MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming OC review

fantaskarsef

2014-10-02 13:26

And again, the MSI looks like a good card to go, with headroom for overclocking, as well as pleasent sound and temperature levels. Reminds me of back then when I went for the MSI with my 580 🙄 Thanks for the review Hilbert!

#4928059

Corbus

2014-10-02 13:28

FLIR looks a lot better than on the 970. Nice review.

#4928060

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-10-02 13:30

FLIR imaging added to overclock page as well. BTW after reading some comments, I checked out the fan and coil-noise notifications that we have heard from in the past few days. I can not replicate either one of them. This product is drop-dead silent.

#4928063

plodge85

2014-10-02 13:32

Guys, maybe I'm missing something, if games like Shadow Of Mordor need 6GB VRAM to play @ Ultra settings, are cards like this not DOA?

#4928065

Lane

2014-10-02 13:35

Thoses 980 remind more and more the Cypress HD5870 ...( or even 4870 at this time ).

#4928066

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2014-10-02 13:37

Guys, maybe I'm missing something, if games like Shadow Of Mordor need 6GB VRAM to play @ Ultra settings, are cards like this not DOA?

There will always be a game that requires more then way above average. So especially for your wallet we expect 8GB versions in the future as well. An once 8GB cards are out, some software house will find a mode to exceed that number as well. As hey, your game makes the news and is topic of hot discussion in forums and social media platforms ... right ?

#4928086

gUNN1993

2014-10-02 14:14

Guys, maybe I'm missing something, if games like Shadow Of Mordor need 6GB VRAM to play @ Ultra settings, are cards like this not DOA?

Quite frankly there's something off there, they also say high requires 3Gb of Vram but it looks average as ****, i've yet to see any actual reports of it needing that much.

#4928089

Sukovsky

2014-10-02 14:16

Guys, maybe I'm missing something, if games like Shadow Of Mordor need 6GB VRAM to play @ Ultra settings, are cards like this not DOA?

Obviously they only put the requirement there because they made a deal with nVidia so they can sell some more of those old and slow Titans 😉. People use the UHD pack without hassle on lower VRAM cards. EDIT: Including me

#4928109

fantaskarsef

2014-10-02 14:45

FLIR imaging added to overclock page as well. BTW after reading some comments, I checked out the fan and coil-noise notifications that we have heard from in the past few days. I can not replicate either one of them. This product is drop-dead silent.

Thanks Hilbert!

#4928130

PhazeDelta1

2014-10-02 14:58

Guys, maybe I'm missing something, if games like Shadow Of Mordor need 6GB VRAM to play @ Ultra settings, are cards like this not DOA?

You don't need 6GB of vram to use the ultra settings.

#4928208

Solfaur

2014-10-02 16:19

Great cards, sad to see that apparently there will not be a 980 Lightning coming from MSI this time arround and that they are waiting for a "bigger" chip in order to not have a repeat like the 780 Lightning launch with a couple of months later the 780Ti coming out, same with 7970 Lightning > 7970 GHz Edition. Even so, the Gaming OC line of both 970 and 980 do a great job in the AIB segment.

#4928216

plodge85

2014-10-02 16:30

There will always be a game that requires more then way above average. So especially for your wallet we expect 8GB versions in the future as well. An once 8GB cards are out, some software house will find a mode to exceed that number as well. As hey, your game makes the news and is topic of hot discussion in forums and social media platforms ... right ?

Thanks for the reply Boss! I feel like software houses eventually shoot themselves in the foot here, it wont take long before every other game will play better and look better on the hardware some people can afford. I quite recently bought a 3GB 7970 and was pleased as punch, I have to say these figures take a bit of wind out of my sails. @PhaseDelta1, Maybe I'm misinformed. I read that the game would automatically revert back to high settings if it couldn't find the 6GB VRAM it wanted. Which indicated there'd be no need to get the extra HD textures pack as there'd be no difference.

#4928317

danfim

2014-10-02 18:55

Think this is my new card. Thank you for the review, I have been looking for this particular one.

#4928363

Loophole35

2014-10-02 19:49

Hilbert, did you happen to notate what voltage controller is being used with this card?

#4928366

evasiondutch

2014-10-02 19:53

For me MSI card looks most sexy very well designed model. But beaten by Gigabight in every bench, must be painful for MSI? Most of time MSI belongs to cheaper versions so it compensate in that direction then.

#4928407

James Frazer

2014-10-02 20:35

Does anyone know if you are, or will be able to in the near future, able to pick up a back plate for the MSI 980 and 970 cards? The ASUS cards are almost the same in performance terms and although they cost a little more, they come with a back plate as standard which looks a lot nicer.

#4928709

southamptonfc

2014-10-03 07:40

But beaten by Gigabight in every bench, must be painful for MSI?

The Gigabyte has slightly higher default clocks. MSI use reference clocks for their gaming series. Gigabyte increase base clocks but have a history of producing cards that aren't stable.

#4928719

fantaskarsef

2014-10-03 08:22

The Gigabyte has slightly higher default clocks. MSI use reference clocks for their gaming series. Gigabyte increase base clocks but have a history of producing cards that aren't stable.

This. Also, with some Gigabyte cards I had the subjective feeling they were quite loud. But if you have the right case (dampened), or don't mind the noise, it's not a point to argue over.

#4928722

ScoobyDooby

2014-10-03 08:26

This. Also, with some Gigabyte cards I had the subjective feeling they were quite loud. But if you have the right case (dampened), or don't mind the noise, it's not a point to argue over.

Honestly both cards are excellent and have their pros and cons. I personally feel that they should both be at the same price point due to how matched they are overall, and sure enough NCIX changed their price on the MSI gaming from 419.99, to 449.99, which is their price on the G1. That's in CDN BTW.

#4928764

War child

2014-10-03 09:44

The Gigabyte has slightly higher default clocks. MSI use reference clocks for their gaming series. Gigabyte increase base clocks but have a history of producing cards that aren't stable.

On top of that, MSI gaming 980 is 200NoK cheaper (23Euro approx) here in Norway than the G1 gaming card from Gigabyte. Thats a win for MSI in my eyes.