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Nvidia's GTX980 has been one of their greatest success stories in the last decade. While we have reviewed almost every partner board available, today we look at something very special – the new KFA2 GeForce GTX980 ‘8Pack Edition'. Overclockers UK resident overclocking world champion Ian ‘8Pack' Parry has been working with the company to produce one of the world's fastest air cooled cards. This solution is not only shipped at very high overclocked speeds, but it has been the recipient of uprated Capacitors and VRM components.
Nvidia's Maxwell architecture has been dominating the graphics sector for the last year. The GTX750ti was a warning shot across the bow for AMD – a super efficient GPU with more powerful siblings waiting in the wings. Some time later, the GTX970 and GTX980 hit market without an answer. AMD's power consumption is still a concern and until their next generation of cards hit later this year Nvidia have been able to run amok in the high end.
| GPU | GeForce GTX 750ti (Maxwell) | GeForce GTX 960 (Maxwell) | Geforce GTX 970 (Maxwell) | GeForce GTX 980 (Maxwell) | Geforce GTX Titan X |
| Streaming Multiprocessors | 5 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 24 |
| CUDA Cores | 640 | 1024 | 1664 | 2048 | 3072 |
| Base Clock | 1020 mhz | 1126 mhz | 1050 mhz | 1126 mhz | 1000 mhz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1085 mhz | 1178 mhz | 1178 mhz | 1216 mhz | 1076mhz |
| Total Video memory | 2GB | 2GB | 4GB | 4GB | 12GB |
| Texture fill-rate | 40.8 Gigatexels/Sec | 72.1 Gigatexels/Sec | 109.2 Gigatexels/Sec | 144.1 Gigatexels/Sec | 192 Gigatexels/Sec |
| Memory Clock | 5400 mhz | 7010 mhz | 7000 mhz | 7000 mhz | 7000 mhz |
| Memory Bandwidth | 86.4 GB/sec | 112.16 GB/sec | 224 GB/s | 224 GB/sec | 336.5 GB/sec |
| Bus Width | 128bit | 128bit | 256bit | 256bit | 384bit |
| ROPs | 16 | 32 | 56 | 64 | 96 |
| Manufacturing Process | 28nm | 28nm | 28nm | 28nm | 28nm |
| TDP | 60 watts | 120 watts | 145 watts | 165 watts | 250 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 KFA2 Geforce GTX980 ‘8Pack Edition' has received a mighty impressive core clock enhancement to 1,304mhz – from 1,126mhz on the reference design (boost speed 1418mhz). The GDDR5 memory is running at the default 1,753mhz speeds (7Gbps effective) but we believe there will be huge potential for overclocking, later in the review.
A picture of Ian ‘8Pack' Parry adorns the front of the box. No image of the card on the box, sadly.
The back of the box contains some generic Nvidia information.
Inside the box are some power and video adapter cables, a software disc, and some literature. KFA2 also include a ‘Do Not Disturb' banner, to hang over your door.
We like the appearance of the KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition', it is a two tone affair with three fans (2x 80mm + 1x 90mm fan) taking up the full width of the PCB. Thankfully they have fitted a branded ‘8Pack' backplate to the PCB, which will help reduce temperatures and protect sensitive components.
The card measures 308mm x 129.1mm x 49mm with the bracket.
The card is heavy and takes up a full two slots. The ‘Hall Of Fame' wording glows when the card is powered on.
The I/O plate has a single DVI connector on the back (DVI-D), alongside three full sized DisplayPort connectors and a single HDMI connector. This HDMI port will handle 4K resolutions at up to 60hz. KFA2 earn bonus points for using full sized connectors – no silly adapters needed. Top left is a long button style ‘knob' – included for benching. When it is pressed in the fans spin to full speed and the power limit is maxed out. No need to set anything in software!
The power delivery system has been increased over the reference design. This card takes power from two 8 PIN connectors. It is obviously SLI capable.
This is a substantial cooling system, comprising 7 Nickel plated copper heatpipes, 6 of which run the full length of the PCB in parallel. Four are 8mm heat pipes and three are 6mm heat pipes.
It is an 8 phase GPU + 2 phase memory power design. It uses a Next generation IR3595 Digital PWM controller providing 2X switching frequency vs. previous generation
An overview of the hardware in GPU-Z. 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 KFA2 to 1,304mhz with a boost speed set at 1,418mhz.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.
We tested all the solutions today at 1080p, 1600p and 4K resolutions. We didn't have time to retest all the hardware with the latest drivers, so we have clearly marked which solutions are tested with which drivers.
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.
KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' 4096MB (1,304mhz core / 1,753mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 350.12
Comparison cards:
Nvidia GTX Titan X (1,000mhz core / 1,753mhz Memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.88
Nvidia GTX Titan Z (706mhz core / 1,753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.88
Sapphire R9 295X2 (1,018mhz core / 1,250 mhz memory) – Catalyst 15.3 beta
Asus GTX980 ROG Platinum (1,241mhz core / 1,753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Gigabyte GTX980 G1 Gaming (1228mhz core / 1,753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Inno3D GTX980 ‘iChill Herculez X4 Air Boss Ultra (1266 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
MSI GTX980 Gaming 4G (1216mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Asus GTX980 Strix (1178mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Asus GTX780 Ti Direct CU II OC (954mhz core / 1750 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Nvidia GTX980 Reference (1126 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Galax GTX970 OC Silent ‘Infinity Black Edition’ (1178 mhz core / 1753mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Palit GTX970 Jetstream OC (1152mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G (1140 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Palit GTX780 6GB (902 mhz core / 150 2mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Asus GTX970 StriX OC (1114 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
Asus R9 290 Direct CU II OC (1000 mhz core / 1260 mhz memory) – Catalyst 14.12
OCUK GTX970 ‘Nvidia 970 Cooler Edition’ (1051 mhz core / 1753 mhz memory) – Nvidia Forceware 347.09
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.
