The GTX 980 Ti owners thread.

Dirk Diggler · 28 Oct 2015 at 14:45

There's been a fair debate in here regarding 980Ti temperatures at 4K resolution. As are the laws of Geekdom, if a difference of opinion rages on long enough, then a scientific experiment must be conducted.

Of course, we have the TLDR:

The card runs hot. You need decent case fans, and you should tweak them to shift air when required.

If you have decent case fans and you run them "out of the box", then your GPU will max out at around 85C and your backplate will reach around 75C. Your GPU will be throttling at this temperature.

If you run your fans at around 1000RPM to shift air out the case, then your card will max out around 72C and the backplate will be around 68C

If you game with a headset on and don't bother with noise, your fans at full pelt will have your card at 65C max and your backplate will be a cool 36C.

So here goes...

The Test Rig:

4790k @ stock
MSI 980Ti Gaming 6G @ stock
Corsair Platinum 2400 DDR3, 16GB
Superflower 1200w Platinum PSU

All the goodies are housed in a Parvum S2 with 6* NF-F12 IndustrialPPC 2000RPM IP67 PWM and 2* BeQuiet 80mm fans.

2*120mm fans pulling air in from the front over the rad :

2*120mm fans extracting air out the top :

2*120mm fans pulling air in from the base onto the GPU :

2*80mm fans sucking air out of the rear :

I'll use software to measure the temperatures, and I've also added a sensor between the backplate and PCB to measure how hot the plate is getting.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To start with, I've set the GPU to run it's fan at stock settings and I've set all the case fans to 20% RPM. This is to simulate the situation where the BIOS is controlling all the fans according to the CPU temperature. During most gaming sessions, the CPU temperature will be low (especially if under water) so the case fans won't ramp up at all when things get toasty.

Idle

GPU: 60C
Backplate : 62.8C

Witcher 3 @ 4K

GPU: 84C
Backplate : 77.5C

Idle

The backplate has reached 62.8C

Afterburner stats

Witcher 3 @ 4K

The backplate rises to 77.5C

Afterburner stats

Now I tweak the fans to react to the GPU temperature using Speedfan and Afterburner:

Top Extract

Rear Extract

Front intake

Bottom intake (blowing on the GPU)

I set up a custom fan curve for the GPU

And the results...

Idle

GPU: 42C
Backplate : 50.8C

Witcher 3 @ 4K

GPU: 72C
Backplate : 67.6C

Idle

The backplate reaches 50.8C

Afterburner Stats

Witcher 3 @ 4K

The backplate reaches 67.6C

Afterburner Stats

Here's a summary of temperatures and fan speeds

Finally I ramp all fans up to 100%

Idle

GPU: 44C
Backplate : 35.9C

Witcher 3 @ 4K

GPU: 64C
Backplate : 35.9C

Idle

The backplate only reaches 35.9C

Afterburner stats

Witcher 3 @ 4K

The backplate tops out at 57.1C

Afterburner Stats

And a summary of temperatures and fan speeds

Gerard · 28 Oct 2015 at 14:52

Most ive seen gta v on my strix get to is about 78 or thereabouts at 4k.

AWPC · 28 Oct 2015 at 15:38

Try Mad Max @ 4K that's more demanding than the Witcher 3!

Also it appears the stock HSF on the MSI 6G is the exact same model as the 980 & was also spotted last year on AMD cards with way less TDP.

No wonder its barely up to cooling a GTX 980 Ti :rolleyes:

whyscotty · 28 Oct 2015 at 15:41

AWPC said:
No wonder its barely up to cooling a GTX 980 Ti

Totally agree, mine was poor at cooling @1440 and above.

Dirk Diggler · 28 Oct 2015 at 16:02

AWPC said:
Try Mad Max @ 4K that's more demanding than the Witcher 3!

Also it appears the stock HSF on the MSI 6G is the exact same model as the 980 & was also spotted last year on AMD cards with way less TDP.

No wonder its barely up to cooling a GTX 980 Ti

Nope, as I've been trying to get through to you... the game and resolution do not matter. At 99% GPU usage, the results are the same.

The card simply can't be pushed any harder.

AWPC · 28 Oct 2015 at 16:26

String said:
Nope, as I've been trying to get through to you... the game and resolution do not matter. At 99% GPU usage, the results are the same.

The card simply can't be pushed any harder.

I fully agree that's why I have a Kraken G10 + H55 to fit tomorrow! (basic budget AIO I know but way better than the stock).

