MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G Review

Performance Analysis

MSI's GTX 980 Ti Gaming demonstrates a consistent theme throughout our benchmark suite of games of being notably faster than the reference GTX 980 Ti. Across all our tests combined the MSI variant is 7.6 percent faster at 1080p, 9.2 percent at 1440p and 11 percent at 2160p based on average frame-rates. Only in Battlefield 4 and Grand Theft Auto V was the performance increase slightly lower than anticipated but it still offered a worthy improvement.



Gamers pondering the value of AMD's R9 Fury X may be intrigued to know that MSI's GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G was notably faster across all resolutions. To be specific average frame-rates in our game tests were 25.1 percent, 19 percent and 14.4 percent higher than the R9 Fury X at 1080p, 1440p and 2160p, respectively. That gap doesn't narrow when factoring in overclocking headroom either; both GPUs are able to eke out an additional 8 to 10 percent through overclocking.

The significant performance boost does come at a power consumption penalty with peak power draw about 100W higher than the reference GTX 980 Ti. While that figure may seem surprising MSI's graphics cards do have a habit of consuming a fair chunk more juice than rival brands and reference designs, the MSI R9 390X Gaming is another notable example of this. For reference, while peak consumption was 521W typical power consumption was in the 460W to 480W region when under demanding 3D load.



The additional power consumption generates few problems in the area of cooling with the MSI Twin Frozr V cooling solution keeping the GTX 980 Ti GPU sub-80 degrees Celsius throughout all of our testing. It also does this with a minimal level of noise, particularly during idle and low-loads as the Zero Frozr design prohibits the fan from spinning up until the GPU temperature exceeds 60 degrees Celsius. MSI's GTX 980 Ti is notably quieter than the reference GTX 980 Ti which is a remarkable achievement given that it runs both cooler and with significantly higher frequencies.

Conclusion

MSI's GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G is a prime demonstration of how to get the most out of Nvidia's current second-fastest Maxwell GPU. Starting from a fully-custom PCB design, MSI adds a stylish and well-built cooling solution capable of delivering stellar temperatures with less noise than the reference design.

MSI pushes the clock speed boundaries too with one of the most aggressive factory overclocks on the market, leaving AMD's R9 Fury X trailing in the distance. The addition of a full-cover backplate and a white LED underneath the MSI logo add pleasant finishing touches to a very well-rounded and refined product.



Pricing for MSI's GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G starts at around £550 here in the UK making it reasonably priced against similar custom offerings from the likes of ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Palit and Zotac. The market for custom GTX 980 Ti graphics cards is surprisingly competitive right now but MSI makes a strong case as to why you should consider its Gaming variant over the competition.