980gtx "founders edition" what is it??

adarc8

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Hello i got offered from 2 differnt guys to buy 980 gtx. On has MSI 980gtx abd the other has Evga 980gtx "founders edition" hes askin 15$ more than the MSI guy.. does it worth it? What is it the "founders edition"?
 
Solution
1. Reference cards are gimped in that they run at or above the thermal throttling point at stock settings. The blower style cooling system is simply not powerful enough to adequately cool the card.

2. In addition to cooler design the reference cards are further gimped from the use of the reference PCB. AIB cards will include various "improvements" such as beefier VRMs, thermal pads, improved chokes, etc.

3. All designs exhaust some of the air outside the case .... blower style coolers exhaust more of it because the shroud is designed to do so. Because the air has to be squeezed out that little tiny hole in the back, significant backpressure is developed and air does squeak out thru shroud openings. In addition, the card itself...
Differences in graphics cards are usually different kinds of cooling solutions. Founder's Edition cards are blower style, which means all of the air is run out the back of the card. Open-air style cards take the heat and blow them out of the card and into the case, rather than out the back.

Founder's Edition (blower style) cards run hotter than open-air cards, but open-air cards also heat up the air inside of your case, potentially heating up your other components even more. I prefer blower style, but some other people prefer open-air. If you trust both people equally, go with whatever has higher clock rate. If they have the same clock rate, whichever one is cheaper.

Since you're not buying from a reputable retailer, confirm with the person to make sure the card actually works before you buy it, regardless of whatever you choose.
 
Founders editions naming didn't technically start till the 10xx series. For the 9xx and older they were just called reference cards as they used Nvidias reference pcb and blower cooler(founders editions are reference cards with a new name).

Which MSI card is it as they have a few different models of 980.
 
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1080_Ti_Gaming_X/30.html

GTX980 sits about the level of an RX-480 but is less future proof than that AMD card. It sits near a GTX1060 6GB card. Above the 1060 in some games and below in others likely.

(Architecture is similar but there are changes that benefit the newer "10" series like the GTX1060)

There's also the lack of Warranty on a used card.

Pricing for GTX1060 6GB starts at $270USD so unless you're getting it in great quality for $200 or less I would not even consider it.
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=373&sort=price
 


okay thanks for the information!



thanks! ill check the clock speed thing..



im buying it in 210$ very good price here in israel..

 
1. Reference cards are gimped in that they run at or above the thermal throttling point at stock settings. The blower style cooling system is simply not powerful enough to adequately cool the card.

2. In addition to cooler design the reference cards are further gimped from the use of the reference PCB. AIB cards will include various "improvements" such as beefier VRMs, thermal pads, improved chokes, etc.

3. All designs exhaust some of the air outside the case .... blower style coolers exhaust more of it because the shroud is designed to do so. Because the air has to be squeezed out that little tiny hole in the back, significant backpressure is developed and air does squeak out thru shroud openings. In addition, the card itself radiates heat in all directions. Think of the card like a radiator ... a water cooling radiator disperses about 60% of the latent heat in the system thru the rad fins and outside the case.... the other 40% radiates from he surface of the radiator shroud, tubing, fittings and the components themselves. The shroud, PCB / Backplate all radiate heat out into the case.

Another thing to consider ... Look on newegg at CLC type coolers for CPUs and we see models with 1 to 3 fans. So how is it then that a CPU cooler needs 2 or 3 fans and yet a GPU CLC type cooler only has 1 ? Shouldn't a cooler for a 1080 Ti that can burn 350 watts require more radiator and fans than a 90 watt CPU (130 OCd) ? The reason it is able to maintain lower temps w/ just 1 fan is that so much heat is radiated from the card.

4. I certainly understand the mindset that says it's bad thing to have the heat inside the case .... but, assuming for a moment that it actually stays there, what component are we worried about getting 2-3C hotter ? I just ran Furmark (100% load on twin GPUs) for 20 minutes .... start to finish:

CPU went from 37C to 39C
MoBo went from 40C to 40C
GPU went from 41 to 58C
SSD1 went from 35 to 36C
SSD2 went from 38 to 38C
SSHD 1 went from 38 to 38C
SSHD 2 went from 39 to 39C

That is with water cooled CPU, MoBo and twin GFX cards ... all of which are cooled with radiators equipped with fans blowing all that heat into the case.

The reason it has no impact on any component temps is because the case, the entire case volume is turned over more than twice every second. So as long as you provide case ventilation, the interior case air will be replaced 1 - 2 times a second. The heat doesn't stay in the box because it is gone before it would have any chance to affect anything. Ya can argue with the logic, but the argument ends when ya look at the numbers above. There is simply no impact and in this box, we're talking over 700 watts of heat being generated.

If you use a generic case with 1 rear fan, an interior case temp rise between a blower style might be measurable. But with a big GFX card, the standard 3 intakes / 2 exhaust will show no impact. OTOH, negative impact (throttling) on the blower style GFX card is immediately obvious.

GTX 980 Reference

temp.gif



MSI 980 Gaming X

temp.gif


That temp hitting the throttling point limits the performance of the reference card which is why the reference card hits < 150 in the OC test and the MS breaks 160 fps.
 
Solution


a lot of information out here, i understand most of it but didnt understand if u r saying that the founders edition sucks or not.. from what i understood it looks like i sohuld get the cheaper one with the "free" air cooling and not the "close" "founders edition" one..
correct?