Which GTX 980 to buy?

Jetster · Sep 9, 2015

I'm just curious which one you would pick and why?

Wizard has reviewed both (thanks Wizard) and they're pretty close. I'm leaning towards the MSI but open for suggestions. The reason is the reviews are flawless.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_980_Gaming/

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_980_G1_Gaming/

Sure if you want to suggest something else that's fine

Luka KLLP · Sep 9, 2015

I'm loving my EVGA SC ACX 2.0, but out of those two I'd get the MSI. If you're not gonna put them under water or something I'd just go for the one with the best/quietest cooler.

Outback Bronze · Sep 9, 2015

Hi buddy,

Going by those reviews id be leaning towards the MSI because of the large difference in price. Don't know what current prices are tho...
I currently own a EVGA SC ACX 2.0 also, but only because it was one of the cheapest that was a reference board that my current water block fitted.
I think the EVGA I own also has one of the highest OC out of the box, so its not too bad a choice. I cannot comment on its stock cooler tho as mines under water.
I really don't think you'll go wrong with either one so I'm thinking just go the cheaper one that is available.
Good luck.

Jetster · Sep 9, 2015

They are both within a couple of dollars so really no difference. My EVGA 780 is a good card but I ordered a EVGA 980 FTW and it had artifacts so I sent it back. Going to try another brand I think

WhiteNoise · Sep 9, 2015

I had two MSI GTX 970 cards that had overheating issues. I ended up buying a Zotac GTX 980 and it's been running great since release. I also bought a XFX GTX970 which had overheating issues as well.

In the past few years I have bought three MSI cards (6970/GTX970/GTX970) and all of them had issues. The 6970 actually died on me after less than a year..

So I will stay away from MSI going forward.

Brands I have used in the last 4 years and love: evga, BFG (are they still atround?), Zotac, Sapphire, Asus, XFX, Gigabyte, and PNY.

I actually still run a BFG 8800GT in my HTPC and I bought that card on release day. Still going strong!

Anyway I'm rambling. I voted Gigabyte. They make solid stuff.

HammerON · Sep 9, 2015

I think either one you choose will be a win. Flip a coin if you can't decide

RejZoR · Sep 9, 2015

Go with MSI Gaming or ASUS Strix. G1 has a good cooler with messed up fan profiling. The usual crap one vendor always has to fuck up. G1 never goes into passive (unless they changed something lately) and is really noisy for the size where Strix and MSI Gaming do go in passive mode in 2D and they also run super quiet. I have the Strix and it's amazing. A bit wide card, but the cooler is great. MSI Gaming is basically the same so I'd certainly go with MSI...

BiggieShady · Sep 9, 2015

I vote Gigabyte G1. Here's why:

MSI:

G1:

GhostRyder · Sep 9, 2015

I personally like the G1 binning process better so I would choose the G1 over the MSI. But both should be pretty similar so I doubt you would get that big a difference.

EarthDog · Sep 9, 2015

The binning process is the same... it just needs to make their 'tier' within power limits... Don't fool yourself on this level of card. Now, The Lighting? HOF? K|ngp|n? There is binning there I would hang my hat on.

BiggieShady said:
I vote Gigabyte G1. Here's why:

You don't think that backplate is hiding a similar image? Hard to compare apples to apples when one has a backplate hiding temps while the other does not.

Anyhoo, The Giga, MSI, EVGA, and ASUS are are solid. I hear great things about Zotac as well. There are so few differences between them that are consistent, any of those will do.

GhostRyder · Sep 9, 2015

EarthDog said:
The binning process is the same... it just needs to make their 'tier' within power limits... Don't fool yourself on this level of card. Now, The Lighting? HOF? K|ngp|n? There is binning there I would hang my hat on.

You don't think that backplate is hiding a similar image? Hard to compare apples to apples when one has a backplate hiding temps while the other does not.

