ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme Edition Video Card Review

The new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti recently hit the planet like a bolt of lightning offering more CUDA processors and memory bandwidth to satisfy the extreme gaming enthusiast. The Maxwell GPU shares all the familiar features of the original GTX 980 which is a very powerful GPU in its own right, but still ones ups it on paper. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme Edition, is the first wave of enhanced, non-stock models that boast the fastest internal frequencies to date. With three cooling fans, heat pipes, extreme frequencies and 6GB of video memory, this video card is poised to beat all others right out of the box.

Features and Specifications

Like GTX 980, GTX 980 Ti offers multi-frame anti-aliasing for smoother edges while not reducing frame rates, Dynamic Super Resolution which improves 1080p quality giving it that 4K appeal, Voxel Glboal Illumination for greater lighting effects, G-SYNC that eliminates display caused tearing and stuttering, and Adaptative V-SYNC which is a more efficient way of preventing stuttering (low frame rates) and tearing (high frame rates).

Gamers continue to get the GeForce Experience in case you don’t like to guess what settings are needed to find an enjoyable gaming experience. We also get GameStream for streaming to portable or mobile devices which of course includes the NVIDIA Shield.

Here’s how the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti stacks up against the series…

As you can see (above) GTX 980 Ti has more CUDA cores, more video memory and higher frequencies compared to the already impressive GTX 980. Naturally, we want to know how the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme video card stands in comparison to NVIDIA’s other GPUs.

Unlike the stock configuation, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme Edition requires two 8pin power cables to function. No doubt that due to the higher frequencies that often require a little extra power, helped by ZOTAC’s own custom PCB and packaging. In this respect, I would recommend at least a 600 Watt 80PLUS Gold PSU. A proven brand 650 Watt or higher standard 80PLUS Bronze should also work fine.

The pricing spread of the base NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti cards is around $660 which is also where ZOTAC starts pricing. However, our particular ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme comes in at $699 USD. That’s not too unreasonable given it’s current fastest model available.

What’s In the Box?

So what do you get for $699 USD? The bundle is pretty basic (as is the case with 99% of the cards available). You’ll get two dual 6pin to 8pin PSU cable adapters, VGA to DVI adapter, drivers/software disc and manual. It’s great that the adapters come with it because if your PSU doesn’t have two 8pin cables you’ll for sure need them to run this card.

However, if you find that you need to upgrade your PSU, might we suggest a couple options: be quiet! Pure Power and Silent Power series if you want something of premium German quality, or the Thermaltake TR2 and ToughPower series if you want something more cost effective.

Let’s have a look at what this card looks like next!

Card Design

One of the design features that makes the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme capable of higher frequencies is the nicely designed Triple 90mm IceStorm GPU cooler, which is very similar to the one that came attached to their GTX 980 AMP! Extreme model. However, this cooler makes the card quite large and heavier which therefore requires a back plate.

Given its size, the card will take up roughly two and a half slot spaces so plan accordingly.

The IceStorm consists of a Carbon ExoArmor shroud which is actually simulated carbon fiber, housing three EKO fans. These fans are found only on the GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme and AMP! Omega. They most likely produce about 40-45 CFM of airflow each. While the cooler design dissipates heat inside your case, a good computer case will have efficient air flow to offset internal temps.

A Quick Word on ZOTAC Freeze Technology and Power Boost

Freeze (Start Stop) Technology is ZOTAC’s name for their card’s ability to keep the fans idle when not under heavy load. Naturally, if the GPU temp is low enough, the fans will barely spin when working on something minor which makes for a really quiet workstation. This is one of NVIDIA Maxwell’s greatest features.

Power Boost is something engineers added to manage ripple noise and power fluctations. The result hopefully increases the life of the card. Other manfucaturers have paired similar feats of engineering to increase life and maintain increased Boost Clock frequencies. The important thing is to achieve these results without creating component noise. No one likes noisy electronics. We’ll find out if all this technology works in our testing.

Test System Setup

Often we hear enthusiasts assume a high end graphics card will be found on a high end system. However, gamers will more often spend more on graphics. Therefore, we’re using a system suited for gaming.

• Processor: Intel Core i7-4970K Devil’s Canyon
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z97X-Gaming GT
• Graphics: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme (as tested)
• Memory: Kingston HyperX Savage 16GB 1866MHz DDR3 (1600MHz CL9)
• Storage: Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB SSD
• Power: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 850W
• Cooling: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3
• OS: Windows 8.1 Pro

A few earlier generation video cards (not listed) were included for comparison. Your CPU will definitely influence frame rates. Ours is a stock 4 GHz processor. So keep that in mind with your system.

Moving on…

Installation Notes

Installing the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme isn’t any different than other graphics cards. Given its size, it may require a little dexterity getting the card in your particular computer enclosure.

