ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti Matrix 6 GB

[Effting]

Why don't you guys include Star Wars: Battlefront in your game suite?

 

[las]

I own a 980Ti and SLI 970s, guess which is in my main rig.

980 Ti hopefully. Look at how many games 970 SLI STOCK loses to 980 Ti STOCK in this review. This means lower minimums for sure. A CF/SLI setup will need a much higher avg. fps than a single GPU to feel as smooth/fluid.

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

This is a common problem with CF and SLI solutions. High average fps is pretty useless when the minimum fps is low. Unless you think stuttering and fps drops is awesome ofc.

Why don't you guys include Star Wars: Battlefront in your game suite?

Because the game is absolute garbage (just a guess).

 

[GhostRyder]

You know I really used to love the special edition cards with modded bios's, higher VRM, special coolers, etc but with Maxwell this round it really does not happen (Short of LN2). All the cards still hit about the same area with marginal difference which is unfortunate when cards like this are priced so much higher because it almost feels like why buy it unless your doing a very specific set of overclockings (Again LN2) besides the nameplate. Great card, but I would just choose something like an MSI or Gigabyte over this (or even an Asus Strix).

I own a 980Ti and SLI 970s, guess which is in my main rig.

You do but prefer the 970 SLI? I mean I get it may get slightly higher performance but is it worth it in the end over a single card with similar performance?

I see that you have a 4K monitor, so I'm curious what kind of framerates you're getting and in what games.

I've just checked the performance of this card in a couple of benches and love the way it crushes the performance of the more expensive Titan X lol.

980ti's are the way to go any day of the week especially for 4K.

 

[majevica]

980 Ti hopefully. Look at how many games 970 SLI STOCK loses to 980 Ti STOCK in this review. This means lower minimums for sure. A CF/SLI setup will need a much higher avg. fps than a single GPU to feel as smooth/fluid.

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

This is a common problem with CF and SLI solutions. High average fps is pretty useless when the minimum fps is low. Unless you think stuttering and fps drops is awesome ofc.




Because the game is absolute garbage (just a guess).

Because AMD cards are good at it and we don't want to hurt nvidia funboys feelings

 

[hapkiman]

I see that you have a 4K monitor, so I'm curious what kind of framerates you're getting and in what games.

I've just checked the performance of this card in a couple of benches and love the way it crushes the performance of the more expensive Titan X lol.

I have been pretty busy working about 60-70 hrs/week lately so I haven't had a chance to do a lot of gaming. But I'm a BF4 player, and I can easily maintain >60FPS with all settings on Ultra. I typically turn AA off as there is no perceivable different or jaggies that I can see - it looks freaking awesome and runs extremely smooth. I guess most recently I've been playing Dying Light: The Following, and StarWars Battlefront, and I must say like or hate SWBF, it absolutely has the sharpest and most detailed graphics I've seen on any game. I can set all settings to Ultra, and turn AA to off or Low and it stays right around 60 with a few dips to 55 and a few spikes to 70 (even with AA on it keeps decent framerates). Dice's Frostbite engine is pretty well optimized at this point. It runs perfect for me and looks incredible. It's the game I show to people who want to see my 4k rig. Fantastic graphics.

I have had my 4k monitor for a while and it was purchased and is used mostly for photo work as my wife is an amateur photographer. It works perfectly for this and neither of us have any complaints. But I know there is a whole group of naysayers that will tell me I can't game properly on a UHD monitor with a single graphics card. They are wrong. I do it all the time. I haven't ran across any game that isn't playable (at least to me, and that's all that matters, right?) on my rig with a single 980Ti. The only game that I remember frame rates dropping down was Witcher 3, and a few settings and tweaks get it quite playable with little visual sacrifice (this is another common statement of naysayers, "oh you turned all the settings down, so that defeats the purpose of 4k." Uh no, it's still looks pretty great. Of course I have the ability with this monitor to drop the resolution to 2560x1440, but I can only remember doing that a couple of times - maybe on Witcher 3 or GTAV, and at 1440 all settings were pretty much maxed. Dying Light isn't real well optimized, but it looks great and I remember having all or almost all settings maxed and it stayed right around 60FPS, maybe slightly in the below mid 50's.

I am very happy gaming at 4k and this card seems to be able to handle it just fine for me -better than expected. It always amazes me how upset other people get when I say I am enjoying gaming on my 4k monitor, because I "only" have a single GTX 980 Ti (I had a MSI GTX 980Ti before this ASUS card - and it was great -but this card is better, the MSI wouldn't hit 1500MHz).

