Should i go for a reference 980 Ti or wait for custom ones?

[grimsonfart]

Hi there!

As the title emplies, i'm getting a 980 Ti. I just sold my 980 and sending it in the mail by monday, but the thing is there aren't any custom 980 Ti in stock anywhere, and they aren't going to be for over a week. They do have stock ones, so i was thinking of going with MSI.

I'm not a big overclocker, though i like doing it. My main question is; can one easily overclock the reference ones? Is there any reason to get custom ones other than lower temperature?

To be honest i like the reference look better as well, but i'm still a bit unsure wether i should wait or just pick up a reference...

Any thoughts would be nice !

 

[MakoRuu]

The reference card works with what Nvidia designed it to do.

And that's play video games at modest temperatures.

The GTX 980 ti is so powerful that it may not even need to be overclocked. It can handle 4k games just fine for the reference one so far.

The only benefit for an aftermarket design is, like you said, temperature. Sometimes the difference can be amazing. 10 - 15 C.

Other times it can be completely unnoticeable.

Normally "over clocked" or "Super Clocked" GPU's from after market retailers are only translated to 5 - 8 FPS. And your eyeballs can't tell the difference between 90 and 102 FPS.

My Advice.

If you can be patient, then be patient and search around for a card you like. This could take weeks or even months for one to roll around.

Or go with the reference card and enjoy it now. Then a few months down the road if you decide you want something else buy an after market cooler for fifty bucks and change it out.

 

[grimsonfart]

Hmm, thanks for your answer. I feel i might as well go for a reference because as i said i'm not big into overclocking, nor do i care about temperatures as long as it doesnt die on me (my room is fairly cool as well, probably not more than 15 degrees most of the time).

Was thinking of doing SLI with them, but can't decide between that and the new ASUS ROG 1440p IPS monitor coming out soon.

 

[Kilo_Pascal]

The 980 ti with custom coolers are already into market. EVGA has a hybrid and a one with a water block pre-installed. Up to what I have read the 980 ti comes with a low margin between the TDP and the average usage. So in short you could buy a version with a better cooler which will help; however, there are better options if you are willing to work a little bit. In my case I am using a reference GTX 980 ti but I will water cool it with an EVGA kit. Overall the cost will be slightly lower at the cost that I have to install it myself but I get to use my new video card now.

Basically, you really can't go wrong. It is up to you whether you want your new card now or later. At the end of the day the 980 ti is an excellent card with great performance which will only get better when DirectX 12 is introduced.

 

[beekermartin]

SLI, for the most part, is better with reference designed blower cards. With that said most modern motherboards allow an additional slot before the second PCI express slot so aftermarket coolers still receive plenty of airflow. Then it comes down to your case airflow since most aftermarket coolers blow all the hot air into the case. If your case has good airflow that isn't a big issue.

 

[MakoRuu]

Hmm, thanks for your answer. I feel i might as well go for a reference because as i said i'm not big into overclocking, nor do i care about temperatures as long as it doesnt die on me (my room is fairly cool as well, probably not more than 15 degrees most of the time).

Was thinking of doing SLI with them, but can't decide between that and the new ASUS ROG 1440p IPS monitor coming out soon.

I imagine only one 980 ti may be enough.

Instead of getting two 980 ti and a B Monitor.

Get one 980 ti and a A+ Monitor.

See how that goes for a while and if you decide you absolutely need a second one then save up and get it down the road.

Nvidia's Pascal GPU are coming out next year, and they're rumored to be ten times the performance of current GPU's.