Does the 980 ti asus have any redeeming qualities over other brands?

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Lolpingu

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Jul 23, 2014
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I'm buying a 980 ti soon and due to the absence of an EVGA classified in all local suppliers (probably because they sold like hotcakes) I'm going with the Gigabyte one.
However, I've noticed that the Asus one is more expensive than everything else, except for the kingpin which isn't in stock where I live.
Which is weird because Asus seems to be the least favorite 980 ti manufacturer. My question is, does it have any redeeming qualities? anything to justify the extra $100?
 
Solution
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about asus customer service you heard correct, they got some horrible customer service feedback atm

about the clock speed, depending on what your retailer is, you should be able to get a model from evga or gigabyte in the same range, usually.
all the factory clock speed means is it was a high quality chip (some are better than others straigh from teh gpu factory), so they were able to get nice base increases without incident..
most of the time, u can get a basic stock model from asus, ecga or gigabyte, and overclock them equally the same, as if it was the factory overclocked version, the difference from teh factory overclocked version is its a guaranteed, where as if you buy a standard model you might not be able to get more than a...
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its not about the manufacturer, but the model, alot of the "top listed" asus 980 ti's is automatically the strix version which is asus top of the line model, where as for some reason the gigabyte and evga get their middle models listed in the top, and their top of the line lower(unless you price search specific)

what you want to look at is clock speed, base, boost and such, then when you have narrowed a equal'ish version from teh 3 manufacturers then you look at the other features like cooling and such
look at your needs,, do you need/want a hydro version? or an ln2 mode? if not,, prob not worth the extra bucks 😉
 
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Well, I'm not really big into overclocking, I'm just too afraid that I'll mess something up. In that case, I assume high stock settings are what I want, in which case, the 980 ti strix does seem to win out, at least among the other models available from my local supplier. Question is: is overclocking so easy that even someone like me could make the 980 ti strix's high stock settings meaningless by overclocking cards with lower stock settings without too much risk even if I get a bad silicon roll?
Also, I've heard bad things about Asus' customer support. Is there truth to it, or is it a circlejerk?

 
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about asus customer service you heard correct, they got some horrible customer service feedback atm

about the clock speed, depending on what your retailer is, you should be able to get a model from evga or gigabyte in the same range, usually.
all the factory clock speed means is it was a high quality chip (some are better than others straigh from teh gpu factory), so they were able to get nice base increases without incident..
most of the time, u can get a basic stock model from asus, ecga or gigabyte, and overclock them equally the same, as if it was the factory overclocked version, the difference from teh factory overclocked version is its a guaranteed, where as if you buy a standard model you might not be able to get more than a 100-200mhz overclock on it(very rarely tho), thus not beating the factory overclock version

and yes overclocking has become really simple and accessible for the mainstream
you literally just get a piece of software together along you gpu, with a "switch" on and you increase or decrease how much you want (within some limits) and it does it automatically for you
perfectly valid for most of the common consumers that just want an easy way to handle it, and dont want to fiddle with details to get every last drop squeezed out
 
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Solution
If looking at the Strix, yes it's a very good card and OCs well, that's what I have in my Z170 build, it also comes in a stock model and a OC model (higher core clock), they also have the 980Ti Matrix which has an even higher core clock. Also the 980Ti Gold20th (a special edition) and Poseidon. Both Strix cards are priced near same as many others from EVGA, Zotac, GB and the like. Might check at NewEgg, many local type stores often over inflate prices on the better known GPU brands.
 
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this is a perfect example of "determining your needs"
since all 3 cards comes with virtually the same chip speeds, the price difference on the cards then comes from teh extra features, and then you need to figure out if you need the features of a matrix, a poseidon or even the crazy gold20th, thats where the word enthusiast comes to mind on some of those cards

 
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an example could be:
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980 Ti XTREME 6GB core clock 1216, boost 1317.
ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti Strix OC - 6GB core clock 1216, boost 1317.

identical cards, 2 diff manufacturers, so what you need to determine is then which cards "extra" feature do you prefer, gigabyte or the asus features, find better user review on and such, because the chip them selves are identical, its all about the manufacturer's added stuff like cooling, fans and such

thats how you should choose a gfx card, find the identical cards from diff manufacturers, or near identical, in terms of chip, speed,.. then after that you take the other "fluff" into consideration, and decide which you want
 
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I see. I don't think I'm enough of an enthusiast to really care or make effective use of model-specific features, so I'll just go with a G1 since it seems like overclocking it to the point where it's performance rivals or even exceeds models of higher stock settings is easy and it's... you know... a good deal cheaper. Maybe Imma put those extra $100 into more memory to get dat optimal 16gb.
Either way, thanks for all the help guys!
 
