KFA2 980 Ti HOF Air Review 8Pack style

OcUK Staff
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KFA2 have been making world record breaking GPU for several generations now. There 780 Ti HOF was by far the fastest 780 Ti on the market dominating 3D mark score boards on the Bot and Future marks own site. Since this ground breaking product the 980 HOF and 980 HOF 8Pack version performed in the same vein with at one stage 980 HOF holding all world records on HWbot.

When I received my test ES 980 Ti HOF back at Computex I was very excited by the product. Great power delivery and efficiency enabling me to take 3D mark 11 WR and Heaven WR using Ln2 cooling. The product oozing quality I had no qualms in recommending it for enthusiasts of elite tier hardware.

When the production 980 Ti HOF came into stock I could not wait to try one and show the forums what its capable of. First of all we have the look of the product. The distinctive white PCB, robust 3 fan 2.5 slot cooling solution and substantial white back plate all not only perform great as I will show later but look truly awesome. End users considering this card should note only two card SLI is possible on stock cooler as its too wide to cram cards close together in TRI SLI or above. For three way SLI plus KFA2 have a card with retrofitted waterblocks which handle this config perfectly. This seems sensible on there behalf as often anything over two way is often overheating on any air cooling solutions.

Below are pics of the great looking card in my GPU test Rig.




The card I chose from stock was totally chosen at random. It had an ASIC quality for those interested of 75.5% with its stock boost speed being 1420mhz.

The testing methodology I used for the overclocking testing was Max out the power limit. Use only stock volts. Test with auto fan profiles. I did this so that I am sure most customers can reach the same mhz and beyond of my testing.

I also tried full speed fan cooler so I could see how fan speed effected load temps.

Review System specs:
5960X 4.875mhz
ASUS Rampage V Extreme
8Pack PSU
GSKILL mems 2666mhz
Windows 8.1
Nforce 353.06 WHQL driver

Below are my testing results.
Firestrike Xtreme

Firestrike

Firestrike Ultra 4K

Valley 1080p maxed out

Heaven 1080p maxed out

Heaven 4K maxed out


So as we can see from the scores my sample could run with stock volts and fan speed 1525-1530 Core and 2000-2050 mems through all the tests on its stock Air cooler. If you give it some voltage and crank the fans then I am sure it can go even higher. These results are very impressive in themselves with the limitations I imposed on testing to make sure repeatable is very possible by any end user.

The cooler on Auto performed very well with the card never going above 66C and most of the time hovering around 63-64C. This is very much up there with the best of the best in terms of cooling. To my ears its a touch quieter than say for example ASUS Strix which on Auto allows the card to get to higher temps at 0db but then the fan needs to spin faster to bring the load temps under control. The back plate is also getting warm so proving essential for removing heat from the PCB and doing its job well. The cooling design with the VRM heatsink being built into the main cooler also makes for efficient VRM heat removal and stops unnecessary heat soak into the PCB.

If you force the fan to full the GPU never got above 56C during my testing and was usually running at 54C load. These are truly great temps with the extra length of the heat pipes being used to full effect. Even at full fan speed the cooler is not crazy loud but is now certainly audible. For benching easy for the end user to live with though.

In conclusion I would recommend the KFA2 980 Ti HOF to any type of end user. For the gamer who does not OC its stock clock is very high and it is boosting at stock to 1420mhz. If you want to overclock its very easy to reach 1525+ mhz core with absolutely no effort at all and the memory is also able to pass 2000+mhz without issue. All this while remaining cool and quiet in performance. The cooler infact when forced to full fan was the coolest I have tested and the auto fan profile sees the card remain stable, cool and quiet.

Finally I think I should point out the looks. This is for me the best looking card available at the moment and its build quality is second to none. Especially if you have a white motherboard or a motherboard with any white on the heat sinks this should be your absolute first choice card. If you don't have this color scheme but want performance again you should be considering this great product. This KFA2 980 Ti HOF is truly living upto its Hall of Fame name in every way.
 
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18 Jan 2009
Posts
653
KFA2 have been making world record breaking GPU for several generations now. There 780 Ti HOF was by far the fastest 780 Ti on the market dominating 3D mark score boards on the Bot and Future marks own site. Since this ground breaking product the 980 HOF and 980 HOF 8Pack version performed in the same vein with at one stage 980 HOF holding all world records on HWbot.

When I received my test ES 980 Ti HOF back at Computex I was very excited by the product. Great power delivery and efficiency enabling me to take 3D mark 11 WR and Heaven WR using Ln2 cooling. The product oozing quality I had no qualms in recommending it for enthusiasts of elite tier hardware.

