Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming Review

Today we take a look at the custom Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming - the latest in a line of reviews featuring Nvidia's new game changing Maxwell architecture. The Gigabyte G1 Gaming card ships with a custom cooler and 'out of the box' clock enhancements. How does it stack up against the bevy of GTX980 cards we have already analysed? The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming features a new version of the companies proprietary Windforce cooling system. Gigabyte claim to hand pick these overclocked models via a system they refer to as 'GPU Gauntlet Sorting'. Their PR literature highlights a robotic hand which is clearly meant to symbolise the stringent selection process. The European audience tend to find this kind of symbolism amusing, but it must work for an audience in Taiwan. For the purposes of the article we will say that The Terminator hand picked the card and shipped it to us for review today. 'I need your clothes, your boots and your graphics card.' The Maxwell architecture has been designed to deliver twice the performance per watt of previous generation Geforce hardware. It sounds easy enough on paper to achieve, but the real world challenges for Nvidia have been complex. GPU GeForce GTX 680 (Kepler) GeForce GTX 980 (Maxwell) Geforce GTX 970 (Maxwell) Streaming Multiprocessors 8 16 13 CUDA Cores 1536 2048 1664 Base Clock 1006 mhz 1126 mhz 1050 mhz GPU Boost Clock 1058 mhz 1216 mhz 1178 mhz Total Video memory 2GB 4GB 4GB Texel fill-rate 129 Gigatexels/Sec 144.1 Gigatexels/Sec 109.2 Gigatexels/Sec Memory Clock 6000 mhz 7000 mhz 7000 mhz Memory Bandwidth 192 GB/sec 224 GB/sec 224 GB/s ROPs 32 64 64 Manufacturing Process 28nm 28nm 28nm TDP 195 watts 165 watts 145 watts The new GM204 GPU is very efficient. The Maxwell SM has been rebalanced so that the CUDA cores are fully utilised more often. Doing so saves power and enhances overall performance. The L2 cache size in the GM204 is 2MB, or four times larger than the GK104. The addition of extra cache means that fewer requests to the GPU memory are needed – again reducing power consumption and pushing more performance. The Geforce GTX 980 is equipped with 7Gbps memory. Those of you with higher resolution monitors, or running in a multi screen configuration will also be pleased to hear that there is 4GB of GDDR5 memory on the card, not 3GB – this memory will push 224 GB/s sec. Nvidia have added a new compression engine to reduce the demand on DRAM bandwidth. The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming has received a core clock enhancement to 1,228mhz, from 1,126mhz on the reference design. The GDDR5 memory is shipped at the default clock speeds of 1,753mhz (7Gbps effective). The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming arrives in a dark box with the scary looking eye logo taking centerstage. It is a little disappointing to see such a generic box for this flagship product. The bundle includes a driver disc, literature and a couple of power converters. Understated and somewhat elegant - we like it. Visually it couldn't be more of a contrast to the Inno3D GTX980 iChill Herculez X4 Air Boss Ultra'. The simple black design ethic carries over to the back of the card, which features a black backplate. The three large fans are visible within the metal shroud of the cooler. Build quality is high, and the substantial heatsink is clearly visible from all angles. The 'WindForce' brand name can be seen from the top of the solution - this glows blue during operation. The GTX980 G1 Gaming takes power from 2x 8 pin power connectors. It is SLI capable, via two connectors, shown above. The three fans take up the full length of the PCB. The fan blades are curbed with ridges. Gigabyte claim that the design increases air flow by 23% while reducing air turbulence. The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming has two DVI connectors on the back (DVI-D and DVI-I), alongside three full sized DisplayPort connectors and a single HDMI connector. This HDMI port will handle 4K resolutions at up to 60hz. These are all full sized ports which is much better than having to rely on mini converter cables. Gigabyte have opted for a design featuring straight copper heatpipes running along the length of their cooler, as shown above. The GTX980 is built on the 28nm process. It has 2,048 Cuda Cores, 64 ROP’s and 128 Texture units. The 4GB of Samsung GDDR5 is running at 1,753mhz (7 Gbps effective) and is connected via a 256bit memory interface. The core clock speed has been increased by Gigabyte to 1,228mhz with a boost speed set at 1,329mhz. On this page we present some high resolution images of the product taken with a Fuji XT1 camera. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. For the review today we are using Nvidia Forceware 344.48 and AMD Catalyst 14.9.1 beta drivers. All of the AMD and Nvidia hardware in our reviews today used these drivers, tested between the 31st October and 7th November. We are using one of our brand new test rigs supplied by DINOPC and built to our specifications. If you want to read more about this, or are interested in buying the same Kitguru Test Rig, check out our article with links on this page. We are using an Asus PB287Q 4k and Apple 30 inch Cinema HD monitor for this review today. Comparison cards: Inno3D GTX980 'iChill Herculez X4 Air Boss Ultra (1266 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) MSI GTX980 Gaming 4G (1216mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) Asus GTX980 Strix (1178mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) Asus GTX780 Ti Direct CU II OC (954mhz core / 1750 mhz memory) Nvidia GTX980 Reference (1126 mhz core / 1753mhz memory) Sapphire R9 290X Tri-X OC (1040 mhz core / 1300 mhz memory) Palit GTX970 Jetstream OC (1152mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G (1140 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) Palit GTX780 6GB (902 mhz core / 1502mhz memory) Asus GTX970 StriX OC (1114 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) Asus R9 290 Direct CU II OC (1000 mhz core / 1260 mhz memory) Software: Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit Unigine Heaven Benchmark Unigine Valley Benchmark 3DMark Vantage 3DMark 11 3DMark Fraps Professional Steam Client FurMark Games: Grid AutoSport Tomb Raider Metro Last Light Redux Thief 2014 All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page. Game descriptions edited with courtesy from Wikipedia. Futuremark released 3DMark Vantage, on April 28, 2008. It is a benchmark based upon DirectX 10, and therefore will only run under Windows Vista (Service Pack 1 is stated as a requirement) and Windows 7. This is the first edition where the feature-restricted, free of charge version could not be used any number of times. 