of 9 hours. So I'm chalking it up to crappy COD:AW.

I fired up Crysis 3, put all settings to max @ 2560x1600, and gamed for 3 hours straight with no crashes. Card reaches 1300/3500 (or so) and 83C. No higher.
Click to expand...

Make sure your NV control panel is set to "max power" and not "adaptive". Had the same issues with a few games and that solved it for me.
 
Darksword said:
Yeah, that ASIC is sad potatoes. I thought these non-reference cards were supposed to be higher binned chips. You'd think they'd have generally higher ASIC ratings.
Click to expand...

ASIC is a myth. No one has proved a connection to ASIC rating and overclocks. Heck this guy claims lower ASIC is better
http://www.overclock.net/t/1410428/asic-quality#post_23316247



NECROOOOOOOOO

this thread pops up pretty easily when googling GPU ASIC...

OP should consist of the proper information since teh second post is mostly wrong.

lower ASICs tend to = higher overclocks

higher ASICs tend to = more efficient circuit.

why they ever decided to define leakage with the word ASIC is beyond me.

great example, my 61% titan clocks way higher than any of the other three i've had, all with ~80% asic.
 
g1xx3r said:
Make sure your NV control panel is set to "max power" and not "adaptive". Had the same issues with a few games and that solved it for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the assist; that setting is literally the last one that I changed before I closed COD:AW in favor of Crysis 3. I did indeed set it to "Prefer maximum performance".

I will test again tomorrow to see if it indeed made any difference.
 
Interesting thing I found out guys - Whenever I adjust voltage, even a little.. my card will throttle in Witcher 3. i.e. My card does 1505 stock voltage stable at +164, however if I max voltage and lower the + to core to make the same 1505 my card throttles. Same goes for a low OC, like 1450Mhz. Temps are the same.. Witcher 3 is the only game that throttles like this, but, for now this is good info to know. I am not temp limited, VRM plate is at 60C and Core at 55C gaming at 1500Mhz much cooler than when I was on the stock heatsink. Anyways, OC on stock voltage and see what you get to avoid that throttling!
 
Voxata said:
Interesting thing I found out guys - Whenever I adjust voltage, even a little.. my card will throttle in Witcher 3. i.e. My card does 1505 stock voltage stable at +164, however if I max voltage and lower the + to core to make the same 1505 my card throttles. Same goes for a low OC, like 1450Mhz. Temps are the same.. Witcher 3 is the only game that throttles like this, but, for now this is good info to know. I am not temp limited, VRM plate is at 60C and Core at 55C gaming at 1500Mhz much cooler than when I was on the stock heatsink. Anyways, OC on stock voltage and see what you get to avoid that throttling!
Click to expand...


Witcher 3 also made my Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980 Ti throttle as well, it was really odd. Glad I sent that card back. Next up. Asus STRIX 980ti
 
Darksword said:
Yeah, that ASIC is sad potatoes. I thought these non-reference cards were supposed to be higher binned chips. You'd think they'd have generally higher ASIC ratings.
Click to expand...

You're mistaking ASIC for the binning method the manufacturer uses. In my experience ASIC has no relation to how well the card overclocks, had two 770s with wildly different ASICs (one was almost 90%) and they performed exactly the same in every way.

So when for example Gigabyte bins chips that go on their G1, they check that those chips can run at the stock OC mode (or whatever they call their extra OC setting) levels stable without problems. That's it, they don't care what ASIC quality is on those chips.
 
BlueSaber80 said:
Witcher 3 also made my Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980 Ti throttle as well, it was really odd. Glad I sent that card back. Next up. Asus STRIX 980ti
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I'm guessing it'll throttle all the same bro, in my experience just don't add voltage and clock on stock volts. After doing that, I've been rock solid.
 
Voxata said:
I'm guessing it'll throttle all the same bro, in my experience just don't add voltage and clock on stock volts. After doing that, I've been rock solid.
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Every high end air cooled card he buys is going to throttle in that case of his.
 