When the production 980 Ti HOF came into stock I could not wait to try one and show the forums what its capable of. First of all we have the look of the product. The distinctive white PCB, robust 3 fan 2.5 slot cooling solution and substantial white back plate all not only perform great as I will show later but look truly awesome. End users considering this card should note only two card SLI is possible on stock cooler as its too wide to cram cards close together in TRI SLI or above. For three way SLI plus KFA2 have a card with retrofitted waterblocks which handle this config perfectly. This seems sensible on there behalf as often anything over two way is often overheating on any air cooling solutions.

Below are pics of the great looking card in my GPU test Rig.




The card I chose from stock was totally chosen at random. It had an ASIC quality for those interested of 75.5% with its stock boost speed being 1420mhz.

The testing methodology I used for the overclocking testing was Max out the power limit. Use only stock volts. Test with auto fan profiles. I did this so that I am sure most customers can reach the same mhz and beyond of my testing.

I also tried full speed fan cooler so I could see how fan speed effected load temps.

Review System specs:
5960X 4.875mhz
ASUS Rampage V Extreme
8Pack PSU
GSKILL mems 2666mhz
Windows 8.1
Nforce 353.06 WHQL driver

Below are my testing results.
Firestrike Xtreme

Firestrike

Firestrike Ultra 4K

Valley 1080p maxed out

Heaven 1080p maxed out

Heaven 4K maxed out


So as we can see from the scores my sample could run with stock volts and fan speed 1525-1530 Core and 2000-2050 mems through all the tests on its stock Air cooler. If you give it some voltage and crank the fans then I am sure it can go even higher. These results are very impressive in themselves with the limitations I imposed on testing to make sure repeatable is very possible by any end user.

The cooler on Auto performed very well with the card never going above 66C and most of the time hovering around 63-64C. This is very much up there with the best of the best in terms of cooling. To my ears its a touch quieter than say for example ASUS Strix which on Auto allows the card to get to higher temps at 0db but then the fan needs to spin faster to bring the load temps under control. The back plate is also getting warm so proving essential for removing heat from the PCB and doing its job well. The cooling design with the VRM heatsink being built into the main cooler also makes for efficient VRM heat removal and stops unnecessary heat soak into the PCB.

If you force the fan to full the GPU never got above 56C during my testing and was usually running at 54C load. These are truly great temps with the extra length of the heat pipes being used to full effect. Even at full fan speed the cooler is not crazy loud but is now certainly audible. For benching easy for the end user to live with though.

In conclusion I would recommend the KFA2 980 Ti HOF to any type of end user. For the gamer who does not OC its stock clock is very high and it is boosting at stock to 1420mhz. If you want to overclock its very easy to reach 1525+ mhz core with absolutely no effort at all and the memory is also able to pass 2000+mhz without issue. All this while remaining cool and quiet in performance. The cooler infact when forced to full fan was the coolest I have tested and the auto fan profile sees the card remain stable, cool and quiet.

Finally I think I should point out the looks. This is for me the best looking card available at the moment and its build quality is second to none. Especially if you have a white motherboard or a motherboard with any white on the heat sinks this should be your absolute first choice card. If you don't have this color scheme but want performance again you should be considering this great product. This KFA2 980 Ti HOF is truly living upto its Hall of Fame name in every way.


I have ordered the WC versions of these, will they be in essence the same card but with a bitspower waterblock ?

What is the power limit for these cards ?

Cheers :)
 
OcUK Staff
Joined
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Posts
38,205
Location
OcUK HQ
HI there

Great review and too celebrate 8 Packs review:


KFA2 GeForce GTX 980Ti "Hall of Fame 8 Pack Approved Edition" 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card @ £539.99 inc VAT

GX-078-KF_400.jpg


Ti.KFA2 Hall of Fame edition cards are born from top quality components and exemplary innovation to achieve one sole objective—to break records. The KFA2 GTX 980 Ti HOF exemplifies this and sets the definitive standard as the world’s best GTX 980 Ti graphics card.

The true advantage of the KFA2 HOF series cards, however, lay in their completely unbridled potential for overclocking—and the GTX 980 Ti HOF delivers with advanced power systems, 7 heat-pipe triple fan cooling, and KFA2 Hyper Boost hardware overdrive technology. Dual BIOS allows for risk free updates and customization, and the HOF’s signature white PCB holds a commanding presence wherever hardcore gaming enthusiasts gather.