Let the flogging commence haters.

 

[R-T-B]

Let the flogging commence haters.

I hate you for expecting me to hate you.

Don't tell me what to do!

 

[newtekie1]

980 Ti hopefully. Look at how many games 970 SLI STOCK loses to 980 Ti STOCK in this review. This means lower minimums for sure. A CF/SLI setup will need a much higher avg. fps than a single GPU to feel as smooth/fluid.

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

This is a common problem with CF and SLI solutions. High average fps is pretty useless when the minimum fps is low. Unless you think stuttering and fps drops is awesome ofc.

Nope, 970 SLI.

Random graphs from an unknown source really aren't proof of anything. Though, even still, the only game that had a noticeably lower minimum framerate was SoM, and my guess is they are using the idiotic HD textures to try to choke all the cards except the 980Ti(since the minimum requirement for the HD textures is 6GB of VRAM, they also don't improve image quality during actual gameplay any).

The SLI setup has been perfectly smooth for me. There is no stuttering. I run a 120Hz panel and keep every game I play over at least 75FPS at all times. The old microstutter issue has all but been eliminated with modern dual-core SLI setups.

You do but prefer the 970 SLI? I mean I get it may get slightly higher performance but is it worth it in the end over a single card with similar performance?

Here's the thing, I bought the 970s back in 2014. This was a good 5 months before Titan X was even released, and the 980Ti wasn't even a rumor yet. So I had better than Titan X and 980Ti performance 5-7 months before hand, and for less month too. And I've continued to enjoy that great performance. I also don't like tearing apart my main rig, it is what I used for pleasure, I play games on it, and I have very little time to do that. So the less downtime the better. I don't tend to upgrade the video cards in my main rig that often. Before the 970s I had 670s, I could have put my 780Ti in it, but why waste the time for a sidegrade? Before the 670s I had 470s. I'm not going to waste time for marginal upgrades, or sometimes even sidegrades. So it isn't that I prefer the 970s, that wasn't the point I was trying to make. The point is the difference is so marginal it isn't worth the effort to swap the cards out.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Asus website lists base clock at 1190 MHz
http://www.asus.com/uk/Graphics-Cards/MATRIX-GTX980TI-P-6GD5-GAMING/specifications/

Review sample got bumped to 1216 or error in the table ?

It states 1216 in asus site too...

 

[Breit]

Too bad this card comes with Hynix memory, they could at least spend some Samsung chips for their highest end model...

...or are there versions with Hynix memory AND versions with Samsung memory out there just like the Gigabyte 980Ti G1 Gaming?

 

[Vlada011]

These Matrix Platinum and Gold and look powerful inside PC case, not only excellent performance.
Special Gold version.
But I would like if ASUS try to overclock little Pascal TITAN X2 or how NVIDIA call TITAN X successor.
OK customers could reflash BIOS from some other brand but that's not same.

I must to say goodbye to Maxwell because I didn't had money for both generation and I could choose TITAN X and X99.
Or first X99 and later Pascal TITAN X2. Second combination look me better for future.
I saw pictures of Matrix Gold in SLI on ROG Forum from some guy...
Look how they sit inside PC... two monsters with 1266MHz clock.

[/IMG]

ASUS win with Maxwell series, they build best GTX980 and GTX980Ti.
And it was time... so big company, popular ROG brands and I think they deserve best chips from NVIDIA.
First ASUS than one place empty, than others...

 

[GhostRyder]

Nope, 970 SLI.

Random graphs from an unknown source really aren't proof of anything. Though, even still, the only game that had a noticeably lower minimum framerate was SoM, and my guess is they are using the idiotic HD textures to try to choke all the cards except the 980Ti(since the minimum requirement for the HD textures is 6GB of VRAM, they also don't improve image quality during actual gameplay any).

The SLI setup has been perfectly smooth for me. There is no stuttering. I run a 120Hz panel and keep every game I play over at least 75FPS at all times. The old microstutter issue has all but been eliminated with modern dual-core SLI setups.



