Understanding ASIC

[mojothehut]

Hey all
So I recently discovered GPU-Z rates my 980 Ti Classified's ASIC Quality.

Now I'm wondering a few things.
1. How accurate is this reading?
2. Exactly how important is ASIC, and what is considered "good?"

According to GPUZ, mine rates at 78.6%

 

[Actaeon]

Check out this video, it should answer your questions. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4sLDvMlfMs

 

[mojothehut]

That..video was great. Thanks =)

 

[Face2Face]

Check out this video, it should answer your questions. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4sLDvMlfMs

My personal testing doesn't match up with his explanation. Higher ASIC cards, I found run hotter than lower ASIC ones because of less leakage. They also pull more power when overclocked vs. lower ASIC cards @ the same voltage because of that.

 

[Madpacket]

My testing shows the same behaviour as Face2Face. The lower the ASIC rating the less the heat output / voltage consumed.

 

[Vellinious]

All things being equal between two cards, the one with the higher ASIC quality core will reach a specific clock at lower voltages than the lower ASIC quality core.

It's just not very often that you'll find cards that are EXACTLY equal, even among cards that are exact same model numbers. There's always small differences.

So, while ASIC quality does mean something, and will mean a lot if you're pushing for VERY high overclocks, in the grand scheme of things, for normal users, you probably won't ever push them hard enough for it to make a huge difference anyway. Start water cooling and modding the bios, then...it's something you should really pay attention to.