that's just my NZXT hue led reflection on the card

You are misunderstanding.. that IS a reference-cooler/blower card. Since the 600-series nvidia cards, there are 2 types of reference cards, the one above and the one that you appear to be referring to (the titan-blower design) used on gtx titan, 690, 780, 780ti, titan z, titan black and now 980.

Anybody who is considering at getting a GTX 970 at 1400~1500 should seriously consider the offerings from Zotac, AMP! Omega and AMP! Extreme.

Currently waiting for my 980 to arrive. Can't wait to start OC-ing and bench that baby.

Zotac 980 Reference has arrived, kinda excited but have to wait till I get off work to bring this home and start messing


Attached thumbnail(s)

another kaki that takes delivery of a haul in the office..
I don't know about you, but my concentration on work reduces by quite a bit with the new toy sitting on my desk

Just getting started with this baby. Got these pinned down without any trial & error at all. Just worked. Gonna get more aggressive this weekend when I have the time.

Zotac GTX 980 Reference
----------------------------
Core 1227mhz (max observed boost to 1340mhz)
Mem 1826mhz (these Samsung mems really one heck of an overclocker)
Stock voltage, no overvolting yet.
Board power limit 125% (slider max in FireStorm utility)
GPU temp target 91*C (slider max)
Fan speed custom curve with max out at 55% speed

Throughout Unigine Heaven run, temperature never exceed 82*C. Take note this is with the max 55% fan curve. Will adjust curve slightly more and more to find balance.



*edit*
2nd attempt.

Core 1311mhz (max observed boost to 1423mhz)
Mem 1900mhz
Stock voltage, no overvolting.
Board power limit 125% (slider max)
GPU temp target 91*C (slider max)
Fan speed custom curve with max out at 65% speed

Temps never exceed 78*C with above OC and custom fan curve.



This post has been edited by raydenex: Sep 26 2014, 01:44 AM

Actually when 780 was released, the reference design from Zotac was priced at 2199
Anyhow yeah, 980 releasing at launch at much more competitive prices.

This is not the max also bro.. I believe this reference card can go higher at stock voltage. Once hit a wall, I'll start overvoltage but not by much, just to see how much further it can go.

Shared on the Unigine Heaven thread but thought I'd put this here as well.
Went further with the overclock, results as follows;



Score: 1862
Core: 1331mhz, boosted to 1444mhz observed during Heaven run
Mem: 1950mhz
Max Temp: 74degrees
Fan Curve: Max 70%
Overvolting: None
Board Power Limit: 113%
Target Temperature: 85degrees

My 2 cents on the little debate over the Maxwell cards, pricing position of the 980 & on early adopters getting screwed with a 980ti imminent; First and foremost as sincerely and truthfully as possible, no intention to step on anybody's tail here. If that happens, hold your horses and remind yourself everyone is entitled to their opinions, and circumstances that affect you and your decisions may not affect someone else's.. but in giving these opinions we should care not to be condescending and trample over somebody else's parade. With that out of the way, personally, yes early adopters know what we're up for. Just like the 780 when released, in full knowledge of the disabled parts of the GK110 chip, of course a fully enabled one was coming, in due time. But that's the thing about early adopters, they usually accept this as the reality of it, and are really not much concerned. When the 980ti is released, heck, the early adopter would probably get that too. For myself personally, this is very much a hobby and switching GPU's every few months is a norm. The couple of hundreds lost each time an old card is sold when a new one is about to be purchased, gets pretty substantial when added up over time, but hey there are costlier hobbies out there.

The 980 not a true successor to the 780ti? That's entirely true. The price position of the 980 should be lower, in comparison to the 970's? Entirely true as well. The 780ti worth holding on to until the 980ti is released? Absolutely agreed! All I'm saying is, we don't have to make the early adopters sound like they were irrational and had poor-decision making when choosing to get what they get. An immature would probably read this and call me butthurt, but I'm not really. The level-headed amongst you would get what I'm trying to send across here. Cheers.

your cables look...
I would suggest you turn your PSU around with the fan face downwards too.

Actually the one in the H440 case looks like its sagging a bit. Or maybe my eyes playing tricks on me.

Well, depends on how you attach the pcie 6/8 pin connectors, if you route it from the PSU to the back of the motherboard tray, and make it come out to the front again from the top of the GPU rather than the bottom, using some cable ties behind the m/b tray you can creatively use those power connectors to hold/pull the gpu up from sagging.

made in USA? really now?

http://forums.evga.com/Where-are-EVGa-prod...red-m23797.aspx

EVGA's R&D = Taiwan
Production = China
EVGA motherboards specifically are OEM by Foxconn.
EVGA power supplies mostly (if not all) OEM by Super Flower.
The graphic cards probably some other OEM factory in PRC.

The true reason no one brings EVGA in is due to a commitment required/imposed by EVGA; 1000 unit GPU per month I'm told. No disty dare to commit. This is also fact, I've got legit sources, although it's hardly a secret.
This can be verified and confirmed with some disty in M'sia, or even prominent dealers who are aware this issue faced by the distributors here when concern EVGA brand.
To claim EVGA is made in USA is not fact, not theory, but clearly misinformation. I understand you love the brand very much, as do I and many others, but lets try to thread facts rather than theories (or wishful thinking).

This post has been edited by raydenex: Dec 15 2014, 04:59 AM