gtx 980 ti with highest overclocking potential

[katiekitsune]

silicon lottery not being a factor just going by average headroom and oc results. k|ngp|in and HOF arent in the running as they are extreme cards for extreme overclocking. what im currently looking at as a pool are:

• zotac amp extreme  (until they have a full cover WB for it)
• gigabyte g1 gaming
• asus strix oc
• msi lightning
• msi gaming 6g
• evga classified 
• gigabyte xtreme gaming (waterforce?)

these are just the ones i know of that are within my preferred price range. any other suggestions (minus THOSE two) are appreciated. will be overclocking may water cool in future. 

 

EDIT: took some cards off the list due to not meeting a similar level of power phases (zotac numbers unknown) added gigabyte xtreme gaming due to extra overclocking options for extreme watercooling (at a way better price than a k|ngp|n) title edited to make more sense

[AresKrieger]

MSI lightning seems to be a champ, but it's pricy (which makes it not worth it imo), I'm surprised it's in your budget, or did the price come down from 700+

[You_are_a_cunt]

AFAIK EVGA doesn't break warranty if you decide to swap to a water block. MSI and ASUS might be the same. Unsure about Gigabyte or Zotac. This might be worth taking into consideration

[iiNNeX]

My EVGA Hybrid 980ti's both overclock at 1520-1530 respectively (out of SLI) while staying below 50C, and they are reference PCBs! That's faster than some of the custom cards out there, which make a crap ton more noise, produce more heat and are chunkier in the case (MSI Lightning, Gigabyte G1, ect...).

 

I wouldn't pay premium for these cards mate, just get yourself a nice bargain card that has proven record of decent overclocks. The MSI cards are usually good value for money (excl the lightning). My friend has a Lightning and he can only manage 1545, that's like 15 more than my reference PCB card haha, it's just a joke.

[The Official Czex]

My STRIX is probably a Silicon Lottery winner at 1.68GHz... But it's still pretty decent.

[Hackentosher]

Well it depends on the ASIC quality, but I would go with the card with the best temperatures out of the box. So, lightning, g1 gaming, and the amp

[Najuno]

When it comes to Maxwell cards there´s more than just ASIC quality to it. And even ASIC isn´t ASIC for the individual OC. I would buy a nice aftermarket design from EVGA (best customer servic an terms of warranty) and call it a day. The only thing that all manufacturer HAVE to guarantee are the specifications written on the box. Above that it is either good or bad luck how far your chip can OC. And even if your chip is a bad OCer for air, it might be qualified for H20 or LN2.

Usually the GM200 OCs pretty good but these overclocks will not make it or break it. Someones card goes up to 1550MHz then cool the diffrence in games to a 1450MHz card are at best 3-5 FPS max. This only gets interesting if you plan to get into 3D benchmarking, then yes every MHz counts. But if you´d plan to get into OCing better get at least a custom loop together otherwise you won´t break any records.

The problem with high OCs lies in the scaling of the MHz to performance in the chip. That´s why you see a significant jump from stock to a good OC, but the ai gets thinner and thinner the higher you boost the card.

If you want a card that´s out of the box a promising one... EVGA Classified.

[katiekitsune]

ok ill elaborate on my future plans a little more to make this easier. i want a card that can get to 1480-1520hmz core and at least 8000mhz memory clocks without cranking the voltage to the max on air cooling. i will later add a water cooling loop (5X140mm) and want to push it further. which of those cards is going to give me this?

[katiekitsune]

please let me know if any of the options dont have a full cover waterblock avaliable since i will be doing more voltage increases when watercooling

[swimsphinx]

please let me know if any of the options dont have a full cover waterblock avaliable since i will be doing more voltage increases when watercooling

 

You took it off now but the g1 gaming does have a water block, im sure the classy does too. im not for certain about the Zotac AMP Extreme. 

 

But for the price I would definitely go with the 980ti Xtreme gaming by gigabyte (not the AIO one) its a 12+2 power phase design with 8+8(+6 optional) power connectors and an LN2 bios for $689.99(USD) all of those are great specs for its price but im not certain that it has a waterblock available at the moment or whether it will (it seems likely that it will though considering the other specs it carries)

[katiekitsune]

 

 

But for the price I would definitely go with the 980ti Xtreme gaming by gigabyte (not the AIO one) its a 12+2 power phase design with 8+8(+6 optional) power connectors and an LN2 bios for $689.99(USD) all of those are great specs for its price but im not certain that it has a waterblock available at the moment or whether it will (it seems likely that it will though considering the other specs it carries)

the fact that there isnt a waterblock for it yet is annoying since its an overclockers dream. when you compare the power phases the classy has it beat with a 14+3 phase setup. question is will the extra 6 pin power connector be more useful in real world workloads than the extra power phases of the classy?

