Is my MSI GTX 980 a lemon?

[newtooverclocking]

Hi guys, I recently acquired a GTX 980 MSI from my uncle. He had the card literally still in the box, waiting for his new computer that he never built. I have now bought the card off of him. The card was just sitting there for like 4 months.

Now, the first day I tried to overclock it and got very miserable numbers. I had +100 Core and +150 Mem...stable, but just. It would not go any higher without crashing.

Now today it seems to have improved for some reason and I can not work out why. I have managed to overclock it further, but I am really scared if it is a lemon, because the Overclock is still no where near other people's and if I hit the 1500mhz+ boost mark, my 3D Mark score drops, so I go for a lower OC and then it improves.

This is what I have got working stable, after testing for a long time..

Power Limit: 122%
Core Clock: +170mhz
Memory Clock: +400mhz
CoreVoltage is stock (do not want to change)
Fan Speed is auto

Boost clock is 1486, which I am not happy with. I wanted +1500mhz, when I do get that with more core OC my 3D mark score goes down...??

3D Mark score 11508 - better than 96%

I have read people easily getting +600 - +800mhz on memory and 200 on core = 1550Mhz boost. I have even seen 970s reach almost 1600mhz. Does this mean my card is worse than a 970? Is it a lemon or a really crap overclocker?

Could someone please rate its potential out of 10? I am stressing for some reason, lol. I spent quite a bit on it, that I otherwise do not (coming from gtx 660).

 

[Computer Blackwidow]

I will not recommend to Overclock the Graphics card. It increases performance just a little but decreases the GPU life a lot. If by mistake you overclock wrongand if some settings went wrong then you always have a threat to fry your GPU. The people or some benchmarking sites that overclock their GPUs to such high extend only do for benchmarking, they have almost 5 GPUs in hand because is has a big risk also they have all high quality custom motherboard, PSU and CPU. So dont put in mind that you have a bad Graphics card. GTX 980 is FULLY CAPABLE of all games and softwares. It can easilly handle all games at ultra settings easily. Even the recent games doesnt require such 1600MHz clock frequency and such memory frequency. Yes you really overclocked your GPU good and I will give you 10 on 10 for this OC. But remember what I say. Good Luck, have a nice Day.
CB

 

[Robert Ostrowski]

overclocks aren't guaranteed, so as long as it functions at its standard clock rates, it is not technically a lemon. overclocking doesn't hurt graphics cards, as long as temperatures are good, even then, unless you're modding the gpu bios, the card will protect itself from insane heat, since gpu overclocking is done in software.
msi graphics cards usually are good overclockers, but I've had some that even a slight overclock causes instability.
I was also disappointed that my gigabyte g1 gaming 970 had a relatively low stable overclock compared to what I read in the reviews, and even compared to the 780 that it replaced, but those are the breaks.
compared to a 660 however, the 980 is a complete beast of a card. it wont disappoint no matter how little the overclock.

 

[newtooverclocking]

Thanks for your response guys. What bothered me was the difference in capability from the first day to the next.

Is my Overclock any good for stock volts though? Is it at least moderately good?

Also, I am thinking about increasing volts to get 1500mhz+...do not know. I want it to be better than a 1600mh 970, or else what is the point in paying extra $$ over the 970?

 

[Computer Blackwidow]

Your overclock is really good at stock voltages. Download the GPU test here:
http://www.geeks3d.com/gputest/
And run a test at your speed now, if it passes, no need to add voltages, and if computer crashes then you have to add some voltages. Don't worry hoe overclock is really good.
CB

 

[DubbleClick]

You know that clock speed is really meaningless when it comes to different gpu's? Even if the gtx 970 would run at 1700mhz, your gtx 980 at 1400 mhz is still likely to beat it.

 

[newtooverclocking]

Your overclock is really good at stock voltages. Download the GPU test here:
http://www.geeks3d.com/gputest/
And run a test at your speed now, if it passes, no need to add voltages, and if computer crashes then you have to add some voltages. Don't worry hoe overclock is really good.
CB

I have run furmark for a long time and it will not crash. I have also played games and it is smooth. Can you please answer this for me...why do I see that some people with +1500mhz Core can get their card to boost to over 1500mhz, and I am on +170mhz with 400 memory, and mine hits 1480hz?

 

[newtooverclocking]

You know that clock speed is really meaningless when it comes to different gpu's? Even if the gtx 970 would run at 1700mhz, your gtx 980 at 1400 mhz is still likely to beat it.

I was under the impression that they are both very similar, so a minor overclock on a 970 can hit stock 980...so a major overclock can pass a shitty oveclock on a 980?

I really want to see 1500mhz or I do not feel right haha

 

[DubbleClick]

Even the highest clocked gtx 970 is still 10% behind a stock gtx 980. And why in earth would you want to hit 1500mhz when you get no performance out of it but drastically shorten the life of your gpu? Feel like forcing you into buying a new one in a year?