if I'm mounting after market Waterblock on my GTX980 should I buy a standard card or a factory clocked model?

[Kev Monaghan]

I am wondering are there physical differences in manufacturing of super clocked cards and reference cards aside from the coolers? My thinking is that if I am attaching an aftermarket Waterblock and performing my own overclocks then there is no need to buy a factory oc card... Unless ofcourse voltage regulators etc are modified by the manufacturer? I have notice some cards require 8+6 pin and others 8+8 but this is possibly a difference in the efficiency of the coolers

Would I be bett off buying a cheap 980 for my aftermarket Waterblock and implementing my own overclock or will I get better performance doing the same with a factory clocked card?

All input is appreciated

 

[mrt3]

If you are gonna use Custom cooling than go for reference model (the cheapest one 😉 )

 

[cub_fanatic]

It depends on how high you plan to overclock it. Typically, the higher end non-reference cards come with better power delivery components (VRMs) than reference cards. This will help you achieve higher more stable overclocks. But, if you are only planning to run it stock or a very mild overclock like under 10% then a reference GPU like the other poster suggested is probably the way to go since it will make almost no difference in this case.

 

[Kev Monaghan]

It depends on how high you plan to overclock it. Typically, the higher end non-reference cards come with better power delivery components (VRMs) than reference cards. This will help you achieve higher more stable overclocks. But, if you are only planning to run it stock or a very mild overclock like under 10% then a reference GPU like the other poster suggested is probably the way to go since it will make almost no difference in this case.

I plan on going as high as possibly stable over a period of 1-2 years 😛 so they do change the onboard components? I've had trouble finding information on these specifics I was thinking of emailing Evga and asking.

 

[Kev Monaghan]

mrt3 have you had decent results using reference cards under similar circumstances?

 

[cub_fanatic]

I plan on going as high as possibly stable over a period of 1-2 years 😛 so they do change the onboard components? I've had trouble finding information on these specifics I was thinking of emailing Evga and asking.

Definitely. Something like the beast from Asus, the ASUS ROG GTX 980 MATRIX Platinum, will have superior VRM components vs even a 'regular' factory overclocked non-reference 980 like the Strix edition. The Strix card will have better VRMs than a reference card but not like the ROG card. That is why the ROG is almost a full $100 more than all the other 980s. In fact the ROG uses a Strix cooler. The only real differences are the PCB components. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121908&cm_re=gtx_980-_-14-121-908-_-Product in fact, Asus and other companies who make these type of enthusiast level GPU cards expect that first thing the user will do is ditch the stock cooler and put in a liquid cooler. Another good example of an extreme overclocking GTX 980 is the Zotac AMP! Omega and the AMP! Extreme. These also come with extreme VRM components but are much cheaper than the ROG card:

ZOTAC AMP! Omega http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500359&cm_re=gtx_980-_-14-500-359-_-Product
ZOTAC AMP! Extreme http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500360&cm_re=gtx_980-_-14-500-360-_-Product

Here is a Tom's review on the AMP! Omega: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/zotac-geforce-gtx-980-amp-omega-edition,3990.html

 

[Kev Monaghan]

Massive help thank you I don't mind spending the extra $100 if it means I'm actually getting something extra besides a cooler to store in a draw

 

[cub_fanatic]

Massive help thank you I don't mind spending the extra $100 if it means I'm actually getting something extra besides a cooler to store in a draw

Another thing I didn't mention is that these cards come with 2x 8-pin PCIe power connectors vs 2x 6-pin on the reference 980. The 'regular' non-reference 980s like the Strix and ACX typically come with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin. These monster cards, though, need as much wattage as possible flowing through the GPU to allow you to OC as high as you can. Because of this, their TDP rating does increase quite a bit. The stock clocked or mild OC'd 980 has a 165w TDP (thermal design power in watts, also expressed as joules per second... it is a measure of rate of heat transferred from the GPU chip to the heat sink, not power consumption). The TDP of something like the AMP! Extremes is almost 210 watts.

 

[Kev Monaghan]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1525431/guide-zotac-gtx-980-amp-extreme-edition-modding-guide

Based on that I might avoid zotac although those guys are likely doing this to push the 2000Mhz mark.

But you have shined light on this whole question, I will definitely be going the higher end, I'm thinking maybe the easiest rout is to go higher end Evga or Asus and buying the Ek Waterblock That has been designed specifically for their models. I'm not a big fan of Asus gpu tweak it was unstable when using with my old 690 and never seems to be updated. Keeping my eyes on a few other brands as well, The evgga kingpin card uses 2x8 pin + 1x6

 

[cub_fanatic]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1525431/guide-zotac-gtx-980-amp-extreme-edition-modding-guide

Based on that I might avoid zotac although those guys are likely doing this to push the 2000Mhz mark.

But you have shined light on this whole question, I will definitely be going the higher end, I'm thinking maybe the easiest rout is to go higher end Evga or Asus and buying the Ek Waterblock That has been designed specifically for their models. I'm not a big fan of Asus gpu tweak it was unstable when using with my old 690 and never seems to be updated. Keeping my eyes on a few other brands as well, The evgga kingpin card uses 2x8 pin + 1x6

You don't have to use the GPU overclocking software that comes with the card (although I'm not sure about the Zotacs due to their unique USB controlled software). But, if you get an Asus, you can simply use MSI Afterburner which is the undisputed #1 GPU tweaking program. I've owned 3 Asus cards, 2 Sapphires and now I'm using a Gigabyte and the only OC app I use is MSI Afterburner because it is the most stable and offers the most control over your card regardless if it is AMD or Nvidia. Instead of popping the CD in that came with the card, the best thing to do first is DL the driver suite straight from Nvidia. Not only will this give you the latest driver and Nvidia suite, it will not install any of the Asus garbage (I do not like the Asus Tweak app either, it crashed a lot when I used it). Then, after you reboot, go straight to MSI's DL page for Afterburner and install it. And, finally, install GPU-Z, a must have for a GPU overclocker. Another good app to have is OCCT which is a stress test and monitoring app. This will help you make sure that your overclocks are stable. If you turned something up too high, it will probably start to show artifacts when you stress it. This could take hours to discover if you just run a regular game. With OCCT, you can know if your OC is stable within minutes. You can also stress your CPU with it as well as test your PSU.

NV Driver page: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
MSI AB: http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm
GPU-Z: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
OCCT: http://www.ocbase.com/