Is the MSI GTX 980 Ti Sea Hawk worth it?

Eldridge Friend · February 18, 2016

Hey guys, I was just wondering if the MSI GTX 980 Ti Sea Hawk is worth it? It's an AIO Liquid Cooled Card so that means that even though you overclock it, it will still run at a pretty low temperature compared to Air cooled Graphics Cards but in terms of speed and perfomance or let's just say, in terms of overall factors, feautures and performance, is it worth buying? And can it somehow go toe to toe with the best GTX 980 Ti's out there such as the ZOTAC AMP! Extreme, ASUS STRIX GTX 980 Ti (OC), etc. when the Sea Hawk is overclocked?

Lays · February 18, 2016

It's actually on sale right now on Corsair's website for $699, it is a pretty good deal, but I'm not a big fan of these AIO cards. There are very good air cooled cards that will perform just as good at slightly higher temperatures, but can be just as quiet. Then you don't ever have to worry about mounting that radiator somewhere, or wondering if the pump will ever fail etc.

Eldridge Friend · February 18, 2016

1 minute ago, Lays said:

It's actually on sale right now on Corsair's website for $699, it is a pretty good deal, but I'm not a big fan of these AIO cards. There are very good air cooled cards that will perform just as good at slightly higher temperatures, but can be just as quiet. Then you don't ever have to worry about mounting that radiator somewhere, or wondering if the pump will ever fail etc.

Is the ZOTAC GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme better than this? I heard that if you overclock the Sea Hawk, let's say about 1400-1500 Mhz, it can somehow match or even be better than the ZOTAC AMP! Extreme.

Lays · February 18, 2016

1 minute ago, Eldridge Friend said:

Is the ZOTAC GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme better than this? I heard that if you overclock the Sea Hawk, let's say about 1400-1500 Mhz, it can somehow match or even be better than the ZOTAC AMP! Extreme.

It's all down to luck, you can get an AMP! Extreme card that doesn't overclock for crap, but you can also get a Sea Hawk that doesn't either. Keep in mind the AMP Extreme card isn't the best either. There's lots of other options for slightly more money that give you a lot more options, as well as better & quieter cooling. Like the 980 TI Matrix for instance. (Not just plugging it because I have it, the reviews on it are fantastic as well)

Obviously a card with a better cooling solution + higher out of the box clocks does have a better chance at clocking well, but it's still somewhat down to luck.