Earlier this year, Nvidia has teased us by releasing the 1st Generation of Maxwell through the GTX 745 (oem), GTX 750 and GTX 750ti, with its low TDP (55-60 watts) as one of its main strong point, leaving many hardware enthusiasts drooling for more.
Come September 2014, Nvidia held an event called Game24 where they unleashed to the world their best graphics card yet. Here comes the 2nd Generation of Maxwell, codenamed GM 204, in 2 iterations: the GTX 980 and the GTX 970.
These two new cards boasts better gaming experience at lower power consumption, following up with what its little brother, the GTX750ti, had given a sneak preview of.
These new cards also comes with even newer bells and whistles:
SURPRISE!
It came to me as a surprise when Nvidia approached me and asked if I would like to give the GTX 980 a go. Even better is when I was given the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming Graphics Card (that's a mouthful) to try out. So enough texts for now and here are some pictures.
[Pardon the poorly shot and edited pictures. First time doing something like this :D]
The huge box
Back of box shot (no prize for guessing what was used for the backdrop)
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming Graphics Card features:
MORE PICS...
Box in a box... boxception..?
Open says me...
Packagings and packagings
User manual, 2 dual-molex-to-single-8-pin adapter, something is missing though...
What's this? No driver discs!? Who uses them anyways... :D
The card in its full glory! Note the new fanblade design!
Giga-giga-giga-giga-goodness!
Sexy backplate!
G1 Gaming
Another angle
WINDFORCE!
LIGHT HER UP!!!
Dual 8-pins to feed the beast
1 card not enough? Here's a pair of SLI's connectors
SLI Connectors exposed!
DISPLAYS GALORE!!!
Triple DisplayPort 1.2 for triple GSync connectivity. HDMI 2.0. And an analogue DVI-I convertible to a VGA with an adapter. Gigabyte has them all looked after!
x5 8mm and x1 6mm heatpipes
Glam Shot 1
Glam Shot 2
Phew~~
Performance Review
So what's next? Performance reviews of course!
My performance reviews are not as good as the professionals out there as I can only put this card up against the other card I have. So here is my "testbench" (LOL) specs:
Processor: Intel i5 4670k w Swiftech Apogee HD
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87X-OC
Memory: Samsung Green 4x4gb 1600mhz cl11 sticks
Boot Drive: Crucial M4 128gb
Games Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1tb
Chassis: Corsair Obsidian 900D
PSU: Seasonic X 760w
Display: AOC i2757FH
The card I am using to compare with the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming Graphics Card is my own Gigabyte R9 290 Reference card cooled by the Aquacomputer Kryographics Hawaii Radeon R9 290.
Driver for R9 290: AMD Catalyst 14.9
Driver for GTX 980: Nvidia Forceware 344.16
Games, Settings & Methodologies used
Assassin's Creed 4: First intro/cut scene
Watch_Dogs: Driving from the safe house south-west of The Wards to the safe house central of Parker Square
Batman Arkham City: Running the benchmark program included in the game
Battlefield 4: Running the cut scene for the Singapore campaign
NOTE: For the following tests, do take note that my R9 290 is sitting on the first PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot while the GTX 980 is sitting on the PCI-E 3.0 x8 slots. When testing either of the cards, the other card has no power supplied to it and is disabled via the dip switches found on my motherboard. This is not a conventional way to test the cards and some may argue that the x8 slot may bottleneck the GTX 980, I have read up enough to assure myself that it does not really matter and it is a hassle for me to drain my liquid cooling loop just for a single graphics card review. If perhaps come more chances to review more stuffs, I will reconsider my methods and follow a more orthodox setup.
Here are the numbers:
In case you didn't know, GREEN represents the GTX 980 and RED represents the R9 290.
You can see for yourself how much better Maxwell GPU performs as compared to the Hawaii GPU. Of course you cannot compare temperature wise as the R9 290 is water-cooled.
I also ran 2 synthetic benchmark softwares and the results are:
Furmark (1080p): 3930 (R9 290), 5151 (GTX 980)
Tessmark (Set 4, insane (x64), 1080p): 4746 (R9 290), 19202 (GTX 980) :eek::eek::eek:
Here you can see an even bigger difference in scores with the GTX 980 scoring 130% of the R9 290 in Furmark and over 400% in Tessmark.