Features:
- VR Ready
- DirectX 12 Ready
- VR Ready
- 6144MB VRAM

Specification
- GeForce 980Ti
- GPU: GeForce 980Ti
- Core Base Clock: 1190MHz
- Core Boost Clock: 1291MHz
- Memory Clock: 7010MHz
- Memory Size: 6144MB GDDR5
- Bus Type: PCI Express 3.0
- Memory Bus: 384-bit
- CUDA Cores: 2816
- DirectX 12: Yes
- DVI Port: 1x Dual-Link DVI, 3x DisplayPort & 1x HDMI
- DisplayPort: Yes
- HDCP: Yes
- HDMI: Yes
- Power: 2x 8-Pin
- 600W PSU Required
- 250W TDP
- Warranty: 2yr


Was [£575.99] Inc. VAT

Only £539.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW





Price Reduction!!!! :D :D :D :D :D
 
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Is the voltage hard locked like 980 hof (where Bios mod/flashing was not unlocking it either) and an additional tool was required to make any changes to volts; i.e. hof_nvvdd? I see hyper boost button is still there to increase the power limit.
 
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Location
Rotherham
I bought one a bit back. I can get 120+ on core stable, but I'm struggling with the memory. I can only get it to around 1900 - that's with a voltage boost
 
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Any chance I can get a screenshot of your overclock software settings?
With this being my first nvidia card, there's been a few settings I haven't been aware of, and I may have missed something else.
 
OcUK Staff
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OcUK HQ
Great review 8pack. I like this card only thing that out me off is kfa2s 2 year warranty. I would have thought they would have 3 years by now

Manufacturers hardly ever change warranty terms, KFA2, Galaxy, Palit, Sapphire and many more launched their brand over 10 years ago, infact 20 years I think with 2yr, though we have suggested them to extend to 3yr or 5yr they find it simply not a requirement.

The only brand we had success with changing warranty terms, was MSI, they used to be 2yr several years ago but we put them under similar pressures and they slowly rolled out 3yr warranty across different regions.

We keep pushing the likes of PC Partner group, Sapphire, Galaxy and Palit etc as the product quality is as good as any other brand if not actually better, but it will probably take a few more years of nagging them.
 
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Manufacturers hardly ever change warranty terms, KFA2, Galaxy, Palit, Sapphire and many more launched their brand over 10 years ago, infact 20 years I think with 2yr, though we have suggested them to extend to 3yr or 5yr they find it simply not a requirement.

The only brand we had success with changing warranty terms, was MSI, they used to be 2yr several years ago but we put them under similar pressures and they slowly rolled out 3yr warranty across different regions.

We keep pushing the likes of PC Partner group, Sapphire, Galaxy and Palit etc as the product quality is as good as any other brand if not actually better, but it will probably take a few more years of nagging them.

I see what you mean, in a way it is a though they don't fully trust their own product well in n fact as you say they are all great.
 
OcUK Staff
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Posts
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OcUK HQ
I see what you mean, in a way it is a though they don't fully trust their own product well in n fact as you say they are all great.


Absolute BS sorry, has nothing to do with lack of trust in their own products. It has everything to do with what industry standard is for warranty which is pretty much 2yr on all brands, so they just follow the normal. We have explained to them they should offer 3yr or 5yr, as it would be a great USP for them, but as their main market is USA and Asia they are not particular so interested in Europe, hence why Galaxy is pretty much OcUK exclusive as myself and the CEO are very good friends, but he is not interested in growing his brand in Europe when he is no.1 brand in China and well we all know how big China is. ;)

A perfect example, Inno3D, PNY and Zotac is same factory, they mainly build reference products. Yet Inno3D, PNY are 2/3yr warranty depending on model lineup, yet Zotac allow upgrade to 5yr. The quality is the same, all comes of same production line, just someone inside Zotac had a cool idea to give themselves a USP by offering extended warranty. Quality if of the Inno3D/PNY is not inferior, is the same. :)
 
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Nice review.
These cards man, I love them. I have my 980 HOF here. Even though I liked the cooler design of the 770 HOF better as it was less loud in design, but the 980 cooler performs better in terms of thermals probably.

We all know what this card needs though to take it to that next level ;) :p
 
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Any idea if the "fan controller issue" reported by Razorpakk is actually commonplace on this card? - I've heard about it a lot on Zotac cards, so not sure.

I want one for my build to replace my whiny G1 Gaming, but not too sure.
 
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Any idea if the "fan controller issue" reported by Razorpakk is actually commonplace on this card? - I've heard about it a lot on Zotac cards, so not sure.

I want one for my build to replace my whiny G1 Gaming, but not too sure.

Hey Joel, you can check this thread . As far as I know every sample has it, some people just notice it later :o

Maintenance Bot said:
The condition sounds abnormal. Even at 100% fan speed if fan tachometer is jumping around then something ain't right.
Munkypoo7 said:
My issue is still the fan speed. Anyone have a 980Ti HOF where the ran speed doesn't ramp up and down under load (ie is constant when it's supposed to be)?
devilhead said:
i had 5x 980ti HOF's all of them had those fan jumps at 100%

Quotes from that link.
I don't want to hurt sales (if you don't mind the noise it's a fine card), but people should know.
 
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