In what sense? Gamers Nexus has shown how it is hitting its thermal limit and throttling like a good'un. Admittedly, the performance of a reference 1080ti is going to be better than whichever respective card, but AIB custom cards or watercooling will make it run faster both out of the box and overclocked. Changing the fan profile will help at the expense of noise, but from my experience (owning Titan Xs and a reference 1080) doing something with the stock cooler is the best way of maximizing clocks and, ultimately, gaming framerates.
According to most reviewers, like the Titan X(p) the card will hit the power limits before it hits thermal limits when you're pushing high clocks with the fan turned. You're not going to need more thermal headroom until either you've gotten an AIB card allowing higher voltages, or performed the voltmod, or want to run with the GPU fans on low and extra case fans to compensate. Remember that Gamers Nexus tests their cards on an open bench with a pair of large fans pointed right at the card. Once you have the cards inside a case, the gap between 'open' cooler designs and rear-exhausting designs can narrow rapidly depending on supplementary airflow (or lack thereof).
The above link is them testing a reference 1080ti at stock, and it is clear it does hit a thermal limit and start throttling the clock speed to compensate (I.E. keep the temperature at 84C~). Exactly the same as I observed with my Titan X and 1080. What your talking about is overclocking potential and the power limitation. The above video does not discuss overclocking levels at all. It throttles at stock speeds with a reference cooler, no overclock required. If you do overclock, the throttling is more pronounced and it hits the thermal limit much quicker. You end up at the same approximate clock speeds anyway, once the temperature has settled (at 84C) overclocked or not. This occurs particularly under heavy load conditions.
I must be weird, then. My Titan XP coolers let them get up to ~2000 MHz. Can't be arsed with watercooling, so reference for me to get the heat out of the case. I'm not the young grasshopper I once was, so a nice, early bed before some benchmarking tomorrow methinks.
I thought you had Maxwell's? Its a fairly consistent finding Pete, saying your cards hit 2000 MHz is vague. Under what conditions, what loads? Have you used another cooling setup to compare? What happens to the boost clock when you run the fan at 100% under 90%+ load for extended periods, compared to stock fan speed? Etc. I don't think GN are making up their findings. To be honest, I find them to be the most frank and down to earth hardware reviewers available. They're enthusiast orientated and talk sensibly. Much prefer them over Linus or Jayz (shudder).
Guys, in this case, please help me decide what version to buy. FE or AIB. I'm not planning on OCing the card, will run it at stock clocks, inside regular case. Will FE card work ok? I mean I know it won't throttle up to 2GHz, but it should work like it supposed to, like nvidia built it, right? It shouldn't be too loud playing games? From all the reviews I've read today I understand that it will keep different clocks during different games, may stay around 1.6-1.8GHz, but will keep its fan relatively quiet, right?
Yes, of course it will work ok. I'm already in the process of overclocking mine with no hassle and, if you’re not planning to overclocking at all, then there won't be any problems.
How loud is the fan? During regular games? When it comes up to, I din't know.. highest temp during game, does it start to sound like jet engine?
It will be audible during gaming yes. Every GPU I have ever used has been to some degree. If you want quieter then get an AIB card. Stock cards are usually quite noisy compared to a good dual/triple fan design. I know I've said it already but if you really want this card to boost hard you need water. It's pretty much Titan XP all over again. I don't think you will get water into your case would you Phinix? or an AIO rad?
On the profile it ships with I don't notice it but I do have the surround sound on. It really isn't loud; I have all my case fans turned down to the minimum as I like things quiet. On a strenuous game the fans will speed up but not enough to annoy you unless you live in a convent
I have both, though will be selling the Maxwells to cover the Tis. In summer, the XPs will drop to about 1975MHz. Currently enjoying the 'free' heat they provide during the winter.
The reference fan is a decent piece of kit. I always found typical load noise absolutely fine. I am harping on about this because I like to get the maximum from a build, especially if I pay £700 for one component. If you're keeping it at stock and you don't care that it will run below what it's capable of (depending on load conditions), then the reference blower is fine. For me, I want it to be boosting at its maximum under all circumstances. I have a 1440p 144 Hz monitor which will use that power, and the reference card is thermally hamstrung. It's like building a Ferrari and then equipping it with an undersized fuel pump. One thing is for certain, they may actually change the design for Volta and stop saving money by reusing the same inadequate cooler over and over. Removing the DVI port was a lazy attempt at saving the R and D on doing a proper job. Titan XM, 1080 and Titan XP all showed the same problem, and they still use it for the 1080 Ti That's still vague, Pete. My reference 1080 used to run at 1975 Mhz playing 3D minesweeper too. Any testing and validation, or are you talking about a quick glimpse in the top right corner under middling loads?
I'm talking about constantly having Afterburner on a second screen during a 2 hour+ gaming session and looking at the graphs to check consistency. Anyone else not able to install the drivers? 378.78 keeps failing to install for me, despite redownloading, switching Displayports, trying different options, shutting down processes, etc. Might have to go down the route of returning them at this rate.
Yes, I had that problem. It's because the Nvidia folder in C:\Temp is locked. You need to delete it but you won't be able to do that until you change the permissions to give yourself the rights to do so or use a program like Unlocker or similar.
GravitySmacked, you are a bloody legend. Thanks for knowing this. What a bloody stupid problem to have. Why the hell do I have it on only one PC as well? Windows 10 always seems to be pulling this ****. I have a few folders on my laptop that I can't delete for similar reasons - can't wait for the annual format and reinstall. In my opinion, this is a relatively advanced problem too - my father, for example, would not stand a chance at fixing this. What a pain in the arse.
Guys thank you for your input, I decided and bought it!!! EVGA FE is in stock in Scan this morning, just bought one!!! YAY!!!
Thanks, I'm happy as a hippo Already got the code for games - For Honor or Wildlands. Delivery tomorrow!
