Gigabyte is amongst the select NVIDIA board partners that offer new Maxwell based high-end graphics cards from day one. The GTX 980 G1 Gaming ships with Gigabyte's latest Windforce cooler, which should be well capable of keeping the card cool at low temperatures. Apart from that there is a custom design PCB, so this pixel cannon looks like a really interesting contender.
Gigabyte is amongst the first Nvidia add-in-card (AIC) partners that have
decided to introduce a new custom GTX 980 graphics card that will use NVIDIAs
latest and greatest GM204 chip. For this graphics card, Gigabyte makes use of a custom PCB
paired up with its own custom Windforce 3X 600W cooler and on the flip-side of
the card, there is a backplate with G1 Gaming design. A quick look at the specs
also reveals that the card ships factory overclocked.
As always before the launch of a
new chip generation from NVIDIA there have been loads of rumors on the specs
before the launch. Browsing the specifications of this card we find 2048 CUDA
cores, 128 TMUs and 64 ROPs. For comparison reasons, the GTX 780 features 2304
CUDA cores, 192 TMUs and 48 ROPs. This means that NVIDIA cut down the CUDA core
count as well as TMU count, but at the same time increased the number of ROPs.
Looking for reference clocks we find 1'126 MHz core clock and 1'216 MHz boost
clock.
As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshot below, Gigabyte decided to use a
rather beefy high factory-overclock on the new GTX 980 G1 Gaming. While the reference GTX
980 with GM204 GPU is set to work at 1'126 MHz for the base clock and 1'216 MHz
for the GPU Boost clock, the Gigabyte GTX 980 G1 Gaming runs at
1'228 MHz core clock and 1'329 MHz boost clock.
When it comes to memory clock speeds we see a tiny, 12 MHz frequency boost,
which makes the chips run at 7'012 MHz. Combine this with a 256 Bit memory
interface and you end up with a total of 224 Gigabyte of memory bandwidth.
While the typical boost clock is set at 1'329 MHz, the maximum boost of 1'380 MHz
was achieved quite easily and the GTX 980 G1 Gaming held that clock most of
the load time due to the capable Windforce 3X 600W cooler as well as good TDP target
(nVidia's Boost technology being power-based and not temperature-based on this
card). At this point we also run Furmark to see how high the card overclocks,
when the GPU is under full load. This way we can determine a worst case scenario
regarding maximum boost clock. With the card we see clocks speeds of 1'354 MHz
at 1.175v.
Specifications
Gigabyte GTX
980 G1 Gaming
GeForce GTX 980
GeForce GTX 780
Chip
GM204 Maxwell
GM204 Maxwell
GK110-300 Kepler
Process
28 nm
28 nm
28 nm
Transistors
5.20 billion
5.20 billion
7.10 billion
GPU clock
1'228 MHz
1'126 MHz
863 MHz
GPU Boost clock
1'329 MHz
1'216 MHz
900 MHz
Memory GDDR5
4'096 MB
3'072 MB
3'072 MB
Memory clock
1'753 (7'012) MHz
1'750 (7'000) MHz
1'502 (6'008) MHz
Memory interface
256 Bit
256 Bit
384 Bit
Memory bandwidth
224'000 MB/s
224'000 MB/s
288'400 MB/s
Shader Cores
2'048 (12 SMX)
2'048 (12 SMX)
2'304 (12 SMX)
TMUs
128
128
192
ROPs
64
64
48
TDP
>165 Watt
165 Watt
250 Watt
PCB Type
Custom Design
Reference Design
Reference Design
Slots
2
2
2
Cooler
WindForce 3X 600W
NVIDIA Reference
NVIDIA Reference
Launch Price
$
$599
$649
Overclocking
Overclocking this card we actually had quite
some fun, since you can push this little beast quite high. The highest stable
clocks we reached were 1'563 MHz on the GPU and 2'075 MHz on the memory
(effective 8'300 MHz). The screenshot below shows you what kind you of score you
can get running 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme at these clocks. In order to make the
GPU run stably, we had to apply 1.25 volt.
