GTX 980 / 970 Discussion

ubersonic · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:09

Final8y said:
They could have shifted the pipes to the left and gotten on half of each.
They could have shifted the pipes to the left and made them slightly thinner and had them all full on which would shut people up.

The first of those would have actually reduced the coolers performance, the pipe that's not on the core is much less important than the main two.

stulid said:
They could have added a cold plate to spread the heat, just like MSI have - http://cdn.overclock.net/0/0b/0b19c93e_msi970-6b.jpeg

ASUS and Gigabyte both got three/four heatpipes directly over the core,

http://cdn.overclock.net/1/17/17a2eaa8_asus970-10b.jpeg
http://cdn.overclock.net/d/d9/d909ca52_Image_04S.jpeg

ASUS have got two minor pipes and one major pipe over the core, compared to EVGA getting two major pipes over the core I don't really see it making a world of difference TBH, but I fully agree that adding an IHS like MSI did would be a good idea.

As for the MSI design, It's obviously better as it has four pipes

Final8y · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:13

ubersonic said:
The first of those would have actually reduced the coolers performance, the pipe that's not on the core is much less important than the main two.

Yes it would but the point was it could have been done as people are jumping on the visual aspect first and foremost.

barmyllama · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:25

Nelly said:
The bottom PCI-E would work in crossfire for x8/x4/x4, what im saying is using 2 Nvidia cards just using the 1st and 3rd full length PCI-E slots at x8/x8, that would then free up an extra PCI_E4 x1 slot as well as the PCI_E1 slot that's always free.

The way that sounded it was if it was trying to explain why 3 Nvidia cards cannot be used due to the limitation of x8/x8 being the mininum for SLI to be used.

Not sure I explained that okay... lol

I'll write on the MSI forums and find out.

I think the way it works is as soon as you put a card in slot 3 it becomes a x4 slot only. So even if the top slot stayed at x16, the bottom would be x4 still and so SLI wouldn't work.

Nelly · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:29

barmyllama said:
I think the way it works is as soon as you put a card in slot 3 it becomes a x4 slot only. So even if the top slot stayed at x16, the bottom would be x4 still and so SLI wouldn't work.

Cheers, yeah that's what I was wondering, what a bummer eh lol

I like the MSI Z97 Gaming 5/7 but not the Killer NIC, hear it's got higher CPU usage i.e. 6% and slight lag in FPS games? I was going to buy an Intel Gigabit PRO/1000 CT Desktop Adapter PCI-express (EXPI9301CT) and use my Soundblaster ZXR in the top slot.

I guess I could always go Soundblaster Omni via USB, or just buy a Z97 board with the Intel I218-V NIC built in, less hassle lol.

rankftw · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:32

What's the deal with the OcUK 980? Like who makes them more specifically?

stulid · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:35

rankftw said:
What's the deal with the OcUK 980? Like who makes them more specifically?

Can be from a wide variety of manufacturers, Point of View, Inno3D etc.

Gibbo · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:35

rankftw said:
What's the deal with the OcUK 980? Like who makes them more specifically?

All NVTM built reference cards.

Typically mostly Zotac and Palit brands.

Frenzy · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:37

Wonder if the OCUK cards which ever reach premium status like MSI, ASUS, GIGABYTE etc

rankftw · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:39

stulid said:
Can be from a wide variety of manufacturers, Point of View, Inno3D etc.

Gibbo said:
All NVTM built reference cards.
Typically mostly Zotac and Palit brands.

Got one on the way and now I know what to expect, cheers guys.

ubersonic · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:42

Frenzy said:
Wonder if the OCUK cards which ever reach premium status like MSI, ASUS, GIGABYTE etc

Well they already have the best customer service/RMA by default

rankftw · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:44

ubersonic said:
Well they already have the best customer service/RMA by default

Yup and that's why I chose it heh

, but hopefully never have to use it.

uksoldierboy · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:45

Ordered my Evga 980 SC

, will be my first green team card in a while, looking forward to giving it some!

andybird123 · 24 Sep 2014 at 15:48

Nelly said:
The bottom PCI-E would work in crossfire for x8/x4/x4, what im saying is using 2 Nvidia cards just using the 1st and 3rd full length PCI-E slots at x8/x8, that would then free up an extra PCI_E4 x1 slot as well as the PCI_E1 slot that's always free.

The way that sounded it was if it was trying to explain why 3 Nvidia cards cannot be used due to the limitation of x8/x8 being the mininum for SLI to be used.

Not sure I explained that okay... lol

I'll write on the MSI forums and find out.

according to the spec sheet for your motherboard, the third PCIE16 slot is a 4x only, so for SLI you HAVE to use the top two full length slots to get x8/x8

Boomstick777 · 24 Sep 2014 at 16:09

uksoldierboy said:
Ordered my Evga 980 SC , will be my first green team card in a while, looking forward to giving it some!

Good choice, it's a beauty

barmyllama · 24 Sep 2014 at 16:10

The way it's going we are going to need a Maxwell GPU sub forum.

Boomstick777 · 24 Sep 2014 at 16:13

barmyllama said:
The way it's going we are going to need a Maxwell GPU sub forum.

Haha, well it just so happens... > http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18543967

That's the OG Maxwell thread.

Things change I've changed · 24 Sep 2014 at 16:35

This is my first EVGA card from new, what's the step-up program? do they still do that?

ßeorn · 24 Sep 2014 at 17:06

quick question about ref 980's

are they all the same from different brands? the price diff is just the brand/warranty etc

Orangey · 24 Sep 2014 at 17:17

ßeorn said:
quick question about ref 980's

are they all the same from different brands? the price diff is just the brand/warranty etc

Yep, all same board with same cooler. Check on Ek Cooling Configurator to confirm.

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/waterblock/3831109869222

Nelly · 24 Sep 2014 at 22:32

andybird123 said:
according to the spec sheet for your motherboard, the third PCIE16 slot is a 4x only, so for SLI you HAVE to use the top two full length slots to get x8/x8

Yeah you're right. I haven't bought a Z97 board yet, I just read an article about the MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC and that says exactly the same as you said.

Link >> https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=183478

I guess all Z97 series motherboards are the same? I've never used 2 cards in SLI before.