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We received our sample direct from Nvidia and it arrived in a beautifully presented black box, with green stripe.
‘The World's Most Advanced GPU' is highlighted along the front of the box. No bundle with the review sample, but Nvidia partners will bundle various power, video adapters and literature with their cards.
I have to admit, I do like the appearance of the Nvidia reference coolers. Its an industrial, modern design which looks great in any system build. The Geforce GTX980 measures 10.5 inches.
The ‘Geforce GTX' text will glow green when the card is powered on.
If you have been paying close attention, you will see that part of the backplate is a little higher than the rest – we have highlighted the area in red. This part is removable. Gamers with a single GTX980 or two in SLi with adequate spacing will not need to touch this.
Those running 3 way configurations or with two cards running directly side by side without an open slot between them can remove this part of the backplate. Why bother?
Nvidia claim this improves airflow over the PCB. They say that their engineering team spent time studying airflow between boards and came to the conclusion that this area is ‘critical for feeding air directly into the adjacent fan'.
Nvidia say that by removing this part of the backplate you will be effectively improving airflow between the cards when they are directly beside each other. We can't test this yet, as we only have one reference board in hand.
The Geforce GTX980 is SLi capable and it takes power from 2x 6 pin PCIe cables, shown above.
Nvidia have three DisplayPort connectors available on the I/O backplate, alongside an HDMI 2.0 capable connector. This HDMI port will handle 4K resolutions at up to 60hz. There is also a dual link DVI connector on the top row. Up to four of these output connectors can be used simultaneously.
Three G-SYNC displays can be driven from a single GTX 980.
Cool air is driven in from one side of the card, then warm air expelled out the rear of the computer chassis.