Gigabyte decided to equip their new GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming with the
latest version of their own cooler, which is called WindForce 3X 600W. It
features five 8mm and one 6mm copper heatpipes. Soldered to the heatpipes, there is a large and dense fin
stack which is being cooled by three 80mm fans.
Overall the cooler is well built and compared to the predecessor the copper base
plate looks quite a bit nicer. There is actually a large coper plate, which
helps distributing heat evenly to the numerous heatpipes. Sticking to the copper
plate we find thermal pads, which are touching the memory chips and VRM area.
The new Gigabyte GTX 980 G1 Gaming is equipped with a very nice and well
designed aluminium backplate to prevent bending and it also protects crucial
components from potential damage.
A closer look at the PCB shows that Gigabyte equipped its card with an 8+2+2
phase power design. The GPU gets its current from eight phases. Two more are
there to handle the memory and the last two take care off the PLL current
supply.
The memory chips on the GTX 980 G1 Gaming come from
Samsung and carry the model number K4G41325FC-HC28. They are specified to run
at 1'750 MHz (7'000 MHz effective).
The new GTX 980 G1 Gaming graphics card ships well bolstered in a foam
made mold. Bundled with the graphics card are software disc and two power
converters (2x Molex to PCIe-6pin and 2xMolex to PCIe-8pin). Since this is a
high-end, custom graphics card, we would have liked to see some more goodies in
the delivery.
For the noise level results, we measured the noise
level using a decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) located at 1 meter away from the
graphics card.
Idle Temperature
Temperature
Auto
50%
70%
100%
ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition
38
33
30
28
ASUS GeForce
GTX 760 DirectCU Mini OC
33
32
32
31
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
34
34
33
29
ASUS GeForce
GTX 770 DirectCU II OC
29
29
28
27
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780
32
30
29
28
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
30
29
28
28
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum
32
31
30
29
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
53
40
38
32
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC
32
31
30
29
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum
37
37
36
34
ASUS
GeForce GTX 970 STRIX
52
38
35
32
ASUS ROG MARS 760
30
29
29
28
ASUS
Radeon HD 7970 Platinum
28
28
28
27
ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC
33
31
31
30
ASUS Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II TOP
28
27
26
26
ASUS Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II TOP
30
30
29
29
ASUS
Radeon R9 280X Matrix Platinum
30
30
29
29
ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC
38
36
35
34
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC
36
35
34
34
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X Platinum
37
36
35
34
Club3D Radeon
HD 7850 royalQueen
37
36
36
35
Club3D Radeon R9 270 royalQueen
32
31
30
28
EVGA GeForce
GTX 760 SuperClocked ACX
32
32
32
31
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition
25
25
24
24
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB
30
28
28
27
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
29
27
26
26
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
30
29
28
28
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming
34
31
30
28
MSI GeForce GTX 760 HAWK
25
25
26
26
MSI GeForce
GTX 770 Lightning
27
26
26
25
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780
30
29
29
27
MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK
29
28
27
27
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition
32
31
30
29
PowerColor Radeon R9 280X TurboDuo OC
32
32
31
30
PowerColor Radeon R9 290X LCS
29
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X TRI-X OC Boost
36
32
33
31
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
44
40
38
35
NVIDIA Reference
32
30
29
29
Less is better
Idle, temperature is
taken after 15 minutes @ lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature under Furmark
Temperature
Auto
50%
70%
100%
ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition
58
49
48
47
ASUS GeForce
GTX 760 DirectCU Mini OC
81
80
68
59
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
73
73
73
72
ASUS GeForce
GTX 770 DirectCU II OC
80
74
62
57
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780
