GTX 970/980 owners thread

[exar333]

Probably pretty much the same as it can do on air since it's NV's neutering of the TDP/Voltage which force it to stay within the strict limitations. They wouldn't want you to overclock it as much as it can and catch up to the next real high end maxwell card. I assume you know this though?

Sure.

There are other advantages to WC these cards. First, I can probably squeeze another 100mhz out of it on water (maybe more) and keep it pretty much silent. I can almost hit 1550mhz on air with max fan for benching, but that's WAY too loud for normal use. The cooler you keep it, the lower the TDP as well. Power consumption does climb with temp, so that might give me another 1-2% TDP headroom vs. air cooling...

Second, it just looks fun. Never WC'd my GPUs before, so I thought I would try it out. Got the block for pretty cheap too from eBay, that didn't hurt.

 

[AdamK47]

Lepa, a subsidiary of Enermax, has a modula 800W Gold for $100 after $20 MIR. However, in his case I'd get a Kill-a-Watt and try with the 620W as it should still be sufficient since 2x 980s won't use the same power as a single 980 x 2 as you can't get them loaded 100% due to SLI scaling.

Core i7 5930K @ 4.0ghz, 16GB of RAM, Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5:

1x 980 = 230W
2x 980 = 370W
3x 980 = 510W
4x 980 = 620W
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnS0xWtoRzk&list=UUXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw

Seems a bit on the low side but still I think 620W is enough for dual 980s.

That's way too low. 4X 980s is not going to be 620W, There's no way. I pull 1050W from the wall running Fire Strike Extreme. Even if you were to factor in the 90% efficiency from that, the output would still be 945W.

 

[lehtv]

That's way too low. 4X 980s is not going to be 620W, There's now way. I pull 1050W from the wall running Fire Strike Extreme. Even if you were to factor in the 90% efficiency from that, the output would still be 945W.

Any chance you could test power draw in Fire Strike Extreme with two GPUs?

Hypothesis: 945W being 50% more than 620W, the correct max. power draw of 2x 980 should be 370W * 1.5 = roughly 550W

 

[RussianSensation]

That's way too low. 4X 980s is not going to be 620W, There's now way. I pull 1050W from the wall running Fire Strike Extreme. Even if you were to factor in the 90% efficiency from that, the output would still be 945W.

No doubt because Fire Strike Extreme is a synthetic benchmark that has nearly the most optimal Tri-Fire/SLI and Quad-Fire/SLI scaling. Most games do not scale like that. You are free to watch that review and you will see that beyond 2 980 GPUs, scaling falls off a cliff. In real world games, a 3rd 980 will probably be 50% utilized and the 4th just 25%. That's why the power consumption is not going to be 4x 980. I am sure there are some games that will scale better with more than 2 GPUs but for the most part more than 1 review has already shown that Maxwell scaling at the moment in games is very poor beyond 2 980s.

Running a Fire Strike that probably has 99%/97%/95%/90% scaling is not an indication of Quad-SLI 980 gaming performance.

SLI scaling never produces 100% load on both GPUs in games. With 2x 980s, scaling is only 86%. So if a reference 980 peaks ~180W, then 2 will peak at (180W x 2 x 86% = 310W)

1x 980 = 100%
2x 980 = 80% with 2nd (or alternatively both cards loaded to 90%)
3x 980 = 50% on the 3rd card
4x 980 = 25% on the 4th card

(1st card 180W + 2nd card 180W) * 86% SLI scaling + 180W x 60% + 180W x 35% = 481W.
^
Even if a game uses 3rd card to 75% and 3rd card to 50%, we would get 535W but the CPU is not going to be loaded 100% either and there are very very few games that will have 86% scaling on first 2 cards + 75% on the 3rd and 50% on the 4th.

And these are peak values as the average power usage of a reference 980 is 156W only.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_980/24.html

 

[Fastx]

Guru PS recommendation fwiw.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_980_sli_review,4.html

 

[AdamK47]

I wouldn't chance putting a 620W Power Supply in a system with the potiential to use far more than that. It may run some things fine. As efficiency of the drivers improves and the complexity of games increases, the power supply is going to end up failing. Running stress testing is a perfectly valid test to see how much power supply you need.

 

[Tweak155]

Hey guys, I just reserved a 970 to pick up later today. It's an Asus model which appears to be the same one here based on specs (the only difference is the model number I'm picking up doesn't have D5 at the end of it):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-899-_-Product

The negatives don't bother me (can't up voltage... don't care since I don't plan on OC)... just one of the positive reviews says there is no fan until the card hits 65c. Would this bother anyone else? Should I hold off for a different model?

