The GTX 980 Ti owners thread.

[tyler_jrb]

make it so the fans hit 100%. Plus that fan wont cool down the card. The heatsinks for the VRMS are on the underside of the GPU. Only way to cool it down would be to allow cooler air into the fans themselves.

There are many people with the same GPU and even running very similar setup and getting lower temperatures. So airflow is an issue.

 

[Gerard]

This gpu fortifier and the top bracket really helps keeping this beast nice and rigid

 

[Kaapstad]

MSI GTX 980 Ti Sea Hawk Review @Hardware Canucks

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/70463-msi-gtx-980-ti-sea-hawk-review.html

 

[NoobCannon]

Not so sure its me I mean a 120mm fan mm away blowing cold air onto a GTX 980 Ti should be enough right! I think some of these cards have marginal backplate heatspots. Look at any review with a thermal image test they all seem to have a hot spot around the backplate regions! Even with the case side panel off they get very hot quickly the backplate does trap a lot of hot air.

I think some designs are more marginal than others the gaps are not all the same. That's why I have gone for the MSI as its non reference design.

Found some games @ 4K also take the card to thermal throttling threshold & some don't so its trial & error. No sure a single GTX 980 Ti is enough for 4K in some recent games either.

Mad Max 81C @ 4K
Mad Max 67C @ 1080

Arkham Knight 75C @ 4K
Arkham Knight 63C @ 1080

Cannot possibly be the case I just took the side off & both games go to the exact same temps its no cooler whatsoever. These cards get hot @ 4K some games more than others. Water for these cards is best otherwise lots of fans. I removed my ghetto mod its no cooler with or without it blowing onto the backplate the internal temps are still red hot either way.

No single card is enough for 4k right now at max settings and anyone who tells you or anyone else any different is lying.

I run 2x 980ti both heavily overclocked under water and still drop below 100fps in some games with max settings @4k in games like gta v unless you concider 30fps acceptable ofc you arent gonna do it.

Backplates are as far as i can tell pointless unless for asthetic reasons and probably do trap more heat than an open backed card.

As for the heat and killing 3 cards already it one hundred percent is your case or you live in the desert. Airflow is king even for watercoolers like myself and a case with poor and or limited airflow will result in heat problems. I myself have found this recently and had to modify my own case as even with watercooling i was suffering with temp issues due to airflow.

Tldr - one card isnt enough for 4k and you need a new case

 

[IceWolf]

Looking at your photos the card is way too close to the bottom of the case so there is no space for air to enter into the fans. Blowing air onto the backplate won't help much as previously stated: you need air going through the heat sinks via the graphics card's cooler.

Also, maybe stop overclocking them so much. Leave the memory at stock as it nets you almost no benefit and aim for +100 core only for around 1400mhz boost.

 

[Joe!]

@Gerard My Strix is sagging, a lot... Have you used anything aside from the GPU/PCB bracket that comes with the card as it is?

 

[Gerard]

@Gerard My Strix is sagging, a lot... Have you used anything aside from the GPU/PCB bracket that comes with the card as it is?

Nope just as it is, are you sure its actually sagging though? The plastic shroud on the card tapers to an angle quite a bit. I thought mine also sagged but after i took that pic i realised it was dead level, seems to be an optical illusion looking at it from the side because of the shroud.

 

[ubersonic]

So to prevent the 3rd RMA replacement card from having any issues with temps I have:
1: Ghetto modded a 92mm silent fan to blow air onto the backplate.
2: There was already a 120mm silent fan blowing air onto the backplate of the other 2 burnt out cards from a few mm away. I have now decided to reverse that fan so it sucks air away from the backplate & straight out the case as its only a few mm from the backplate & top HSF radiator pipes.

Considered just removing the backplate? it's there to add rigidity and look cool not help with temps, hence why the reference card didn't have one and some 980 owners removed theirs to help with cooling.

 

[Joe!]

That's what I was thinking too, but it's definitely sagging a fair amount.



It's hard to really take a picture of it, but if you compare it to the motherboard heatspreader you can see it droops down. The PCI-e power cables aren't causing any strain either, they're quite loose.

 

[Gerard]

That's what I was thinking too, but it's definitely sagging a fair amount.



It's hard to really take a picture of it, but if you compare it to the motherboard heatspreader you can see it droops down. The PCI-e power cables aren't causing any strain either, they're quite loose.

