Palit GTX 980 Ti Super JetStream 6 GB

[W1zzard]

Palit's triple-slot GTX 980 Ti Super JetStream is the quietest GTX 980 Ti we tested so far, it's actually quieter than the watercooled AMD Radeon Fury X. Thanks to the overclock out of the box, the card is 9% faster than the much more expensive GTX Titan X.

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[apoe]

Decent OC out-of-box, lowest fan noise, lowest load temps (close to Gigabyte 980 Ti), looks absolutely sick, $10 more than reference...

"Not available in the United States"

 

[newbsandwich]

Decent OC out-of-box, low fan noise, low load temps, looks absolutely sick, $10 more than reference...

"Not available in the United States"

Right, wtf? Sale lost right there, this would have been the one.

Nice job as usual Wiz, keep up the good work.

 

[dwade]

Wow. Best heatsink cooler on a 980 ti.

 

[tabascosauz]

I get the feeling that there's a lot of wacky legal stuff going on in the US market that manufacturers like Galaxy and Palit just don't want to get into. Quite a shame, since that means we can't get our hands on Jetstream and HOF cards.

I've always been skeptical about Palit's Jetstream because since the GTX 670 days, it's just been another middle-of-the-pack cooler with nothing special to offer, and half of the time just used the half-length reference PCB. It looks like cards like this are Jetstream's true calling.

Wiz is #1, when dave is busy testing ASRock boards and crmaris is too busy testing PSUs, wiz never fails to deliver in a day otherwise filled with boredom

 

[Fluffmeister]

Impressive card, and it does indeed carry a tiny price premium over reference, hell it's cheaper than some other brands reference cards here.

This and the Zotac AMP! are right up there as my fave 980 Ti options.

Well played Palit, well played!

 

[pat-roner]

I would return my Msi 980 ti gaming for this in a heartbeat

 

[Darksword]

I wanted to go for this first too, but since it's not available in the U.S. I went with the MSI.

Shame, it would have looked perfect in my black & white themed rig. This Red MSI card looks out of place.

 

[mark-benney]

I had a few Palit cards over the years, 7704gb 2x970s and a 980. All were great cards overclocking with the very best of them.
This time i went with the Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980ti. And so happy I did. With overclocked an over volts still stay well cool, better than any of the Palit card did. Max on 3dmark 63c an 67c Furmark, Ambient temp 24c. And now nearly all 3dmark bench tests has my pc in top 100.
The palit is more than likely the best for your money. But if you have a little spare. may pay to go for the Gigabyte G1,
Its worked for me
Let down No water block out yet

 

[ZeDestructor]

I get the feeling that there's a lot of wacky legal stuff going on in the US market that manufacturers like Galaxy and Palit just don't want to get into. Quite a shame, since that means we can't get our hands on Jetstream and HOF cards.

I've always been skeptical about Palit's Jetstream because since the GTX 670 days, it's just been another middle-of-the-pack cooler with nothing special to offer, and half of the time just used the half-length reference PCB. It looks like cards like this are Jetstream's true calling.

Wiz is #1, when dave is busy testing ASRock boards and crmaris is too busy testing PSUs, wiz never fails to deliver in a day otherwise filled with boredom

Have you compared this 980 Ti's PCB to the reference 980 Ti? They're basically identical! And they say you need big massive 14-phase VRMs on an oversized card to overclock...

@W1zzard: can you test this card with the reference 980 Ti cooler? I'm curious to see how much of the OC is the cooler and how much is just the silicon lottery...

 

[tabascosauz]

Have you compared this 980 Ti's PCB to the reference 980 Ti? They're basically identical! And they say you need big massive 14-phase VRMs on an oversized card to overclock...

@W1zzard: can you test this card with the reference 980 Ti cooler? I'm curious to see how much of the OC is the cooler and how much is just the silicon lottery...

No surprise there. Nvidia has used the exact same reference PCB for the GTX 770, GTX 780, GTX 780 Ti, GTX Titan, GTX Titan Black, GTX 980 and now the GTX 980 Ti. Give or take a choke or mosfet here or there. Layout is identical and these cards overclock well. Asus' little SUPER DIGI+ VRM!1!1!1! gimmick is just a gimmick for regular enthusiasts.

 

[Ionut B]

I had a super jetstream 780, and then it died on me. It is now a nice paperweight. I will never ever buy a palit product ever again. No international warranty either.

 

[buildzoid]

Have you compared this 980 Ti's PCB to the reference 980 Ti? They're basically identical! And they say you need big massive 14-phase VRMs on an oversized card to overclock...

@W1zzard: can you test this card with the reference 980 Ti cooler? I'm curious to see how much of the OC is the cooler and how much is just the silicon lottery...

The VRM on a 980 Ti doesn't matter much. Raising core voltage is what usually kills the VRM. According to K|NGP|N the cards don't scale with voltage unless they are kept bellow 25C core temp so there's no point raising core voltage and so the VRM isn't an issue.

 

[ZeDestructor]

The VRM on a 980 Ti doesn't matter much. Raising core voltage is what usually kills the VRM. According to K|NGP|N the cards don't scale with voltage unless they are kept bellow 25C core temp so there's no point raising core voltage and so the VRM isn't an issue.

And yet the 980 Ti Strix exists (and it's 12+4 phase VRM...), and EVGA won't make a hydro-copper without the stupid DVI port for single-slot uses... Just don't solder on the connector! how hard can it be?!