1280×1024 resolution was used with performance settings. An excellent result, placing the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming right behind the Inno3D version, which has the biggest overclock out of any of the GTX980 cards we have tested to date. 3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads. If you want to learn more about this benchmark, or to buy it yourself, head over to this page. The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming scores just shy of 20,000 points, placing it right at the top of the chart, just behind the highly overclocked Inno3D GTX980. 3DMark is an essential tool used by millions of gamers, hundreds of hardware review sites and many of the world’s leading manufacturers to measure PC gaming performance. Futuremark say “Use it to test your PC’s limits and measure the impact of overclocking and tweaking your system. Search our massive results database and see how your PC compares or just admire the graphics and wonder why all PC games don’t look this good. To get more out of your PC, put 3DMark in your PC.” A fantastic score of 14,028 points puts the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming in second place the graph. This engine is the most relevant of all the Futuremark tests we run today. Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand. Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk. Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable: Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems Multicore CPU support Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles) Powerful C++ API Comprehensive performance profiling system Flexible XML-based data structures We set Quality to 'High', Tessellation to 'Normal' and resolution to 1600p. The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming averages 67 frames per second, holding a position just behind the Inno3D Boss Ultra card. Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark. The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird’s-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal. This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user. We toggle quality to HIGH, and resolution to 1600p. Nvidia hardware scores particularly well in Unigine Valley, and the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming takes second place in the chart.Grid Autosport (styled as GRID Autosport) is a racing video game by Codemasters and is the sequel to 2008′s Race Driver: Grid and 2013′s Grid 2. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 24, 2014. (Wikipedia). On this page we test at 1080p and 1600p using the 'Ultra' image quality profile with 8x MSAA. Overall performance is very strong, as we would expect, averaging 93 frames per second at 1600p with 8AA AA at the Ultra image profile. Grid Autosport (styled as GRID Autosport) is a racing video game by Codemasters and is the sequel to 2008′s Race Driver: Grid and 2013′s Grid 2. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 24, 2014. (Wikipedia). We test at Ultra HD 4k with 8MSAA. The Ultra Profile is selected for maximum image quality. Even at 4K the GTX980's perform very well, averaging close to 60 frames per second.Thief is set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Victorian, gothic, and steampunk aesthetics. Garrett, a master thief who has been away from his hometown for a long time, returns to it, a place known only as The City, and finds it ruled with an iron grip by a tyrant called The Baron. While The City is ravaged by a plague, the rich continue to live in isolation and good fortune while the poor are forming numerous mobs against the authorities, Garrett intends to use the volatile situation to his favor. (Wikipedia). We test with the 'very high' image quality preset at 1080p and 1600p. Smooth frame rates from the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming, even at 1600p.Thief is set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Victorian, gothic, and steampunk aesthetics. Garrett, a master thief who has been away from his hometown for a long time, returns to it, a place known only as The City, and finds it ruled with an iron grip by a tyrant called The Baron. While The City is ravaged by a plague, the rich continue to live in isolation and good fortune while the poor are forming numerous mobs against the authorities, Garrett intends to use the volatile situation to his favor. (Wikipedia). We test at the 'very high' preset for maximum image quality. Resolution is set to 4k for this particular test. At 4K many people wouldn't be happy with the performance from any of these single card configurations, however the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming scores quite well, holding an average over 30 frames per second. Tomb Raider received much acclaim from critics, who praised the graphics, the gameplay and Camilla Luddington’s performance as Lara with many critics agreeing that the game is a solid and much needed reboot of the franchise. Much criticism went to the addition of the multiplayer which many felt was unnecessary. Tomb Raider went on to sell one million copies in forty-eight hours of its release, and has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide so far. (Wikipedia). We test with the 'ultimate' image quality profile at 1080p and 1600p. A perfectly smooth gaming experience at both 1080p and 1600p.Tomb Raider received much acclaim from critics, who praised the graphics, the gameplay and Camilla Luddington’s performance as Lara with many critics agreeing that the game is a solid and much needed reboot of the franchise. Much criticism went to the addition of the multiplayer which many felt was unnecessary. Tomb Raider went on to sell one million copies in forty-eight hours of its release, and