The GTX 980ti was launched earlier last year but that's the reference model, it was only later in 2015 that Asus rolled out their much anticipated Strix GTX 980ti and the reason for the anticipation is quite simple....Its arguably one of the best GTX 980ti out there until date.
Before we start off a few points are worth noticing, the GTX 980ti at its heart has the same GM200 Maxwell GPU that powers its big brother the coveted GeForce Titan X but obviously has some corners trimmed off to save cost but that doesn't make the card any lesser in terms of real world and gaming performance. Asus over here has tweaked the Strix GTX 980ti with 1216Mhz base and 1317Mhz boost clock speeds which are not only substantially higher than the reference model's 1000/1075Mhz but are also the highest out of the box clock speeds that we've seen on any card till date. To seal the deal Asus even has bumped the massive 6GB DDR5 memory on this beast to 1800Mhz (7200Mhz effective) which is a 50Mhz increase but makes a world of difference in reality if not on paper.
Packing and Closer Look
The Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti comes in the traditional Strix packing with the terminator like Strix owl occupying most of the real estate on the front. The Strix Gaming logo and GeForce GTX 980 Ti are clearly mentioned on one side of the box and some key features such as the 0dB gaming etc on the bottom end.
Opening the box you'll find a generous amount of accessories since its a graphics card after all. The big black box inside contains the GTX 980 Ti seated carefully inside a thick foam depression protected by an anti-static bag. Other accessories include the installation DVD with the GPU Tweak II software and drivers, a 2 x 6-pin to 8-pin power adapter, Strix product catalog, user’s manual, and a super hip Strix sticker you can slap on your case!
Take a good look at this beast of a beauty! The Strix GTX 980 Ti comes with the latest DirectCU III cooler from Asus which is exclusive for some very specific cards right now. The Asus Strix Radeon R9 390X 8GB DDR5 which we reviewed a few months back even comes with this same cooler. The shroud is made out of high grade plastic and decorated with three colors: black, silver, and metallic-red, both the silver and red have a very smooth metal-like feel to it, while the black has a rugged texture.
At the back you find a thick aluminum back-plate which, Asus like to call the fortifier, to impart rigidity & effective cooling experience to the card. For a card measuring in at over 11' this is must to avoid it from warping under its own weight. I'm kind of impressed by the GPU retention bracket clearly visible through a cut out and coated in red metallic paint.
Near the bottom you'll find four of the five massive industrial grade chrome coated copper heat pipes turning inwards towards the GPU and a PCIe gen 3.0 connector for installation. The locking notch has Asus printed on it, yeah yeah we know its your card don't worry *wink*
The Strix GTX 980 Ti is four way SLI compatible through a SLI connector located on top left. But for best compatibility its advised that one sticks with two of these power houses.
A LED backlit Strix logo is present on the extreme top right. Its pulsation pattern can be controlled via the GPU Tweak II utility. This will be visible from your case's transparent side panel so a nice little touch I'd say.
This beast feeds upon two 8-pin PCIe power connectors and is said to consume 250W tops which is way off the actual mark and can reach all the way upto 300w+ under full load! Two white LED are located near the connectors and light up once the connections are done properly and the card is powered on.
On the card you’ll find all the latest connections required to get your setup up and running whether single or multi-display, those include: one Dual-Link DVI, one HDMI 2.0, and three DisplayPort 1.2, so in total you can configure up to four monitors to run at the same time (three in 4K).
