980 ti Overclocking; Which card should I choose?

[Polak Homie]

PLEASE HELP

 

I'm gonna use an NZXT g10 gpu bracket to attach an NZXT Kraken x31 AIO cooler to my 980 ti, and I'm looking for the most amount of overclocking performance.  

 

Should I just go with the reference card from EVGA since i'm attaching the g10 and water cooler and overclocking it myself?  Or is there some benefit to choosing a better 980ti this kind of setup? I was thinking the EVGA 980 ti ACX 2.0+, since it's the same price as the reference.  The superclocked ACX wouldn't matter, nor would any sort of factory overclocked card, since I will be doing it myself in combination with my water cooler, would it?  This is going to be my first card I overclock.  I know I may not need to overclock with the balls a 980ti has, and because I'm a noob I should just go with an air cooled and factory overclocked but IM SET on using my g10 bracket and AIO cooler.  So, please give me knowledge, and I will give you respect and my gratitude. 

 

Mikey G

"Polak Homie"

[Lethal Seraph]

Just choose one closest to the reference pricing.

[ICantThinkOfAnyGoodName]

Pretty much any will be fine, but look at custom pcbs like the Gigabyte G1 or the EVGA Classified if you want the most overclocking. There's also the EVGA hybrid which comes with an AIO water cooler preinstalled.

[o0Martin]

I've never watercooled a graphics card with a g10 so not sure if it works perfectly with custom pcb's or not? 

 

But if it does then I would suggest getting a MSI Twin Frozr, just because it's the same price as reference pretty much (In the UK at least) and it also had x2 8pin for more voltage delivery so potentially better overclocks. 

[blu4]

Typowy Janusz..

 

Anyway, depends on what you want and what your budget it. Aftermarket cards have a custom PCB and better VRM and power delivery for better and stable overclocks.

[ablangc]

I found this as interesting read for the Maxwell GPU's

 

Straight from KINGPIN himself:

 

"Honestly speaking, I think most end users don't even realize how maxwell gpus are voltage capped at ambient type cooling. I can tell by many of the comments at OC.net, elsewhere, and also here in these card XOC bios threads. Especially compared to kepler. KP 780ti scaled great on voltage with air/water temps. Basically, more voltage = more clocks no matter what temperature.
With 980 and later gpus including titanX, the scaling on air/water has all but almost gone. I would say about 95% of all maxwell 980,titan-X, and 980ti gpus NO MATTER what vga brand pcb it is on, DO NOT SCALE with more voltage than 1.25v-1.275v at temps warmer than 25c or so. There is no magical bios that can effectively remove this.

This is exactly why almost every moderate-good asic titanX, 980, and yes 980ti clock around 1550mhz MAX AVERAGE at say 45-60C loading temps.
If you put 0c and colder on the card, you will see MUCH different behavior than what you see on air (green garbage all over screen when raising volts over 1.23-1.25vv or so)
Cards with very good ASIC value (75% and up) will tend to have the most "overclocking", but just like about every other maxwell gpu, they cannot overvolt past 1.23v-1.25v.
So highest asic cards like 80% +are almost always going to be the ones that can 1600+ on air/water, and again they do it pretty much WITHOUT overvolting over 1.23v-1.25v. Maxwell gpus with lower asic value like 65% will not be so great at air/water because these low asic gpus need voltage to scale compared to match the overclock of the high asic gpus( USING SAME USABLE VOLTAGE 1.23-1.25v)

 
Source:

http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3659&page=6

[OAcesync]

If the bracket is compatible with certain custom PCBs then get that but if not then get a reference design card,

[GrimNeo]

PLEASE HELP

 

I'm gonna use an NZXT g10 gpu bracket to attach an NZXT Kraken x31 AIO cooler to my 980 ti, and I'm looking for the most amount of overclocking performance.  

 

Should I just go with the reference card from EVGA since i'm attaching the g10 and water cooler and overclocking it myself?  Or is there some benefit to choosing a better 980ti this kind of setup? I was thinking the EVGA 980 ti ACX 2.0+, since it's the same price as the reference.  The superclocked ACX wouldn't matter, nor would any sort of factory overclocked card, since I will be doing it myself in combination with my water cooler, would it?  This is going to be my first card I overclock.  I know I may not need to overclock with the balls a 980ti has, and because I'm a noob I should just go with an air cooled and factory overclocked but IM SET on using my g10 bracket and AIO cooler.  So, please give me knowledge, and I will give you respect and my gratitude. 

