[H] NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Overclocking Video Card Review

[Cookie Monster]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/10/08/nvidia_geforce_gtx_980_overclocking_video_card_review

Perhaps the overclocks on the R290X and GTX780Ti is not the absolute highest but the way an overclocked GTX980 is performing.. is pretty darn impressive given its drawing a >100W less compared to the other two!

Another interesting observation is the reference cards vs non reference cards and the power consumption difference (looking at other reviews). In this particular review, it only draws 56W extra when overclocked compared to other reviews..

 

[Enigmoid]

Really interesting from an overclocking point of view. Raising the voltage did not increase the overclock (likely due to cooling or thermals).

Our final overclock turned out to be +250 Core Clock offset and +500 memory offset. This results in a Base Clock of 1377MHz and a Boost Clock of 1466MHz. However, the real-time in-game frequency is actually 1516MHz!

The default voltage to achieve this was 1.218v. If we raised the voltage to 1.243v the maximum overclock we could achieve was only 1452MHz. We could not get the GPU over 1452MHz with the GPU voltage maxed out. Anything above that would throttle the GPU back to 1452MHz. Therefore actually keeping the voltage lower, at its default 1.218v allowed a 64MHz higher overclock.

We achieved an 8GHz clock on the memory. This is a full 1GHz overclock from the default of 7GHz.

Our final overclock was: 1516MHz/8GHz. This is a 276MHz overclock. Yet, we do feel there is more headroom in this GPU just like the GTX 970. We are only held back by the TDP/Power Limit wall. Imagine no power limits, and being able to raise the voltage, 1.6GHz may not be out of the realm of possibility. Remember, this is just a reference video card, with reference cooler, and we got 1516MHz out of it without changing the voltage. Simply outrageous, in a good way.

 

[Grooveriding]

Really interesting from an overclocking point of view. Raising the voltage did not increase the overclock (likely due to cooling or thermals).

I see something similar on my 970. My guess is that raising the voltage is raising power consumption so you hit the TDP wall earlier. The unfortunate thing is it starting to look like custom BIOS is not going to be possible on the 980/970 to raise the TDP limit.

The only flashing that has been possible is to flash signed factory BIOS from one card to another. User modified BIOS files on the other hand are looking like a no go.

 

[Silverforce11]

Maxwell is pretty beastly. Imagine a full blown 550mm2 Maxwell!

 

[Pariah]

So if TDP is limiting the overclock, has anyone tested undervolting the card to provide more headroom and potentially a higher OC?

 

[tviceman]

TL;DR

Max OC 980 vs. Max OC 290x

1440p
29% faster in BF4
36% faster in Watch Dogs
16% faster in Crysis 3
26% faster in Far Cry 3
18% faster in Tomb Raider

= average 25% faster at 1440p

4k
25% faster in BF4
39% faster in Watch Dogs
12% faster in Crysis 3
30% faster in Far Cry 3
8% faster in Tomb Raider

= 23% faster at 4k

111 less watts in power use

 

[raghu78]

AMD is getting a hammering in perf/watt. Unless there are massive architectural and power efficiency improvements with the R9 3xx (GCN 2.0) cards this is going to turn very ugly for AMD. It was bad enough that AMD could not compete with Intel in CPUs and now the same is happening in GPUs. Hopefully AMD can close the massive gap in power efficiency and remain relevant in the GPU market.

 

[Erenhardt]

Seems like 980 is hitting power limit without overclocking. After increasing power it starts to differentiate from other cards.

290X - 477W
780Ti - 493W
Thats interesting...

 

[Wild Thing]

TL;DR

Max OC 980 vs. Max OC 290x

1440p
29% faster in BF4
36% faster in Watch Dogs
16% faster in Crysis 3
26% faster in Far Cry 3
18% faster in Tomb Raider

= average 25% faster at 1440p

4k
25% faster in BF4
39% faster in Watch Dogs
12% faster in Crysis 3
30% faster in Far Cry 3
8% faster in Tomb Raider

= 23% faster at 4k

111 less watts in power use

What is the average price difference between R290X and GTX980?
I've checked the Egg but 980 is out of stock and the prices they are listing are on the ugly side of $700.:\

 

[RussianSensation]

What is the average price difference between R290X and GTX980?
I've checked the Egg but 980 is out of stock and the prices they are listing are on the ugly side of $700.:\

I'd like to see MSI Gaming/Gigabyte G1 970 OC vs. Zotac OMEGA! Extreme 980 OC. I have a feeling the 980 won't win by more than 17-19% on average despite the price increase of nearly 60%.