Strange mine is dead level, i've got my power cables around the other side maybe that's adding support to it?

 

[delpy8]

Anyone got the evga hybrid 980ti? If so have you taken up the offer from evga for a new shroud

 

[ubersonic]

That's what I was thinking too, but it's definitely sagging a fair amount.

It's hard to really take a picture of it, but if you compare it to the motherboard heatspreader you can see it droops down. The PCI-e power cables aren't causing any strain either, they're quite loose.

Have you tried removing the PCI blanks above/below it then loosening the screws and re-tightening with it in place? I actually had this issue with my 980ti Gaming, and it turned out the card was so solid that it was actually force applied to the PCI-bracket by the blank next to it was twisting the entire thing.

You could also try loosening the motherboard screws then re-tightening with the GFX card screwed in place, because motherboards are not always level with the back of the case and just a single degree or two out can cause issues with card alignment due to the size of the things these days.

 

[GAM8LE]

That's what I was thinking too, but it's definitely sagging a fair amount.



It's hard to really take a picture of it, but if you compare it to the motherboard heatspreader you can see it droops down. The PCI-e power cables aren't causing any strain either, they're quite loose.

What about putting the cables coming out the top, going in the grommet above the sata and trying to get it tight on the rear of the case?

May lift it a bit

 

[Joe!]

Going to try PCI brackets first... Brb

Edit: No luck, nor changing the directions of the cables.

I suppose it doesn't matter for the time being, and it's registered for warranty if anything goes wrong.

 

[AWPC]

Considered just removing the backplate? it's there to add rigidity and look cool not help with temps, hence why the reference card didn't have one and some 980 owners removed theirs to help with cooling.

Will sag too much without it the HSF are very heavy probably more than the actual card!

 

[razorpakk]

MSI GTX 980 Ti Sea Hawk Review @Hardware Canucks

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/70463-msi-gtx-980-ti-sea-hawk-review.html

Just hope they all (Inno3D, EVGA, MSI) come out sooner for next gen, so the hybrid prices don't stay so high.

 

[AWPC]

Looking at your photos the card is way too close to the bottom of the case so there is no space for air to enter into the fans. Blowing air onto the backplate won't help much as previously stated: you need air going through the heat sinks via the graphics card's cooler.

Also, maybe stop overclocking them so much. Leave the memory at stock as it nets you almost no benefit and aim for +100 core only for around 1400mhz boost.

I do not overclock them at all its whatever MSI set in the bios.

It cannot possibly be the case I have removed the motherboard from the case & internal card temps are the same & even held a 120mm fan at different angles close to it the temps remain the same its the internal temp within the card which is hot.

1080 is usually under 70C between 65-67C.
4K is between 80-86C depending on the game.

Such a large gap of almost 20C with no other changes tells me it has to be the single card is not quite strong enough for 4K on some games & or the backplate is trapping heat which I have seen on several reviews where they take thermal images the hotspot is always around the backplate area.

As the MSI is not as heavily overclocked as the 2 x Inno3D which burnt out I will keep a close eye on temps & see how it goes. I may even downclock to stock GTX 980 Ti levels its not like it makes much difference having GPU Boost 2.0 @ 4K makes minimal FPS difference but temps are way higher when its working.

 

[IceWolf]

Ok, well try using evga precision instead of afterburner as you can set a temperature target rather than a power target. So set 80c as the target and the card will throttle to not get hotter. That way it only boosts as high as it will safely go.

[I haven't used afterburner in a while so it might be possible with that too]

This is how mine looks for example but leave the core and memory at +0mhz:



I think you can leave the power target at +110% since that will help up until the card gets too hot then it will adjust dynamically.

Regarding temperatures: 80-85c is normal for these cards when stressed. So running witcher 3 at 1080p with max details and in an area like Crookbag Bog which is gpu heavy gets up to 85c if I didn't change the fan curve and temp target. 4K is just stressing your card all the time hence reaching 85c quickly.

Most people seem to get the same temps when benchmarking without issue. Yours seem to keep dying so it is either very bad luck, your case ventilation, or maybe something else like a faulty PSU. I have had factory clocked cards that were unstable before and I had to use a negative value on afterburner to downclock them. This MSI card might last better even at 85c than the Inno3D ones

 

[AWPC]

Ok, well try using evga precision instead of afterburner as you can set a temperature target rather than a power target. So set 80c as the target and the card will throttle to not get hotter. That way it only boosts as high as it will safely go.