Anyhoo, The Giga, MSI, EVGA, and ASUS are are solid. I hear great things about Zotac as well. There are so few differences between them that are consistent, any of those will do.

I mostly just meant that from the reviews here and around the G1's seemed to have a consistently top end overclocking range on both memory and GPU. Not by much but it was just my advice based on what I had seen. I doubt either will really be much better than the other.

RejZoR · Sep 9, 2015

Temps mean nothing if you have to listen roaring fans even in 2D. And in tests, G1 wasn't particularly quiet in 3D either. Considering the size, it made me not want to own it. And I had a WindForce 3X cooler on HD7950 and it was absolutely fantastic, but with botched fan profile. Apparently Gigabyte knows how to mak coolers, but then has no clue how to make a simple fan curve...

Jetster · Sep 9, 2015

Thanks. The G1 does have a back plate and a beautiful cooler but its long. The MSI its quieter and taller. Still not sure they both are nice cards.

RejZoR · Sep 9, 2015

ASUS Strix GTX 980 also has a backplate...

arbiter · Sep 9, 2015

The gigabyte one should run cooler, but should make sure you have space in your case to install it. That was reason i didn't buy one of them was i didn't have enough space for one and bought a evga acx2.0 980.

Jetster · Sep 9, 2015

Tough choice and yes I was looking a the ASUS as it got a 10 from the Wizard. I went with MSI. Mainly because they appeared to have less DOA cards. The size is right and I felt like I was being seduced by the Gigabyte's cooler

peche · Sep 9, 2015

Jetster said:
Thanks. The G1 does have a back plate and a beautiful cooler but its long. The MSI its quieter and taller. Still not sure they both are nice cards.

main problem on gigabyte's cards, size...!

arbiter said:
The gigabyte one should run cooler, but should make sure you have space in your case to install it. That was reason i didn't buy one of them was i didn't have enough space for one and bought a evga acx2.0 980.

legit!

Jetster said:
Tough choice and yes I was looking a the ASUS as it got a 10 from the Wizard. I went with MSI. Mainly because they appeared to have less DOA cards. The size is right and I felt like I was being seduced by the Gigabyte's cooler

i have been using gigabyte cards pretty much time, never got dissapointed... im pretty awared about a famous quote of @EarthDog
" not because something works for you is good enough … something like that"

gigabyte video card have been solid enough for me, excellent overclock capabilities, solid cooler and also kickass looking, I'm saving some pennies for my next Geforce powered Gigabyte card, G1 gaming GTX 970 if money allows me to get a 980 I will choose gigabyte, also MSI lighting model is pretty interesting!

arbiter · Sep 10, 2015

peche said:
main problem on gigabyte's cards, size...!

the gigabyte gtx670 was little over 11.2inches long and i could just fit that though there was shroud that stuck out over the end which was plastic that i trimmed just for extra space(didn't need to but that extra .5inch was nice to have). the new ones are 12.2inches which was was deal breaker. The ACX card runs nice and cool even at 1470mhz i got it at.

cadaveca · Sep 10, 2015

I have and use the MSI GAMING GTX980 in my test rig; it works great.

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Tingle
Processor	Intel Core i7-4790K
Motherboard	Asus Z97-Pro Gamer
Cooling	Scythe Mugen 4 PCGH Edition
Memory	Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16 GB DDR3-1600 CL8
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 2.0
Storage	Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB + WD Blue 1 TB
Display(s)	Dell UltraSharp U2515H + Eizo FlexScan S2231W
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 Black
Power Supply	Seasonic Platinum Series 660W v2
Mouse	Razer Deathadder
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Raptor Baked
Processor	14900k w.c.
Motherboard	Z790 Hero
Cooling	w.c.
Memory	32GB Hynix
Video Card(s)	Zotac 4080 w.c.
Storage	2TB Kingston kc3k
Display(s)	Gigabyte 34" Curved
Case	Corsair 460X
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	PCIe5 850w
Mouse	Asus
Keyboard	Corsair
Software	Win 11
Benchmark Scores	Cool n Quiet.