[katiekitsune]

ive added a poll so people can vote on which would be the best option. just remember im not out out to break records i just want to get the most out of my card for gaming.

[Praesi]

My STRIX is probably a Silicon Lottery winner at 1.68GHz... But it's still pretty decent.

Your GPU run with over 1600mhz?

[Praesi]

ok ill elaborate on my future plans a little more to make this easier. i want a card that can get to 1480-1520hmz core and at least 8000mhz memory clocks without cranking the voltage to the max on air cooling. i will later add a water cooling loop (5X140mm) and want to push it further. which of those cards is going to give me this?

Stable OC on my Card is 1550mhz maximum 1mhz more and it crash´s. I run it on base clock 1418mhz though. ~1580mhz is about the maximum you can expect from Aircooled Cards. No matter what Brand you buy. If you want more, there is no way around LN2, which is pointless for Gamingrigs.

[White Rabbit]

the fact that there isnt a waterblock for it yet is annoying since its an overclockers dream. when you compare the power phases the classy has it beat with a 14+3 phase setup. question is will the extra 6 pin power connector be more useful in real world workloads than the extra power phases of the classy?

I own a Gigabyte 980 Ti Xtreme and also read a bunch of reviews, and it is not yet clear whether the third 6-pin PCIe connector makes for more stable power delivery. In fact, I am planning on being the first to test it (review sites were useless for this). What is clear is that the card simply cannot be made to draw enough power to require a third PCIe connector, because the standard BIOS caps voltage at 1.237V.

 

I currently do not have access to a 6-pin PCIe connector, but that will change within a couple of weeks. If I do add it, I'd have to flash the LN2 BIOS because I'd rather not use it on air (1.274V, lol).

[White Rabbit]

My STRIX is probably a Silicon Lottery winner at 1.68GHz... But it's still pretty decent.

Firestrike benchmark result please?

[Praesi]

Firestrike benchmark result please?

He must be mistaken. No way he pushed his Card there.

[jjohnthedon1]

ok ill elaborate on my future plans a little more to make this easier. i want a card that can get to 1480-1520hmz core and at least 8000mhz memory clocks without cranking the voltage to the max on air cooling. i will later add a water cooling loop (5X140mm) and want to push it further. which of those cards is going to give me this?

Both of mine hit 1500 and 8 ghz

In sli they top out at 74 degrees

Msi gaming 6

[katiekitsune]

im still not seeing an answer on if 14+3 power phases with 8+8 pin will be more useful than 12+2 power phases with a 8+8+6 pin power input for squeezing the most out of a card for gaming on air and water cooling. no record breaking and ln2.

[Metro]

MSI lightning seems to be a champ, but it's pricy (which makes it not worth it imo), I'm surprised it's in your budget, or did the price come down from 700+

 

I get 82c (92 percent fan) and 64c (62 percent fan) during SLI gaming without a overclock. The fan is quiet though

[swimsphinx]

im still not seeing an answer on if 14+3 power phases with 8+8 pin will be more useful than 12+2 power phases with a 8+8+6 pin power input for squeezing the most out of a card for gaming on air and water cooling. no record breaking and ln2.

 

the difference between the two will be minimal they both pretty much equal eachother out. In the end while I favor Gigabyte more just because I like their cards and have nice LEDs (even on the fans), and in my opinion the ACX 2.0 cooler looks like garabage (not a problem if watercooling).

 

I would recommend EVGA as they have amazing customer support and warranty options compared to gigabyte. I would say that both cards are essentially equivalent in terms of performance when you disregard the silicon lottery. therefore pick which ever one looks coolest, you just personally like, comes with the best warranty and support, or costs less in your region.

[katiekitsune]

the difference between the two will be minimal they both pretty much equal eachother out. In the end while I favor Gigabyte more just because I like their cards and have nice LEDs (even on the fans), and in my opinion the ACX 2.0 cooler looks like garabage (not a problem if watercooling).

 

I would recommend EVGA as they have amazing customer support and warranty options compared to gigabyte. I would say that both cards are essentially equivalent in terms of performance when you disregard the silicon lottery. therefore pick which ever one looks coolest, you just personally like, comes with the best warranty and support, or costs less in your region.

thank you for giving me an answer on that. though i actually like the look of the acx 2.0+ its more classy (heh) looking than a windforce and i wont get to see the leds on the card anyways since im using a non windowed case. so im probably going to go with the classified as i can get a compatible full cover block right now which is the one thing neither the xtreme gaming or my current card can.