Fantastic results in this older Direct X 10 benchmark – scoring over 55,000 points and placing the 8Pack card right in behind the reference clocked Nvidia Titan X.
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.
Excellent performance in this Direct X 11 benchmark, scoring 21,040 points.
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.”
The KFA2 ‘8Pack Edition' is the fastest GTX980 we have tested, scoring 15,205 points., around 1,900 points behind the reference clocked GTX Titan X.
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 Inno3D GTX980 ‘iChill Air Boss Ultra' is kicked from the top GTX980 position, suffering a 3 frame rate deficit.
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.
The KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' averages 103 frames per second, putting it ahead of all the competition, and behind the Titan X.
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.
Perfectly playable at 4K, holding a 64 frame rate average.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.
The overclocked GTX980 can handle this demanding engine at both 1080p and 1600p resolutions.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.
This is an extremely demanding engine at 4K, but the KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' holds a frame rate at 30 or greater at all times.
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.
The KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' can almost continually hold a 60fps+ frame rate at 1600p, falling a few times to 55fps. If you demand a constant 60fps at 1600p (with image quality maxed), then the Titan X is needed. 1080p is no problems for any card on test.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).
Ultra HD 4K is more demanding, although the single KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' is able to hold a frame rate in the 40's at all times. Two Titan X's are needed for 60fps+ at these image quality settings, at 4k. Expensive!
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.
Not a problem at either 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.
Ultra HD 4K separates the wheat from the chaff. Forget it if you want 60fps+, you need Titan X in SLi for that I am afraid. The KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' however scores well, holding at 34fps+ at all times.
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.
Idle temperatures are very impressive. Under load the card hits 72c after a short while. The GPU is using Nvidia's GPU Boost 2.0 which dynamically adjusts clock speed and voltage settings, factoring in temperatures.
We install the graphics card into our system and measure temperatures on the back of the PCB with our Fluke Visual IR Thermometer/Infrared Thermal Camera. This is a real world running environment.
Details on the test is shown below.
Above, a traditional heatmap analysis. With a backplate on the PCB the card spreads the heat out evenly. A large portion of the PCB heats up to around 50c, with ‘hotspots' hitting around 55c. Superb results.
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
The custom cooler on this card runs very quietly, almost inaudible under most load situations – and better than any other GTX980 we have tested to date. Under synthetic load, the fan speeds rise a little further, hitting just over 33dBa.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.
Power demand under gaming situations, peaks around 175 watts. This rises to 212 watts under synthetic load.
To overclock today we are using the latest version of MSI's Afterburner based on the excellent Rivatuner.
We managed to squeeze almost another 7% from the core before the system would hardlock – this is with the standard supplied air cooling. The memory can be overclocked considerably – we managed to get the solution stable at 2,061mhz (8.24Gbps effective) before artifacting would occur. An incredible result.
The substantial manual overclock helped raise performance to within shouting distance of a reference clocked Nvidia Titan X, less than 100 points behind in 3DMark 11.
If you are in the market for a 4K monitor or have just bought one then a new graphics card update is likely to be on the shortlist. As our results show – a single, overclocked GTX980 can deliver playable frame rates at 4K if you are willing to deal with some image quality reductions, or the game engine running between 30 and 40 frames per second.
Two GTX980's in SLi deliver a good result at 4K and while expensive, they are considerably less so than two Nvidia Titan X. Granted you have to live with one third of the memory count (4GB rather than 12GB) – but two Titan X GPU's are around £1,800, while two GTX980's can be bought for £900.
The only concern with the GTX980 is that future game engines at 4K are likely to demand more than 4GB of memory – we have already seen Grand Theft Auto V demanding 12GB of memory at very high image quality settings – making it ideal playing ground for the Titan X. As we said before however, the design and release of the Titan X does open the door for a 6GB ‘GTX980 ti' at a later date.
The KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' is a no expenses spared custom design and I have to say, the results are genuinely tantalising. This is the most powerful GTX980 we have tested and it runs surprisingly quiet too with the fans running on automatic settings.
There is plenty of overclocking headroom available – we managed to increase boost speed to 1,518mhz, and the GDDR5 memory was stable to 2,060mhz – all with the standard air cooling. Adding a watercooling block to this card would likely reap even further gains.
Overclockers UK are stocking the KFA2 GeForce GTX 980 ‘8Pack Edition' from today, for £589.99 inc vat. There will be strictly limited stocks due to the strict screening process and the low volume of cards that will meet the grade.
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Pros:
- very high standards of build.
- quiet design due to the high grade triple fan configuration.
- fastest GTX980 we have tested
- memory hit 2,060mhz (8.24Gbps effective)
- 1518mhz boost speed.
- 8 phase GPU + 2 phase memory power
- backplate helps remove hotspots.
- button on I/O plate is handy for overclocking.
- no coil whine.
Cons:
- expensive.
- 4GB of GDDR5 doesn't offer much headroom at 4K.
Kitguru says: The KFA2 GTX980 ‘8Pack Edition' is the finest GTX980 we have tested, with plenty of headroom for overclocking. It is built to the highest standards as well, and includes a backplate. Memory will hit 2,000mhz+ easily.