Alternatively, K|NGP|N layout with miniDP also works...

 

[buildzoid]

And yet the 980 Ti Strix exists (and it's 12+4 phase VRM...), and EVGA won't make a hydro-copper without the stupid DVI port for single-slot uses... Just don't solder on the connector! how hard can it be?!

Alternatively, K|NGP|N layout with miniDP also works...

The Strix 980 Ti also has a bunch of features meant for LN2 users and there the 12+4 phase VRM comes in really handy.

 

[ZeDestructor]

The Strix 980 Ti also has a bunch of features meant for LN2 users and there the 12+4 phase VRM comes in really handy.

True, but I'd much rather have a pre-installed full-cover or hybrid waterblock on a single-slot capable, reference-PCB card (within $50 of the reference card as well, or you give me an air cooler as well) than all that LN2 nonsense for a "mainstream" product. I mean, the Strix isn't Asus' flagship GPU line (the ROG Matrix would be that one). I can say much the same for the G1 gaming or Twin Frozr as well...

 

[Caring1]

I had a super jetstream 780, and then it died on me. It is now a nice paperweight. I will never ever buy a palit product ever again. No international warranty either.

One bad unit doesn't make them a bad brand, if it did all brands would be out of business.

 

[Ionut B]

One bad unit doesn't make them a bad brand, if it did all brands would be out of business.

I agree with you generally speaking. However, here's what happened. I read several reviews about the superjetstream; it was a very nice card, and I wanted to buy one. Unfortunately, where I live, which is Romania, E Europe it was not available yet and not in the foreseeable future. So, I decided to order one from a store on ebay UK. All good, until the card just died, while still under warranty (1 year). The shop was gone, ebay could not help, and I contacted Palit support. Here's what I got back:
Dear customer

Thank you for the mail.

We’re sorry to inform you that the distributor does’t handle warranty claim from end-users.
So you will need to contact the original supplier to get help.
The end.

 

[Caring1]

Yes, I have heard many issues with warranty from people buying outside their country then being stuck with a paperweight.
Warranties are generally only accepted in the country of purchase.
Last guy had a very expensive laptop die, and nothing he could do with it.
In your case I would have emailed back and explained the situation about the store no longer existing, it should be their responsibility to repair.

 

[Ionut B]

Yes, I have heard many issues with warranty from people buying outside their country then being stuck with a paperweight.
Warranties are generally only accepted in the country of purchase.
Last guy had a very expensive laptop die, and nothing he could do with it.

Right, so I learned my lesson, and no more internet ordering for me for PC components. And also, just because their policy is not to my liking, I'll never buy a Palit ever again. It's the only thing I can do, and if someone asks me if they should get Palit, I'll answer that in my opinion there are better choices out there, from the support point of view.
Gigabyte support said that the coil whine in my 980 is "acceptable". I don't think it is, but not much I can do, except perhaps not getting Gigabyte from now on.
As far as I know, EVGA are pretty good at customer support, if not the best. So, most likely, I'll get EVGA from now on and be done with it. Even if it's a bit more expensive, I'm willing to pay to have support after the purchase.

 

[dwade]

Can we just buy their heatsink... lol.

 

[HumanSmoke]

Right, so I learned my lesson, and no more internet ordering for me for PC components. And also, just because their policy is not to my liking, I'll never buy a Palit ever again.

You will find that quite a few AIB's have similar conditions - even some of the worldwide AIBs base warranty on geographic distribution area of the serial (MSI comes to mind). Never had a problem with Palit personally - and I've owned a few - both JetStreams and older Sonic SKUs alongside their XpertVision conterparts. I did have an issue with a Colorfire R9 290 that I sourced via eBay for a friend. The card fritzed out - no international warranty. No big deal, I just set up a Chinese delivery address with the postal service and shipped the card off with the mail forwarding address for RMA. Shipping the card (and shipping the warranty replacement back) worked out a better option than trashing the board.

As far as I know, EVGA are pretty good at customer support, if not the best. So, most likely, I'll get EVGA from now on and be done with it. Even if it's a bit more expensive, I'm willing to pay to have support after the purchase.

Also from personal experience I would agree. Very solid support. An international warranty based upon the serial number makes EVGA an attractive option if you upgrade regularly - prospective buyers of your old card, knowing that there are no warranty problems regardless of chain of ownership, tend to favour the brand and will pay a small premium over other brands in my experience.

 

[yogurt_21]

wow only downside is not available in the US...wait that means I can't have it... now I'm sad.

 

[Gaudion]

@W1zzard seems like this is your favorite 980ti? Fortunately, this baby is available in ny country. $80-100 cheaper too.

Seems that the 8 and 6 power pin is not holding back these cards is that correct?

Choosing between the zotac 980ti amp extreme and the jetstream.

Maybe an SLI setup. I have ample space between the pcie 1 and pcie 3 slots for this. Will be modding my side case to add more fans. I have a carbide air 540. Thanks!

 

[Breit]

Have you compared this 980 Ti's PCB to the reference 980 Ti? They're basically identical! And they say you need big massive 14-phase VRMs on an oversized card to overclock...

@W1zzard: can you test this card with the reference 980 Ti cooler? I'm curious to see how much of the OC is the cooler and how much is just the silicon lottery...

I'd like to know that as well, but mainly because I'd like to know if an aftermarket reference waterblock will fit.