I think HardOCP also should do Sapphire Tri-X 290s vs. MSI Gaming/Windsorce 970 OC SLI vs. 980 OC too. 970 is like the 6800GT that more or less made 6800U irrelevant for 95% of gamers. By the time games became demanding enough, 6800U was just as outdated as the 6800GT. And since both 970 and 980 have equal 4GB of VRAM, 980 has no chance of lasting any longer. If you think about it 290X is more or less redundant and has been since $399 290 came out. Now that cards like Sapphire Tri-X 290 are $290-300, the $400 R9 290X is even more irrelevant.

 

[AtenRa]

Max OC 980 vs. Max OC 780ti

1440p
15,36% faster in BF4 (4x MSAA)
10,77% faster in Watch Dogs
6,86% faster in Crysis 3
5,51% faster in Far Cry 3 (4x MSAA)
7,15% faster in Tomb Raider (FXAA)

= average 9,13% faster at 1440p

4k
12,21% faster in BF4
12,57% faster in Watch Dogs
2,54% faster in Crysis 3
14,02% faster in Far Cry 3
1,99% faster in Tomb Raider

= average 8,66% faster at 4k

127 less watts in power use

Well, if you find the 980 at MSRP prices then you get an average of almost +10% performance at lower price than 780Ti was and 127W lower consumption.
For people with Overclocked 780Ti it wont be of any interest, expect for those that need and can afford the latest hardware all the time.
For people wanted to upgrade from older GPUs to a new high-end GPU though, the 980 is very nice both in performance and power usage.

 

[Keysplayr]

I think folks that already have a 780 or 780Ti or Titan/Black won't necessarily make the move to 970/980. Unless going from a non-SLI 780/780Ti setup to an SLI 970/980 setup.
Those with 770's or below would be, I think, the main audience for these cards for the upgrade.
The overclocking is very impressive indeed.

 

[Pandora's Box]

So if TDP is limiting the overclock, has anyone tested undervolting the card to provide more headroom and potentially a higher OC?

Undervolting does not seem to be working in Afterburner. As soon as you set a negative voltage and hit apply, it reverts back to 0.

 

[RobertR1]

My 780ti is right around 1200 core so it's certainly not worth swapping out for. However, the bigger version of this card will be pretty amazing esp once they do a node reduction.

 

[tviceman]

I think folks that already have a 780 or 780Ti or Titan/Black won't necessarily make the move to 970/980. Unless going from a non-SLI 780/780Ti setup to an SLI 970/980 setup.
Those with 770's or below would be, I think, the main audience for these cards for the upgrade.
The overclocking is very impressive indeed.

I think there is enough performance gains going from an OC'd 780 to an OC'd 980 to mentally justify the upgrade. Sure, its not an economically smart move, but buying the top performing GPU never is. I did it, but mostly for the lower power draw when comparing max OC'd cards. My PSU was stressing this summer with my 780 OC'd to 1189 and my case only doing so-so at removing the heat.

 

[ocre]

I think there is enough performance gains going from an OC'd 780 to an OC'd 980 to mentally justify the upgrade. Sure, its not an economically smart move, but buying the top performing GPU never is. I did it, but mostly for the lower power draw when comparing max OC'd cards. My PSU was stressing this summer with my 780 OC'd to 1189 and my case only doing so-so at removing the heat.

well all money aside, from the 780 to the 980 would be a step up

I keep reading all these statements like, such and such arent gonna buy them. I guess they have psychic abilities.

But considering how all the gm204s are selling out, I wouldnt be so sure of who is or isnt buying them.

 

[rtsurfer]

That 980 is a pretty good for a reference card, but that is it. This article just makes it look good. 1497MHz is almost around the max for the 980s, while both the 780Ti & 290X can go Higher on AIR if you go towards the high end custom version.

Here is the max I have seen on the 980
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=27030555&postcount=233

1590/2000 Mhz on water.

Custom 780Ti like the Classified & such easily hit 1200Mhz on air & even 1300Mhz is pretty common.

And 1120MHz/5.6GHz is actually a poor OC for a 290x. 1200 Mhz would have been more realistic. If they had used the Sapphire Tri-X OC version then they would have been able to hit 1200 Mhz no problem, but instead they choose the Anemic Asus DirectCU II in which half of the heat pipes don't even contact the core.

Let's hope that they do a future review with custom 980s & proper 780Ti & 290Xs as they say here.

Around 1.2GHz is an average overclock, not fancy, but not poor. Only the more expensive, exotic cooling video cards can overclock higher. Keep this in mind, we are but only comparing to a reference GeForce GTX 980 video card, while these two ASUS video cards are both retail custom video cards which carry a price premium. We may compare future custom retail GTX 980's to even more expensive GTX 780 Ti's that overclock better, like ASUS' MATRIX version.

Because right now 980 is around its almost around its max while 780Ti & 290X have quite some room to spread.

 

[Pariah]

And 1120MHz/5.6GHz is actually a poor OC for a 290x. 1200 Mhz would have been more realistic. If they had used the Sapphire Tri-X OC version then they would have been able to hit 1200 Mhz no problem, but instead they choose the Anemic Asus DirectCU II in which half of the heat pipes don't even contact the core.