Here's the thing, I bought the 970s back in 2014. This was a good 5 months before Titan X was even released, and the 980Ti wasn't even a rumor yet. So I had better than Titan X and 980Ti performance 5-7 months before hand, and for less month too. And I've continued to enjoy that great performance. I also don't like tearing apart my main rig, it is what I used for pleasure, I play games on it, and I have very little time to do that. So the less downtime the better. I don't tend to upgrade the video cards in my main rig that often. Before the 970s I had 670s, I could have put my 780Ti in it, but why waste the time for a sidegrade? Before the 670s I had 470s. I'm not going to waste time for marginal upgrades, or sometimes even sidegrades. So it isn't that I prefer the 970s, that wasn't the point I was trying to make. The point is the difference is so marginal it isn't worth the effort to swap the cards out.

So you just use the 980ti to fold then, ok just was curious had not noticed it was in the sig till just now. I can understand not wanting to change cards constantly as its annoying at times to pull things out in short periods (One of the main reasons I stopped purchasing every generation).

 

[hapkiman]

Too bad this card comes with Hynix memory, they could at least spend some Samsung chips for their highest end model...

...or are there versions with Hynix memory AND versions with Samsung memory out there just like the Gigabyte 980Ti G1 Gaming?

Mine has Samsung memory.

 

[Vlada011]

Samsung or Hynix it's same... Last 2-3 cards I had are with Samsung memory, one with Eplida.
All Samsungs memory are capable to OC on 200MHz (+400 Offset).
NVIDIA used before Samsung chips and on reference cards.
I have GTX580 reference with Samsung memory. It's important to have Samsung or Hynix... both are excellent and I would not complain with both of them.
I think that pushing memory over 100MHz it's not good move, improvements are to small and risk is much bigger than with graphic processor. I would be surprise if improvements in games with 200-250MHz overclocked memory is more than 2fps.

 

[Breit]

Samsung or Hynix it's same... Last 2-3 cards I had are with Samsung memory, one with Eplida.
All Samsungs memory are capable to OC on 200MHz (+400 Offset).
NVIDIA used before Samsung chips and on reference cards.
I have GTX580 reference with Samsung memory. It's important to have Samsung or Hynix... both are excellent and I would not complain with both of them.
I think that pushing memory over 100MHz it's not good move, improvements are to small and risk is much bigger than with graphic processor. I would be surprise if improvements in games with 200-250MHz overclocked memory is more than 2fps.

If these small differences doesn't matter for you, than probably this card is not for you. No offence, but the ASUS Strix 980Ti is by no means considerably slower, yet this Matrix card exists. And it exists for a reason.

Anyhow, I personally don't like cards with mixing memory that much. This is probably only an issue if you have more than one card, but nonetheless.

I for one have got two Gigabyte G1 Gaming 980Ti and the first card has Samsung memory and the second card has Hynix. Due to that, they clock very differently. The Samsung card can go up to 1580 MHz on the core, but only up to 2050MHz on the memory while the Hynix card struggles to get past 1510 MHz on the core, but can easily clock its memory up to 2150 MHz. ASIC is around the same on both cards with 72-73%.

These results are both fine for itself, but in SLI you have to set both clock values to a common denominator, wich in this case means 1510/2050. Sure the performance delta isn't that great after all, but still this bothers me.

The performance impact of the memory clocks isn't nearly as great as the impact of the core clocks is. I also have the impression, that Samsung memory has lower latencies, but as of yet I'm not aware of any method reading that info out of the GPU other than benching memory access times with a self-written tool.

 

[Vlada011]

Best GTX980Ti for me is ASUS GTX980Ti Matrix Gold...
Because I search always for extremely overclocked models for gaming on 25% more performance than reference model.
But between Samsung and Hynix no reason for complain, both are goods.
Even memory is overclocked little on Matrix Gold and that's enough. Than only CPU should be overclocked, but most Haswell-EP work 500MHz over Turbo clock with default voltage and I think 4.0GHz and 3.5GHz Uncore are real clock for Haswell-EP, not lower, or more than 4.0GHz if someone want to push further.
That's perfect gaming combination at this moment, 266MHz overclocked GM200 by ASUS and CPU overclocked with default voltage.
Everything else could be more fight with stability and constant changing settings than enjoying in gaming.
Even If I don't OC graphic cards I would feel very bad with Matrix Platinum when ASUS produce and card with 60-70MHz higher clock. She is build for custom BIOS, extreme power limit, voltage modification on PCB, LN2, etc... but out of box she is only gaming perfection.

 

[Breit]

I would say that the factory clocks on these cards are kind of irrelevant. What matters is, how high they are able to clock.
These stock clocks can easily be reached with the reference cards as well as with the lower tiered Custom-PCB cards...

