MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6 GB

[W1zzard]

Today, we are reviewing MSI's highly anticipated GTX 980 Ti Gaming, which comes with a new TwinFrozr dual-fan cooler. In idle, the fans will completely turn off for the perfect noise-free experience. The card is also highly overclocked for the highest performance of any GTX 980 Ti we tested so far.

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[rooivalk]

MSI sent us a card with 1216 MHz base clock, a value that was never seen in the wild. Retail cards came with 1190 MHz instead

Sounds like Ferrari shenanigan, although to a far lesser extent. They both famous in red too

 

[the54thvoid]

Strange that BIOS speed hike. You'd think it'd only deliver micro fractions of perf increase. Nonetheless, I disapprove.

On another note, Perhaps they (MSI) are focussing their efforts on the 980ti Lightning. It's well known (in rumourland) that they didn't even bother with a 980 Lightning because they knew their would be a 980 ti. I've already marked my interest in EVGA Europe for a Classified. Might even contact KFA2 for their monster HOF LN2 with their TDP limit disabling switch......

 

[Joss]

The noise level doesn't make sense, those are 100mm fans aren't they?

 

[Fluffmeister]

Thanks for the review, fighting the urge already... but I think this will be my next card!

 

[chinmi]

Excellent card. Its beat the fury in everything !!! For an almost similiar price with the fury, this card is :
Its cooler
It consume less watt
It produce less noise
Its faster
It has better driver support
Its green !!!

Seriously, I still wonder why on earth people still buy a shitty fury.
Amd need to step up their game. Cut fury price by 50% and it will be a good contender for the 980ti !!

 

[Darksword]

MSI is not playing fair. They are sending review cards that are tweaked higher than retail cards.

They did this with the sample they send to Guru3D as well. Guru's sample MSI 980Ti allowed a 120% Power Limit, whereas retail cards are only set to 109% Power Limit.

Someone needs to call MSI out on this. They shouldn't be sending review cards with specs that aren't available to retail customers. They're obviously doing this deliberately to score higher in review comparisons.

Not cool, MSI. Not cool.

 

[the54thvoid]

MSI is not playing fair. They are sending review cards that are tweaked higher than retail cards.

They did this with the sample they send to Guru3D as well. Guru's sample MSI 980Ti allowed a 120% Power Limit, whereas retail cards are only set to 109% Power Limit.

Someone needs to call MSI out on this. They shouldn't be sending review cards with specs that aren't available to retail customers. They're obviously doing this deliberately to score higher in review comparisons.

Not cool, MSI. Not cool.

i'

AMD fanboy ... look at market https://www.dropbox.com/s/b4phchp5o89f830/Untitled.jpg?dl=0

@Darksword is quite correct and there's nothing Fanboyish about his statement. MSI is playing low if they are allowing reviewers a higher TDP, although W1zzard suggests his is not TDP 'boosted' going on Furmark scores. I'd be well pissed off if i bought a MSI gaming card based on a review that said 120% power limit, only to find out it wasn't. That 120% gives a fair bit of OC headroom.

 

[Dimi]

The card can operate in 3 modes, your card was obviously in OC Mode.

RETAIL SAMPLE SPECS:

Core klok Silent Mode: 1000 MHz, Gaming Mode: 1140 MHz, OC Mode: 1178 MHz
Boost klok Silent Mode: 1076 MHz, Gaming Mode: 1228 MHz, OC Mode: 1279 MHz

Please remove what you said about retail specced cards only coming at 1140 Mhz. That statement is false.

 

[human_error]

Had this card for a week now and I have to say it's fantastic. First Nvidia card for me since the Geforce mx440 I had many years ago and am very happy with it.

 

[$ReaPeR$]

Excellent card. Its beat the fury in everything !!! For an almost similiar price with the fury, this card is :
Its cooler
It consume less watt
It produce less noise
Its faster
It has better driver support
Its green !!!

Seriously, I still wonder why on earth people still buy a shitty fury.
Amd need to step up their game. Cut fury price by 50% and it will be a good contender for the 980ti !!

seriously, your post couldn't be more fanboyish even if you had typed it with green letters.. ffs dude..