So, an 80MHz bump for a 290x is going increase performance 25% at 1440p and 23% at 4k to bring it in line with the 980? Not likely. Whatever additional OC a golden sample 290x can pull is not going to make it a viable alternative to a 980. Rather amusing that the 980 is one of the best OC'ing video cards in a while, and the fact that it can do it on air with a reference cooler is some how a negative. People will complain about anything these days.

 

[rtsurfer]

So, an 80MHz bump for a 290x is going increase performance 25% at 1440p and 23% at 4k to bring it in line with the 980? Not likely. Whatever additional OC a golden sample 290x can pull is not going to make it a viable alternative to a 980. Rather amusing that the 980 is one of the best OC'ing video cards in a while, and the fact that it can do it on air with a reference cooler is some how a negative. People will complain about anything these days.

Did I say that 290X should be faster than a 980.?

The 80Mhz more on the 290X might shrink that 25% gap down to 15% or something, which was basically the Gap between 780Ti & 290X. So a 980 doesn't bring much new to the table.

Also, you don't need a Golden sample to hit 1200Mhz on 290x, are you still living in the Hawaii launch days.?

Lastly, I am not complaining about the 980 reference cooler, the fact is because Maxwell is so power efficient & runs cooler, until you start cranking the Voltages & Power Limits Higher (Which you can't right now as Custom BIOS are still in works, Hurray Greenlight) you don't stand much to gain from an aftermarket cooler. This isn't true, neither for a 780Ti nor a 290X.

 

[Pariah]

So now you are saying that a 7% clock boost could result in a 10% performance boost. That would be some legendary scaling. There is no might there, it isn't happening.

I didn't say it would take a golden sample to reach 1200. I said it doesn't matter how good the OC is, you're not going to transform a 290x into a worthy choice over a 980.

I still don't get your last point. I still fail to see why you are putting a negative spin on not needing to spend $100+ on a waterblock or other aftermarket cooler to get near the upper limit of performance that a 980 can attain. Unless you are a total baller with a reputation to maintain, everyone else would consider not having to spend money a positive, not a negative.

 

[rtsurfer]

I didn't say it would take a golden sample to reach 1200. I said it doesn't matter how good the OC is, you're not going to transform a 290x into a worthy choice over a 980.

Let's get something out of the way first.
I am not interested in justifying a 290x over a 980. I am only interested in discussing performance amongst different Hardware architectures.

Now

So now you are saying that a 7% clock boost could result in a 10% performance boost. That would be some legendary scaling. There is no might there, it isn't happening.

First of all I had a big Might in my post.

Secondly, I forgot to mention that Hardocp has their memory @ 1400 Mhz, you can go quite higher if you have a card with Hynix or Samsung memory on it.

Also, I know there is no perfect scaling, as in there is no linear increase in performance with clockspeed.

I still don't get your last point. I still fail to see why you are putting a negative spin on not needing to spend $100+ on a waterblock or other aftermarket cooler to get near the upper limit of performance that a 980 can attain. Unless you are a total baller with a reputation to maintain, everyone else would consider not having to spend money a positive, not a negative.

Its not a negative, it just a fact.
I only said that 980 doesn't stand to gain substantially from a better Cooler or a WaterBlock & that this isn't the case for 780Ti or 290x.

I meant to say, Hardocp almost went ahead & compared a near top 980, to 2 mediocre 780Ti & 290x. Of course the latter 2 end up looking worst than they really are, or something ends up looking better than it is.:sneaky:

 

[SirPauly]

The GTX 980 was a reference design compared to AIB OC edition cards.

 

[SirPauly]

I'd like to see MSI Gaming/Gigabyte G1 970 OC vs. Zotac OMEGA! Extreme 980 OC. I have a feeling the 980 won't win by more than 17-19% on average despite the price increase of nearly 60%.

I think HardOCP also should do Sapphire Tri-X 290s vs. MSI Gaming/Windsorce 970 OC SLI vs. 980 OC too. 970 is like the 6800GT that more or less made 6800U irrelevant for 95% of gamers. By the time games became demanding enough, 6800U was just as outdated as the 6800GT. And since both 970 and 980 have equal 4GB of VRAM, 980 has no chance of lasting any longer. If you think about it 290X is more or less redundant and has been since $399 290 came out. Now that cards like Sapphire Tri-X 290 are $290-300, the $400 R9 290X is even more irrelevant.

The 290x and GTX 980 are not irrelevant or redundant but more-so premium priced for the company's best single gaming based GPU for a window of time. Of course, performance/value consumers will go to options like GTX 970 or 290 or lesser performing options.

I think the GTX 980 premium is too high for me for the added performance but appreciate and respect the choice to consider and like the GTX 970, but waiting for maturity and MFAA to be offered.