What exactly is a "reference" card?

[AdmiralWen]

Excuse the nooby question, but I'm asking something specific.

 

I know that "reference" means that the card follows Nvidia's design specifications, and partner manufacturers can customize cards for better performance. So cards with custom coolers are definately non-reference. However, what about a card like the EVGA Superclocked? It's out-of-the box overclocked, but it has the same "reference-looking" cooler.

 

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GTX980-Superclocked-Graphics-04G-P4-2982-KR/dp/B00NI5DA2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411303145&sr=8-1&keywords=GTX+980

 

Basically, I wish to attach a Corsair HG10 bracket to my future 980, and the bracket is only able to support reference cards. Can I use an EVGA Superclocked?

[DigitalHermit]

Reference means that the card is using the PCB designs from nVidia or AMD... It may or may not have the reference cooler... What's nice about reference cards is that it's easier to find waterblocks for them...

[Freaky_spider]

reference means that its the card that nvidia themself developed

 

so that means their cooler and their VRM 

 

you can have a non- reference cooler, an ACX cooler for example and you can have  non- reference VRM ,lightning cards from MSI for example

 

Clockspeed, maker of VRAM, maker of card etc have no impact on the fact that your GPU is reference or not

[Extingquish]

A reference cooler is one Nvidia/AMD designed themselves, yes it is a reference card, so you will be able to use that cooler

[RamboOC]

Reference gpu's include a reference pcb that is used by nvidia and a reference cooler that is also used by nvidia

 

Vendors then costumise the graphics cards and the only thing that has to stay the same is the actual gpu, everything else like the pcb, vram and the cooler can be customised by the vendor. These gpu's are called non reference and usually feature a better power delivery and a better cooler

[Guest]

A card that is designed and built directly from the GPU company - Nvidia and AMD make refernce cards.

 

All other cards are designed and built by 3rd party manufacturers- MSI, Gigabyte, Zotac, Asus, etc.

 

Essentially, a reference card comes straight from the graphics card makers, a non-reference card comes from a company who 'borrows' the design, and makes a version of it with exclusive features- better cooling, a slicker design, a custom PCB, and so on.

[ImBleu]

Reference design, as stated above, is the reference graphic card cooler, the one nVidia or AMD make such as:

 

 

And the non-reference is up to the OEM Partners, such as Zotac, Inno3D, EVGA, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Galax etc's coolers.

[Firearm2112]

we got a search bar for a reason

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/218876-whats-the-special-thing-about-reference-cards/page-2

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/218383-whats-a-reference-card-where-to-buy-them-does-nvideaamd-manifature-cards-itself/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/218876-whats-the-special-thing-about-reference-cards/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/30432-what-is-truly-a-reference-card/

[TheMcSame]

A proper reference card is a card that is exactly like Nvidia designed it.

 

Nvidia's PCB

Nvidia's cooler

Stock clock speeds

 

An overclocked reference card.. or in this case "superclocked" , is a card with:

Nvidia's PCB

Nvidia's cooler

Higher clock speeds than the 100% reference design

 

Just a little extra rambling here

What I call a sub reference card (some people say aftermarket but I don't consider these truly aftermarket) is a card with:

Nvidia's PCB

Aftermarket cooler

Stock or higher clock speeds

 

What I call a truly aftermarket card is a cade with:

Aftermarket PCB

Aftermarket Cooler

stock or higher clock speeds

 

Honestly, it depends what you as a person see as reference. Some people will say it's a reference card that's been overclocked while other may say it's not a true reference card.

 

That kinda swayed from what you wanted to hear... hmmm.

 

TL;DR

Yes, this card uses a reference PCB.