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	AsRock X670E Phantom Gaming Lightning
Cooling	Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 32GB (2 x 16GB)
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Storage	Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Crucial P3 NVMe M.2 2TB
Display(s)	LG OLED55G2PUA
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL ROG Certified
Audio Device(s)	Digital out to high end dac and amps.
Power Supply	EVGA GQ 1000W
Mouse	Logitech G600
Keyboard	Logitech G413 Carbon
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1, Oculus Rift S, Quest 2, Quest 3
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Which GTX 980 to buy?

Which GTX980 would you get?

Gigabyte GTX 980 G1

MSI GTX 980 Gaming

Jetster

Luka KLLP

Outback Bronze

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Jetster

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RejZoR

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peche

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arbiter

cadaveca

My name is Dave

System Name	Threadripper
Processor	3960X
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix TRX40-XE
Cooling	XSPC Raystorm Neo (sTR4) Water Block
Memory	G. Skill Trident Z Neo 64 GB 3600
Video Card(s)	PNY RTX 4090
Storage	Samsung 960 Pro 512 GB + WD Black SN850 1TB
Display(s)	Dell 32" Curved Gaming Monitor (S3220DGF)
Case	Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	On-board
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G5
Mouse	Roccat Kone Pure
Keyboard	Corsair K70
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Always changing~

System Name	Windows 10 64-bit Core i7 6700
Processor	Intel Core i7 6700
Motherboard	Asus Z170M-PLUS
Cooling	Corsair AIO
Memory	2 x 8 GB Kingston DDR4 2666
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB, Seagate Baracuda 1 TB
Display(s)	Dell P2414H
Case	Corsair Carbide Air 540
Audio Device(s)	Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply	Corsair TX v2 650W
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei
Keyboard	CM Storm Quickfire Pro, Cherry MX Reds
Software	MS Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	SnowFire / The Reinforcer
Processor	i7 10700K 5.1ghz (24/7) / 2x Xeon E52650v2
Motherboard	Asus Strix Z490 / Dell Dual Socket (R720)
Cooling	RX 360mm + 140mm Custom Loop / Dell Stock
Memory	Corsair RGB 16gb DDR4 3000 CL 16 / DDR3 128gb 16 x 8gb
Video Card(s)	GTX Titan XP (2025mhz) / Asus GTX 950 (No Power Connector)
Storage	Samsung 970 1tb NVME and 2tb HDD x4 RAID 5 / 300gb x8 RAID 5
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU, Samsung G7 Odyssey (1440p 240hz)
Case	Thermaltake Cube / Dell Poweredge R720 Rack Mount Case
Audio Device(s)	Realtec ALC1150 (On board)
Power Supply	Rosewill Lightning 1300Watt / Dell Stock 750 / Brick
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Logitech G19S
Software	Windows 11 Pro / Windows Server 2016

Processor	i7-13700k
Motherboard	Asus Tuf Gaming z790-plus
Cooling	Coolermaster Hyper 212 RGB
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB DDR5 7000mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus Dual Geforce RTX 4070 Super ( 2800mhz @ 1.0volt, ~60mhz overlock -.1volts. 180-190watt draw)
Storage	1x Samsung 980 Pro PCIe4 NVme, 2x Samsung 1tb 850evo SSD, 3x WD drives, 2 seagate
Display(s)	Acer Predator XB273u 27inch IPS G-Sync 165hz
Power Supply	Corsair RMx Series RM850x (OCZ Z series PSU retired after 13 years of service)
Mouse	Logitech G502 hero
Keyboard	Logitech G710+

System Name	Athenna
Processor	intel i7 3770 Dellided
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling	Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory	16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s)	GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage	Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s)	22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case	Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s)	On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply	Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse	Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard	Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software	windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores	well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?