I admit I'm kinda late to the game, but Crysis 3 with DSR, SMAA 4x High, and all settings on highest?

GLORIOUS.

I didn't know how DSR works, but I was able to tweak it to my liking with Crysis 3. It's also why COD:AW was running a bit slow because like I said in a previous post, I went overboard with it. :D

Oh, and zero crashes with Crysis 3.
 
BlueSaber80 said:
Oh stop the bullshit about my case already Corsair boy, I will mod it if needs be.
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I bought an appropriate case for my needs. You on the other hand cant accept that your case is not made for high end air cooled setups. But hey keep pathologically defending your precious case like it is a member of the family. :rolleyes:
 
misterbobby said:
Like I give a shit about the actual name on my case. I bought an appropriate case for my needs. You on the other hand cant get through your thick skull that your case is not made for high end setups. But hey keep pathologically defending your precious case like it is a member of the family. :rolleyes:
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Many people with SLI setups in this case would be disagree. And no, I won't just let anyone dis my setup, especially not a Rubbermaid Corsair case owner.
 
misterbobby said:
Every high end air cooled card he buys is going to throttle in that case of his.
Click to expand...

My card isn't throttling due to temps, though the HAF XB is really not a good case for highend hardware - I'm seeing really good temps now w/the G10. I was still throttling, only in Witcher 3 when 1450+OC using voltage, yet 1500+stock voltage was fine... I was bringing up the interesting nature of this find.

Bluesaber, however, if you believe the HAF XB is a superior case for SLI setups with hot cards that are not liquid cooled.. you're just dumb. This case is terrible for air cooling, I've proven that w/my 970 and 980Ti temps, heck - when I moved my old R9 280X over to my Fractal Arc Mini 2 HTPC case the temps dropped on the card 8-10C. If I add the clear sidepanel instead of the fanned one on my XB Evo, my GPU temps on plate are 10C+ higher, and untouchable. I considered upgrading from this turd of a case but my temp issue is well and sorted out now. I suggest you invest in a G10 and buy an MSI card. Its basically your only option in the 980Ti realm for a HAF XB case if you want to overclock and not have a burning neutron star in your PC, aside from full loop anyways. Unless another manufacturer supports such an easy install w/o the need to add VRM/Ram cooling.
 
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Voxata said:
My card isn't throttling due to temps, though the HAF XB is really not a good case for highend hardware - I'm seeing really good temps now w/the G10. I was still throttling, only in Witcher 3 when 1450+OC using voltage, yet 1500+stock voltage was fine... I was bringing up the interesting nature of this find.

misterbobby, however, if you believe the HAF XB is a superior case for SLI setups with hot cards that are not liquid cooled.. you're just dumb. This case is terrible for air cooling, I've proven that w/my 970 and 980Ti temps, heck - when I moved my old R9 280X over to my Fractal Arc Mini 2 HTPC case the temps dropped on the card 8-10C. If I add the clear sidepanel instead of the fanned one on my XB Evo, my GPU temps on plate are 10C+ higher, and untouchable. I considered upgrading from this turd of a case but my temp issue is well and sorted out now. I suggest you invest in a G10 and buy an MSI card. Its basically your only option in the 980Ti realm for a HAF XB case if you want to overclock and not have a burning neutron star in your PC, aside from full loop anyways. Unless another manufacturer supports such an easy install w/o the need to add VRM/Ram cooling.
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You worded that as if I said his case was fine for SLI.
 
I'm done talking with you two, I ain't changing my case and I'm buying the Strix 980ti this week.
 
This is getting off topic, but why is the HAF XB so bad for air cooling? I don't have experience with it but the form factor is interesting. Looks like there should be adequate places for air to come in and go out.

I do wish case manufacturers stopped using those stamped honeycombs behind fan mounting points. I cut out two of them (140mm side panel earlier and now 120mm back panel in anticipation of mounting the Corsair H55 radiator there) from my Fractal Define R3 and got far less noise from each.
 
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