Given these numbers, you can see the clear winner performance wise. I am very sure which such power, you will not have to worry about upgrading your graphics cards for the next 5 years or so.
Also throughout the review, the GTX 980 stays quite given due to the redesigned 600w windforce cooler. I hardly hear a thing unless I put my ears right beside my rig.
I have also managed to try out the DSR and the difference in detail is HUGE! I was running the game at 1440p and down scaled it to my monitor's 1080p.
the frame with the dude facing right is at 1440p
Conclusion
My final thoughts about it? Of course it is awesome! The only thing I am slightly not happy with the card is that the colour of the Windforce LED. WHY BLUE? Why not neutral white or Nvidia green? Heck with all the RGB craze these days, throw in an RGB led also! The other thing is the PCI slot and the heatsink itself. Instead of shiny silver, Gigabyte could have gone for those matte-blackish plating. If these two are addressed, I must say that Gigabyte has the best looking GTX 980 graphics card in the market
Inheriting the performance-driven DNA of G1, GIGABYTE G1 Gaming Series graphics cards are crafted for perfection in pursuit of the ultimate graphics experience for gaming enthusiasts. G1 Gaming Graphics Cards are forged with only the top-notch GPU. They ensure highest performance without compromising system reliability via the very own GPU Gauntlet technology and Ultra Durable VGA components.
Besides, combined with the WINDFORCE cooling system and ultra HD support via flexible multi-display innovation, gamers can immerse themselves in the most enriched gaming environment than ever before.
Thank you for reading this review!
Here is a random shot of the "test bench" for making this far!
Come September 2014, Nvidia held an event called Game24 where they unleashed to the world their best graphics card yet. Here comes the 2nd Generation of Maxwell, codenamed GM 204, in 2 iterations: the GTX 980 and the GTX 970.
These two new cards boasts better gaming experience at lower power consumption, following up with what its little brother, the GTX750ti, had given a sneak preview of.
These new cards also comes with even newer bells and whistles:
-Voxel Global Illumination aka VGI (to be available at a future driver update)-a more accurate light ray rendering in real time which is less demanding on the graphics card as compared to the current pre-computed light path
-MultiFrame sample Anti Aliasing aka MFAA (to be available at a future driver update)-a much less demanding MSAA
-for example: x4 MFAA as demanding as x2 MSAA but similar/better performace as x4 MFAA
-Dynamic Super Resolution aka DSR-this enables user to run games at a high resolution and downsampling to the monitor's resolution
- this feature had always been there but is now much easier to implement with a few settings in the Nvidia Control Panel
-VR Direct-featuring Asynchronous Warp
-this improves usage of VR Headset and the VR experience and reduces the chances of motion sickness for those who are prone to it
-Memory Compression-3rd gen delta colour compression to allow better use of memory bandwidth
-Don't forget the GeForce Experience for gaming experience enhancements like:-Shadowplay
-Gamestreaming to Shield devices
-Auto optimization of game settings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SURPRISE!
It came to me as a surprise when Nvidia approached me and asked if I would like to give the GTX 980 a go. Even better is when I was given the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming Graphics Card (that's a mouthful) to try out. So enough texts for now and here are some pictures.
[Pardon the poorly shot and edited pictures. First time doing something like this :D]
The huge box
Back of box shot (no prize for guessing what was used for the backdrop)
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming Graphics Card features:
-Windforce 600w out. A redesigned Windforce cooler
-Flex Display. Which supports up to 5 display outputs at a time
-SOC ─ GPU Gauntlet™ Sorting. GPU binning process which "guarantees the higher overclocking capability in terms of excellent power switching." (its on their website)
-Ultra Durable. Gigabyte signature high quality components which allows lower GPU temperature, better overclock capability, decrease power switching loss
MORE PICS...
Box in a box... boxception..?
Open says me...
Packagings and packagings
User manual, 2 dual-molex-to-single-8-pin adapter, something is missing though...
What's this? No driver discs!? Who uses them anyways... :D
The card in its full glory! Note the new fanblade design!
Giga-giga-giga-giga-goodness!
Sexy backplate!
G1 Gaming
Another angle
WINDFORCE!
LIGHT HER UP!!!
Dual 8-pins to feed the beast
1 card not enough? Here's a pair of SLI's connectors
SLI Connectors exposed!
