The MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G is currently the top NVIDIA GTX series card available from MSI and being a non-reference design means that they have been able to include some overclocking out of the box. For comparison, the reference GTX 980 has clock speeds of 1126 MHz (1216 MHz Boost)
The connectivity consists of 1x Dual Link DVI, 1x HDMI and 3x Display Port. If you use 2 older ‘DVI only’ screens, you will need to get an adapter (or upgrade your screen as well).
The full specifications of the MSI GTX 980 4G Gaming are listed below.
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Graphics Engine |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 |
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Interface |
PCI Express x16 3.0 |
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Memory Type |
GDDR5 |
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Memory Size(MB) |
4096 |
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Memory Interface |
256 bits |
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Core Clock Speed(MHz) |
1216MHz Core (Boost Clock:1317MHz) (OC Mode) |
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Memory Clock Speed(MHz) |
7010 |
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DVI Output |
1 (Dual-link DVI-I), Max Resolution: 2560 x 1600 @60 Hz. |
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HDMI-Output |
1 (version 1.4a / 2.0), Max Resolution: 4096×2160 @24 Hz (1.4a), 3840×2160 @60 Hz (2.0) |
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DisplayPort |
1 (version 1.2), Max Resolution: 4096×2160 @60 Hz |
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Maximum Displays |
4 |
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HDCP Support |
Y |
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RAMDAC speed (MHz) |
400 |
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DirectX Version Support |
12 |
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OpenGL Version Support |
4.4 |
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SLI Support |
Y, 4-Way |
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3-way SLI |
Y |
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Card Dimension(mm) |
279 x 140 x 36mm |
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Weight |
936 g |
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Power Consumption (W) |
165 |
| Power Connectors | 8-Pin x 2 |
| Accessories | 1 x 8-pin Power Cable, 1 x DVI to VGA Dongle |
GTX 980 standard technology
Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI)
Maxwell GPUs are the first with the ability to dynamically render indirect list using VXGI technology. Light interacts more realistically in the game environment for a more life-like experience
MFAA – Multi Framed Sampling Aliasing
Next generation Anti Aliasing to lessen the trade-off between high settings and lower frame rates. NVIDIA states that MFAA is effectively the same graphical result as 2x MSAA but with the performance of having no MSAA active. There is a video explaining it below
DSR – Dynamic Super Resolution Technology
NVIDIA describe this as “The GeForce GTX 980 and 970 deliver the graphics horsepower to render images at 4K resolution. They use DSR technology—which uses an advanced filter to scale down the image—to provide gamers with a 4K experience on a 1080p monitor. Each game is automatically optimized using GeForce Experience™, without compromising performance.” see the video below for an example
4K
The GTX 970/980 GPUs have been designed with 4K gaming in mind and have other features like G-SYNC and 4K Capture through ShadowPlay to improve the 4K gaming experience.
Surround
The GTX 980 has support for up to 5 displays although the configuration of (SLI, monitor resolution and if 2D or 3D) needed will dictate what you can actually run. You can ‘only’ run 3 x 4K monitors in surround.. that would be a nice problem to have.
G-SYNC
NVIDIA have removed input lag that we see with VSYNC and reversed the traditional way of smoothing out gameplay where graphics cards would try to synchronise their output with the refresh rate of the screen. G-SYNC uses monitors that have the NVIDA technology included at a hardware level to adjust the monitor refresh rate to match the output of the graphics card. This is designed to provide a smoother visual experience leaving stuttering screen tearing in the past. The number of G-SYNC monitors on the market is growing and with more options on the market, the price should become more affordable as time and competing technologies further develop.
Familiar Friends from previous generations
GPU BOOST 2 will boost performance to remain under a thermal target. This means that the performance when the card is maxed out may be more than the boost clock if the card is cool enough.
Adaptive V-Sync. This has been around for a little while with NVIDIA cards but it works to reduce/eliminate tearing by turning vsync off when the frame rate drops below the refresh rate of the monitor.