has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide so far. (Wikipedia). We test at Ultra HD 4k resolution with the 'Ultra' image profile enabled. Single GPU solutions find the 'Ultimate' image quality preset too difficult to power properly. Tomb Raider runs well on the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming at 4K, averaging 44 frames per second during our tests. If you want to hold a constant 60 frames per second at these settings you need a SLi configuration. On May 22, 2014, a Redux version of Metro Last Light was announced. It was released on August 26, 2014 in North America and August 29, 2014 in Europe for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Redux adds all the DLC and graphical improvements. A compilation package, titled Metro Redux, was released at the same time which includes Last Light and 2033. (Wikipedia). We test with following settings: Quality-Very High, SSAA-off, Texture Filtering-16x, Motion Blur-Normal, Tessellation-Normal, Advanced Physx-On. A very demanding engine which brings lower level hardware to a grinding halt at these settings. The GTX980 solutions score well at both 1080p and 1600p. On May 22, 2014, a Redux version of Metro Last Light was announced. It was released on August 26, 2014 in North America and August 29, 2014 in Europe for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Redux adds all the DLC and graphical improvements. A compilation package, titled Metro Redux, was released at the same time which includes Last Light and 2033. (Wikipedia). We test with following settings: Quality-High, SSAA-off, Texture Filtering-16x, Motion Blur-off, Tessellation-Normal, Advanced Physx-off. If you are happy with a constant 30 frames per second at 4K then the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming will deliver the goods, holding an average of 40 frames per second and never dropping below 30 frames per second. The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 23c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic. If it wasn't for the incredible cooler fitted to the Inno3D GTX980 'iChill Air Boss Ultra' card, the Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming would be claiming our top spot in the cooling department. That said, the cooler managed to outperform both ASUS and MSI solutions - by a single degree.We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with almost completely passive cooling and it means we can measure noise of just the graphics card inside the system when we run looped 3dMark tests. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation. Ambient noise in the room measures close to the limits of our sound meter at 28dBa. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the video card. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635. KitGuru noise guide 10dBA - Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves 20-25dBA – Whisper 30dBA - High Quality Computer fan 40dBA - A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator 50dBA - Normal Conversation 60dBA - Laughter 70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer 80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal 90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower 100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output 110dBA - Orchestra 120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine 130dBA – Threshold of Pain 140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range) 160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum Noise levels are a little higher than both ASUS and MSI cards, although it would be difficult to notice in the real world.To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. We measure results while gaming in Tomb Raider at 4k resolution and the synthetic stress test Furmark - recording both results. All of the GTX980 cards we have tested are very efficient. Gigabyte's GTX980 G1 Gaming takes 163 watts under gaming load. To overclock today we are using the latest V4.0.0 of MSI's Afterburner based on the excellent Rivatuner. We were able to push the core to 1,453 mhz, with the Turbo Speed set at 1,554mhz. This translates into a 18.3% overclock which is very healthy indeed. Every card will exhibit slightly different overclocking capabilities, so there will be some variance between them. We have reviewed many of the more prominent custom GTX980 solutions available on the market today and our findings have shown that it is almost impossible to end up with a poor, ill performing card. There are of course some key differences between the models available today. Regular readers will likely remember our review of the monster INNO3D GTX980 'iChill Herculez X4 Air Boss Ultra' - hard to forget as it has one of the most ludicrous graphics card names in history. Tacky naming aside, the INNO3D card is fitted with one of the most incredible air cooling systems known to man. The appearance will certainly split opinion, but the cooling efficiency isn't in question. The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming may not exhibit quite the same cooling proficiency, but it does manage to outperform both MSI Gaming 4G and ASUS STRIX versions of the GTX980. Performance from all of the GTX980's is stellar, and the Gigabyte G1 Gaming ships with one of the higher core clocks - set at 1,228mhz. At these speeds, 1080p, 1440p and 1600p frame rates are smooth - however if 4K gaming is your main goal then you will need to budget for two of them in SLi. The Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming is a fantastic graphics card, and we like the understated black design - it will slot into any system build without creating a conflict of colours. The addition of a great looking backplate will also appeal to the discerning enthusiast audience. You can buy from Overclockers UK for £499.99 inc vat - although there is a sale this week with a price reduction to £469.99 inc vat. Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros: nicely understated design. backplate looks great. outperforms the coolers on both ASUS and MSI cards. superb performance, high core clock speed. Cons: MSI GTX980 Gaming 4G is still the 'looker' of the bunch. will still need two of them for super smooth 4K gaming. Kitguru says: High clock speeds, great cooler and built to very high standards complete with backplate.