[I haven't used afterburner in a while so it might be possible with that too]

This is how mine looks for example but leave the core and memory at +0mhz:



I think you can leave the power target at +110% since that will help up until the card gets too hot then it will adjust dynamically.

Regarding temperatures: 80-85c is normal for these cards when stressed. So running witcher 3 at 1080p with max details and in an area like Crookbag Bog which is gpu heavy gets up to 85c if I didn't change the fan curve and temp target. 4K is just stressing your card all the time hence reaching 85c quickly.

Most people seem to get the same temps when benchmarking without issue. Yours seem to keep dying so it is either very bad luck, your case ventilation, or maybe something else like a faulty PSU. I have had factory clocked cards that were unstable before and I had to use a negative value on afterburner to downclock them. This MSI card might last better even at 85c than the Inno3D ones

Thanks for the advice I will have a play around not bothered about the extra FPS its more important to me for the card to last.

MSI have a gaming app I was just using which downclocks with 1 button press to silent mode removes the MSI OC takes it back to stock Ti levels.

Not noticed any difference ingame FPS wise but temps are a little lower so will see what happens then try evga precision.

 

[IceWolf]

Ghetto mod time

I have noticed all 3 x GTX 980 Ti's I owned were getting high temps around the backplate region. This I put down to gaming @ 4K with max everything (why I bought the card to begin with obviously!). Front of card is always cool where the HSF is.
So to prevent the 3rd RMA replacement card from having any issues with temps I have:
1: Ghetto modded a 92mm silent fan to blow air onto the backplate.
2: There was already a 120mm silent fan blowing air onto the backplate of the other 2 burnt out cards from a few mm away. I have now decided to reverse that fan so it sucks air away from the backplate & straight out the case as its only a few mm from the backplate & top HSF radiator pipes.

In total this Alienware Predator 2.0 case has:
1 x 120mm exhaust fan out the back of the case running @ 1200RPM.
1 x 120mm front case fan pulling air inrunning @ 1200RPM.
1 x 92mm fan running @ 1100RPM at the right case side side drawing air in.
1 x 120mm fan running @ 1200RPM exhausting air from the GTX 980 Ti.
1 x 92mm fan running @ 1100RPM blowing air onto the backplate.
1 x 140mm PSU fan exhausting hot air out the back of the case. (Seasonic Snow Silent 1050W

Its still silent even under load so I will have to closely monitor how temps go.
Mad Max @ 4K maxxed out causes the GPU to thermal throttle it needs playing on a lower resolution the war boys have spoken
Batman Arkham Knight @ 4K maxxed out hardly gets to 75C regardless of ambient air temps.

PC Spec is:
Core i7-980X @ 3.46Ghz default clock speed
Gigabtyte EX58-UD5 (01/10/12 latest bios)
12GB DDR3 @ 1333Mhz (default speed for this Core i7 in triple channel memory mode)
Seasonic Snow Silent White 1050W PSU
Asus Xonar D2X PCI-E Sound Card
5 x SSD with 4 different multi OS boot (Win 7 x64, x86, Win 10 Pro x86, Win Vista x86 Ultimate + HP x86).
Phillips BD405 40" 4K Monitor
Logitech THX 2.1 Sub & Speakers
Alienware Tact-X LED USB Keyboard

Look at your own photos: you have a soundcard (I assume) below your gpu then the edge of the case. The second intake fan in the front attacked to the hard drice cages blows over the BACK of your card (stealing air from the intake fan in the very front of the case) so you have no room for air to flow easily into the intakes of the gpu fans. And adding many fans running at right angles to each other creates turbulent flow which is less effective. Ideally you want the fans blowing air in the same direction from the front of the case and maybe the side toward the gpu then exhaust fans in the back sucking air out.

Tl:dr - take out the soundcard and put it between the gpu and cpu if you can't move the gpu up, make sure your fans are blowing air towards the front of your gpu but don't put a side fan at right angles to the flow of your front intake fans

[edit] and tidy up those cables in the front of the case that look like they block what little air tries to go down to the front of your gpu