 

[Vlada011]

Sure, 270MHz could be reached with reference cards, big percent of Matrix Platinum can't reach clock of Gold model, not reference cards.
TPU test TITAN X when NVIDIA launch cards and max OC was 110MHz... Who knows how much is game stable. That's not even enough for TITAN X Superclocked version and need to be sold only as TITAN X reference.
These cards are overclocked almost to the max and customers don't need to even try anything without LN2 and modifications on PCB and different BIOS.
Why ASUS to leave space for overclocking Matrix Platinum 100MHz over fabric clock when they could sell same chip for 200-250$ more as Matrix Gold.

 

[mcraygsx]

Did yours look as bad as mine?

View attachment 72093

And a derp in VRM section.

View attachment 72094

A bit NT-H1 treatment

View attachment 72095

I am stunned, that is a lot of unnecessary TMP. Did it arrived from factory like that ?

First thing I noticed your's came with SK rams while Mine is using Samsung modules.

Mined wasn't as bad as yours but TMP almost has similar looking color. But GELID did amazing job and did indeed improved my idle and load temps. I am learning towards another 980 Ti but this time I think it will be ZOTAC 980 Ti AMP Extreme. Asus's 980 Ti MATRIX is very tempting but the price they are asking for this card is out of my league!

 

[Ferrum Master]

Did it arrived from factory like that ?

Yes, Gigabyte is the best advertisement for ASUS for making such "quality". And yes unlucky SK Hynix... overclocks pretty much badly.

 

[mcraygsx]

Yes, Gigabyte is the best advertisement for ASUS for making such "quality". And yes unlucky SK Hynix... overclocks pretty much badly.

Mine has a ASIC of 71% but I was able to add +130 Mhz to core, I might go further have not tried it yet.

 

[dalekdukesboy]

I am reading this, and I saw one guy point out the obvious flaw in this card that to me renders it moot as far as competition for any other 3rd party 980ti cooler card; and that is the fact the card has a triple slot cooler, yet manages only decent temperatures with a lot of noise. I'm sorry, but this card doesn't hold a candle to Wizzards review results of the lightning card. The Lightning pricewise is relatively similar with what you can find now and it is MUCH quieter as pointed out in the review AND it's a few degrees cooler to boot. You may as well get a gigabyte or other 2 slot cooler that has similar noise or even less than this Matrix card and save a space in your case for other devices more airflow, sli etc.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Mine has a ASIC of 71% but I was able to add +130 Mhz to core, I might go further have not tried it yet.

You can find mine in Valley Benchmark score thread.

 

[trog100]

adding more mhz to the core with these cards dosnt always translate to more actual boost mhz.. i have had my palit cards up to +130 mhz on the core.. but as time passed with the odd lock up during the odd game i ended up nearer the + 100 level..

in truth the odd 30 mhz or so makes sod all difference in anything other than winning the benching race..

i now run my pair of palit 980 TI cards with a frame rate cap set at around 70 fps.. no highs no lows.. just a nice smooth 70 fps.. plus the entire system runs super cool and quiet..

with a slow moving game like witcher i might even drop it to 60 fps..

i do run at 1440 not 4K..

trog

 

[EarthDog]

I would say that the factory clocks on these cards are kind of irrelevant. What matters is, how high they are able to clock.
These stock clocks can easily be reached with the reference cards as well as with the lower tiered Custom-PCB cards...

It really is a function of the silicon... nearly all GTX 980TI's land somewhere in the 1475-1525 MHz range. Above 1525, you have an above average card, below 1475, you have a below average card.

That said, some people don't overclock so having (one of) the highest factory clocks could be useful. ANd this card, really, is meant for extreme overclocking and not air. The pricing on the card reflects the goodies it has added on versus other cards (not named Galax HOF, MSI LIghtning, EVGA Classified). People think these (every GPU) are binned more than they really are. 9/10 people, even here at this site, would be plenty happy with a reference board with a different cooler... for example, the MSI Gaming 980Ti with the Twin Frozr (ok, that isn't a reference board but it isn't a card on steroids either, LOL!)... But people do not know any better and they waste more money on cards of this caliber thinking they will overclock better... its a crapshoot men...

 

[Masenko]

There seems to be something wrong with R9-290X power consumption, and also performance per watt. Those numbers are obviously of R9-295X2.