Mad Max @ 4K @ 144Hz that must be hot :eek:

The MSI simply does not have anywhere near enough capacity air HSF wise for 4K also reusing the same HSF as last year is a poor move by MSI no wonder the card gets so hot :eek:

Dirk Diggler · 28 Oct 2015 at 16:59

AWPC said:
Mad Max @ 4K @ 144Hz that must be hot

The MSI simply does not have anywhere near enough capacity air HSF wise for 4K also reusing the same HSF as last year is a poor move by MSI no wonder the card gets so hot

It's like you're reading my posts, but seeing different words and images.

Gerard · 28 Oct 2015 at 17:02

AWPC = Alienware pc?

Dicehunter · 28 Oct 2015 at 17:38

AWPC said:
I fully agree that's why I have a Kraken G10 + H55 to fit tomorrow! (basic budget AIO I know but way better than the stock).

Mad Max @ 4K @ 144Hz that must be hot

The MSI simply does not have anywhere near enough capacity air HSF wise for 4K also reusing the same HSF as last year is a poor move by MSI no wonder the card gets so hot

The "Stock" heatsink and fan on custom GPU's like MSI, EVGA, Asus etc... are plenty fine for 4K, Example below of Mad Max set to 4K 144Hz, Temp never went over 70'c which is completely fine for 4K -

Joe! · 28 Oct 2015 at 17:41

String said:
It's like you're reading my posts, but seeing different words and images.

Hah, summed it up quite nicely.

Thanks for the investigation, String. I've personally yet to see my card hit >80c which is fine by my standards, but I do wish there was a way for you to control your case fans going by GPU and not CPU temperatures.

Dirk Diggler · 28 Oct 2015 at 17:46

Joe! said:
Hah, summed it up quite nicely.

Thanks for the investigation, String. I've personally yet to see my card hit >80c which is fine by my standards, but I do wish there was a way for you to control your case fans going by GPU and not CPU temperatures.

Cheers.

You can control case fans based on GPU temperature, click the spoiler below "now I tweak the fans..."

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=28740057&postcount=7641

Joe! · 28 Oct 2015 at 18:10

I suppose I meant; I wish I had a way. SpeedFan doesn't work on my motherboard for some reason, I cannot control any fans, although I never did try the method you linked so I'll give it a go later this evening.

Thanks again.

Dirk Diggler · 28 Oct 2015 at 18:57

Joe! said:
I suppose I meant; I wish I had a way. SpeedFan doesn't work on my motherboard for some reason, I cannot control any fans, although I never did try the method you linked so I'll give it a go later this evening.

Thanks again.

Are you sure? Have a look at this guide, especially the part on page 2 that covers how to select your motherboard and tell the fans to work manually as opposed to BIOS.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1275-page1.html

AWPC · 28 Oct 2015 at 19:53

Gerard said:
AWPC = Alienware pc?

or Alan Wake PC

AWPC · 28 Oct 2015 at 19:55

String said:
It's like you're reading my posts, but seeing different words and images.

Your assuming everyone who owns a GTX 980 Ti on air has an extreme air cooled case like yours.

AWPC · 28 Oct 2015 at 20:00

whyscotty said:
Totally agree, mine was poor at cooling @1440 and above.

Its not just you & me when I started researching this after having temps issues I have found loads of users based in US+EU on other forums who talk about the MSI HSF being feeble & last years model! Most went G10+H55 like I am tomorrow its either that or sell up & buy a hybrid card. No way will the stock HSF last the winter in Fallout 4 with the central heating on.

I guess MSI should have added a disclaimer to their store page you need a lot of case fans & or large case & or go water!

setter · 28 Oct 2015 at 20:32

Played some bf3 just now, msi gaming edition. Max temp of 54c using a 1-1 fan profile. Now my two case side panels are off at present but the room im in is a cosy 22c. Cpu temp maxed at 52c. May see a bit higher on both once the case is buttoned up properly.

AWPC · 28 Oct 2015 at 21:30

setter said:
Played some bf3 just now, msi gaming edition. Max temp of 54c using a 1-1 fan profile. Now my two case side panels are off at present but the room im in is a cosy 22c. Cpu temp maxed at 52c. May see a bit higher on both once the case is buttoned up properly.

What resolution though 1080 I bet these cards do not go above mid 50s on that resolution regardless of game.

setter · 28 Oct 2015 at 21:35

1920x1200. Side panels being off have dropped temps a bit as the card normally hits the mid 60's on this profile. Mid 70's on stock profile. No idea though if the backplate ever gets hot. Card sits that close to my k2 cpu heatsink i cant check.

whyscotty · 28 Oct 2015 at 21:53

AWPC said:
Its not just you & me

Defo not just us, the place I bought from said they'd had above usual returns with same issue.