DISPLAYS GALORE!!!
Triple DisplayPort 1.2 for triple GSync connectivity. HDMI 2.0. And an analogue DVI-I convertible to a VGA with an adapter. Gigabyte has them all looked after!
x5 8mm and x1 6mm heatpipes
Glam Shot 1
Glam Shot 2
Phew~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Performance Review
So what's next? Performance reviews of course!
My performance reviews are not as good as the professionals out there as I can only put this card up against the other card I have. So here is my "testbench" (LOL) specs:
Processor: Intel i5 4670k w Swiftech Apogee HD
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87X-OC
Memory: Samsung Green 4x4gb 1600mhz cl11 sticks
Boot Drive: Crucial M4 128gb
Games Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1tb
Chassis: Corsair Obsidian 900D
PSU: Seasonic X 760w
Display: AOC i2757FH
The card I am using to compare with the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming Graphics Card is my own Gigabyte R9 290 Reference card cooled by the Aquacomputer Kryographics Hawaii Radeon R9 290.
Driver for R9 290: AMD Catalyst 14.9
Driver for GTX 980: Nvidia Forceware 344.16
Games, Settings & Methodologies used
Assassin's Creed 4: First intro/cut scene
Watch_Dogs: Driving from the safe house south-west of The Wards to the safe house central of Parker Square
Batman Arkham City: Running the benchmark program included in the game
Battlefield 4: Running the cut scene for the Singapore campaign
NOTE: For the following tests, do take note that my R9 290 is sitting on the first PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot while the GTX 980 is sitting on the PCI-E 3.0 x8 slots. When testing either of the cards, the other card has no power supplied to it and is disabled via the dip switches found on my motherboard. This is not a conventional way to test the cards and some may argue that the x8 slot may bottleneck the GTX 980, I have read up enough to assure myself that it does not really matter and it is a hassle for me to drain my liquid cooling loop just for a single graphics card review. If perhaps come more chances to review more stuffs, I will reconsider my methods and follow a more orthodox setup.
Here are the numbers:
In case you didn't know, GREEN represents the GTX 980 and RED represents the R9 290.
You can see for yourself how much better Maxwell GPU performs as compared to the Hawaii GPU. Of course you cannot compare temperature wise as the R9 290 is water-cooled.
I also ran 2 synthetic benchmark softwares and the results are:
Furmark (1080p): 3930 (R9 290), 5151 (GTX 980)
Tessmark (Set 4, insane (x64), 1080p): 4746 (R9 290), 19202 (GTX 980) :eek::eek::eek:
Here you can see an even bigger difference in scores with the GTX 980 scoring 130% of the R9 290 in Furmark and over 400% in Tessmark.
Given these numbers, you can see the clear winner performance wise. I am very sure which such power, you will not have to worry about upgrading your graphics cards for the next 5 years or so.
Also throughout the review, the GTX 980 stays quite given due to the redesigned 600w windforce cooler. I hardly hear a thing unless I put my ears right beside my rig.
I have also managed to try out the DSR and the difference in detail is HUGE! I was running the game at 1440p and down scaled it to my monitor's 1080p.
the frame with the dude facing right is at 1440p
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conclusion
My final thoughts about it? Of course it is awesome! The only thing I am slightly not happy with the card is that the colour of the Windforce LED. WHY BLUE? Why not neutral white or Nvidia green? Heck with all the RGB craze these days, throw in an RGB led also! The other thing is the PCI slot and the heatsink itself. Instead of shiny silver, Gigabyte could have gone for those matte-blackish plating. If these two are addressed, I must say that Gigabyte has the best looking GTX 980 graphics card in the market
Inheriting the performance-driven DNA of G1, GIGABYTE G1 Gaming Series graphics cards are crafted for perfection in pursuit of the ultimate graphics experience for gaming enthusiasts. G1 Gaming Graphics Cards are forged with only the top-notch GPU. They ensure highest performance without compromising system reliability via the very own GPU Gauntlet technology and Ultra Durable VGA components.
Besides, combined with the WINDFORCE cooling system and ultra HD support via flexible multi-display innovation, gamers can immerse themselves in the most enriched gaming environment than ever before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading this review!
Here is a random shot of the "test bench" for making this far!
via Hardware Forums http://ift.tt/1257bfA
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