Thanks.

EDIT:

Here is a link to the actual one I'm picking up (looks the same to me...):

http://www.microcenter.com/product/438919/GeForce_GTX_970_Overclocked_4GB_Video_Card

The site is going up and down which is why I didn't link it originally. If it doesn't load you might have to retry if you care enough

 

[chadashcroft22]

Hey guys, I just reserved a 970 to pick up later today. It's an Asus model which appears to be the same one here based on specs (the only difference is the model number I'm picking up doesn't have D5 at the end of it):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-899-_-Product

The negatives don't bother me (can't up voltage... don't care since I don't plan on OC)... just one of the positive reviews says there is no fan until the card hits 65c. Would this bother anyone else? Should I hold off for a different model?

Thanks.

I got my asus 970 strixx yesterday and I thought the fan staying off would bother me with high idle temps. Not the case, I am idling pretty much the same as my old 6950 xfx card at around 35c in windows and most easy games don't even make the fan spin up.

The highest I could get this card was playing archeage all night long and it touched 70c. And even then the card is still whisper quiet. I am extremely happy with my purchase and don't let the pictures fool you this card is pretty massive in size.

 

[96Firebird]

I'm pretty sure you can adjust the fan profile so it turns on before the 65°C threshold with a program like Afterburner.

 

[Tweak155]

I got my asus 970 strixx yesterday and I thought the fan staying off would bother me with high idle temps. Not the case, I am idling pretty much the same as my old 6950 xfx card at around 35c in windows and most easy games don't even make the fan spin up.

The highest I could get this card was playing archeage all night long and it touched 70c. And even then the card is still whisper quiet. I am extremely happy with my purchase and don't let the pictures fool you this card is pretty massive in size.

Thank you so much for the feedback... love to hear from someone that currently owns one!!

Right now I have a 670 Twin Frozr and it's really impressive as far as temps... idles around 30c and maxes under 65c in my cases. I think I can live with 5c higher.

Any other input is welcomed

 

[chadashcroft22]

Thank you so much for the feedback... love to hear from someone that currently owns one!!

Right now I have a 670 Twin Frozr and it's really impressive as far as temps... idles around 30c and maxes under 65c in my cases. I think I can live with 5c higher.

Any other input is welcomed

You might run cooler my case is pretty horrible for airflow. It's a antec 300 with a power supply that isn't modular And I could barely fit the card into my case it was so big. Just remember to run ddu in safe mode prior to installing the card. http://www.wagnardmobile.com/DDU/

 

[Tweak155]

You might run cooler my case is pretty horrible for airflow. It's a antec 300 with a power supply that isn't modular And I could barely fit the card into my case it was so big. Just remember to run ddu in safe mode prior to installing the card. http://www.wagnardmobile.com/DDU/

I just picked up a modular PSU this week ($33 750w EVGA... was a heck of a deal), I will probably install both at the same time!

 

[mscrivo]

Its because the DVI one is "first" port. If you unplug the DVI the DP should work normally.

Interesting, that is quite a departure from my AMD card, where all monitors that were plugged in, were initialized on boot. It's not a deal breaker by any means, but it just seems sloppy to have it work that way.

Now I've run into the bug where full screen games pop back to the desktop and become minimized or switch to windowed mode. Turns out Samsung Magician is the cause, but it worked perfectly fine with the AMD drivers. How are average users supposed to figure this stuff out?

I haven't been an nVidia owner since the original GeForce 256, but these hiccups, while not the end of the world, aren't leaving a very good taste in my mouth. I've submitted bug reports for both, hopefully they can make the experience better.

To be fair, my AMD card had it's problems too. It ran hot and was loud, and it had that stupid zero-core bug where occasionally, I couldn't bring my monitors out of standby, which is what caused me to jump ship.

 

[AdamK47]

No doubt because Fire Strike Extreme is a synthetic benchmark that has nearly the most optimal Tri-Fire/SLI and Quad-Fire/SLI scaling. Most games do not scale like that. You are free to watch that review and you will see that beyond 2 980 GPUs, scaling falls off a cliff. In real world games, a 3rd 980 will probably be 50% utilized and the 4th just 25%. That's why the power consumption is not going to be 4x 980. I am sure there are some games that will scale better with more than 2 GPUs but for the most part more than 1 review has already shown that Maxwell scaling at the moment in games is very poor beyond 2 980s.