System integrators (and consumers) should take special precautions when shipping a system with this card installed. The card itself doesn’t flex or bend. However, the PCI Express socket doesn’t hold the card up perfectly. We’ve seen this before in most every 2.5 slot extreme performance graphics card with a sizable GPU cooler. This obviously shows us that there is some notable weight being put on the socket. So take time to add proper packaging when transporting.

Enough talk. Let’s start benching!

Synthetic Benchmarks

The benchmark suite is pretty simple. All games were tested at 1920 x 1200p, maximum details, 8x AA when possible, tessellation enabled, Physx enabled, and V-Sync turned off to get max frame rates. We kick things off with some synthetic benchmarks.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

I was able to use an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti for a bit to test it using Unigine. The ZOTAC GTX 980 Ti AMP Extreme has the frequencies to score a bit more. This is just crazy fast. Either way, if you don’t buy the AMP Extreme, you know how one of their AMP or Omega series cards will perform.

3DMark

The extra CUDA cores, higher frequencies and video memory make all the difference here. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP Extreme performs quite well thanks to the extra resources. Unfortunately, this was all the time I had to use the regular NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti.

Game Benchmarks

Since the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP Extreme is a gaming card, we’ll want to get some game benchmarks in as well.

Metro: Last Light

I remember when this game really crippled a GPU given the details and ambient effects. But with NVIDIA’s innovation, the game is a pleasure to watch go through benchmarks as well as play so smoothly.

Crysis 3

Does it play Crysis? Once again, the benchmark proved to be a very smooth experience. The chaotic fire fights are much more exciting and easier to get through when you got the frame rates.

Let’s continue the benchmarks!

Gaming Benchmarks (Continued)

We continue the benchmarks with four more worthy titles.

Battlefield 4

The single player mode always seems so much better than the online experience. But if you’re on a poorly configured public server, at least the frame rates will stay up there increasing your chances of surviving – assuming you can stay connected. (Yep, I went there.)

Far Cry 4

The landscape and details look great with the new NVIDIA graphic features. Since the NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti launched, it’s nice to see the lower frame rates stay high enough to negate screen stuttering. Even when moving fast, the rates are much smoother on the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP Extreme.

Splinter Cell Black List

Everything agian remains smooth even slamming through scene after seen with speed with Physx enabled. The stellar lighting and shadows really do help enrich the gaming experience here.

Bioshock Infinite

Finally, I had to through one demented game in for fun. Again, the electricity, environmental and lighting effects create one pleasurably messed up atmosphere.

It’s clear that the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP Extreme is a beast when it comes to gaming performance. But there is another aspect to the GPU performance which is the quality of the hardware itself. We’ll be assessing that next.

Temps, Noise and Quality Assessed

At no time during gaming did I hear the video card over the (22 dB) CPU cooling fans. That’s pretty good given that ambient temps have been a humid 25-27C as of late. Only Unigine Heaven 4.0 and 3DMark seemed to push temps up. For this reason, Unigine was looped to monitor GPU temps inside a be quiet! Silent Base 800 computer case and an open tech station.

From the start, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme IceStorm cooler was undetectable inside the case or on the tech station. The card reached a humble 68 C at load and idled 41C at desktop. In either case, the results were almost identical. You’ll want to ensure that there is great air flow in your case. The be quiet! Silent Base 800 does seem to marry both silence and cooling, which we’ll be looking at in depth in an upcoming review. But keep in mind that the card will get much louder if your case has poor airflow.

To simulate the worst case scenario, the GPU fans were manually set to 100% RPM using the Firestorm utility resulting in about 41 dB (inside the Silent Base 800) to 55 dB (measured on the tech station). If your system is not properly cooled,  you will undoubtedly hear this card or any other card for that matter.

Final Thoughts

The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme is one seriously fast and good looking graphics card. It’s crazy impressive at 1080p and 1200/1440p meaning it’ll handle 3D mode perfectly. Not only does it perform well, it does so without the extreme noise factor. The triple 90mm fan IceStorm GPU cooler manages temps quite well. Granted, for the very best results, maintaining higher boost frequencies and frame rates, you’ll want to provide an optimally cooled environment. The card demands it.

There are a couple details to keep in mind if you want to covet this card for yourself. For starters, because AMP! Extreme has such a large high performance cooler, it requires 2.5 PCI slot spacing. The card also weighs more than many other cards. While the back plate keeps the card from bending, the PCI Express slot(s) may allow just a bit of sagging.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any tangible data as to which motherboards or brands have had weak PCIe slots, and any damage is likely not covered by any warranty. Just be careful when you pack your system to the next LAN party, or put some foam inside during transport to reduce the load.

The one detail that tends to concern extreme enthusiasts is the price. Depending on how you look at it, an entry level priced GeForce GTX 980 Ti starts around $660 USD without any extra benefits or special high performance design. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme currently has the fastest frequencies and a great looking design for only $30-35 more. That isn’t bad at all.

Do you want the same old-same old? Or, do you want to take a walk on the AMP! Extreme side? We think the choice is pretty clear.