n/A
81
75
66
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
83
71
63
56
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum
77
77
72
68
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum
90
81
72
62
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC
90
85
73
65
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
70
66
59
54
ASUS
GeForce GTX 970 STRIX
69
61
56
49
ASUS ROG MARS 760
90
84
78
67
ASUS
Radeon HD 7970 Platinum
76
70
69
69
ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC
87
69
64
62
ASUS Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II TOP
90
70
64
63
ASUS
Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top
90
71
64
63
ASUS Radeon R9 280X Matrix Platinum
77
73
71
70
ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC
90
87
81
77
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC
89
90
85
81
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X Platinum
88
85
82
78
Club3D Radeon
HD 7850 royalQueen
75
63
59
53
Club3D Radeon R9 270 royalQueen
69
63
64
57
EVGA GeForce
GTX 760 SuperClocked ACX
77
70
66
59
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black Edition
52
49
47
44
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB
81
65
58
55
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
90
80
73
58
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
90
83
75
63
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming
72
79
75
68
MSI GeForce GTX 760 HAWK
69
59
53
49
MSI GeForce
GTX 770 Lightning
63
55
50
46
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780
73
71
63
56
MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK
90
79
70
64
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition
80
77
72
69
PowerColor R9 290X LCS
46
PowerColor R9 280X TurboDuo OC
n/A
n/A
74
68
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X TRI-X OC Boost
76
75
69
66
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
94
85
74
67
NVIDIA Reference
90
83
76
68
Less is better
For FurMark, temperature is taken
after 15 minutes of GPU Burn test at lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
We stopped the test when the GPU temperature hit 90°C.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature and
fan speed under BattleField 3
Auto
Temperature
PowerColor R9 290X LCS (watercooled)
39
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 750Ti Black Edition
40
ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti STRIX OC Edition
55
Gigabyte GeForce
GTX 980 G1 Gaming
58
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming R9 280X OC Edition
60
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
61
Club3D Radeon
HD 7850 royalQueen
63
MSI GeForce
GTX 770 Lightning
61
ASUS
GeForce GTX 760 Striker Platinum
62
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 STRIX OC Edition
62
EVGA GeForce
GTX 760 SuperClocked ACX
62
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon R9 280X TRI-X OC Boost
62
ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC
63
MSI GeForce GTX 760 HAWK
64
ASUS Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II TOP
64
ASUS GeForce
GTX 770 DirectCU II OC
64
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 4GB
65
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum
66
ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Platinum
66
MSI Twin Frozr Gaming GTX 780
66
Club3D Radeon R9 270 royalQueen
66
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
67
ASUS GeForce
GTX 760 DirectCU Mini OC
68
ASUS Radeon R9 290 DirectCU II OC
68
ASUS Radeon R9 280X Matrix Platinum
68
ASUS
GeForceGTX 780 DirectCU II OC
69
ASUS GeForce
GTX 970 STRIX
69
ASUS
Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II Top
69
ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC
70
MSI Radeon R9 270X HAWK
70
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
70
ASUS
GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum
71
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X Platinum
72
PowerColor R9 280X TurboDuo OC
73
ASUS ROG MARS 760
77
ASUS GeForce
GTX 780
79
ASUS
Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II OC
79
NVIDIA Reference
79
Sapphire Radeon R9 290
80
Less is better
For BattleField 3, temperature and fan speed
values taken are the highest achieved after 1 hour gaming @ auto fan
speed.
The "Performance Index" value is calculated as the sum of
all benchmarks results divided by the amount of games (3DMark and Unigine are
not included into the calculation).