Running a Fire Strike that probably has 99%/97%/95%/90% scaling is not an indication of Quad-SLI 980 gaming performance.

SLI scaling never produces 100% load on both GPUs in games. With 2x 980s, scaling is only 86%. So if a reference 980 peaks ~180W, then 2 will peak at (180W x 2 x 86% = 310W)

1x 980 = 100%
2x 980 = 80% with 2nd (or alternatively both cards loaded to 90%)
3x 980 = 50% on the 3rd card
4x 980 = 25% on the 4th card

(1st card 180W + 2nd card 180W) * 86% SLI scaling + 180W x 60% + 180W x 35% = 481W.
^
Even if a game uses 3rd card to 75% and 3rd card to 50%, we would get 535W but the CPU is not going to be loaded 100% either and there are very very few games that will have 86% scaling on first 2 cards + 75% on the 3rd and 50% on the 4th.

And these are peak values as the average power usage of a reference 980 is 156W only.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_980/24.html

I'd also like to point out that SLI, especially with AFR rendering, does not work that way. You won't see card #1 @ 100%, card #2 @ 80%, card #3 @50%, and card #4 @ 25%. The load is generally balanced across all GPUs.

 

[RussianSensation]

I'd also like to point out that SLI, especially with AFR rendering, does not work that way. You won't see card #1 @ 100%, card #2 @ 80%, card #3 @50%, and card #4 @ 25%. The load is generally balanced across all GPUs.

Ya, I get that but it's perfectly viable to run dual 980 reference cards and an overclocked i7 on a 620W PSU. I've seen people run that setup with dual 7970 OC which use more power than dual 980s.

980 = 180x2 = 360W (but this won't happen since both GPUs won't operate at full load in games). That gives you a ton of headroom for your CPU. Similarly, there are users who ran overclocked 680s with overclocked i7 on the 620W. We are talking Seasonic PSU which means it's rated at doing 620W at load @ 40C minimum. This is not like a 2 min sustained maximum of Apevia but the operating maximum over constant load.

 

[AdamK47]

His power supply is a SeaSonic M12II rated at 620W with the 80 Plus Bronze certification. At best his power supply would be 85% efficient. The rated output can drop to as much as 80%.

If he's going to be spending $1,100 on GPUs, he can surely upgrade from that $90 power supply.

 

[felang]

His power supply is a SeaSonic M12II rated at 620W with the 80 Plus Bronze certification. At best his power supply would be 85% efficient. The rated output can drop to as much as 80%.

If he's going to be spending $1,100 on GPUs, he can surely upgrade from that $90 power supply.

I always thought the rated output of a 620w PS would be 620 watts (620w available to power his pc), considering 85% efficiency it could pull as much as 729w from the wall.

Why not try it before wasting money on a new PS he, IMO, probably does not need. OCP should kick in before he does any damage to any of his components in anyway.

 

[toyota]

His power supply is a SeaSonic M12II rated at 620W with the 80 Plus Bronze certification. At best his power supply would be 85% efficient. The rated output can drop to as much as 80%.

If he's going to be spending $1,100 on GPUs, he can surely upgrade from that $90 power supply.

what does efficiency matter in this context though? all that means is he going to waste a few more watts at the wall compared to top psus. and I think he has already made the wise decision to upgrade his psu. hopefully he will get a nice 850 watt unit to allow for any future gpu sli upgrades.

 

[RussianSensation]

His power supply is a SeaSonic M12II rated at 620W with the 80 Plus Bronze certification. At best his power supply would be 85% efficient. The rated output can drop to as much as 80%.

The efficiency of a PSU doesn't determine its maximum sustainable load. You don't apply 85% efficiency to the power rating. The efficiency determines how much energy the PSU needs to draw from the wall socket/electrical connection. For example, your PSU should be rated to work at 1600W load. It easily maintains 1585W with 66C exhaust temperature.

620W Seasonic was able to sustain 603W DC current at HardOCP at nearly 84% efficiency:

"Test #4 is equal to approximately 100% of the rated capacity of the Seasonic M12II-620Bronze at 45c. This makes Test #4 equal to 603W by loading the 12v rail to 48a, the 5v rail to 4a, the 3.3v rail to 2a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.5a. In the final regular test we see the 12v rail go into a kind of tailspin. All of the connectors register significant drops with the biggest change being 0.24v! At the same time the efficiency has moved down to 83.87% which is only a modest change and the exhaust temperature has moved up to 66C."

