The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is the upcoming high-performance graphics card that launches next week. Designed with the GM200 GPU core, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is a sibling to the Titan X featuring a more cost optimized design that focuses pure gaming performance towards gamers and enthusiasts. The card is designed with the same DNA as the Titan X before it and comes in a package similar to the GeForce GTX 980.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Official Pictures Unveiled - GM200 GPU and 6 GB GDDR5 Memory
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti has been in the talks since a while now. This post is nothing different from the ones we have already covered and is solely focused on the reference NVIDIA design that we will see from every AIB partner that NVIDIA is collaborating with. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti may not be a special card considering we have already seen GM200 in action with the Titan X in all its glory and the 980 Ti is simply based on a cut down version but do keep in mind that the Titan X has a retail price of $999 US which is quite high for most gamers to afford. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti, replacing its predecessor, the GTX 780 Ti, will most likely have a price range of $699 US while custom variants which will be available after launch will sell for a premium price range because of high-performance coolers and custom designed PCBs that push overclocking to the limits.
The specifications are simple, you take two SMMs and halve of the VRAM out of the Titan and the remaining is what the GeForce GTx 980 Ti would formulate from. The complete GM200 chip has 24 SMMs arranged in 6 GPC (Graphics Processing Clusters). The GeForce GTX 980 Ti features the GM200-310 SKU that has two SMMs cut or simply disabled compared to the GM200-400-A1 on the Titan X. This keeps the core configuration to 2816 cuda cores, 176 texture mapping units and 96 raster operation units. While it is rumored that the memory lane and ROPs might be affected by the disabled SMMs, just like the GTX 970, NVIDIA has better management built for their high-performance core offerings and we won't see the same situation on the GTX 980 Ti. The card feature a 6 GB GDDR5 VRAM that operates along a 384-bit bus interface.
Clock speeds for the GeForce GTX 980 Ti are quite impressive which stay at the same levels of the Titan X. The base clock is set at 1000 MHz while the boost clock is set at 1076 MHz which is just 14 MHz slower than the X. The memory clock is maintained at 7 GHz as has been the case since the GeForce GTX 770 and pumps out a theoretical bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. I would have really loved to see NVIDIA using 8 GHz VRAM modules on the 980 Ti as a last hurrah to GDDR5 memory since the Maxwell generation will be the last high-end cards from NVIDIA to feature GDDR5 memory after which they transition to Pascal and introduce HBM (Gen2). HBM will shatter new memory speeds with over 1 TB/s bandwidth, AMD is already leading the way with their upcoming Fiji based graphics card that will be the first to introduce the latest memory standard.
When it comes to design, what else can we expect from NVIDIA aside from their old school NVTTM cooler. This cooler has been stuck with NVIDIA since the original Titan that launched in February and it has launched on all cards in Maxwell generation that it is getting a bit boring. While the reference model features no visual change aside from t he exclusion of the backplate once again, the GTX 980 Ti will come in non-reference variants to tackle the Fiji based card in overclocking and cooling sectors. AMD is already designing a totally new, revised and cool looking cooler for their flagship cards and it will be seen if NVIDIA's AIB partners will be up to task to battle it out. ZOTAC has already shown off a very powerful design based on their Arctic Storm cooler yesterday that is featured on the Titan X and coming to GTX 980 Ti soon after it is launched. So the reference card comes with a 8+6 Pin power connector configuration and a 250W TDP design. You can take a glance at the complete specifications in the table below and know this that the card officially launches on 2nd June 2015 at Computex.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Manufacturer Reference Cards:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Specifications:
| Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU | 28nm GM200-400 | 28nm GM200-310 | 28nm GM204-400 | 28nm GM204-200 |
| CUDA Cores | 3072 | 2816 | 2048 | 1664 |
| TMUs | 192 | 176 | 128 | 112 |
| ROPs | 96 | 96 | 64 | 56 |
| Core clock | 1002 MHz | 1000 MHz | 1127 MHz | 1050 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1089 MHz | 1076 MHz | 1215 MHz | 1178 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 1753 MHz | 1753 MHz | 1753 MHz | 1753 MHz |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory | 12GB GDDR5 | 6GB GDDR5 | 4GB GDDR5 | 4GB GDDR5 |
| Bandwidth | 336 GB/s | 336 GB/s | 224 GB/s | 224 GB/s |
| TDP | 250W | 250W | 165W | 150W |
| Power Connectors | 1x 6pin; 1x 8pin | 1x 6pin; 1x 8pin | 2x 6pin | 2x 6pin |
| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DP | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DP | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DP | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DP |
| Launch MSRP | $999 US | $649 US | $549 US | $329 US |
| Current MSRP | $999 US | ~$450 US | ~$379 US | ~$279 US |
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