Which GTX 980Ti should I get?

[Heis]

I'm looking for the card that has the best cooling to keep temps low. Noise is also important but comes second where cooling and reliability comes first. I want to stick with air cooling. The case that I will use is the Phanteks luxe and I will keep the default fan set ups with a 200mm fan in the front, 140mm at the top back and 140mm at the back.

I’ve narrowed down my choices between MSI, Asus, and EVGA. The ones I’m looking into are MSI GTX 980Ti Gaming 6G, Asus GTX 980Ti Strix, EVGA GTX 980Ti SC+ ACX 2.0+.

I’ve heard that the Asus Strix had temperature issues and run quite hot, I’m not sure if this is still the case anymore, if anyone can confirm whether or not. Coil whine is something I also fear and it’s more of a hit or miss but which of these cards have had the least coil whine issues? Basically I want to get the card that will last me for a very long time that is durable and overall good quality with low temperatures. If there are any other 980Ti’s that meet my criteria, I’m open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help me out, hopefully I can make a decision very soon.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Go with the MSI, great card.

 

[Heis]

Go with the MSI, great card.

Thanks for the response, why do you recommend the MSI over the Asus one? Any reasons? I feel I'm leaning more towards these two cards

 

[guskline]

Heis, I own the EVGA GTX980TI SC+ but I have an EK custom water cooling block on it because my cpu is also water cooled. However, when I first bought it and ran it air cooled in another machine I was impressed at how quiet it was. Core is 1102 native vs 1000 for spec. Good overall card that comes with a back plate.

There are a ton of GTX980TI premium cooled cards. Be aware that most cards overclock well and the difference is neglible in play.

Your Phanteks Luxe case appears to be an excellent case with plenty of room for any of the gpus you listed above.

 

[Charlie98]

Of those you listed, I'd take the EVGA (for the warranty and support) but it's probably not the quietest card of the 3. 2 fans are most likely going to be louder than 3. In that case I would take a look at the Gigabyte 980Ti, the cooling on that is more quiet than the EVGA, and I like Gigabyte products.

When I bought my GTX970, I naturally went to the EVGA cards, but I was very, very close to getting the Gigabyte. In the bench I reviewed, the Gigabyte actually beat the EVGA card, too.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Amazon had the MSI card on sale for $623 last month and I had an additional 10% refund with my Chase card. It replaced my MSI Lightning GTX780 and I am very happy with it.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Thanks for the response, why do you recommend the MSI over the Asus one? Any reasons? I feel I'm leaning more towards these two cards

I bought a pair of MSIs and they are quiet and overclock really well, that's why. I'm sure the other options are good too, but my positive experience with MSI is leading me to recommend them

 

[Innokentij]

I recomend reading guru3d they are the best at 980TI reviews. They have tested so far 20 different 980TI, look at the url and find the card u want more information about and just google it and add +guru3d to it.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_page...0_ti_extreme_gaming_waterforce_review,37.html

 

[EXCellR8]

The best 980TI is called the Titan X

 

[Markfw]

The best 980TI is called the Titan X

Wrong. Its a different card, and has different strengths and weaknesses.

 

[xthetenth]

The Titan X is the best big maxwell card only for truly price inelastic buyers anyway.

 

[JoeRambo]

The Titan X is the best big maxwell card only for truly price inelastic buyers anyway.

And 6GB of extra dram also chew watts of power and spit them out as thermals. Combine that with no custom cards allowed => lesser overclocks than 980ti will let "lesser" Maxwell to perform same if not better once pushed to 1450+.

 

[Innokentij]

And 6GB of extra dram also chew watts of power and spit them out as thermals. Combine that with no custom cards allowed => lesser overclocks than 980ti will let "lesser" Maxwell to perform same if not better once pushed to 1450+.

If you buy a titan X you probably got plans to watercool em and run custom bios so the 980TI wont stand a chance, but this is very offtopic. The OP got the answear he needed and case is closed. TitanX masturbation can go in own thread.

 

[Hauk]

if plans are card and stock cooler, one that combats the 65c mark where she starts to throttle away 13mhz chunks of your OC. In other words great stock cooling. I'm finishing a bios for one of the three best IMO

 

[Timmah!]

And 6GB of extra dram also chew watts of power and spit them out as thermals. Combine that with no custom cards allowed => lesser overclocks than 980ti will let "lesser" Maxwell to perform same if not better once pushed to 1450+.

Gigabyte have custom Extreme Windforce version of TitanX with same cooling solution as their 980Ti. So i guess i should be equally OCable.

That said, if the only purpose to get the card is gaming, those extra 6GB of VRAM are pointless and +200 additional CUDA cores are not worth 300 -400 EUROs higher price.

 

[Captante]

EVGA warranty support = The best in the business by a long shot.

Asus warranty support = YMMV but can be really bad.

MSI warranty support = Better then Asus but not much.

Gigabyte warranty support = See MSI above.


EVGA might not make the fanciest card but if you have problems you'll be glad you went with them.

 

[radeson]

Hello, I have 2 EVGA 980ti KINGPINs. I know its in a higher price range than you are looking, and most likely not worth it for you. BUT.... This card is one of few or possibly the only one with a solid copper heat spreader. Not to mention it has loads of goodies with it. My primary card boosts to 1455 on stock bios without touching anything. I tested these cards on air before I put WB on them and I can personally tell you that they are dead quiet, even at 100% fan speed. I was so amazed I almost regretted having already ordered the waterblocks for them. The card is a custom card and it is bigger than most cards. So naturally the fans are significantly bigger too. Just a thought...


http://www.evga.com/articles/00944/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-980-Ti-KINGPIN/

 

[looper]

I'm very happy w/ the EVGA 980ti. Cool, quiet, powerful and with a great warranty.

And Battlefield 4 has never looked better at 'ultra' settings. Just don't tell the wife what I paid for it.

 

[guskline]

Heis, we all have different opinions on which GTX980TI we like, but do you see the common thread?

We ALL love them. Go with a GTX980TI and you will probably be part of "our" chorus!:thumbsup)

P.S. to Looper about telling your wife. My lovely wife of over 42 years and I have this arrangement. I don't ask about the Talbot's purchases and she "generally" leaves me alone when a "Newegg" or other PC component vendor box arrives. We both just smile and blow each other a kiss!

 

[Arachnotronic]

P.S. to Looper about telling your wife. My lovely wife of over 42 years and I have this arrangement. I don't ask about the Talbot's purchases and she "generally" leaves me alone when a "Newegg" or other PC component vendor box arrives. We both just smile and blow each other a kiss!

Nice arrangement

 

[looper]

Heis, we all have different opinions on which GTX980TI we like, but do you see the common thread?

We ALL love them. Go with a GTX980TI and you will probably be part of "our" chorus!:thumbsup)

P.S. to Looper about telling your wife. My lovely wife of over 42 years and I have this arrangement. I don't ask about the Talbot's purchases and she "generally" leaves me alone when a "Newegg" or other PC component vendor box arrives. We both just smile and blow each other a kiss!

July 31st, married 44 years! WORD...

 

[EXman]

July 31st, married 44 years! WORD...

Just got my Divorce and i'd Go EVGA for warranty. [Things break] in my life.

Profanity isn't allowed in the technical forums.
-- stahlhart

 

[Csx-2011]

I just picked up an EVGA 980 Ti SC ACX 2.0+

Great card, runs at 60c in my well ventilated pc case running 4k games

The warranty is transferable if you ever want to sell it

I had a 970 by EVGA that has been nothing but great too.