 

Mikey G

"Polak Homie"

I went with a reference card but I'm getting the EVGA Hybrid Cooler to get better temps.

[LucidMew]

I found this as interesting read for the Maxwell GPU's

 

Straight from KINGPIN himself:

 

-snip-

 

Source:

http://kingpincooling.com....php/?t=3659&page=6

the source isn't working for me. it's taking me to the LTT forum, not to kingpincooling one. I think it's because of the 

/?t=3659&page=6

at the end. 

[Polak Homie]

I found this as interesting read for the Maxwell GPU's

 

Straight from KINGPIN himself:

 

"Honestly speaking, I think most end users don't even realize how maxwell gpus are voltage capped at ambient type cooling. I can tell by many of the comments at OC.net, elsewhere, and also here in these card XOC bios threads. Especially compared to kepler. KP 780ti scaled great on voltage with air/water temps. Basically, more voltage = more clocks no matter what temperature.

With 980 and later gpus including titanX, the scaling on air/water has all but almost gone. I would say about 95% of all maxwell 980,titan-X, and 980ti gpus NO MATTER what vga brand pcb it is on, DO NOT SCALE with more voltage than 1.25v-1.275v at temps warmer than 25c or so. There is no magical bios that can effectively remove this.

This is exactly why almost every moderate-good asic titanX, 980, and yes 980ti clock around 1550mhz MAX AVERAGE at say 45-60C loading temps.

If you put 0c and colder on the card, you will see MUCH different behavior than what you see on air (green garbage all over screen when raising volts over 1.23-1.25vv or so)

Cards with very good ASIC value (75% and up) will tend to have the most "overclocking", but just like about every other maxwell gpu, they cannot overvolt past 1.23v-1.25v.

So highest asic cards like 80% +are almost always going to be the ones that can 1600+ on air/water, and again they do it pretty much WITHOUT overvolting over 1.23v-1.25v. Maxwell gpus with lower asic value like 65% will not be so great at air/water because these low asic gpus need voltage to scale compared to match the overclock of the high asic gpus( USING SAME USABLE VOLTAGE 1.23-1.25v)

 

Source:

http://kingpincooling.com....php/?t=3659&page=6

 

Knowledge.  Very nice. So I shouldn't take my 980 ti any higher than 1550mhz? i mean, damn thats pretty good.  Is this a safe cap? 

[ablangc]

Knowledge.  Very nice. So I shouldn't take my 980 ti any higher than 1550mhz? i mean, damn thats pretty good.  Is this a safe cap? 

 

You can try as there is no harm in trying.  You may be lucky and might be able to push it but I am just happy that I can reach 1501MHz on my GPU's.  Sadly, I was only able to achieve this by flashing the BIOS.  ASIC Score for my cards 75.4 and 74.9

[Polak Homie]

Pretty much any will be fine, but look at custom pcbs like the Gigabyte G1 or the EVGA Classified if you want the most overclocking. There's also the EVGA hybrid which comes with an AIO water cooler preinstalled.

 

I like the Classified the most... but again, when I mount my AIO that I have, will i lose all the extra benefits of this card?

[ablangc]

the source isn't working for me. it's taking me to the LTT forum, not to kingpincooling one. I think it's because of the 

/?t=3659&page=6

at the end. 

 

Try this:

http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3659&page=6

[LucidMew]

Try this:

http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3659&page=6

That works. Thanks

[rockmassif]

Custom PCB and all that power phase jazz is good to have but it all comes down to silicon lottery in the end.

 

I got a reference EVGA and it overclocks to 1520~ MHz on Air(you can see mine in valley benchmark thread). I'm not even using a modded Bios yet, I'm thinking about watercooling this bad boy too, pretty sure I can go higher clock speeds with watercooling. If I were you I would just get a reference 980Ti.

[ablangc]

 Is this a safe cap? 

 

Forgot to answer this question.  Safe?  Yes, just as long as you can keep the card cool.  Last night I was not paying attention to my cards and it hit 91c.  I have never reached that before and I had to make another custom fan curve and modify my settings just a tad bit.  So now, I have it set to 80% fan speed at 80c.  Loud......sort of but it is easily drowned out by my loud speaker setup.  I was playing BF4 when I hit these temps.  Also ensured VSYNC was enabled.  2560x1080 and 200% scaling though.  LOL

[Dabasepc]

EVGA 980TI Classified