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Well, I have it and it's performing as expected for a high-end gaming card. Crysis 3, Watch Dogs, Witcher 3 and Far Cry 4 are all running at 60+ fps with everything maxed out at 1080p. They look so good that it is hard to focus on the gameplay 😀
Also, it has no noticeable coil whine whatsoever.

It is, however, running pretty hot according to MSI afterburner. It hangs around 75c on those games and I assume it will hang around the mid 80s in the summer. As I understand, the card is designed to handle these temps but I assume that if it runs cooler it will still live longer. Would saturating my case with Noctua F12s or similar case fans (that's just the priciest one I could find at my local supplier) put a dent in these temps? (and no I don't mind fan noise, I actually kinda like it for whatever reason 😛)
I know I can crank the GPU fans up but I don't wanna shorten their lifespan because I'm afraid of installing an aftermarket cooler in case they break for fear of screwing something up.
 
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Those temps arent troublesome btw, but:
yes increasing case airflow, by either adding more or better fans, or creating good airflow, will decrease your gpu temps, done proper you will even decrease them quite a substantial chunk

Most cases come with a vent/mount hole on the side, near the gpu area, for a reason 😉
just by adding a fan there can affect GPU temps significantly, a good rule is: the side hole is at or below the GPU, make it an intake fan, is the hole higher than the gpu, make it an exhaust

For optimal longevity you want a positive pressure case, meaning more intake than exhaust, and this will perform fine and just great in terms of cooling. (yes yes people hail that negative pressure is the supreme cooling, but positive is just great, and better for "long life" due to less dust)

what you want in a fan, high amount of air moved, usually this is marked by CFM, or m³/h, you want that value to be high, the higher the better, and makes it easier when comparing fans, even more so if noise truly isnt an issue, look at 2 fans in equal rpm range and pick the one with higher CFM/ m³/h

Some fan specs display static pressure, again higher value is good, but high static pressure vs CFM is usually only important when dealing with rads or such obstructions, and you generally want unobstructed airflow in an air cooled case

So, back= exhaust, top back if present = exhaust, front = intake, side if at or below GPU = intake, side above gpu = exhaust, bottom fan if present = intake, but its more important to focus on front and side fan intakes first

again strive for positive pressure, so more intake than exhaust,
1-2front intakes, 1 side intake and 1 back/top back exhaust and you should be great temp wise if your fans are solid quality big airflow moving fans
 
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Whoa, thanks for the thorough info!
One last question: as ignorant I am when it comes to computers in general, I'm extra ignorant with cooling. Do fans come predetermined as intakes or exhausts, or is it just a matter of which side of them you screw onto your case?
 
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air direction is determined by which way you turn the fan, when you screw them in, correct assumption.
some fans should have a little arrow like mark which indicates the direction of airflow, if not The concave side will exhaust. The convex side will intake, usually that is the the "backside" = ugly manufacturer type sticker/motor/struts: exhaust,
"front side" usually = logo/pretty side/motor cover: intake
if completely in doubt plug it in to a molex, turn on the computer, check the air direction, turn off your computer and install teh direction side you need

side note, in case you do at some point decide noise might be too much:
Bigger fans move the same amount of air but quieter compared to smaller fans. I.e. a 140mm could be dead silent moving air at around 800RPM compared to a 80mm fan moving teh same amount of air but in a deafening 1500+rpm(exaggeration note: fans are rarely "deafening" at 1500 rpms, unless poor quality with bad fins/motor noise, but it is louder the higher the rpms)

if your fan mounting holes allow, usually go for bigger fans over smaller fans
120mm fans are nice, 140mm are great,
if possible avoid the smaller fans like 80-90mm,
even if your mounting vent hole is in the smaller range, you can actually find brackets/covers that will allow you to "convert a 120/140mm fan to fit in a 80mm vent hole, aslong as the internal room allow the space of the larger fan ofc
but thats only if noise eventually becomes an issue, otherwise just fit a 80mm fan at an 80mm vent no need for the hassle 😉

either case, go for quality no matter the size you choose, will move air better, and importantly last longer, and often as a bonus be quieter than a really cheap fan
5$fan vs 20$ fan, even if not obsessed about noise, the 20$ fan will 99.9% of teh time be the better choice even if still ignoring the sound bonus.
 
