980 TI reference: Temps, noise and throttle?

[Gdourado]

Hello, how are you?

I am wondering about the reference cooler on the 980TI.

I saw some reviews, like on Guru3D, and the reference cooler is rated at 41 decibels under load.

That is about the same as the Gigabyte G1 and the MSI Twinfzor.

Of course the temps on the reference are higher, but even so, It brings me some questions:

 

- Those 41 decibels under load are with the fan at what speed? 50%?

- Is the blower cooler at those RPMS enought to keep the reference card from throttling? ANd keep the boost from coming down?

 

It is always said that the reference cooler is noisier than the open air coolers, but from reviews, it is either equal or sometimes even quieter.

What are your thoughts on this?

Anyone with reference 980 TI? How is the noise and overcolck headroom?

Is a custom fan profile needed for Overclock?

 

Cheers and thanks!

[ZetZet]

Reference cooler isn't much louder, but it won't reach the same clocks as non-reference cards because it thermal throttles.

Definitely buy non-reference if you want to keep the air cooler.

[ChatDaw]

Reference cooler isn't much louder, but it won't reach the same clocks as non-reference cards because it thermal throttles.

Definitely buy non-reference if you want to keep the air cooler.

Where did you see it thermal-throttle?

[blu4]

Hello, how are you?

I am wondering about the reference cooler on the 980TI.

I saw some reviews, like on Guru3D, and the reference cooler is rated at 41 decibels under load.

That is about the same as the Gigabyte G1 and the MSI Twinfzor.

Of course the temps on the reference are higher, but even so, It brings me some questions:

 

- Those 41 decibels under load are with the fan at what speed? 50%?

- Is the blower cooler at those RPMS enought to keep the reference card from throttling? ANd keep the boost from coming down?

 

It is always said that the reference cooler is noisier than the open air coolers, but from reviews, it is either equal or sometimes even quieter.

What are your thoughts on this?

Anyone with reference 980 TI? How is the noise and overcolck headroom?

Is a custom fan profile needed for Overclock?

 

Cheers and thanks!

I am able to push 1480Mhz easily on my reference. It goes up to 85C and the fans is pretty much at 60%. It is loud but if you have headphones it's just fine.

[ZetZet]

Where did you see it thermal-throttle?

it doesn't boost as high as non-reference 980ti's, therefore...

[GM_Peka]

Where did you see it thermal-throttle?

As soon as you touch temp target with GPU boost 2.0, you throttle, it's likely that will happen with a 980 ti reference.

[ChatDaw]

I know that. But you still turbo, it does get hot and doesn't turbo as high as non-reference cards, but still. It doesn't throttle to the point of going below base clock frequency.

To me thermal-throttling is where you're going below your default clock speed.

[Bion1985]

I've noticed around 70-75c boost clock throttles down and you lose a good chunk of boost speed. Isn't thermal throttling as stated above but it decreases benchmark scores good deal. I got a custom fan curve and it keeps me below 70c on load (usually 66-68c) and allows full boost potential. I have a +140 core clock on my 980ti SC ACX card and I get boost speeds of 1431

[Badger906]

mine starts to throttle at 86c. which with the default fan curve is running at 65% which is quite tolerable.

go above 65% and things get a but louder. I game with headphones on so I don't care.

I have a stable 1220mhz clock speed which turbos to 1530hz. at 75% fan speed it stays around 72c

[Praesi]

Avoid a Reference Card and get a Custom Design.

Reference is louder and way hotter.

Reference card will reduce boost because of heat.

My custom card hold 67° and boost max all the time.

[maizenblue]

I have a 980 ti reference on backorder( I know some are available now but I got it on sale at the time). Im a little apprehensive about the temps and noise myself. 86C temps at 60% fan speed? WOW.

 

Its my understanding that the boost clock speed suffers greatly once you start getting above 80C, and this is confirmed by benchmarks which show non reference 980 tis getting like an extra 10-15 FPS in games at 1440p despite having just a mild factory OC.

 

I think you just have to either accept that the reference is going to get less performance than a non reference and OCing is kind of a waste of time with it, or get a non reference.

 

What has me a little concerned is what effect continuous 86C temps are going to do to the performance and lifespan of the card over the long term. I think its kind of uncharted territory for Nvidia. Will it cause some PCB warping, performance degredation? Nvidia rushed the 980 ti out to beat the Fury X release, so I don't think even they really know.

[n0x1ous]

I have temp target @ 85c and overclock +250 on the core.  Boost to a stable 1414 in game with about 55% fan speed.  The noise is not too bad really.

[n0x1ous]

I have a 980 ti reference on backorder( I know some are available now but I got it on sale at the time). Im a little apprehensive about the temps and noise myself. 86C temps at 60% fan speed? WOW.

 

Its my understanding that the boost clock speed suffers greatly once you start getting above 80C, and this is confirmed my benchmarks which show non reference 980 tis getting like an extra 10-15 FPS in games at 1440p despite having just a mild factory OC.

 

I think you just have to either accept that the reference is going to get less performance than a non reference and OCing is kind of a waste of time with it, or get a non reference.

 

What has me a little concerned is what effect continuous 86C temps are going to do to the performance and lifespan of the card over the long term. I think its kind of uncharted territory for Nvidia. Will it cause some PCB warping, performance degredation?

Uncharted territory?  apparently you don't remember the GTX 480 which got into the 90s and they held up just fine.  Nvidia allows temp target up to 91C on the 980ti and you can be sure it will be fine up to whatever temp they are allowing you to get to.

[maizenblue]

Uncharted territory?  apparently you don't remember the GTX 480 which got into the 90s and they held up just fine.  Nvidia allows temp target up to 91C on the 980ti and you can be sure it will be fine up to whatever temp they are allowing you to get to.

Well that was also a different architecture, and its debatebale how fine it held up. There was a lot of griping over the 480 and its temps.

 

I know up until the Titan X/980 ti came out I always read that recent Nvidia cards were designed for 80C and below and that 85C was as high as you ever wanted to go. Now suddenly 85C is the norm?

 

Some people are saying their reference hits 88C at stock speeds depending on ambient temps.

[Arct1c0n]

To me thermal-throttling is where you're going below your default clock speed.

 

Uh...no, no that is not correct. 

[n0x1ous]

Well that was also a different architecture, and its debatebale how fine it held up. There was a lot of griping over the 480 and its temps.

 

I know up until the Titan X/980 ti came out I always read that recent Nvidia cards were designed for 80C and below and that 85C was as high as you ever wanted to go. Now suddenly 85C is the norm?

 

Some people are saying their reference hits 88C at stock speeds depending on ambient temps.

debatable?  do you have some proof that there were issues?  I had reference 480 sli and it was/is a furnace and they still work today.  There are no mass reports of Big Fermi chips failing.  Just because people didn't like the high temps doesnt mean the cards couldn't handle it which they obviously did just fine.

 

what you read about 80C was the default temp target nvidia sets in the driver.  That was on most of the big Kepler chips with the exception of 780ti which defaulted to 83C.  NVIDIA INCLUDES the ability to adjust that up to a certain point based on user preference for noise and heat tolerance.

 

Nvidia's safe limit for 980ti is 91C which is why they allow it to reach 91C via the temp slider.  

 

There is absolutely no concern of hurting or damaging an nvidia reference card on the stock bios.  

[Bion1985]

Yea I just noticed on mins although it's non reference version that my boost starts to suffer at around 70c. Once you hit that window between 70-75c turbo suffers a 15-30 core clock loss.