Performance/Price
Graphics Cards
Performance Index
Price (€)*
Performance/€*10
nVidia GeForce
GTX 650 Ti Boost
40.87
108
3.78
AMD Radeon
HD 7870
50.03
140
3.57
AMD Radeon
HD 7790
32.75
95
3.45
nVidia GeForce
GTX 660
47.37
143
3.31
AMD Radeon
HD 7850
40.04
121
3.31
AMD Radeon
R9 270X
53.39
160
3.34
nVidia GeForce
GTX 650 Ti
30.80
100
3.11
nVidia GeForce
GTX 670
62.00
204
3.04
ASUS
GeForce GTX 970 STRIX
93.36
299
3.12
nVidia GeForce
GTX 660 Ti
53.55
176
2.91
nVidia GeForce
GTX 760
56.63
199
2.85
AMD Radeon
R9 280X
68.40
240
2.85
AMD Radeon
HD 7970
63.41
229
2.77
AMD Radeon
HD 7970 GHz Edition
69.99
254
2.76
nVidia GeForce
GTX 770
70.92
258
2.75
AMD Radeon
HD 6870
31.88
124
2.57
nVidia GeForce
GTX 680
68.36
283
2.42
nVidia GeForce
GTX 580
50.49
221
2.28
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 OC V2
89.69
437
2.05
nVidia GeForce
GTX 780
81.66
411
1.99
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming
109.01
549
1.82
AMD Radeon
HD 6950
36.83
204
1.81
AMD Radeon
HD 5870
35.98
246
1.46
AMD Radeon
HD 5850
30.05
221
1.36
AMD Radeon
HD 6970
41.32
310
1.33
AMD Radeon
HD 6990
73.96
657
1.13
nVidia GeForce
GTX TITAN
85.05
821
1.04
Gigabyte
GeForce GTX 780 GHz Edition
92.84
TBC
TBC
* 05/11/2013
More is better
Less is better
More is better
For
the price we took the lowest price available on geizhals.eu.
We were quite impressed with the new Gigabyte GTX
980 G1 Gaming as it did really good in our tests, had a decent factory
overclock and features a really good custom Windforce 3X 600W triple fan cooler.
The manufacturing quality is also very good and the backplate is definitely
a must when you are looking at a premium graphics card. Apart from that,
the GTX 980 appears to really like clock frequency, meaning we were
really surprise to able to overclock this card all the way up to 1'563
MHz! Keeping in mind that the reference boost clock is set to 1'216 MHz
this means there is still a lot of headroom and overclocking these
cards, even aircooled is a lot of fun and you can squeeze a really
decent boost of your card.
The only thing we would like to see improved with this particular card
is in regard to the bundle. We'd love to find a few additional goodies,
since after all this is a premium card.
As noted earlier, the Windforce 3X 600W triple-fan
is a capable cooler and it definitely runs circles around any reference
solution. Compared to other custom cooler available these days it can
keep up, but we would love to see the fans spin a slightly lower RPM,
since the GM204 Mawell GPU is not burning away too much power.
As far as the noise levels go, the GTX 980 G1 Gaming is very silent in
idle but definitely not the most silent card when it comes to noise
levels under full loading conditions.
- Very silent
2D
-
Could be quieter under
full load
Performance
+
-
The performance is where the GTX 980 G1 Gaming
really shines. It is quite impressive and it actually manages to beat
the reference GTX 780 Ti by almost 25 percent. Quite a substantial part
of the performance story is related to the great factory overclocking,
since the boost clock of this card is 13 percent higher than what you
would get with a reference GTX 980. Compared to a reference GTX 780 Ti
boost clocks are simply on the moon, which explains the massive increase
in performance.
The power consumption of the Gigabyte GTX 980 G1 Gaming is surprisingly
high. In idle we noticed that the power consumption of our entire test
setup is at 66W. Under load,
the new GTX 980 G1 Gaming pulls 366 Watt, which is acutally quite
something.
- Performance
Recommendation /
Price
+
-
This Gigabyte GTX 980 G1 Gaming is most certainly
going to be amongst the fastest Maxwell based cards. Thanks to a great
big factory overclocking Gigabyte is boosting the performance. Apart
from that the Windforce 3X 600W cooler is doing a good job. The MSRP of
the GTX 980 in general is 549 US-Dollar, which means that the price per
FPS is actually rather high. Unfortunately this is always the case when
a new generation of graphics cards is being launched. We're quite sure
prices are going to drop by quite a bit during the upcoming weeks.
- Gaming
- Overclocking
- Enthusiast
We gave the GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming from
Gigabyte 4.5 out of 5 stars.