 

[zzzaac]

Wish OEM's stop with the "Modes". Just put it at one OC

 

[toyota]

I have this card and it ticks me off about the 109% limit as its easy to hit that in benchmarks and games with an OC that is no where near the max this card can do.

so did this review card show the 120% power limit like in the guru3d review or is 109% like the retail cards?

if so then I guess the BIOS in the database here could be useful.

 

[commando55555]

Excellent card. Its beat the fury in everything !!! For an almost similiar price with the fury, this card is :
Its cooler
It consume less watt
It produce less noise
Its faster
It has better driver support
Its green !!!

so speaking the truth makes him a fan boy so what part of this isn't true.

 

[toyota]

so speaking the truth makes him a fan boy so what part of this isn't true.

it wasn't all true though. the Fury X is cooler, quieter and uses about the same power under average gaming load in the review here.

he is clearly just an Nvidia fanboy and would have never even considered the Fury X.

 

[commando55555]

cooler may be quieter, don't think so pump noise coil wine and no silent mode.

 

[toyota]

cooler may be quieter, don't think so pump noise coil wine and no silent mode.

well the pump noise was defect that has been fixed in newer cards. of course that means sending it back for another which is a pain in the ass though.

 

[commando55555]

the EVGA 980Ti Hybrid not only beats Fury in every category, but it also runs cooler.

 

[Fluffmeister]

The card can operate in 3 modes, your card was obviously in OC Mode.

RETAIL SAMPLE SPECS:

Core klok Silent Mode: 1000 MHz, Gaming Mode: 1140 MHz, OC Mode: 1178 MHz
Boost klok Silent Mode: 1076 MHz, Gaming Mode: 1228 MHz, OC Mode: 1279 MHz

Please remove what you said about retail specced cards only coming at 1140 Mhz. That statement is false.

Indeed, regardless I've found both my 670 and 970 both boost well past their specified boost clocks, even at lower base clocks.

 

[toyota]

Indeed, regardless I've found both my 670 and 970 both boost well past their specified boost clocks, even at lower base clocks.

um every Kepler/Maxwell card boosts past their advertised boost speed.

what Dimi said was stupid as the point was the retail cards come with the 1140/1228 clocks as default not the 1178/1279 clocks reviewers are getting.

 

[toyota]

the EVGA 980Ti Hybrid not only beats Fury in every category, but it also runs cooler.

well it better as it costs 100 bucks more.

 

[Fluffmeister]

um every Kepler/Maxwell card boosts past their advertised boost speed.

what Dimi said was stupid as the point was the retail cards come with the 1140/1228 clocks as default not the 1178/1279 clocks reviewers are getting.

And my point is it's also pretty irrelevant when they will boost higher anyway.

 

[toyota]

And my point is it's also pretty irrelevant when they will boost higher anyway.

sigh, it is not irrelevant since BOTH cards will boost higher than their respective boost clocks. the card reviewed here is boosting about 50 mhz higher than the retail cards will boost at. can you not comprehend that? jeez no wonder companies can get away with stuff when they have customers like you.

 

[Fluffmeister]

sigh, it is not irrelevant since BOTH cards will boost higher than their respective boost clocks. the card reviewed here is boosting about 50 mhz higher than the retail cards will boost at. can you not comprehend that? jeez no wonder companies can get away with stuff when they have customers like you.

How do you know? Are you mad it's boosting higher than yours?

 

[W1zzard]

sigh, it is not irrelevant since BOTH cards will boost higher than their respective boost clocks. the card reviewed here is boosting about 50 mhz higher than the retail cards will boost at.

that is correct

The card can operate in 3 modes, your card was obviously in OC Mode.

Please remove what you said about retail specced cards only coming at 1140 Mhz. That statement is false.

what i'm complaining about is that my card has a different bios, which causes a different mode to be default than retail cards. you can not permanently switch modes, you need to install and run their software at every reboot to do that.