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Alright, thanks! I really appreciate all the info. In that case, just to reduce temperature-related anxiety, Imma use the two remaining fan slots in my case to install noctua F12s, that should hopefully take care of any heat and turn my PC into a jet engine.

 
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Back with yet more questions! turns out this thing generates so much heat that it causes artifacting and crashes when under full load for extended periods of time, and that's even when I set the fan speed to 100 in afterburner. Mind you, it is sitting at stock clocks.
Now the question is, assuming my case has poor airflow due to not having every fan slot utilized and only having cheap fans, is this normal? as in, is this an airflow fault and not a fault with the card itself?

To clarify, I didn't buy additional fans yet.
 
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depends on how many fans you have currently, how they operate, and how the airflow in your case is.
there is "Poor" airflow, and "stale pockets" poor airflow, the latter being very bad
the best way to check if there is something wrong with the card is to check its temps when fans are at 100% (which tbh isnt promising) aaaand your ambient temp, a guy living in sahara need better cooling than a guy in alaska 😉
if your gpu temps are fine'ish with gpu fan at 100% (or hopefully below) and your PSU is sufficient its likely the card
if however temps is an issue, and nothing else, modifying case fans should promptly fix that
 
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I have two cheap case fans, one is an intake and the other is an exhaust. This appeared to be fine when I was using a 750 ti.
With the GPU fans at 100 percent, the card hangs around 90 c when I play Far Cry 4 with everything maxed out at 1080p.
As for ambient temps, it's around 27 c here.
With that said, do you think I just lack case cooling or should I send this bad boy to REM?
 
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lack of case cooling, hope you get those extra case fan soonish,
the 980ti is a beast, so the "min/basic case fan setup" of 1 front 1 back is a bit optimistic on full duty 😉
remember, the hotter the ambient air, the "more" air it needs for cooling the same temps,

my brother for instance constantly forget to vent his gaming room, so when he has a long session, it gets like an oven in there, case air might be exhausted out, but it just sucks heated air right back in, the lower your ambient temps the more efficient you will cool on the same setup

when you get those extra case fans you should see your gpu temps plummet even on load
if you can, ad a front intake, a side intake on teh gpu and another exhaust in the back/topback
just adding the side fan should help drastically (assume you have that mounting hole)
 
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364.72 would be the one I currently have. Do the 364s also cause heat issues? because I think that's what is causing the crashes since they are instantly followed by artifacts and afterburner is telling me that the temps during the crashes were around 95 c



Thank you, that's a major relief! waiting a few weeks for my card to undergo REM wouldn't be fun, especially now that I've had a taste of these kinds of graphics at 60+ fps. It would be like ocular opiate withdrawal or something.
 
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the 364 drivers just dont come recommended, atm, suggest 359-362, which ever works best for you

but yea the the temps are the main cause for your issues atm,
while the card should "handle" temps at 90+, below is best, 80-85 should be your max
80c on load or lower is optimal
 
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regarding the 364 drivers: http://wccftech.com/nvidias-latest-game-ready-driver-allegedly-killing-gpus-plagued-issues/
personally seen more than a handful of people that had issues where a simple DDU and "older" driver install fixed all, which is why i specifically mentioned the 359-362 range of drivers, since those seem to work
but again, your main issue atm definitely seem to be temps
 
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hehe i get what you mean,

just keep an eye on your temps and youll be fine,
the card might be rated for 92c, but the closer you are to that the worse it will handle, and even eventually degrade the lifespan,

better to cool off and take a break, than keep it under load if it cant keep chill,
if you cant game in any settings without it hitting high loads and temp, and you cant stand a "gaming break" until fans arrive:
dont use a 144hz monitor, and you could even down clock the card to help with temps
(and check if any additional applications is sneaking in GPU usage, close background running applications might even help)
 
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