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/05/18/seasonic_m12ii620_power_supply_review/4#.VDcHX_mSzsc

If he's going to be spending $1,100 on GPUs, he can surely upgrade from that $90 power supply.

I realize that, but it's not the point of the discussion. Let's say if some other user reads the forum and starts fearing that a 620W PSU isn't enough to drive dual 980s, he'll also go ahead and spend his money unnecessarily. The biggest justification for getting an 800W PSU here is that it'll run cooler and quieter than the 620W, with the added benefit that the efficiency goes up closer to 90-92% at Platinum level.

 

[CP5670]

I jumped on a reference 980 for $510 shipped with the Directron first-timer deal. I was planning to get a 970 but this deal was too good to miss, despite some hassle with Directron. I'm coming off a GTX 280 that is over 6 years old, so this should be a massive improvement. I keep my cards much longer than I used to, since there aren't quite as many games that demand an upgrade these days (the 280 is still surprisingly decent in many games at 1080p), but it's about time now. I like the reference 980's blower design, and people say the 970 blowers are much worse and louder. The 280 cooler gets too loud when it ramps up and can be easily heard through my open headphones.

 

[toyota]

I jumped on a reference 980 for $510 shipped with the Directron first-timer deal. I was planning to get a 970 but this deal was too good to miss, despite some hassle with Directron. I'm coming off a GTX 280 that is over 6 years old, so this should be a massive improvement. I keep my cards much longer than I used to, since there aren't quite as many games that demand an upgrade these days (the 280 is still surprisingly decent in many games at 1080p), but it's about time now. I like the reference 980's blower design, and people say the 970 blowers are much worse and louder. The 280 cooler gets too loud when it ramps up and can be easily heard through my open headphones.

I sure hope you have a modern cpu and at least 8gb of system ram...

 

[lehtv]

I'm coming off a GTX 280 that is over 6 years old, so this should be a massive improvement

Well that's an understatement.. you're looking at about a 5x performance increase and lower power consumption.

I hope your CPU is up to the task.

 

[AdamK47]

The efficiency of a PSU doesn't determine its maximum sustainable load. You don't apply 85% efficiency to the power rating. The efficiency determines how much energy the PSU needs to draw from the wall socket/electrical connection. For example, your PSU should be rated to work at 1600W load. It easily maintains 1585W with 66C exhaust temperature.

620W Seasonic was able to sustain 603W DC current at HardOCP at nearly 84% efficiency:

"Test #4 is equal to approximately 100% of the rated capacity of the Seasonic M12II-620Bronze at 45c. This makes Test #4 equal to 603W by loading the 12v rail to 48a, the 5v rail to 4a, the 3.3v rail to 2a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.5a. In the final regular test we see the 12v rail go into a kind of tailspin. All of the connectors register significant drops with the biggest change being 0.24v! At the same time the efficiency has moved down to 83.87% which is only a modest change and the exhaust temperature has moved up to 66C."

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/05/18/seasonic_m12ii620_power_supply_review/4#.VDcHX_mSzsc



I realize that, but it's not the point of the discussion. Let's say if some other user reads the forum and starts fearing that a 620W PSU isn't enough to drive dual 980s, he'll also go ahead and spend his money unnecessarily. The biggest justification for getting an 800W PSU here is that it'll run cooler and quieter than the 620W, with the added benefit that the efficiency goes up closer to 90-92% at Platinum level.

I really hope they do read this. That person would be wise to spend the money on a new power supply then.

 

[CP5670]

Well that's an understatement.. you're looking at about a 5x performance increase and lower power consumption.

I hope your CPU is up to the task.

It's an i7 920 at 4ghz with 16GB memory. I might get a Haswell if Microcenter has their usual CPU deals next month, but looking at BFG10K's tests, the improvement is pretty minimal in most games.

 

[AdamK47]

I always thought the rated output of a 620w PS would be 620 watts (620w available to power his pc), considering 85% efficiency it could pull as much as 729w from the wall.

Why not try it before wasting money on a new PS he, IMO, probably does not need. OCP should kick in before he does any damage to any of his components in anyway.

That's true. With my old setup using 4 Titans and loading the CPU I've seen 1800+ Watts out of the wall at times. The actual output is going to be lower than that considering the efficiency of the power supply.